Film Critics
Which of these living film critics, primarily known as critics, comes closest to your taste in film?
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- Actor
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Robert Osborne was the host on Turner Classic Movies from its inception in 1994, in large part due to his deep and abiding love and knowledge of film. Osborne got his start working for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The ever-perspicacious Ball suggested that Osborne combine his interest in classic film and training in journalism, and write instead of act. Osborne took this advice and produced "Academy Awards Illustrated" a book which then begat his years at The Hollywood Reporter. He also became the official historian of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. An elegant and unassuming man, Osborne combined a startling facility with movie names, dates, and facts with the gift to tell a good story and ability to be a gracious host.An American actor and film historian best known as the primary host for Turner Classic Movies since that service began in 1994, and previously a host of The Movie Channel- Writer
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Ben Mankiewicz was born on 25 March 1967 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for White House Down (2013), Mank (2020) and The Practice (1997). He has been married to Michelle (Lee) Larkin Russo since 12 December 2013. They have one child. He was previously married to Contessa Lynn Kellogg.An American radio and television personality, known for his work as a TV journalist, news anchor, and film critic. On weekends, he presents classic movies on the American cable television channel, Turner Classic Movies.- Writer
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Jay Cocks was born on 1 December 1944 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a writer, known for Silence (2016), Strange Days (1995) and Gangs of New York (2002). He was previously married to Verna Bloom.Film critic and motion picture screenwriter. He was a critic for Time, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone, among other magazines, before moving into film writing.- Producer
- Actor
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Elvis Mitchell was born in 1958 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Is That Black Enough for You?!? (2022), Black Lightning (2018) and The Black List: Volume One (2008).U.S. film critic, host of the public radio show The Treatment, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University.- Writer
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Leonard Maltin is one of the most recognized and respected film critics of our time. He recently completed his 30th season with the long-running television show, Entertainment Tonight (1981).
Maltin was born on Friday, December 18th, 1950, in New York City and grew up in suburban Teaneck, New Jersey. He credits the huge volume of old movies shown on New York television - and access to the City's famous revival theaters, as well as the Museum of Modern Art - with his "basic training" in film history. He attended New York University as a journalism major, and quickly became the entertainment editor of the campus' daily newspaper.
He and a friend published their own home-grown magazine when they were in the fifth grade. This evolved into a mimeographed publication called "Profile", which reflected Leonard's growing interest in show business and film history. At the age of 13, he volunteered his services as a writer to two fanzines: "The 8mm Collector", of Indiana, Pennsylvania, and "Film Fan Monthly", of Vancouver, Canada. Two years later, he assumed responsibility for "Film Fan Monthly" and continued publishing it for the next nine years.
It was that magazine that inspired an English teacher in his high school to suggest that he meet a friend of hers who was an editor at Signet Books. That meeting led to an offer for him to compile a paperback compendium of capsule movie reviews. The book was published in 1969, when Maltin was 18 and a freshman at NYU. Decades later, he is still best-known for that now-annual paperback reference, "Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide". A perennial best-seller, "The Guide" has become an indispensable tool for movie lovers and includes over 16,000 film reviews, with ratings and essential facts about each title. In 2005, he introduced a companion volume, "Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide", which focuses on movies made before 1965, going back to the silent era.
Leonard's other books include "The Best 151 Movies You've Never Seen", "The Disney Films", "Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons", "The Great American Broadcast: A Celebration of Radio's Golden Age", "The Great Movie Comedians", "The Art of the Cinematographer", "Selected Short Subjects" and (as co-author) "The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang".
Leonard has been teaching at the USC School of Cinematic Arts for the last fifteen years. His popular class screens new films prior to their release, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Guests over the years have included: Alexander Payne, Judd Apatow, James Franco, David Lynch, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Costa-Gavras, Bertrand Tavernier, Anthony Hopkins, Annette Bening, Paul Haggis, Paul Weitz, Mark Ruffalo, Walter Salles, Guillermo del Toro & Jason Segel, to name just a few. In addition to top writers and directors, Maltin welcomes costume and production designers, editors, composers, cinematographers, casting directors, and other creative collaborators, in order to explore all aspects of the filmmaking process. This direct access to top talent has proven to be invaluable in his students' own filmmaking endeavors.
Leonard's reviews and signature on-air interviewing style can now be seen on his weekly program, Maltin on Movies (2010), on ReelzChannel, where he has appeared since the channel went on the air. He also previews movies-on-demand on Comcast and appears occasionally on "Turner Classic Movies". For three years, he co-hosted the weekly syndicated movie review program, "Hot Ticket", which was produced by Entertainment Tonight (1981).
