Armond White (born in Detroit, Michigan) is one of America's leading film critics and has been the chairman of the "New York Film Critics Circle" since the mid-1990s. Known as one of the many "Paulettes" (acolytes of Pauline Kael), White made his reputation as a critic who shares many of Kael's enthusiasms, though he has established his own individual critical voice. He currently writes for New York Press. “Detroit” redirects here. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films. ... New York Film Critics Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Pauline Kael (June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. ... New York Press is a free alternative weekly in New York City. ...

Career

Originally making his mark as a critic for the black-owned New York-based weekly newspaper, The City Sun, White, himself an African-American, quickly established a persona as a fearless critic of filmmakers who he thought sullied the black American experience, including Eddie Murphy and Spike Lee. At the same time, he also exposed The City Sun's primarily black readership to the esoteric work of such film directors as Jean-Luc Godard, Terence Davies, and musicians such as Morrissey, The Pet Shop Boys and Erasure. With his wide-spread, eclectic taste in multiple art forms, White became the subject of much media dispute and reader fascination. This article is about the state. ... Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... Edward Eddie Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an Academy Award nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and comedian. ... Shelton Jackson Lee (born March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia), better known as Spike Lee, is an Emmy Award - winning, and Academy Award - nominated American film director, producer, writer, and actor noted for his films dealing with controversial social and political issues. ... Etymology Esoteric is an adjective originating during Hellenic Greece under the domain of the Roman Empire; it comes from the Greek esôterikos, from esôtero, the comparative form of esô: within. It is a word meaning anything that is inner and occult, a latinate word meaning hidden (from which... Jean-Luc Godard (French IPA: ) (born 3 December 1930) is a French filmmaker and one of the most influential members of the Nouvelle Vague, or French New Wave. Born to Franco-Swiss parents in Paris, he was educated in Nyon, Switzerland, later studying at the Lycée Rohmer, and the... Terence Davies (November 10, 1945 -) is a British screenwriter - film director, sometime novelist and actor. ... For other uses, see Morrissey (disambiguation). ... Pet Shop Boys (often used without the definite article the) are a highly influential UK electronic music act. ... This article is about the a musical group Erasure. ... Look up Eclectic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

As a curator and lecturer, White has been commissioned by the Film Society of Lincoln Center to present a yearly show of the best in music videos and discuss their directors as part of the Society's annual Video Festival. Since 1993, White's program has been the festival's most popular, receiving invitations for presentations in several such international venues as Tokyo and Mexico City. In books, essays and lectures, White pioneered the case for the music video being one of the most significant postmodern art forms. A curator of a cultural heritage institution (e. ... Lecturer is a term of academic rank. ... The Film Society of Lincoln Center based in New York City, United States, is one of the worlds most prominent film presentation organizations. ... A music video (also video clip, promo) is a short film or video meant to present a visual representation of a popular music song. ... A music-video director is a film director that specializes in supervising the filming and editing of music videos to be used as promotional tools for popular music singles. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Motto: Capital en movimiento Location of Mexico City in south central Mexico Coordinates: , Country Federal entity Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded c. ... Postmodernity (also called post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art critics and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century...

Books

Two books about popular culture are authored by White: Popular culture, sometimes abbreviated to pop culture, consists of widespread cultural elements in any given society. ...

• The Resistance: Ten Years of Pop Culture That Shook the World, published in 1995
• Rebel for the Hell of It: The Art-Life of Tupac Shakur, published in 1996

Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac, Makaveli, or simply as Pac, was an American artist renowned for his rap music, movie roles, poetry, and his social activism. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...

