Kevin B. Thomas (born 1936) 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.[1]
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.[1][2]
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.[3][4][5]
In 2003, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association gave Thomas a Lifetime Achievement Award.[6] Thomas holds an honorary position on the Advisory Board of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics and its Dorian Awards.[7]
In his 2022 book "Cinema Speculation," Quentin Tarantino said that Kevin Thomas was the only critic at the Los Angeles Times who seemed to enjoy his job.[8]
References
- ^ a b Interview with Kevin Thomas, Alternative Projections – Los Angeles Filmforum, Retrieved October 21, 2013
- ^ "Gettysburg College Honors Three Distinguished Alumni". gettysburg.edu. May 20, 2000. Archived from the original on March 20, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
- ^ 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")
- ^ 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".
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Members". GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics: Home of The Dorian Awards. Retrieved Oct. 5, 2019
- ^ "A film critic reflects on Quentin Tarantino's film reflections". November 16, 2022.
External links
- Kevin Thomas at IMDb