Film Critic Lisa Schwarzbaum Leaves Entertainment Weekly, Reflects on Two Decades of Weird Mail

After 22 years at Entertainment Weekly, film critic Lisa Schwarzbaum says goodbye — and as a parting gift, she dishes a little about how irate folks can get when you dare to do your job and critique a movie:

Often the mail has been gratifying: I love that too! I hated that as much as you did! Sometimes the messages have been harsh: You suck! EW should get rid of Lisa! (Passing fun for the writer but crap for me, you-suckgrams have become a depressingly regular aspect of anonymous, online comment-board culture.)

The pissed-off wife of a wildly successful producer of high-octane action schlock once sent me a popcorn bucket filled with stones because…well, I’m not sure why, something about throwing stones at her husband’s work. Anyway, she wanted to remind me that, while her beloved’s pictures rake in billions, my stuff would be gone in 60 seconds.

But she leaves us with a great assignment:

Your mission is to read with an open mind, watch movies with an open mind, and use the places where we diverge as inspiration for an ongoing conversation about this ever-changing medium we love together.

Find out more about her legacy here. You can still follow her on Twitter!

[EW]