Harvey Weinstein Launches Film Criticism Career (and Oscar Race) with Public Enemies Rave

The Daily Beast features a nifty Michael Mann two-fer today, but for once Kim Masters isn't the must-read of the pair (though her detailing of Mann's clashes with Johnny Depp and the rest of Hollywood for that matter are typically essential). Instead, check out who's got a sweet new gig reviewing movies for the outlet, starting with Public Enemies. He even got to see it before opening day for free! Does life get any better for Harvey Weinstein?

Maybe, maybe not, but for a little while anyway, don't harsh the buzz of a guy enjoying a master at work. Like really enjoying him, as if Harvey were paid per abstraction (and he was paid, wasn't he, Tina Brown?) or perhaps was moved by the finer works of Ben Lyons. ("Every detail, every nuance, every pastiche leads to a complex story that is so rich in characterization that it penetrates history" was practically made for blurbing.) Or, if you want to stretch into fun marketing-conspiracy-theory territory, why not start from the beginning and ask what else he has to gain from raving, "I can tell you that the Oscar race is officially on"? If Harvey says it, then it has to be true, and in turn it must mean something for next month's other history-penetrating auteurist action-drama, Inglourious Basterds.

Or sure -- maybe Harvey just straight-up, sincerely loved Enemies, and doesn't care who knows it. Except for, that is, maybe one guy who's no doubt aggrieved by some of the mogul's more hyperbolic praise:

There are three great practitioners of this art working at the height of their powers today. Marty Scorsese, Johnnie To, and Michael Mann. This is Michael Mann at the height of his height.

The "height of his height"! Brilliant! Oh, and Mr. Weinstein? Quentin Tarantino is holding for you on line one.

· The Oscar Race Begins [The Daily Beast]