Film critics are meaningless.

How else could you explain the fact that arguably the most acclaimed foreign film of 2008 (no, it was not "Slumdog Millionaire") reaches Milwaukee four months after its theatrical release?

"It filled me with unadulterated joy" A.O. Scott, New York Times.

French director Arnaud Desplechin's "A Christmas Tale" filled film critic top 10 lists and garnered the types of quotes (from legitimate film critics, not the ones living in their parents basement) that make film distributors salivate, but only played in about 30 U.S. cities (14 of which were in California).

"A marvelously rich visual, intellectual and emotional experience" Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.

Milwaukee Film presents "A Christmas Tale" on Monday, March 23 as the opening film of our six week film series "Monday Night at the Movies with Milwaukee Film."

Our exciting new partnership with Marcus Theatres made it possible for us to bring six award-winning, critically acclaimed U.S. and foreign films to Milwaukee. Each premiere film will be shown at North Shore Cinema located in Mequon, a Northern Milwaukee suburb, and admission for each is $10 with tickets available now at marcustheatres.com or at the North Shore Cinema box office 11700 N. Port Washington Rd., in Mequon.

"Nothing could be more energizing, more captivating, more pure pleasure on screen than (this) passionate, evocative experience." Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times.

We should be thankful in Milwaukee that at least our daily paper has its own film critic, Duane Dudek of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. And, magazines like OnMilwaukee.com also cover and review films regularly. But, many dailies around the country have laid-off their film critics and are now only publishing Associated Press reviews.

In order for our film community to thrive it is vital that we have quality media and a quality film critic like Dudek who has access to the wide audience of a daily. The film events here are distinct from other cities and should only be covered from a local angle.