My first hero wasn’t Mike Schmidt or Burt Reynolds, it was Gene Siskel. He loved movies like I did, and he broke them down in ways that helped you make the right choice at the cineplex.
In Siskel’s spirit, here are my choices for the top film critics working today.
- Christy Lemire, AP: OK, I almost always agree with her reviews. But what kills me about Christy’s work is how she captures precisely what I try to convey in my own reviews, but she does it so much better. Curse you, Christy. And keep on writing.
- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: His politics aren’t mine, but that takes a back seat to his well reasoned arguments and frisky prose. He’s EW’s anchor.
- Stephen Hunter, The Washington Post: Savvy and iconoclastic, Hunter’s best reviews are both bitingly funny and insightful. He’s not a regular film critic anymore, but he still contributes to his paper’s Style section.
- Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post: I’m lucky enough to get weekly exposure to Lisa’s work in good, old-fashioned print form. Her reviews are consistently smart, sophisticated and balanced, and she doesn’t feel compelled to echo her fellow critics’ praise.
- Dirty Harry AKA John Nolte: DH has become a good friend and supporter of this site, and he’s arguably the most influential right-leaning critic on the web. Oh, and he’s an excellent writer who loves movies beyond description – just like Siskel. It shows in every review.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Anthony Lane. Definitely Anthony Lane. He does things with the language that I could only hope to.
Have heard great things about Lane … for some reason I haven’t read enough of his work. Will fix that asap.
He writes bi-weekly for The New Yorker, so check him out every other Monday or so there. But you can also pick up his collection, “Nobody’s Perfect,” from Amazon for $12 brand new. Worth every penny.
I read Anthony Lane because he’s smart, but his sensibility isn’t mine – to me he’s a bit jaded and cynical. I think David Denby, also of the New Yorker, is just as smart and I agree more with his take on things.
Have loved Stephen Hunter for years and am very sorry to have it confirmed he’s not a regular reviewer anymore. Maybe he’ll start a blog…
Lisa Kennedy…shrug…because of this or some other site I read her Sunday Denver Post essay on selling movies about race. Her thumbnail sketches of Express and Glory Road, both of which I’ve seen, struck me as too uncritical. And, I’ve read some reviews of Miracle at St. Anna and The Secret Life of Bees that suggest they’re just not very good movies – lack of success saying not much about selling stories about race. But, I’ll keep an eye out for her.
But, this must mean you’re in Denver, Toto? Planning on taking in the Denver Film Festival? Any recommendations for it?
Judith,
Thanks for the feedback. Denby’s too highfalutin’ for my tastes. I like my movie criticism smart, but with a bit of blue collar in it. Just the facts’ ma’am.
Kennedy is a really good writer. I thought her piece on race movies lacked focus, but she’s typically razor sharp in her writing and her reviews.
I’m hoping to attend the Denver Film Fest … please keep visiting this site for more info.
i have always liked Richard Schickel from Time magazine and he has done some great audio commentaries on dvd most notably ‘Once upon a time in America’ and ‘The Good,the bad,and the ugly’. i also like Michael Phillips he has a great sarcastic wit to his writing and i miss seeing him on at the movies w/ roeper the new guys they got are horrible especially Ben Lyons
Phillips is solid, but he strikes me as being a little too proud of his own snark.
The thing about Anthony Lane is that he doesn’t come across as someone who is passionate about movies–certainly not the way Kael was. It’s as if he would be just as happy reviewing books or the theater. So yes, the only reason you would read him is because of the quality of his prose, not because of any unique insight he may have.