A. O. Scott

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A. O. Scott
Born Anthony Oliver Scott
(1966-07-10) July 10, 1966 (age 46)
United States
Occupation Journalist, film critic

Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and film critic. He serves as chief film critic for the New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.

Contents

Background and education [edit]

Both of Scott's parents were professors. His mother, Joan Wallach Scott, is the Harold F. Linder Professor at the School of Social Science in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.[1] His father, Donald Scott, is a professor of American history at The City University of New York (CUNY). He is a great nephew of the actor Eli Wallach (his maternal grandfather was Eli's brother).[2] Scott is Jewish on his mother's side.[3] Scott attended public schools in Providence, Rhode Island, including Classical High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1988 with a degree in literature.

He has a son named Ezra and a daughter named Carmen.

Career [edit]

Scott began his career at The New York Review of Books, where he served as an assistant to Robert B. Silvers.[4] He then served as book critic for Newsday, and also as a contributor to The New York Review of Books and Slate magazine.

He joined the New York Times' Arts section in January 2000, following Janet Maslin's retirement from film criticism. (Maslin continues to review genre fiction for the paper.) In 2004 he became chief critic, following Elvis Mitchell's retirement. He and the other film critics at the Times host a video podcast on the subject of film, called Critics' Picks.[5]

Scott is currently working on a book of literary criticism about the 20th century American novel. He is particularly fond of the work of Mary McCarthy, calling her novel The Group one of the greatest of the 20th century. He contributed a foreword to her collection A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays.

Television [edit]

In 2006 and 2007, Scott served repeatedly as guest critic on Ebert & Roeper with Richard Roeper in Roger Ebert's absence due to illness. He and Roeper counted down their selections for the top ten films of 2006 and again for 2007. Although Scott did not appear on the show for most of 2008, he continued to release his own list through the New York Times. On October 24, 2009, Scott began counting down his "Best of the Decade" list on At the Movies.

On August 5, 2009 it was announced that Scott, along with Chicago Tribune critic Michael Phillips, would take over hosting duties on At the Movies from Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz who would no longer be involved in the show. Scott and Phillips began their duties when the show started its new season on September 5, 2009, but ratings were low and the show aired for only one season.[6]

Top ten lists [edit]

Below are A. O. Scott's top ten lists as published in the New York Times (more than one entry with the same ranking indicates a tie). In addition, there is his "Best of the Decade" list from At the Movies.

2006[7] 2007[8] 2008[9] 2009[10] 2000s 2010[11]
1 Letters from Iwo Jima 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days Wall-E Where the Wild Things Are Wall-E Inside Job
2 Pan's Labyrinth Ratatouille Silent Light The Hurt Locker A.I.: Artificial Intelligence Toy Story 3
3 L'Enfant Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood The Secret of the Grain Summer Hours Brokeback Mountain Carlos
4 Days of Glory I'm Not There Man on Wire Up in the Air The Pianist Somewhere
5 Little Miss Sunshine No End in Sight The Edge of Heaven Bright Star Where the Wild Things Are The Kids Are All Right
6 Three Times 12:08 East of Bucharest, Live-In Maid Happy-Go-Lucky Gomorrah The Best of Youth Greenberg
7 51 Birch Street Into the Wild, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Wendy and Lucy Precious 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 127 Hours
8 Volver The Lives of Others, Michael Clayton Milk Funny People Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Last Train Home
9 Little Children The Savages, Away from Her Rachel Getting Married Avatar 25th Hour Secret Sunshine
10 A Prairie Home Companion Knocked Up, Juno, Superbad Cadillac Records Goodbye Solo Million Dollar Baby Exit Through the Gift Shop

References [edit]

  1. ^ The School of Social Science
  2. ^ Emmis Communications (March 2000). The Alcalde. Emmis Communications. pp. 28–. ISSN 1535993X. Retrieved 28 May 2012. 
  3. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/movies/04scot.html?pagewanted=all
  4. ^ "The Amazing Human Launching Pads". "Who Runs New York", New York magazine, September 26, 2010
  5. ^ Best Movie Reviews – Critics' Picks
  6. ^ Phil Rosenthal (August 5, 2009). "Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips, N.Y. Times' A. O. Scott take over 'At the Movies'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
  7. ^ A. O. Scott (December 24, 2006). "Here's to the Ambitious and the Altmans". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
  8. ^ A. O. Scott (December 23, 2007). "Stopping at 10 Just Seems Wrong". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
  9. ^ A. O. Scott (December 18, 2008). "In the Face of Loss, Celebrating Ties That Bind". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
  10. ^ A. O. Scott (December 20, 2009). "Homes Are Where You Find Them". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2010. 
  11. ^ A. O. Scott (December 16, 2010). "The Cinematic State of Things". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2011. 

External links [edit]

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