MEDIA AFFILIATION
Den of Geek
LOCATION
Halesowen, United Kingdom
Tom Clift
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Cut, Print, Review
Reviews by Tom
On Rotten Tomatoes
LOCATION
Victoria, Australia
ABOUT TOM
Tom is a blogger and critic from Melbourne, Australia who has been writing about film since high-school. His favourite directors include Christopher Nolan, Stanley Kubrick, Sidney Lumet, Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher and the entire team at Pixar Animation Studios. He is currently studying Cinema and Journalism at the University of Melbourne.
FAVORITES
Favorite Movies: Network, United 93, Memento, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Shining, Kill Bill Volume 1 & 2, The Matrix, Full Metal Jacket, The Dark Knight, Jaws
Beth Accomando
MEDIA AFFILIATION
KPBS
LOCATION
Lemon Grove, CA, United States
ABOUT BETH
Beth Accomando is the author of the blog Cinema Junkie, contributes Ten Best lists to About.com Movies, and freelances for NPR. She is addicted to horror, Asian action and extreme cinema, and zombie movies.
FAVORITES
Marx Brothers, Monty Python, horror, Hong Kong Action Film, Film Noir, Zombies, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, Martin Scorsese, Frank Capra, Chow Yun Fat, John Woo, hal Hartley, David cronenberg, Tura Satana, Pam Grier, King Kong, Shaun of the Dead, Buckaroo Banzai…
Christopher Bourne
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Twitch Film
MeniscusZine
Film Forward
LOCATION
St. Albans, NY, United States
George Zervopoulos
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Movies, Ltd.
LOCATION
Athens, Greece
ABOUT GEORGE
I was born in Athens, Greece in 1969. I’ve studied journalism and economics in mid eightees, and I’m writing about movies and collaborating with newspapers and movie interest websites since 1995. I’ve been member of the editorial team of the innovating movie website www.cine.gr from 2000 to 2007 and the main film critic of monthly Digital Vision Magazine from 2000 to 2009. Since 1999 i am the Editor and Film Critic of the website moviesltd.gr. I live in the most sunny city of the world – Athens – i’m married to a beautiful wife and i’m a father of two, a boy (Angelo, 16) and a girl (Mary, 10).
FAVORITES
Schindler’s List / Blade Runner / Modern Times / Rashomon / Up
Takis Gkaris
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Movies, Ltd.
LOCATION
Mississauga, ON, Canada
ABOUT TAKIS
Born in Athens, Greece, LLB, LLM in Europoean Community & Comparative Law, Master’s Degree in Human Rights & Democratization. A pioneer in the greek online film critic scene, Editor-In-Chief (2002-2007) for internet film database www.cine.gr. Currently The Toronto Connection @moviesltd. Covered TIFF2012.
Emanuel Levy
MEDIA AFFILIATION
EmanuelLevy.com
LOCATION
New York, NY
ABOUT EMANUEL
Dr. Emanuel Levy is a well-rounded scholar of film and popular culture, juggling three full-time interrelated careers, as university film professor, as film critic, and as author of nine film books.
Over the past three decades, Levy has taught film at the City University of New York, Columbia University, Wellesley College, Arizona State University, where he was chair of interdisciplinary studies for three years (1990-1992). In 2004, he relocated to Los Angeles and joined the faculty of UCLA. Over the past three years, he has been visiting professor at Columbia University, and this year he is teaching at NYU’s Cinema Studies.
Levy received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1978 in sociology and culture studies (focus on film and theater). His dissertation, A Comparative Study of National Theaters, was published by Columbia University as The Habima: Israel’s National Theater, 1917-1977: A Study of Cultural Nationalism, and won the 1980 National Jewish Book Award
At Columbia, he took classes and benefited from the inspirational instruction of many distinguished scholars, including Sigmund Diamond, M. Shapiro, Danto, Robert Merton, Margaret Mead, and Andrew Sarris, who became his mentor and role model. Levy edited a tribute volume for Sarris’ 70th birthday, Citizen Sarris: American Film Critic (2000), an event celebrated at Columbia University Film School and at the Film Society of Lincoln Center with a panel and screenings of Sarris’ favorite films,
A two-time president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), Levy was a senior film critic for Variety from 1990 to 2001, and the chief film critic for Screen International from 2001 to 2003.
