Jonathan Rosenbaum turns a leaf.

I did not know this. Via Steve at Film Damaged comes news, reported by Time Out Chicago's Hank Sartin, that Jonathan Rosenbaum will be retiring on February 27, evidently his 65th birthday. "This is not, contrary to your first assumption, one more sign of new [Chicago Reader] owners Creative Loafing trimming the budget," notes Sartin. "In fact, Rosenbaum tells us that his new bosses at Creative Loafing will be setting him up with a website of his own so that even in 'retirement' his writings on film will continue to be part of their franchise. He's not the sort to lounge on a beach, so expect a lot more thoughts on film from JR."

That, at least, is good news for most of us, including Steve @ FD: "Rosenbaum is one of those writers who has become like a friend for me, certainly like a beloved professor, his thought-provoking opinions something I'd miss terribly.... Rosenbaum caused two major controversies this year - the first when he wrote in the Times that Ingmar Bergman needed to be reassessed, the second when he ran a review that disagreed with the general acclaim for No Country for Old Men.... Blogs and message boards oozed vitriol and the more opponents... frothed, the worse they looked by comparison."

Posted by dwhudson at December 27, 2007 8:53 AM