When you’re burned out, do something else. You’re not doing anyone a favor by going through the motions. By the time Zac Bertschy quit his “Answerman” job, my sympathies were with the Flakes of the Week. Justin Sevakis’ review of The Sky Crawlers tells me more about Sevakis’ life than about Oshii’s movie. (Sevakis might want to look up the word “obtuse.”)
About reviews: that someone paid for a review doesn’t mean that it’s insightful, and length does not imply profundity. If you want to find what’s worth your time, you can do just as well surfing at random through the otakusphere as at ANN.
This is probably why I go to ANN for news, not opinions, generally.
Actually, having seen Sky Crawlers, that review is one that does it very good justice.
But one has to remember a review like that is ultimately only one of many possible interpretations. A layered work as such invariably can be taken differently, and multiple (and even conflicting) interpretations can coexist.
Other than that, yeah, ANN, outside of its news function and lovely encyclopedia, is more entertainment than editorial most of the time.