In 2004, he launched his website of film reviews and commentary, www.EmanuelLevy.com, which has been hailed by the L.A. Times as “one of the most erudite and cerebral sites” in the country. Providing a vibrant, dynamic look at the film world, EmanuelLevy.com features reviews, news, commentary, profiles, interviews, and film festival coverage as well as the site’s widely read Oscar Alert pages.
Levy holds the distinction of being the only writer working today to be a voting member of seven of the most important and influential critic and awards organizations in the country from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), best-known for its Golden Globe Awards, to the prestigious National Society of Film Critics (NSFC). Levy’s other voting affiliations include the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFC), the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), Online Film Critics Society, and the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci).
A leading authority on film (both American and foreign-language), Levy and his website are continuously quoted in the national press, most recently in a USA Today article about Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center,” and in the L.A. Times’ profile of Richard Linklater (based on reviews of two Cannes festival entries, “Fast Food Nation” and “A Scanner Darkly” featured on EmanuelLevy.com). Levy is a contributor to the Los Angeles Times, London’s Financial Times, The Jerusalem Post, and Italy’s Caik Magazine, and Mexico’s Cinemania among others. A popular film commentator, he has appeared on ABC’s Nightline (including the show on Elia Kazan), NPR, PBS, CNN, NBC, FOX TV, the Sundance Channel, and other national forums.
Levy has served on the juries of 53 International Film Festival, including Cannes, Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Dallas, Palm Springs, and Shanghai. Most recently, he has served on the grand juries of the Montreal, Taormina, Locarno, and Venice International Film Festivals. In 2003, he was a juror at the Sundance Film Festival, the mecca for American Indies, with Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Forest Whitaker, and David O. Russell. In 2004, he srved on the Hawaii Festival jury with the internationally renowned actors Maggie Cheung and David Wenham. In 2008, he was invited to serve on the grand jury of the third edition of the Roma Film Fest along with four other distinguished critics from France, Italy, and Poland.
Levy is the author of nine film books, including All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards, first published in February 2003, and George Cukor, Master of Elegance, the definitive biography of the legendary Hollywood director.
His first book, The Habima: Israel’s National Theater, was published in 1980 by Columbia University Press and received the National Jewish Book Award.
Levy’s Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film (hard cover 2000, paperback 2001), the first chronicle of the American Independent Cinema, quickly became a film studies staple in universities across the country.
Other books include Citizen Sarris, American Film Critic, a collection of essays by noted directors, scholars and critics honoring the Village Voice critic who introduced the theory of auteurism to the American scene, John Wayne: Prophet of the American Way Life, and Small-Town America in Film: The Fall and Decline of Community.
His ninth book, Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood’s Dark Dreamer, the first biography of the noted Broadway and Hollywood director Vincente Minnelli, wasn published by St. Martin’s Press in 2009.
Levy’s latest Book, The Gay Gaze: Almodovar, Waters, Van Sant, Terence Davies, and Todd Haynes, will be published by Columbia University in 2013.
Levy is currently working on his tenth book, Stranger Than Fiction: How Michael Moore Shook the World and Made American Documentaries Sexy, which will be published by Continuum International.
Other film-related activities include commentaries on special DVD editions, such as Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry, Fellini’s City of Women, Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, and Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant.
Levy has moderated over 20 panels for the European Film Commission (In Toronto Film Festival) and Sundance Film Festival, and other film forums, on such wide-ranging issues as: The New Hollywood, the American Independent Cinema Movement, Globalization Vs. National Cinemas, Hollywood and the Muslim Community, Politics and Film in the post-9/11 era (with Robert Redford, Spike Lee, Barbara Kopple, and Mira Nair).
Stephen Saito
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Movable Fest
IFC.com
On Rotten Tomatoes
LOCATION
Burbank, CA
ABOUT STEPHEN
Stephen Saito has written about movies for such publications as the L.A. Times, Premiere and IFC.com after attending the University of Texas at Austin. Recently, he founded The Moveable Fest, a site dedicated to discovering fine films from around the world and on any platform, primarily from the indie sector, and currently pens a column on socially conscious films for TakePart.
