Although of course the Radio Times isn't specifically a film magazine at all. Its main purpose is to list the radio and television listings for the week. It was originally commissioned by the BBC which meant any articles had to be unbiased and 'politically correct' however it then later merged into the Intermediate Media Company.
My family and I religiously purchase the Radio Times every week, and although arguably its main audience is more the middle aged, I actually find the articles it has to offer very interesting.
Every week films that are being currently shown on television over that next week are reviewed in different styles, since the technology has revolutionised and there are now thousands of TV channels obviously not every film can be reviews in depth. Often the Radio Times has a short paragraph reviewing the film, it just gives the reader and articulate, pithy response helping them choose whether or not they should watch the film or not.
Also the Radio Times often does full articles on current films. Just yesterday I was reading an article about the new Les Miserables film, the review isn't specific to the technological language and specialist terms which can be found in Sight and Sound magazine. It takes more of a casual conversation tone, focusing on the actors and locations, things that are more likely to interest a 'normal' person ( someone that doesn't have an intricate knowledge of film). In a review like this it really varies how much space they take up, sometimes they focus more on the image than the writing, or vice versa.
When thinking about my own magazine review I like how versatile and varied the structure of the reviews can be, and there never seems to be a 'bitchy' or 'cut throat' feeling about them. The language is descriptive yet pithy. It just seems well written, and aimed at an audience that doesnt need to be dummed down, yet we dont need a thesaurus to read it. It has a nice family, almost cosy feel, rather than magazines that are specifically focused to film such as Empire.
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