Kevin Thomas (film critic)

Kevin Thomas
Born
Kevin Thomas

(1936-06-12) June 12, 1936 (age 88)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materGettysburg College
Pennsylvania State University
Occupation(s)Film critic, writer

Kevin Thomas (born June 12, 1936)[1] is an American film critic who has written reviews for the Los Angeles Times since 1962. His long tenure makes him the longest-running film critic among major United States newspapers.[2]

Thomas was born in Los Angeles in 1936. He earned a bachelor's degree from Gettysburg College in 1958 and master's degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1960.[2][3]

Thomas is known for giving fairly positive reviews compared to other critics, and certainly less critical than Kenneth Turan, who joined the Los Angeles Times in 1991.[4][5][6]

In 2003, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association gave Thomas a Lifetime Achievement Award.[7] Thomas holds an honorary position on the advisory board of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics and its Dorian Awards.[8]

In his 2022 book Cinema Speculation – which includes an entire chapter about Thomas – Quentin Tarantino said that Kevin Thomas was the only critic at the Los Angeles Times who seemed to enjoy his job.[9]

  1. ^ Kevin Blair Thomas birth registration
  2. ^ a b Interview with Kevin Thomas, Alternative Projections – Los Angeles Filmforum, Retrieved October 21, 2013
  3. ^ "Gettysburg College Honors Three Distinguished Alumni". gettysburg.edu. May 20, 2000. Archived from the original on March 20, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  4. ^ Anderson, John and Laura Kim. I Wake Up Screening: What To Do Once You've Made That Movie, p. 195 (2006) (ISBN 2854188535) (Thomas "can also be very generous to filmmakers")
  5. ^ Berlin, Joey (June 4, 2001). "For Studios, Junkets Are Just Cost-Effective". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. I did chuckle, however, at the juxtaposition of Rosenberg's smug "expose" and Kevin Thomas' rave review of "Pearl Harbor".
  6. ^ von Busack, Richard (July 19, 2006). "Critical Masses – Upon reading the 1,000,000th 'the critic is dead' posting in a blog". Metro Silicon Valley. Even 30 years ago, he was known as "the Will Rogers of film criticism"—he never saw a movie he didn't like.
  7. ^ "Pioneering Film Critic Kevin Thomas to be Recognized by Lesbian & Gay Journalists at National Convention". HighBeam Research. July 10, 2003. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013.
  8. ^ "Members". GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics: Home of The Dorian Awards. Retrieved Oct. 5, 2019
  9. ^ "A film critic reflects on Quentin Tarantino's film reflections". November 16, 2022.