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Scott Foundas has joined Variety as chief film critic.
The renowned writer was most recently the chief film critic for the Village Voice, where his reviews, essays and interviews appeared regularly in all 11 Voice Media Group publications. Foundas will remain based in Gotham and work closely with senior film critics Justin Chang and Peter Debruge on reviews and other commentary and reporting for all Variety platforms.
“Scott Foundas has been called one of the greatest film critics of his generation and we couldn’t agree more,” said Variety publisher Michelle Sobrino. “His reviews and essays on film are thoughtful and well informed. The addition of Scott to our existing team of critics — including chief television critic and media columnist Brian Lowry — reinforces Variety’s commitment to being the authoritative source on film, television and theater reviews.”
Foundas signs on just as Variety preps for the March 26 relaunch of its weekly edition in an enhanced format.
Prior to joining the Village Voice, Foundas served as associate program director for the Film Society of Lincoln Center from 2010-2012, where he was a contributing editor to Film Comment magazine and a member of the New York Film Festival selection committee.
Click here to follow Scott Foundas on Twitter
Foundas began his career as a regular contributor to Variety. He has written for Indiewire, the New York Times and the DGA Quarterly, and has been a special consultant to the Cannes Film Festival. He is also a member of the National Society of Film Critics.
“Scott is simply the best,” said Debruge. “He’s bright, eloquent and courageous in his ability to stick his neck out for the films he loves, be it obscure art cinema or blockbuster entertainment. Justin Chang and I have been admirers of Scott’s work for years and couldn’t be more excited to welcome him back into the Variety fold,” said Debruge.
From 2003-2009, Foundas was film critic and editor for the Voice’s sibling paper in Los Angeles, the L.A. Weekly, where he was twice a finalist for the Assn. of Alternative Newsweeklies’ AltWeekly award in the category of Arts Criticism, and was named Critic of the Year at the Los Angeles Press Club’s National Entertainment Journalism Awards.
From 2004-2008, Foundas was the film critic for the nationally syndicated “Mark & Brian” radio show. He is a native of Tampa, Fla., and a graduate of the USC School of Cinema-Television.
What on Earth on Scott Foundas’s qualifications to be a chief film critic of anything? His status as one of the homeliest men ever to take quill to parchment? Scott, after residing in NYC for awhile, do you still labor under the delusion that young people don’t listen to jazz, an assertion that crops up in your every misguided appraisal of every Woody Allen film? Go to Smalls one Friday afternoon; it’s free, save for the one-drink minimum that isn’t enforced. Get yourself the life education & music education you so desperately need before you waste any more time pretending to be an authority on film.
Excellent choice. Good for Variety, and good for Variety’s readers.
Variety has just hired the world’s best critic–thank god they got rid of the old hack Todd McCarthy, at the end of his Variety days, he was just writing for himself….he stopped delivering great thought about movies….but Foundas is one of, if not the best