Favorite directors

As a film scholar, White is best known for his support of such directors as Steven Spielberg, Brian DePalma, Robert Altman and André Téchiné. He generally dismisses mainstream critical favorites like Todd Haynes, Jim Jarmusch, Michael Mann, and Lars Von Trier. White's reviews stand out for their numerous references to standard-bearing "classic" directors such as D.W. Griffith, Carl Dreyer, Fritz Lang, Jean Renoir, and Jean-Luc Godard. He has also hailed little-known African filmmaker Ousmane Sembène of Senegal, and the American filmmakers Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep), Wendell B. Harris Jr. ("Chameleon Street"), and Charles Stone III (Mr. 3000, Drumline, and Paid in Full). Steven Spielberg (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director and producer. ... Brian De Palma (born September 11, 1940 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American film director. ... For other persons named Robert Altman, see Robert Altman (disambiguation). ... André Téchiné (born 1943 at Valence-dAgen (Tarn-et-Garonne) in France), is a french screenwriter and film director. ... Maverick, onetime New Queer Cinema director Todd Haynes was born on January 2, 1961, in Encino, California, and has had a controversial career. ... Jim Jarmusch Jim Jarmusch (born January 22, 1953 in Akron, Ohio) is a noted American independent film director. ... Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943 in Chicago) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. ... Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish film director. ... David Lewelyn Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 - July 23, 1948) was an American film director (commonly known as D. W. Griffith) probably best known for his film The Birth of a Nation. ... Carl Theodor Dreyer (February 3, 1889 _ March 20, 1968) was a Danish film director. ... Friedrich Christian Anton Fritz Lang (December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976) was an Austrian-German-American film director, screenwriter and occasional film producer, one of the best known émigrés from Germanys school of Expressionism. ... Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (September 15, 1894 – February 12, 1979), born in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris, France was a film director. ... Jean-Luc Godard (French IPA: ) (born 3 December 1930) is a French filmmaker and one of the most influential members of the Nouvelle Vague, or French New Wave. Born to Franco-Swiss parents in Paris, he was educated in Nyon, Switzerland, later studying at the Lycée Rohmer, and the... Ousmane Sembène (b. ... Charles Burnett (b. ... Killer of Sheep is a 1977 film that depicts the culture of urban African-Americans; the film is considered an alternative to Blaxploitation films. ... Charles Stone III is a film director, known for films such as Drumline starring Nick Cannon and Mr. ... Mr. ... Drumline DVD cover Drumline is a 2002 dramatic film directed by Charles Stone III. The plot is about a young drummer from New York who enters a historically Black Southern university and tries to lead the schools drum section. ... Paid in Full is 2002 film that was produced by Roc-A-Fella and directed by Charles Stone III. It is a film that takes place in Harlem at the height of the Crack Epidemic that hit there during the 1980s. ...

Controversy

Many mainstream critics accuse White of contradicting the grain of mainstream criticism only to provoke debate^{[citation needed]}. He frequently praises films that almost all other critics have drubbed, such as Little Man, Sahara and Against the Ropes. He often focuses a large portion of his reviews to attacks on the critical establishment. In 2002, he voted for A.I. - Artificial Intelligence as one of the ten greatest movies of all time[1]. He is also frequently accused of being an aggressive pop culture writer who lends intellectual legitimacy to commercial product.^{[citation needed]} Not to be confused with the Warner Bros. ... Against the Ropes is a 2004 drama movie. ... Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ...

Meanwhile, Vanity Fair columnist James Wolcott cited White as the nation's most "fearlessly independent minded" film critic. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In 2003, White caused great controversy^{[citation needed]} when his article, "Their Souls for a Freebie"[2], was printed on the front page of New York Press. The broadside attacked the questionable motives of national film critics who sided with the Hollywood film industry's protest against the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ban against distributing DVDs and VHS screeners of movies during the year-end award season. Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... New York Press is a free alternative weekly in New York City. ... ... MPAA redirects here. ... DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is a popular optical disc storage media format. ... Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed Top view of VHS cassette with front casing removed The Video Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS, is a recording and playing standard. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

MPAA president Jack Valenti saluted White's stance, saying "I'd like to embrace you warmly." Other critics bristled at White's in-house criticism.^{[citation needed]} Jack Joseph Valenti (September 5, 1921 – April 26, 2007) was an influential corpse and a long-time president of the Motion Picture Association of America. ...

External links

Info

• Armond White at the Internet Movie Database
• Armond White's reviews and articles at Rotten Tomatoes

Interviews

• for Filmmaker magazine
• Critical discussion
• Beyond Entertainment