Leonard is a prolific freelance writer, whose articles have appeared in "The New York Times", "The Los Angeles Times", "The London Times", "Smithsonian", "TV Guide", "Esquire", "The Village Voice" and "American Film". He has contributed to Oxford University Press' "American National Biography", and was the film critic for "Playboy" magazine for six years.
Additionally, Leonard frequently lectures on film and was a member of the faculty of New York City's "New School for Social Research" for nine years. He served as Guest Curator at the "Museum of Modern Art" film department in New York on two separate occasions.
Leonard created, hosted and co-produced the popular "Walt Disney Treasures" DVD series and appeared on Warner Home Video's "Night at the Movies" features. He has written a number of television specials, including "Fantasia: The Creation of a Disney Classic and has hosted, produced and written such video documentaries and compilations as The Making of 'The Quiet Man' (1992), The Making of 'High Noon' (1992), "Cartoons for Big Kids", The Lost Stooges (1990), "Young Duke: The Making of a Movie Star", Cliffhangers! Adventures from the Thrill Factory (1993) and _Cartoon Madness: The Fantastic Max Fleischer Cartoons (1900)_.
In 2006, he was named by the Librarian of Congress to join the Board of Directors of the National Film Preservation Foundation. He also has received awards and citations from the American Society of Cinematographers, Anthology Film Archives, The Society of Cinephiles and the Telluride Film Festival. In 1997, he was made a voting member of the National Film Registry, which selects 25 landmark American films every year. Perhaps the greatest indication of his fame was his appearance in a now-classic episode of the animated series, South Park (1997).
He has been married, since 1975, to fellow movie lover Alice Tlusty Maltin. They are the proud parents of Jessie Maltin (aka Jessica Bennett Maltin), who in recent years has become a valued contributor to the annual Movie Guide.An American film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.- Actor
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Rex was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up in Louisiana. He became one of the most prolific movie critics in the country, and for decades has written entertainment columns for The New York Observer.
In 1970, Rex made his movie debut, playing Myron in Myra Breckinridge (1970) - Myron was the young man whose post sex-change operation persona was played by Raquel Welch. But Rex's success came in reviewing movies, not starring in them.
Rex currently lives in New York - at the Dakota, one of Manhattan's most expensive and exclusive apartment buildings (John Lennon was shot there). Rex also owns a spread in an elite corner of rural Connecticut, and is a single man-about-town. Movie stars may come and go, but movie reviews by Rex Reed go on forever.American film critic and former co-host of the syndicated television show At the Movies. He currently writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for The New York Observer.- Writer
- Actor
Richard Roeper was born on 17 October 1959 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is a writer and actor, known for Something to Live For, Siskel & Ebert (1986) and Entourage (2004).An American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Ben Lyons is a Television, Radio, and Online host and producer from New York City, who covers pop culture and sports like nobody else. Based in Los Angeles, Ben is a special correspondent on EXTRA!, a regular contributor for ESPN LA radio and was just named Chief Content Officer for Derek Jeter's Players' Tribune.
Ben is also the lead host on Yahoo's LIVE movie premiere and awards show coverage, and hosted On The Road for Yahoo, a nationwide series of concerts and events.
He reviews movies on Mario Lopez's national radio show every week, and recently has been seen on The View, Wendy Williams, ESPN's SportsNation, On-Air with Ryan Seacrest, Steve Harvey and Good Morning America. Previously he appeared on the E! Network and E! News as their lead film correspondent and movie critic covering major awards shows and interviewing the biggest stars in the world.
Ben was the host of At The Movies for Disney/Buena Vista and My Family's Got Guts for Nickelodeon. He produced a music documentary in 2012 called Alekesam that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival about legendary South African Jazz Musician Hugh Masekela, and his son Sal.
Most recently, Ben co-hosted BACKSTAGE OSCARS, ABC.com and Oscars.com's LIVE coverage of the 2014 Academy Awards.
Born and raised in New York City, Ben is the grandson of legendary New York Post columnist Leonard Lyons, and is the son of film and theater critic Jeffrey Lyons. The Lyons family has been covering pop culture in American media for more than 80 years.
He is also a die-hard New York Knicks fan and is a contributor for KnicksNow.com. On his down time, Ben enjoys traveling, golfing, seeing live music, and playing basketball.An American film critic and entertainment reporter.- Writer
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Joe Morgenstern was born on 3 October 1932 in Matamoras, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Law & Order (1990), American Playhouse (1980) and The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976). He was previously married to Piper Laurie.Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for The Wall Street Journal.- Peter Travers is known for US Magazine Looks at the '70s (1980), Popcorn with Peter Travers (2009) and Showbiz Today (1985).An American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com
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Richard Schickel was born on 10 February 1933 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The Big Red One (1980), Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente (1987) and Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us (2005). He was married to Carol Rubenstein and Julia Carroll Whedon. He died on 18 February 2017 in Los Angeles, California, USA.American author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. He is a former film critic for Time magazine, and has also written for Life magazine and the Los Angeles Times Book Review.- Molly Haskell was born on 29 September 1939 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. She is a writer, known for Billy Baxter Presents Diary of the Cannes Film Festival with Rex Reed (1980) and For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (2009). She was previously married to Andrew Sarris.American feminist film critic and author. She contributed to The Village Voice, first as a theatre critic, then as a movie reviewer; and from there moved on to New York Magazine and Vogue.
