Film criticism became the means whereby a stream of young intellectuals could go straight from the campus film society into the professionals' screening room with- out managing to get a glimpse of the real world in between.

Movies suddenly became "film" and "cinema" an "art form" and terribly chic. . .

A dumb blonde who falls for a huge plastic finger.

To be a critic, you have to have maybe three percent education, five percent intelligence, two percent style, and ninety percent gall and egomania in equal parts

[When asked if he had ever learned anything about his work from film criticism]
No. To see a film once and write a review is an absurdity. Yet very few critics ever see a film twice or write about films from a leisurely, thoughtful perspective. The reviews that distinguish most critics, unfortunately, are those slambang pans which are easy to write and fun to write and absolutely useless. There's not much in a critic showing off how clever he is at writing silly, supercilious gags about something he hates.

I went to college thinking of maybe pursuing a career in film criticism.