David Edelstein (born 1959) is a freelance American film critic who has been the principal film critic forSlate andNew York magazine, among others, and has appeared regularly onNPR'sFresh Air andCBS Sunday Morning programs. Over a long career, Edelstein has published more than 2000 film reviews.^[1][2] In 2021,Colin McEnroe called Edelstein "America's greatest living film critic".^[3]

Edelstein became a journalist after graduating fromHarvard University in 1981.^[4] He is often associated with close friend, fellow film critic, and iconoclastPauline Kael.^[5] He is also credited with coining the term "torture porn," a genre to describe such movies asHostel andSaw.^[6]

He has previously been a film critic forSlate (1996–2005),NPR'sFresh Air (2002–2018),New York (2006–2020),^[7] theNew York Post,The Village Voice, andThe Boston Phoenix. His work has also appeared inThe New York Times' Arts & Leisure section,Rolling Stone,Vanity Fair,The New York Times Magazine,Variety, andEsquire, among others. He has been a member of theNew York Film Critics Circle and theNational Society of Film Critics.^[8][9] Edelstein appeared six times as a guest on the television programCharlie Rose to talk about the movies and the Oscar telecast.^[10]

On November 26, 2018, Edelstein came under controversy when he made a joke about the rape scene inLast Tango in Paris on hisFacebook page. The joke was part of his post noting the passing of the film's directorBernardo Bertolucci. Edelstein's post was widely criticized, and Edelstein promptly apologized and deleted the original post. He said he had been unaware of actressMaria Schneider's 2007 statement that the rape scene was unscripted and caused her to feel "a little raped" by her costarMarlon Brando and Bertolucci. The following day,Fresh Air characterized the post as "offensive and unacceptable", and announced that Edelstein had been dismissed as a contributor. The statement reads, "The post does not meet the standards that we expect from Fresh Air contributors...We have decided to end Fresh Air’s association with him, and have informed David accordingly.”^[11][12] His firing was criticized by several media outlets, includingSalon, the editorial board of theNew York Post, andThe American Conservative.^[13][14][15]

He is the co-author with independent film producerChristine Vachon of the bookShooting to Kill (1998).^[16] He is also the author of two plays,Feed the Monkey (Loeb Experimental Theater, Harvard College, 1993) andBlaming Mom (Watermark Theater, New York City, 1994).^[17]

• Morton, Paul (August 2007)."An Interview with David Edelstein".Bookslut.Archived from the original on May 9, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 26, 2022.

• "David Edelstein".Rotten Tomatoes. Short biography and list of reviews.
• Edelstein's Top 10 films of2016,2015,2014,2013,2012,2011,2010,2009,2008,2007,2006,2005,2004,2003,2002,2001,2000,1999, and1998.
• David Edelstein atIMDb
• Archive of pieces by David Edelstein at New York Magazine
• Edelstein, David;Gibney, Alex (February 19, 2008)."The Fog of Ambiguity".Bloggingheads.tv. Video discussion/interview

• 1959 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American Jews
• 20th-century American male writers
• 20th-century American non-fiction writers
• 21st-century American Jews
• 21st-century American male writers
• 21st-century American non-fiction writers
• American film critics
• American film historians
• American male non-fiction writers
• CBS News people
• Film theorists
• Harvard College alumni
• Jewish American historians
• Jewish American non-fiction writers
• Loomis Chaffee School alumni
• National Society of Film Critics Members
• New York (magazine) people
• NPR people
• Slate (magazine) people

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from March 2022