Are Film Critic's Irrelevant?

CNN did an interesting piece today discussing critics and their relevance or should I say lack of relevance to movie goers these days. They even have a particularly interesting portion where they basically say its the studios fault that film critics are no longer relevant. Quoting CNN;  

....many critics lament the fact that a review no longer carries the weight it once did with audiences. The pervasiveness of publicity junkets and coverage in the blogosphere, have to a degree, made films critic-proof. This is especially true of blockbusters, where marketing campaigns build up such anticipation that a film has to receive terrible reviews across the board in order for its chances of success to be dented.

I think that 'film critics' are missing the point. Reviews still hold their relevance and weight its just no longer a small group of people who dictate a films fate. Now literally thousands of bloggers do. I disagree wholeheartedly that film critics are irrelevant but it also depends on what you consider a critic. For example my good friend John Campea reviews movies just as I do but neither one of us hold any accreditation or consider ourselves 'journalists'. Does that make us critics? Not if you ask the critics. But what if you ask our readers? Do our reviews hold less merits then say a review by the Sunday paper?

Critics are still very relevant in my books it just so happens that the curtain has come up and now anyone can be a critic and that in my books is a good thing for film goers and the studio. For every bad review you can always find a good one and for every fan you can always find a reviewer who has similar tastes to your own. Rather then having to decide off of one critics review in the paper who may or may not even like the genre they reviewed.

Probably the one part of the piece I took the biggest exception to was when they talked about how Film Critics are champions for rare and little known films. I for one think that bloggers are the real champions for rare films and small indie productions. I would never turn to a critic for their reflections on a small foreign film I would instead turn to Twitch which have been championing the genre for years. Just as if I wanted to read a horror review or find out about some obscure indie zombie movie I would turn to HorrorMovies.ca. Bloggers are on the front lines of indie film making and if you really want to find some gems you will turn to them... not a local paper or magazine.

I do believe that film critics are relevant and that they do impact the bottom line of movies but its no longer the profession it once was. No longer do you have to know the right people or have the right education to review movies and have an impact on a films bottom line. Now anyone can post a review on the Internet and reach thousands of movie goers. Whats more movie goers can get a variety of reviews and perspectives without the cost of a subscription to a paper or magazine. Critics are still relevant but definitely it has changed and depending on your outlook or profession that may strike you as good or bad.