How a longtime film critic’s death represents the great dissolve of local film criticism

In the moments before the December memorial service for Bryan VanCampen, the lack of attendees threatened to provide a lazy metaphor on the demise of journalism.

Nobody, Beth Saulnier thought, shows up for anything anymore. She had helped organize the event for her friend, the longtime film critic for The Ithaca Times. Their 30-year friendship began over a mutual hatred of “E.T.: The Extraterrestrial” at the Moonshadow Tavern, then a hangout for Ithaca journalists. Saulnier and VanCampen were critics at rival papers and co-hosts of a public access movie review show, “Take Two,” that aired from 1992 to 2003, a time when studios needed TV to entice viewers with movie clips, when a platform to bloviate on film was not one of the internet’s many flaws.

Much had changed, even if VanCampen never did. He devoured no-frills peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. At his service, they were piled high for guests.

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