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Richard Corliss | |
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| Born | Richard Nelson Corliss (1944-03-06)March 6, 1944 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | April 23, 2015(2015-04-23) (aged 71) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | St. Joseph's College Columbia University New York University |
| Occupation(s) | Editor, writer, critic |
| Years active | 1966–2015 |
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Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic andmagazine editor forTime. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects.[4]
He was the former editor-in-chief ofFilm Comment and authored several books includingTalking Pictures,[5] which, along with other publications, drew early attention to the screenwriter, as opposed to the director.
Corliss was born in 1944 inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania,[6] the son of Elizabeth Brown (née McCluskey) and Paul William Corliss.[6] He attendedSt. Joseph's College, Philadelphia (nowSaint Joseph's University), obtaining a bachelor's degree, before progressing toColumbia University to earn a master's degree infilm studies. Corliss resided in New York City with his wife, Mary, whom he married on Sunday, August 31, 1969. Mary was formerly a curator in the Film Stills Archive of theMuseum of Modern Art.
In a 1990 article, Corliss mentions his mother clipping movie ads with quotes of his and posting them to her refrigerator door.[7]
On April 23, 2015, Corliss died under hospice care in New York City after suffering a stroke.[8] He was 71.
Corliss wrote for many magazines—National Review from 1966 to 1970,New Times,Maclean's andSoHo Weekly News in 1980. AtFilm Comment, Corliss helped draw attention to the screenwriter in the creation of movies. Corliss challengedAndrew Sarris's idea of the Director as author or auteur of this work. Corliss was one of Sarris' students atNew York University (NYU); the two remained friends until Sarris' death.
Corliss broughtJonathan Rosenbaum toFilm Comment as a Paris correspondent. Despite working forNational Review, a conservative magazine, Corliss was a self-described "liberal".[9] In 1980, Corliss joinedTime. Although he started as an associate editor, he was promoted to senior writer by 1985.
Corliss wrote for time.com as well as the print magazine including a retired column about nostalgic pop culture calledThat Old Feeling. He wrote occasional articles forTime. He was an occasional guest onCharlie Rose's talk show commenting on new releases, mostly during the 1990s withJanet Maslin andDavid Denby. His last appearance on the show was in December 2005 to talk about the year in film. Corliss also appeared onA&E Biography to talk about the life and work ofJackie Chan,[10] and appeared in Richard Schickel's documentary aboutWarner Brothers.
Corliss attended theCannes Film Festival along withRoger Ebert andTodd McCarthy for the longest period of any US journalist. He also attended festivals in Toronto and Venice. Corliss used to work on the board of theNew York Film Festival, but resigned in 1987 after longtime headRichard Roud was fired due to his challenging of editorial direction of the festival.
Lolita, Corliss's third book, was a study ofVladimir Nabokov'sbook andStanley Kubrick'sfilm. Later Corliss has written an introductory essay forCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Portrait of theAng Lee Film.[11]
Corliss also admired thePixar movies, including listingFinding Nemo as one of his and fellowTime criticRichard Schickel's 100 all-time greatest movies. With recent Pixar releasesCars andRatatouille Corliss had access into the studio's inner workings.[12] Pixar directorBrad Bird has said of critics in general that he has "got nothing against critics." He also that he had "done very well with them, over the years."[13]
In addition to writing forTime, Corliss had a lengthy association withFilm Comment magazine, serving as its editor from 1970 to 1990. Corliss covered movies for the magazine and for time.com simultaneously. Corliss along withMartin Scorsese first came up with the idea for the issue on "guilty pleasures".[14]
Corliss along withRichard Schickel made a 100 Greatest movies list. Corliss alone created lists of the 25 greatest villains, the 25 best horror films, and the 25 most important films on race. In addition Corliss was on the 2001 jury forAFI's 100 Greatest movies list. In a 1993Time magazinemovie review ofThe Crying Game, Corliss subtly gave away thespoiler of the film, by spelling it out with the first letters of each paragraph of his review.[15]
In the 2012Sight & Sound poll, Corliss cast votes forChungking Express,Citizen Kane,Historie(s) du Cinema,The Lady Eve,Mouchette,Pyaasa,The Searchers,The Seventh Seal andWALL-E.[16]
Corliss was critical of the escalating expenditure on action films, writing in his review ofTerminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) that "the cost of the product is not passed on to the consumer. Moviegoers pay as much for a ticket to a no-budget documentary likeParis Is Burning (1990) as they do for admission to any superspectacle."[17]
Corliss had movies on his top ten lists that fellowTime criticRichard Schickel rated the worst of the year. These included 2001'sMoulin Rouge!, 2003'sCold Mountain and 2004'sEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In August 2004,Stephen King, criticizing what he saw as a growing trend of leniency towards films by critics, included Corliss among a number of "formerly reliable critics who seem to have gone remarkably soft – not to say softhearted and sometimes softheaded – in their old age."[18]
Corliss appears in the 2009 documentary filmFor the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism, confessing that he was the film critic who, in the 1970s, coined the term "Paulettes" for the ardent followers ofPauline Kael, a label which has stuck.[citation needed]
Corliss criticizedSiskel and Ebert in hisFilm Comment article, "All Thumbs?: Or, Is There a Future For Film Criticism?",[19] and Ebert responded with "All Stars: Or Is There a Cure For Criticism?"[20] Corliss praised Ebert in a June 23, 2007 article "Thumbs up for Roger Ebert."[21] Corliss's dialogue with Ebert inFilm Comment was reprinted in Ebert'sAwake in the Dark:The Best of Roger Ebert.[22] Corliss appeared in the Ebert documentaryLife Itself, where he praised Ebert's "polymathic genius."
Best English language film in parentheses:
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