THE journalistic domain of the critic is usually thought to be sharply defined. Its boundaries enclose columns of distinctly personal journalisma book reviewer's appraisal of a new novel or a theater critic's assessment of a new play. But as journalism becomes more and more a craft of analysis and judgment, the distinction between critic and general writer or reporter fades. In this connection, we like to recall a dictum by TIME'S Cinema Critic Stefan Kanfer, who remarked somewhat sweepingly: "All our departments must be critical departments."
And so they are, to the extent...