Manohla June Dargis () is an American

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

. She is one of the chief film critics for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. She is a five-time finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize for Criticism The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer in the United States who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by C ...

Career

Before being a film critic for ''

'', Dargis was a chief film critic for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', the film editor at the ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'', and a film critic at ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', where she had two columns on

avant-garde cinema Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

("CounterCurrents" and "Shock Corridor"). Her work has been included in a number of books, including ''Women and Film: A Sight and Sound Reader'' and ''American Movie Critics: An Anthology from the Silents Until Now,'' published by the

Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published over 300 volumes by authors rang ...

. She wrote a monograph on

Curtis Hanson Curtis Lee Hanson (March 24, 1945 – September 20, 2016) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His directing work included the psychological thriller '' The Hand That Rocks the Cradle'' (1992), the neo-noir crime film ''L. ...

's film ''

L.A. Confidential ''L.A. Confidential'' (1990) is a neo-noir novel by James Ellroy and the third of his L.A. Quartet series. It is dedicated to Mary Doherty Ellroy. The epigraph is "A glory that costs everything and means nothing"— Steve Erickson. Plot The s ...

'' for the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

and served as the president and vice-president of the

Los Angeles Film Critics Association The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is an American film critic organization founded in 1975. Background Its membership comprises film critics from Los Angeles-based print and electronic media. In December of each year, the organiza ...

. In 2012, Dargis received the Nelson A. Rockefeller Award from

Purchase College Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly betwee ...

; the award is, according to the college, "presented to individuals who have distinguished themselves through their contributions to the arts." In 2013, Matt Barone of ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' named her the eighth-greatest film critic of all time. She was also a finalist for the

in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019.

Preferences

Favorites

Dargis participated in the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' poll, where she listed her 10 favorite films: *''

Au Hasard Balthazar ''Au Hasard Balthazar'' (; meaning "Balthazar, at Random"), also known as ''Balthazar'', is a 1966 French drama film directed by Robert Bresson. Believed to be inspired by a passage from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1868–69 novel ''The Idiot'', the film ...

'' (France, 1966) *'' Barry Lyndon'' (USA, 1975) *''

Flowers of Shanghai ''Flowers of Shanghai'' is a 1998 Taiwanese drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien starring Tony Leung as a wealthy patron and Hada Michiko, Annie Shizuka Inoh, Shuan Fang, Jack Kao, Carina Lau, Rebecca Pan, Michelle Reis, and Vicky Wei ...

'' (Taiwan, 1998) *''

The Flowers of St. Francis ''The Flowers of St. Francis'' (in Italian, ''Francesco, giullare di Dio'', or "Francis, God's Jester") is a 1950 film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Federico Fellini. The film is based on two books, the 14th-century novel ''Fi ...

'' (Italy, 1950) *''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is partially based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. ''Part II'' s ...

'' (USA, 1974) *''Little Stabs at Happiness'' (USA, 1959-1963) *''

Masculin Féminin ''Masculin Féminin'' (french: Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis, , " Masculine Feminine: 15 Specific Events") is a 1966 French New Wave romantic drama film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. An international co-production between France and Swed ...

'' (France, 1966) *''

There Will Be Blood ''There Will Be Blood'' is a 2007 American period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely based on the 1927 novel '' Oil!'' by Upton Sinclair. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, a silver miner turned oilm ...

'' (USA, 2007) *''

Touch of Evil ''Touch of Evil'' is a 1958 American film noir written and directed by Orson Welles, who also stars in the film. The screenplay was loosely based on the contemporary Whit Masterson novel ''Badge of Evil'' (1956). The cast included Charlton Hes ...

'' (USA, 1958) *'' The Wizard of Oz'' (USA, 1939)

Best of the Year

* 2004 - '' Million Dollar Baby'' * 2005 - ''

A History of Violence ''A History of Violence'' is a 2005 action thriller film directed by David Cronenberg and written by Josh Olson. It is an adaptation of the 1997 graphic novel of the same title by John Wagner and Vince Locke. The film stars Viggo Mortensen, ...

'' * 2006 - ''

Army of Shadows ''Army of Shadows'' (french: L'Armée des ombres; it, L'armata degli eroi) is a 1969 World War II suspense-drama film written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, and starring Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret, Paul Meurisse and Jean-Pierre Cassel ...

'' * 2007 - ''

'' * 2008 - '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' * 2009 - Unranked * 2010 - Unranked * 2011 - ''

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

'' * 2012 - '' Amour'' * 2013 - ''

A Touch of Sin ''A Touch of Sin'' () is a 2013 Chinese anthology film written and directed by Jia Zhangke and starring Jiang Wu, Wang Baoqiang, Luo Lanshan, and Zhao Tao, Jia's wife and longtime collaborator. The film consists of four loosely interconnected ta ...

'' * 2014 - '' Boyhood'' * 2015 - (tie) '' The Assassin''; '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' * 2016 - '' No Home Movie'' * 2017 - ''

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

'' * 2019 - ''

Pain and Glory ''Pain and Glory'' ( es, Dolor y gloria) is a 2019 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. It stars Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Nora Navas, Julieta Serrano, and Penélope Cruz. The film was releas ...

'' * 2020 - ''

Martin Eden ''Martin Eden'' is a 1909 novel by American author Jack London about a young proletarian autodidact struggling to become a writer. It was first serialized in '' The Pacific Monthly'' magazine from September 1908 to September 1909 and then publis ...

'' * 2021 - '' Drive My Car''

Personal life

Dargis grew up in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

's East Village, demonstrating an early love of film through regular attendance at St. Mark's Cinema and Theater 80. She graduated from

Hunter College High School Hunter College High School is a secondary school located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It is administered by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY). Hunter is publicly funded, and there i ...

and received her BA in literature from State University of New York at Purchase in January 1985. She received a master of arts in cinema studies in 1988 from the New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science. Dargis married wine expert Lou Amdur in 1994. They live in Los Angeles.

References

External links

*
List of Dargis film reviews at ''The New York Times''Interview with Dargis
by Steve Erickson, ''Senses of Cinema'', November 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dargis, Manohla Living people 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American film critics American women journalists Critics employed by The New York Times Hunter College High School alumni Los Angeles Times people New York University alumni People from the East Village, Manhattan Place of birth missing (living people) State University of New York at Purchase alumni The Village Voice people American women film critics Writers from Los Angeles Writers from Manhattan Year of birth missing (living people)