What’s the definition of being an arts journalist? 

Conventional reviews have a tenuous relationship to journalism, because they’re less about fact-finding and more about personal expression. Instead, arts journalism tends to be associated with reporting on behind-the-scenes information.

But cinema completists also serve a journalistic purpose. Unless you’re a fellow sicko who wants to watch it all regardless of overall quality, most people simply won’t see a vast majority of movies.

But even middling outings like the just-released Tiger 3 contain noteworthy moments that might not make all 150-minutes worth it . . . but maybe you want to hear the specifics of these novelties, anyways? 

Well, that’s what I’m here for.

Two of Tiger 3’s sequences feel fresh, and maybe you’ll find whatever triggers me to think, “Wow, I’ve never witnessed that before on a big screen” to be interesting.

Welcome to my completist brand of arts journalism. 

The first sequence: two nemeses — they act like spies, they look like runway models — fistfight in a bathhouse wearing nothing but towels, a thrilling combination for two reasons. One: how are the towels going to stay on?! Two: the ingenuity of how the towels are used for and against each other in their hand-to-hand combat. 

The second clever sequence: when our good guys and gals don Covid masks to infiltrate a mask-mandatory event.