FAVORITES
Andrew Bergman’s It Could Happen to You (movie), Zadie Smith’s White Teeth (book), Gilmore Girls, Friday Night Lights and Justified (television)
Ryan McNeil
MEDIA AFFILIATION
The Matinee
LOCATION
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
ABOUT RYAN
If you’re in a Toronto movie theatre, and you see a ballcap-wearin’, headphone-sportin’ guy drinking a cup of tea…it’s probably me.
I’ve been keeping up my space and its predecessor since summer of 2007.
In that time, I’ve done a lot of thinking. Thinking about what I want to say, and how I want to say it. I’ve thought about what I want my site to be, about what it is, and what it isn’t.
My website gathers three things in life I love; I love to write, I love conversation, and I love the movies. So by starting this mad little experiment, I hoped that I could express my love for the movies through my love for writing. Sometimes my writing is nothing but slight filler, but other times I’m actually been quite proud of what I’ve written and all of it is intended to foster the grand discussion. So let this serve as my mission statement…a declaration of principles in the spirit of Charles Foster Kane.
There will be days where I’ll write just a few sentences. There will be other days when I write one thousand words. In both instances, I write to express myself honestly, share my passion for film, and to entertain whatever tiny audience has gathered in front of my soapbox.
More than anything else, the most rewarding thing about writing this space has been the people it has allowed me to interact with and meet face to face. So if this is your first time visiting, or your one-thousand-and-first, thanks for stopping by and fuelling this continuing cinematic conversation.
FAVORITES
Almost Famous, Saving Private Ryan, The Godfather, Traffic, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Seven, Goodfellas, The Godfather 2, Heat, Raging Bull, The Dark Knight
Rick Da Conceicao
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Sound on Sight
LOCATION
Montreal, QC
ABOUT RICK
Rick is the founder and creator of Sound On Sight. He is also the host, producer and editor of ‘Sound On Sight Radio’, ‘The Sordid Cinema Podcast’ and the ‘Front Row Center Video-Cast’. He contributes written reviews for the site and covers various film festivals world wide. On the side he works for the city of Montreal as a coordinator of special events for children, day camps, non profit organizations and more.
FAVORITES
Favorite Movies: Salo, La Haine, Le Mepris, La Dolce Vita, Europa, Barry Lyndon, L’Atalante, Rashomon, The Mirror, True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Pierrot Le Fou, Double Indemnity, On The Waterfront, Los Olvidados, Cool Hand Luke, Grapes of Wrath, The Exterminating Angel and Werckmeister harmóniák, to name a few
Favorite TV Programs: My So Called Life, Breaking Bad, Girls, Awkward., Justified, Wonder Years, Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, Parks and Rec, to name a few
Favorite Books: Frankenstein, Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Catcher In The Rye, Lord of the Flies, Voyage a Bout de la Nuit, 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea, A Clockwork Orange, I Robot, At The Mountains of Madness
Favorite Activities: Basketball, podcasting, reading, traveling, skateboarding, soccer, drinking, dinner parties and more
Peter Canavese
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Groucho Reviews
Celluloid Dreams
Palo Alto Online
On Rotten Tomatoes
LOCATION
San Jose, CA
ABOUT PETER
Since 1987, Peter “Groucho” Canavese has been writing film reviews and articles. A voting member of the Online Film Critics Society and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, Peter authors and maintains the website GrouchoReviews and is the chief film critic for both Palo Alto Weekly and Celluloid Dreams, a weekly radio broadcast devoted to film (www.celluloiddreams.net). His reviews have also appeared in the San Jose Mercury News (1991-1994), in Bay Area weekly Alternate101 (2007-2008), in Bay Area monthly ON Magazine (1995-2010), and on Portland’s 1190 KEX drive-time show Mark & Dave (2008). His interview with novelist/screenwriter James Ellroy was included in the 2012 book Conversations with James Ellroy, and he co-authored (with Tom Alessandri) the play The Seven Ages of Bob, performed at the Edinburgh Film Festival.