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Todd is a veteran trade publication film critic, columnist and reporter who has also written several acclaimed books and documentary films. He served two stints on the staffs of Variety and The Hollywood Reporter and extensively covered film festivals internationally for both publications. His film "Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography" won the best documentary prizes from the New York Film Critics and National Society of Film Critics associations and he won an Emmy for writing the documentary "Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer." He also directed the documentaries "Man of Cinema: Pierre Rissient" and "Forever Hollywood," which played at the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theater for a decade. His books include "Kings of the Bs: Working Within the Hollywood System," the definitive biography "Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood" and "Fast Women: The Legendary Women of Racing."Wrote for Variety for 31 years as its chief film critic before being laid-off in 2010. He later became a critic for The Hollywood Reporter.- Chief film critic for The New York Times, along with A.O. Scott. She was formerly a chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times, the film editor at the LA Weekly, and a film critic at The Village Voice.
- A.O. Scott was born on 10 July 1966 in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA.An American journalist and film critic. Along with Manohla Dargis, he serves as chief film critic for The New York Times.
- Philip French was born in Liverpool on 28 August 1933 to John and Bessie French and originally studied Law at Exeter College, Oxford. However after National Service he went into journalism, particularly writing about film. In 1978 he became the cinema critic for the Observer newspaper and remained in that capacity until 2013, when he received the O.B.E. - additionally publishing several books on film. He died on October 27th 2015.British film critic and former radio producer.
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Emanuel Levy is known for Somewhere (2010), The Reunion (2015) and The Evolution of Clint Eastwood (2008).American film critic and professor, formerly a senior critic at Variety, and chief film critic of the UK publication Screen International.- Owen Gleiberman was born on 24 February 1959 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. He is an executive.American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981 to 1989, he worked at the Boston Phoenix.
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Rudy Behlmer was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He has had a strong interest in the history and evolution of motion pictures since childhood when he began filming his own miniature dramas. He served two years in the Naval Air Corps, then was a Theatre Arts major at Los Angeles City College and Pasadena Playhouse College. He began his career with KLAC-TV (now KCOP-TV) in Hollywood as a stage manager. Two years later he became a staff director there, leaving to direct network television shows. For twenty-one years he was a producer and vice-president for Leo Burnett U.S.A. Following 'Movies' Golden Age' (1961), a syndicated TV special he produced, directed and edited, Behlmer started researching and writing articles on various aspects of film history. One project - a career piece on producer David O. Selznick - led indirectly to his book Memo from David O. Selznick (1972), followed by nine other books as well as a great many magazine articles and booklets to accompany film music recordings. Behlmer has also contributed to a wide variety of documentaries, videos, DVDs, and laser discs about Hollywood's Golden Age. For many years he lectured weekly on film subjects at Cal State University, Northridge, and Art Center College of Design, Pasadena. Behlmer is a longtime member of the Directors Guild of America where he has guest-lectured on different occasions. He has also guest-lectured at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the University of Southern California, etc.American film historian and writer. He is an expert in the history and evolution of the motion picture industry- Richard Corliss was born on 6 March 1944 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Mary Corliss. He died on 23 April 2015 in New York City, New York, USA.One of the editors of Time magazine who focuses on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects.
- Kenneth Turan was born on 27 October 1946 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a writer, known for Call Me Anna (1990) and Love Hollywood Style (2004).Film critic for the Los Angeles Times since 1991 and the Director for the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, Los Angeles Times since 1993. He is the founding film critic for Arts Alive on KUSC-FM and www.kusc.org. He also provides regular reviews for Morning Edition on National Public Radio.
- Actor
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Jonathan Rosenbaum was born on 27 February 1943 in Alabama, USA. He is an actor and cinematographer, known for The Other Side of the Wind (2018), Hotel New York (1984) and Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream (1998).An American film critic who was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65.- Michael Phillips was born on 11 March 1961 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA. He has been married to Heidi Stevens since 2013. He was previously married to Ann Jarmusch and Andrea Lenaburg.Film critic for the Chicago Tribune newspaper. Previously he was the drama critic of the Tribune; the Los Angeles Times; the St. Paul Pioneer Press; the San Diego Union-Tribune; and the Dallas Times Herald
- British non-fiction author and Film magazine editor, who has written several books relating to films. His most recent work was The Complete Spielberg, a guide to the films of Steven Spielberg.
