Inspired by the monastic discipline of Dogme 95, Kinetoscope intends to completely disconnect from the commercial aspects of cinema, citing the burden placed on historians and critics since the inception of the form. Financial necessity and corporate affiliation dissuade honest opinion, tightening the avenues of expression and curtailing strong discourse in favor of artistic compromise.

Kinetoscope seeks to maintain this purity through lack of affiliation, separating entirely from religion, political party, studio, distributor and social scene. The writing will be the perspective of one individual and will not reflect accepted mores or popular opinion.

Film selection will be completely democratic. No genre, country, director or actor will be ignored or preferred, allowing for complete freedom of choice, unencumbered by box-office numbers or ephemeral celebrity. The only restriction comes in the form of a weekly theme, which does not necessarily impact the written content, but is utilized as a way of drawing parallels between disparate works or directly focusing on a particular movement or filmmaker.

The personal lives of directors and performers will be off limits, unless they directly relate to the content of the film in question. Kinetoscope is not a gossip column and will not be party to libelous hearsay or yellow journalism.

Kinetoscope seeks to carry on the legacy of critics intent on contemplating, investigating and theorizing about the meaning and construction of cinematic art, unconcerned with audience predilection. The sole goal of this critical journal is to foster a passion for writing and reading about the cinema as deep as the collective love of viewing it.

Kinetoscope is self-financed and does not accept DVD screeners, donations or tickets to screenings.