David Edelstein (born 1959) is a freelance American film critic who has been the principal film critic for Slate and New York magazine, among others, and has appeared regularly on NPR's Fresh Air and CBS Sunday Morning programs. Over a long career, Edelstein has published more than 2000 film reviews.[ No transcript available.]
Career
Edelstein became a journalist after graduating from Harvard University in 1981.
He is often associated with close friend, fellow film critic, and iconoclast
Pauline Kael.
He is also credited with coining the term "
torture porn," a genre to describe such movies as
Hostel and
Saw.
He has previously been a film critic for Slate (1996–2005), NPR's Fresh Air (2002–2018), New York (2006–2020),
Dismissal from Fresh Air
On November 26, 2018, Edelstein came under controversy when he made a joke about the rape scene in
Last Tango in Paris on his
Facebook page. The joke was part of his post noting the passing of the film's director Bernardo Bertolucci. Edelstein's post was widely criticized, and Edelstein promptly apologized and deleted the original post. He said he had been unaware of actress Maria Schneider's 2007 statement that the rape scene was unscripted and caused her to feel "a little raped" by her costar
Marlon Brando and Bertolucci. The following day,
Fresh Air characterized the post as "offensive and unacceptable", and announced that Edelstein had been dismissed as a contributor. The statement reads, "The post does not meet the standards that we expect from Fresh Air contributors...We have decided to end Fresh Air’s association with him, and have informed David accordingly.”
His firing was criticized by several media outlets, including
Salon, the editorial board of the
New York Post, and
The American Conservative.
Bibliography
He is the co-author with independent film producer
Christine Vachon of the book
Shooting to Kill (1998).
He is also the author of two plays,
Feed the Monkey (Loeb Experimental Theater, Harvard College, 1993) and
Blaming Mom (Watermark Theater, New York City, 1994).
Further reading
External links
-
Short biography and list of reviews.
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Edelstein's Top 10 films of 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, and 1998.
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Archive of pieces by David Edelstein at New York Magazine
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Video discussion/interview