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Lisa Schwarzbaum was born in New York City, New York, USA. She is known for Zoom (1972), For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (2009) and Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire (2004).Joined Entertainment Weekly as a film critic in the 1990s, and remained there until February 2013.- Jami Bernard is an award-winning film critic, media consultant, and author. Her books include "Quentin Tarantino: The Man and His Movies," Chick Flicks," "First Films," "Total Exposure," "The Incredible Shrinking Critic," and "Breast Cancer: There & Back." She is a former chair of the New York Film Critics Circle, and a member of the National Society of Film Critics and editor of its anthology "The X List: The Movies that Turn Us On."Author and media consultant, an award-winning film critic for The New York Post and The New York Daily News, and the founder of Barncat Publishing.
- Maitland McDonagh was TV Guide Online's Senior Movie Editor from 1998-2008 and in 2012 founded 120 Days Books to republish forgotten gay adult genre novels of the 1970s. Born and raised in New York City, McDonagh received her undergraduate education at Hunter College, CUNY, and earned her MFA in Film History/Theory/Criticism from Columbia University, where she co-founded and -edited Columbia Film Review, subsequently renamed Columbia Film View. McDonagh has written extensively on the cinema for magazines in the United States and Europe, including Film Journal International, Film/Psychology Review, Film Comment, Mad Movies, Premiere, Entertainment Weekly, L'Ecran Fantastique, Interview, Film Quarterly, Fangoria, Persistence of Vision and Gorezone. She is the author of four books on film: Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento; Filmmaking on the Fringe: The Good, the Bad and the Deviant Directors; The 50 Most Erotic Films of All Time and Movie Lust: Recommended Viewing for Every Mood, Moment and Reason, and has contributed essays to many others, including The Last Great American Picture Show: New Hollywood 1967-1976; Film Out of Bounds: Essays and Interviews on Non-Mainstream Cinema Worldwide and Exile Cinema: Filmmakers at Work Beyond Hollywood.TV Guide Online's Senior Movie Editor.
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Dave Kehr was born in 1953 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for American Masters (1985), Budd Boetticher: An American Original (2005) and Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005).A critic at the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune for many years, he writes a weekly column for The New York Times on DVD releases, in addition to contributing occasional pieces on individual films or filmmakers.- Actor
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David Stratton was born on 10 September 1939 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Sunshine and Shadows: 70 Years of Australian Cinema (1976), The Bazura Project (2006) and Dance Academy (2010).English-Australian film critic and television personality.- Producer
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Margaret Pomeranz was born on 14 July 1944 in Waverley, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She is a producer and actress, known for Stone Forever (1999), Front Up (1994) and Dance Academy (2010).Australian film critic and producer and television personality.- Podcaster
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Mark Kermode's trademark intense, often frightening rants about various films which he likes or dislikes has earned him something of a 'cult' following in the UK. He began his career in film journalism and broadcasting in the 1980s after studying English at Manchester University, where he wrote his Ph.D thesis on horror fiction. After starting work as a van driver (he claims he was appointed as a film critic after he crashed the van), he began working for magazines such as City Life, Time Out and the NME and since then has also worked for The Independent, The Guardian, Vox, Empire, Flicks, Fangoria, and Neon among others.
In the early 1990s he moved into radio broadcasting, contributing to and presenting various programmes and shows on BBC radio networks. He also worked as film critic and presenter for Channel 4's 'Extreme Cinema' strand, introducing notorious films such as Crash (1996) and Man Bites Dog (1992), and he wrote and presented many documentaries for Channel 4 and the BBC such as On the Edge of 'Blade Runner' (2000), and Scream and Scream Again: A History of the Slasher Film (2000), The Fear of God: 25 Years of 'The Exorcist' (1998) and The Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing 'The French Connection' (2000) etc.English film critic and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He is the chief film critic for The Observer, and a contributor to Kermode and Mayo's Film Review and Sight and Sound magazine.- Actress
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Betty White was born in Oak Park, Illinois, to Christine Tess (Cachikis), a homemaker, and Horace Logan White, a lighting company executive for the Crouse-Hinds Electric Company. She was of Danish, Greek, English, and Welsh descent.
Although she was best known as the devious Sue Ann Nivens on the classic sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and the ditzy Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls (1985), Betty White had been in television for a long, long time before those two shows, having had her own series, Life with Elizabeth (1952) in 1952.
She was married three times, lastly for eighteen years, until widowed, to TV game-show host Allen Ludden.
She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and she was known for her tireless efforts on behalf of animals.
Betty White died on 31 December 2021, at the age of 99.I do not have similar taste in film to any of these critics and/or critics in general.