A. O. Scott

Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic, known for his film and literary criticism. After starting his career at The New York Review of Books, Variety, and Slate, he began writing film reviews for The New York Times in 2000, and became the paper's chief film critic in 2004, a title he shared with Manohla Dargis. In 2023, he moved to The New York Times Book Review.

Early life and education Scott was born on July 10, 1966, in Northampton, Massachusetts. Both of his 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, and has Jewish origins. His father, Donald Scott, was a professor of American history at the City University of New York. He is a great nephew of the married acting couple Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson (his maternal grandfather was Eli's brother). He attended public schools in Providence, Rhode Island, including Classical High School, before graduating magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1988 with a degree in literature.

Asked what pointed him towards film criticism, he says "looking back, there was a decisive moment or period that kind of maybe, although I didn't know it at the time, set me on the path toward film criticism. It was probablywhen I was 15 years old, my mother had a work obligation that took her to Paris for a few months... And she took me with her. And it was just the two of us in a little apartment. And she was working all day, and I didn't know anybody, and was just sort of a lonely teenager. And so I went and took French classes in the morning. And then in the afternoon, I just sort of had the freedom of the city, which was great. And one of the things that I found myself doing was gravitating toward these little independent movie theaters that are kind of scattered across the Left Bank. They showed a lot of old American movies. And so I went a few times a week, whenever I was bored, which was a lot, and just sort of wandering in off the street."

Career Print Scott began his career at The New York Review of Books, where he served as an assistant to Robert B. Silvers. Scott then served as book critic for Newsday, while also serving as a contributor to The New York Review of Books and Slate. In 1993, he wrote television reviews for Variety, using the name Tony Scott.

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 resignation. Scott and the other film critics at the Times host a video podcast on the subject of film, called Critics' Picks. On March 9, 2020, The New York Times announced that Scott would take a one-year break from his role as co-chief film critic and assume the title of critic at large, writing "bigger, cross-topic essays." Scott says he started at an exciting time for film: "I was really walking in at a high point in the film industry. Now 1999 is looked back on as one of the great years, up there with 1939 and 1962 and 1974 in the canon of magic years of cinema. And I think what had happened through the '90s was the flowering of, what's sometimes called, the indie boom of independent American filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Todd Haynes, Lisa Cholodenko, Julie Dash, Cheryl Dunye... I think by the end of the '90s, there was a sense that this formerly adventurous, often politically provocative and socially conscious filmmaking, was really maturing and was taking its place in the Hollywood mainstream." He cites David O. Russell's Three Kings and Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia as exciting films from 1999. On June 9, 2017, Scott and Dargis made a list of the best films of the twenty first century so far.

Scott left his role as a film critic in March 2023 and joined The New York Times Book Review. About his departure from film criticism, he said: "I have found that the way that I've practiced it has gotten harder to do. And also, the feeling of disconnection between the critic and the audience feels much stronger And the gulf feels much wider."

Television In 2006 and 2007, Scott served as a guest critic on Ebert & Roeper during Roger Ebert's absence due to thyroid cancer.

Between 2002 and 2014, Scott made 15 appearances on Charlie Rose, where he predicted the Academy Award winners and spoke about recently released films. He often appeared alongside David Denby of The New Yorker and Janet Maslin of The New York Times and guest-hosted the program on a number of occasions.

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 with the show. Scott and Phillips began their duties when the show started its new season on September 5, 2009. The show was canceled after one season due to low ratings, concluding its run in August 2010.

Academia Scott was a professor of film criticism at Wesleyan University. As of 2023, he is no longer listed as being on the faculty at Wesleyan.

Preferences Favorites In a 2009 conversation with Rotten Tomatoes, Scott named his five favorite films as La Dolce Vita, The Godfather, Sullivan's Travels, McCabe & Mrs. Miller and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Best of the year From 2000 to 2022, Scott compiled an annual film list which provides an overview of his critical preferences. 2000 - Yi Yi 2001 – A.I. Artificial Intelligence 2002 – Talk to Her 2003 – Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2004 – Million Dollar Baby 2005 – The Best of Youth 2006 – Letters from Iwo Jima 2007 – 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 2008 – Wall-E 2009 – Where the Wild Things Are 2010 – Inside Job 2011 – Bridesmaids 2012 – Amour 2013 – Inside Llewyn Davis 2014 – Boyhood 2015 – Timbuktu 2016 – Moonlight 2017 – The Florida Project 2018 – Monrovia, Indiana 2019 – Honeyland 2020 – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm 2021 – Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) 2022 – Nope

Personal life Scott is married to Justine Henning, and they have two children.

He was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism "for his incisive film reviews that, with aplomb, embrace a wide spectrum of movies and often explore their connection to larger issues in society or the arts".

A.O. Scott is Jewish.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2001 Tales of the City: Hanif Kureshi's Rough Guide to London Himself 2002–2014 Charlie Rose Guest/Guest Host 15 episodes 2006–2010 At the Movies Guest Host/Co-Host 66 episodes 2008 American Masters Himself Episode: "You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story" 2009 For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism Himself 2010 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Guest Expert 5 episodes The View Himself 1 episode TCM Guest Programmer Himself Episode: "U.S. Critics" Up To The Minute Guest Film Critic 1 episode 2011 The Early Show Himself 1 episode 2013–2016 Jeopardy! Video Clue Presenter 5 episodes 2014 Life Itself Himself CBS This Morning Himself 3 episodes 2015 Remembering David Carr Himself 2016 PBS NewsHour Himself 1 episode Generation X Himself 2 episodes 2017 Spielberg Himself 2021 WTF with Marc Maron Himself Episode: "A.O. Scott"