FAVORITES
Favorite Movies: Citizen Kane, Brazil, Duck Soup, Ikiru, North by Northwest, 8 1/2
Favorite TV: Twin Peaks, The Prisoner, The Wire, Fawlty Towers, Arrested Development, Breaking Bad
Favorite PLays: the complete works of William Shakespeare, West Side Story, Oleanna, Spring Awakening, Little Murders, Glengarry Glen Ross
Kenneth R. Morefield
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Christianity Today
On Rotten Tomatoes
LOCATION
Raleigh, NC
ABOUT KENNETH
“Ken is an Associate Professor of English at Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC. He is the editor of and a contributor to Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema, Volumes I and II (2008, 2011, Cambridge Scholars Publishing). Other works of note include contributions to the anthologies Perceptions of Religious Faith in the Work of Graham Greene (2001, Peter Lang) and The Deep End of South Park: Critical Essays on Television’s Shocking Cartoon Series (2009, McFarland). He also contributed the entry on “Christian Fiction” in Books and Beyond: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of New American Reading. Journal articles include “Searching for the Fairy Child: A Psychoanalytic Study of Babbitt” for Mid-West Quarterly and “‘Emma Could Not Resist’: Complicity and the Christian Reader” for Persuasions.
Ken has written numerous film reviews which have appeared at 1More Film Blog, Christianity Today Movies, Christian Spotlight on Entertainment, Scope, and The Cary News. He is the co-host of The Thin Place podcast at Film Geek Radio.”
FAVORITES
Favorite Movies: Big Night, Citizen Kane, The End of the Affair, Eyes Wide Shut, The Godfather, Lone Star, A Man for All Seasons, Primary Colors, Ragtime, The Silence of the Lambs, High Fidelity, Pride & Prejudice (A&E/BBC), Rounders, The Crying Game, A Man Escaped, The War Within, Ordet, Persepolis
Favorite Books: George MacDonald, Lord of the Rings, Riddley Walker, Wicked, Dune, Emma, The Remains of the Day, Nero Wolfe, Billy Budd
Other Interests: Disc Golf, Cards
Michael Nordine
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Michael Nordine
On Rotten Tomatoes
LOCATION
Los Angeles, CA
ABOUT MICHAEL
Michael Nordine lives in Los Angeles. A graduate of Bennington College, his writing has appeared in Film Threat, Filmmaker Magazine, Hammer to Nail, LA Weekly, Not Coming to a Theater Near You, Slant Magazine, Reverse Shot, and the Village Voice
Joshua Brunsting
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Criterion Cast
Geeks of Doom
Gordon and the Whale
I R Movie Reviews
LOCATION
Fennville, MI
ABOUT JOSHUA
Born in Saugatuck, Michigan, Josh Brunsting has been a fan and lover of the medium that we call film since day one. Holding a degree in Journalism from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI, Josh has now turned his love of any and everything related to film into what will hopefully one day become a career, culminating in complete world domination. Writing online since 2007, he has gone on to cover film festivals ranging from SXSW to Cannes, and doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.
Jason Zingale
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Bullz Eye
On Rotten Tomatoes
LOCATION
Columbus, OH
FAVORITES
Favorite Movies: Swingers, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Kill Bill, Jackie Brown
Favorite TV Shows: Sons of Anarchy, Game of Thrones, The Shield, The Wire
Dustin Freeley
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Movies About Gladiators
LOCATION
Astoria, NY
ABOUT DUSTIN
“Dustin Freeley is an adjunct lecturer in the English Departments of Hunter College, The
College of New Rochelle, and Berkeley College, where he teaches various courses in literature,
composition, research writing, critical analysis, speech, and persuasive communication. He is
also the co-founder, writer, and editor of Moviesaboutgladiators.com. In addition, his essay on
multiple existences and the economy of time in Breaking Bad is scheduled for publication in
early 2013. He lives in Astoria, NY.
FAVORITES
Favorite Items: I’ll watch anything for the chance of it being a solid narrative, parody, or re-imagining of some
sort. However, my favorite films often explore wonky interactions in human nature, and most
recently, the more common occurrence of drugs and socially-inappropriate characters as positive
tropes and protagonists, respectively. The same goes for television. Regarding literature, my
focus is often twentieth century Modernism, but I also spend a fair amount of time looking at
adaptations from page to screen.
Favorite Activities: biking, hiking, playing baseball, reading books, watching movies, going to conferences,
exercising, renovating a house”
Darren Mooney
MEDIA AFFILIATION
The M0vie Blog
LOCATION
Grangerath, Ireland
FAVORITES
Favorite Movies: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, Reservoir Dogs, Brazil, The Godfather Part I & II.
