Slant Magazine launched in 2001 with a mission to inject passion and occasional abrasiveness into the often sanitized world of online entertainment criticism. Unlike many contemporaries that sought to please a broad audience, this publication cultivated a reputation for being prickly, a trait that A. O. Scott of The New York Times explicitly noted in his coverage of the site. The editors understood early that their survival depended on having a distinct point of view rather than simply aggregating news. They built a digital space where opinions were not just expressed but argued with a ferocity that sometimes sparked genuine debate across the internet. This approach transformed the site from a simple review aggregator into a destination for readers who wanted to know what a critic truly thought, not just what they thought the studio wanted them to think.
The House Next Door
On the 21st of January 2010, the publication underwent a significant transformation by absorbing The House Next Door, an entertainment blog founded by Matt Zoller Seitz. Seitz, a former writer for both The New York Times and The New York Press, brought a specific brand of cinephile intensity to the merger. The blog had been maintained by Keith Uhlich, a former film critic for Time Out New York, who served as its editor until 2012. This integration was not merely a business decision but a consolidation of two distinct voices that shared a disdain for the mainstream establishment. The House Next Door had already earned accolades, including a spot on MovieMaker's list of the 50 Best Blogs for Moviemakers on the 21st of January 2010. The Village Voice later recognized the blog on the 26th of January 2010 as one of 18 obsessive, cantankerous, and unstoppable Gotham blogs worth going ape over, cementing its status as a vital part of the New York cultural landscape.Controversy and Critique
The publication's willingness to take risks often resulted in high-profile clashes with industry figures and fellow critics. Ed Gonzalez, a writer who regularly contributed to The Village Voice film section, sparked a notable controversy with his review of Kevin Gage's 2005 film Chaos. The review was so distinct that Roger Ebert, the legendary film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, quoted it directly in his own review of the same film. This rare moment of cross-pollination between independent online voices and established print giants highlighted the growing influence of the site. Another instance of this dynamic occurred when The New York Press quoted Keith Uhlich in a review of the Michael Bay film The Island. These moments demonstrated that the publication was not just observing culture but actively shaping the conversation around it through its sharp, politically aware, and pop-culture-savvy writing.