film criticism | The Che Underground

There to Here: Cole Smithey,
Smartest Film Critic in the World

December 11, 2017July 22, 2012 by Mmrothenberg

(In this installment, Che Underground: The Blog catches up with Rockin’ Dogs drummer Cole Smithey about his career at the movies in New York. If you’d like your story told, e-mail cheunderground@gmail.com!)

You recently celebrated your 15th year in New York and 15 years as a film critic. What was your path from drummer with the Rockin’ Dogs to your current role as “the smartest film critic in the world”?

It was a long and bumpy one, I can assure you. I moved up to San Francisco with the idea of finding a new band to play with, but that just didn’t happen. Having studied acting at SDSU, I got an acting scholarship to Hartnell College in Salinas. So, I spent a year in Salinas living out of my van. I played tympani in a 38-piece symphony orchestra there — doing classical music. I also played drums with the pep band at football games. The drama-department politics at Hartnell were horrendous, but I somehow managed to come out of it with a 4.0 GPA. There’s something to be said for living in your van: You just study all the time.

I moved back to SF and was working for my talent agent — sending myself out on auditions for industrials and commercials — when I picked up an issue of Sight and Soundmagazine. I realized instantly that I wanted to be a film critic.

Punk rock picture show

January 1, 2011June 4, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Picking up the thread from our “Hyphenates” discussion, let’s talk about notable on-screen portrayals of punk, with special focus on its applicability to the Southern California experience.

My candidate for best of show is “Repo Man” — as Toby said, perhaps the only decent thing Emilio Estevez has ever done, but good enough to make up for a dozen “Mighty Ducks.” (Worst/funniest could be the punk-rock episode of “Quincy.” (Am I right that some actual LA punks were extras in that episode?)

Discuss!

Rockin’ Dog makes good

December 11, 2017April 14, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Rockin’ Dogs drummer turned celebrated New York film critic Cole Smithey gives some love to his old posse in this Q&A with online movie powerhouse Rotten Tomatoes: “A lifelong artsy kid, he bounced around the entertainment industry pursuing varied interests for years: playing drums for the Rockin’ Dogs in San Diego; working as an actor in San Francisco; temping for a studio in New York City. In 1997 he began his career as a professional critic covering films great and small, and he hasn’t looked back since.” (Well, only occasionally, and we hope with fondness.)