Candice Frederick
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Ticket Stubz
LOCATION
Brooklyn, NY
ABOUT CANDICE
“Boston native Candice Frederick first headed to the Big Apple in 1999 with the
dream of becoming a big-time journalist. While studying to earn a degree in journalism
at St. John’s University, she landed internships at top women’s magazines Cosmopolitan
and CosmoGirl after stints in the publicity department at Epic Records and the news
department at MTV.
After a three-year stint back to Boston after graduation, Candice found herself
back in New York after getting her big break at Essence Magazine as a writer and Editor
in the Culture department. After nearly three years, two National Association of Black
Journalists awards and countless bylines, in 2008 Candice left Essence and kicked off
one of her proudest achievements—Reel Talk, where she serves as the writer and editor
of the premier movie website that features trailer debuts, screening reports, features,
awards and film festival info, and of course, her signature reviews. Always keeping it
real with hilarious insight holding nothing back, Candice makes sure she exposes her
readers to not only mainstream films but indie films. Almost two years later, Reel Talk is
now the go-to film site where visitors can learn about films on DVD, in theaters, films
heading to theaters, and those that should have never been in theaters. Charming,
hilarious and down-to-earth, Candice literally breathes movies.
These days, Candice also has her hands full working as a co-host for the cutting-
edge online radio show dedicated to the world of black film, “Cinema in Noir.” She,
along with co-hosts Rebecca and Kim discuss the latest casting news and discuss their
take on diversity in black film, featuring interviews today’s up-and-coming filmmakers
and black film critics. In early 2012, Candice became a freelance TV/movie writer for
The Urban Daily and a Guest Contributor for Bitch Flicks.”
FAVORITES
Favorite Movies: Closer, Sin City, Shaft, Dirty Dancing, Coraline, Pretty in Pink, Volver, Malcolm X, All About My Mother, Grindhouse, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, The Out of Towners, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Clueless, Fools Rush In (too many more to name!)
Carson Lund
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Are the Hills Going to March Off
Cinelogue
The Phoenix
On Rotten Tomatoes
LOCATION
Boston, MA
FAVORITES
Favorite Directors: Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky, Stanley Kubrick, Bela Tarr, Robert Bresson, Terrence Malick, Eric Rohmer, David Lynch, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Pedro Costa, Claire Denis, Federico Fellini, Tsai Ming-Liang, Woody Allen, Richard Linklater, Krzysztof Kieślowski
Ed Whitfield
MEDIA AFFILIATION
The Ooh Tray
LOCATION
London, United Kingdom
ABOUT ED
Ed Whitfield is the editor and chief contributor to The Ooh Tray: a film and literary review for discerning readers, who nevertheless enjoy leftfield analysis and irreverent humour. As a critic (never a reviewer, he has no interest in cobbling together consumer previews), Ed believes in rigour, a good bit of excavation and supported opinion employed in the on-going fight to differentiate good work from bad. These are qualities he believes to be absent from many print publications. Consequently he writes the kind of notices he’d like to read himself. He’d also like to point out that he can spell. He’s English, so employed the mother country’s spelling in this bio.
In addition to movies, Ed enjoys reading, cats, theatre, art-type things, female company, bad television and fine dining. He likes it even better when you’re paying. He has no children at this time but imagines he’ll name any after Star Trek characters. He thanks you for taking the time to read this fleeting impression of a life.
FAVORITES
My favourite things change daily. This is a device to annoy those friends and relatives stuggling to include me in events, buy birthday presents and complete their Christmas shopping.
Brent McKnight
MEDIA AFFILIATION
Beyond Hollywood
Pop Matters
LOCATION
Seattle, WA
ABOUT BRENT
Brent McKnight lives in Seattle with his dogs. He likes beards, movies where things explode, and overcast skies. His three favorite movies are “Rubin and Ed”, “A Bittersweet Life”, and “Out for Justice”. He wishes his knees didn’t hurt, and still considers Steven Seagal a viable movie star.
Aiden Redmond
MEDIA AFFILIATION
CTCMR
LOCATION
Colchester, VT, United States
ABOUT AIDEN
Aiden started Cut The Crap Movie Reviews out of sheer boredom at his new job and it ended up turning into a black hole of a commitment. He’s just now branching out into the world of podcasting, but more news on that later.
He is mighty proud to be part of the OFCS.
FAVORITES
Paul Newman, High Noon, Breaker Morant: pretty much the three most important things in life.
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