The slow, massacre of the Village Voice continues with news from Gawker that longtime film critic Michael Atkinson has been fired. It is especially surprising since Atkinson, one of the only movie critics left from the old-guard, was recently hired to write for the New Times/Village Voice national syndicate of film reviewers. Atkinson plugged away at the New Voice, trying his best to maintain his style and intellectual rigor while going up against editors in Broward and Cleveland who scoffed at his fancy film-criticy language.

J. Hoberman and Dennis Lim are the last remaining film staffers from the old regime. It's hard to believe they've lasted this long. If all goes according to Gawker's account, NY Times freelancer Nathan Lee will take Atkinson's spot. And the rest of the staff will probably be replaced by former students of new editor-in-chief David Blum, a former professor at Columbia's Journalism School, who has been dolling out jobs to former alumni like lollipops.