There's a brilliant essay by Mahohla Dargis in today's New York Times called Defending Goliath: Hollywood and the Art of the Blockbuster. It's brilliantly written, includes dashes of insight (such as contamination anxiety being a core motivation behind many film purists' snobberies) and has a poetic twist to it that feels reminiscent of a really well-done NPR piece. Check it out.