Harry Knowles
Harry Jay Knowles (born December 11, 1971 in Austin, Texas) is an online film critic best known for his movie news and review website, Ain't It Cool News. He also appears in Sky Movies News for Sky Digital, and since April 2006, as the film critic for Penthouse magazine.
Biography
Knowles's early years were spent traveling the Southwest and Mexico with his parents, Jay and Helen, who did light shows for touring rock bands. His parents then settled in Austin and began trading comic books and movie memorabilia from the upstairs floor of their Victorian era house. Knowles's parents also produced the Austin Fantasy Film Fest in 1976, one of the first science fiction conventions in Austin. Knowles spent many hours watching B-grade horror movies as well as other genres from mostly bootlegged 16 mm prints.
In 1983, Knowles's parents divorced and his mother received custody of him and his younger sister Dannie. The kids lived with their mother on her family's ranch in West Texas. His mother took possession of the comics and films also. With nothing better to do on the ranch, Knowles spent more time immersed in reading comics and watching movies. Knowles's other activities included the Boy Scouts of America and he attained the rank of Eagle Scout.
At age seventeen, Knowles moved back in with his father. His mother died shortly thereafter in a fire.
In 1994, Knowles fell while pushing a cart up a ramp at a convention, and was subsequently run over by the cart with its 1200 pound load of memorabilia. The accident injured his back and left him virtually bedridden. With money from his mother's life insurance, he purchased a top-of-the-line computer and a friend arranged for Internet service allegedly so they could play Doom online together. After teaching himself how to navigate the Internet, Knowles began frequenting newsgroups to exchange gossip and rumors with other fans about upcoming films. After being chastised by future film critic Mike D'Angelo for posting binary image files to the newsgroups, Knowles launched the website that would become Ain't It Cool News in February 1996. A principal offering was Harry's colorful movie reviews, but the secret weapon was the insider news. People went to the site for secret news received from Knowles' alleged 'spies' inside the industry.
Due to the popularity, or perhaps the notoriety, of the website, Knowles was sought out by the mainstream media, including magazines, newspapers, and television news programs. He is widely believed, through pre-release reports from his spies, to have been a driving force behind the poor box office reception of 'Batman and Robin' and the astounding success of 'Titanic'. In 2000, he was ranked #95 in the Forbes Power List. This is in recognition of the influential power of his website. Due to his unorthodox style of journalism, Quentin Tarantino referred to Knowles as "the Wolf Blitzer of the Internet." Knowles has made guest appearances on Siskel & Ebert at the Movies and Politically Incorrect. Harry also claims to have over 7000 friends on MySpace.
On March 15, 2003, Knowles's place in the pop culture pantheon was solidified when he was impersonated by Horatio Sanz in a sketch on Saturday Night Live, wherein he was referred to as "that chubby guy from Ain't It Cool News." Knowles feigned offense on his website at being called "chubby." "I'm morbidly obese," he quipped on his site, "and I've worked hard to get there!".
Knowles married his blind girlfriend Patricia Jones on July 15, 2007 at Green Pastures in Austin.[1]
Film Events
Every year since 1999, on the weekend closest to his birthday (December 11th), Harry Knowles hosts an event called the Butt-Numb-A-Thon. The event, also known as Geek Christmas, is a 24-hour celebration of film, featuring un-official premieres, and vintage films- from classics reprinted for the big-screen, to the rare, weird and unheard of. Film fans and professionals alike travel from all over the United States and the world to attend the event, which is hosted in the critic's hometown of Austin, Texas at the original Alamo Drafthouse. The Butt-Numb-A-Thon has been called "...the world's most exclusive and mysteriously secretive film celebration" and "the hardest film event to get into in the country".
Additionally, Harry Knowles co-programs Austin's Fantastic Fest, an eight-day film festival focusing on the genres of horror, science fiction and fantasy. This event is also held annually in September at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's South Lamar location in Austin.
Film credits
- The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (1991)
- Colin Fitz (1997)
- The Faculty (1998)
- Monkeybone (2001)
- Ghosts of Mars (2001)
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
- No Pain, No Gain (2005)
- Pathogen (2006)
Resources
- Harry Knowles, Paul Cullum, Mark Ebner. (March 5, 2002). Ain't It Cool? Hollywood's Redheaded Stepchild Speaks Out (1st edition). Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-52597-9.
References
- ^ Knowles, Harry. Dum Duh Da Dummmmmm -- Ain't It Cools News