Biography

In his original review for the film The Crying Game (1992), he subtly gave away the film's famous plot twist; as the first letter of every word that began each paragraph literally spelled it out.

He is believed to have coined the expression "drop dead gorgeous" when describing Michelle Pfeiffer. Also, he has claimed that he coined the term "Paulettes" to describe devotees of the critic Pauline Kael.

Film Critic for Time Magazine

Most of the films he chooses on his top ten list are fantasy films.

He was the editor of "Film Comment" magazine from 1970 to 1982.

Hollywood was born schizophrenic. For 75 years it has been both a town and a state of mind, an industry and an art form.

[on Francis Ford Coppola]: Coppola composes movies as Wagner composed operas, setting primal conflicts to soaring emotional lines. The force of his will is as imposing as the range of his art. He goes for majesty over subtlety and, often as not, finds what he's looking for.

Realizing the screenplay is a director's job; transcending it is his glory. Despite the Writers Guild's immemorial gripes, directing is a fine art, not a lead-pipe cinch (as too many screenwriters have proved when they tried to direct a picture).

[on what choosing "Selma" for an Oscar as Best Film would mean] The members would be voting yes for the hallowed memory of Dr. King and no for the unjustified killings of unarmed blacks. King would appreciate that conundrum: that violence can be a goad to good. Civil rights had advanced with images of decent black folks clubbed by angry white cops. King knew: if it bleeds it leads.

To transport picturegoers to a unique place in the glare of the earth, in the darkness of the heart - this you realize with a gasp of joy, is what movies can do.