Anthony Lane

Anthony Lane (born 1962) has been a film reviewer for "The New Yorker" magazine since 1993.

Personal life

Lane's partner is the British columnist/writer Allison Pearson. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2003/12/14/bolane.xml&sSheet=/arts/2003/12/14/bomain.html Interview] in the "Daily Telegraph".] They live in Cambridge with their two young children.

Education and early career

Lane graduated with a degree in English from Trinity College, Cambridge, where he also did graduate work on the poet T. S. Eliot. After graduation, he worked as a freelance writer and book reviewer for "The Independent", where he was appointed deputy literary editor in 1989. In 1991, Lane was appointed film critic for the "Independent on Sunday".

At "The New Yorker"

In 1993, Lane was asked by "The New Yorker's" then-editor, Tina Brown, to join the magazine as a film critic. Lane now shares the role with David Denby. He also contributes longer pieces on film subjects—such as Alfred Hitchcock and Buster Keaton—as well as other aspects of literature (Ian Fleming) and the arts (Tintin).

A collection of 140 of his "The New Yorker" reviews, essays, and profiles was published in 2002 under the title [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375714340 Nobody's Perfect] —a nod to the final line of the film "Some Like it Hot". A profile of the film's director, Billy Wilder, ends the book.

Lane's maxims

In his introduction to "Nobody's Perfect: Writings from The New Yorker", Lane mentions five maxims that "should be obeyed by anyone who, having tried and failed to gain respectable employment, has decided to throw in the sponge and become a movie critic instead":

:1) Never read the publicity material. :2) Whenever possible, see a film in the company of ordinary human beings.:3) Try to keep up with documentaries about Swabian transsexuals {or, see everything regardless of budget and hype}.:4) Whenever possible, pass sentence on a movie the day after it comes out. Otherwise, wait fifty years.:5) Try to avoid the Lane technique of summer moviegoing.

The explanation for the 5th maxim is a good example of Lane's style:

:"On a broiling day, I ran to a screening of Contact, the Jodie Foster flick about messages from another galaxy. I made it for the opening credits, and, panting heavily — which, with all due respect, is not something that I find myself doing "that" often in Jodie Foster films — I started taking notes. These went "v. gloomy," "odd noir look for sci-fi," "creepy shadows in outdoor scene," and so on. Only after three-quarters of an hour did I remember to remove my dark glasses".

Professional recognition

Anthony Lane was awarded the 2001 National Magazine Award for Reviews & Criticism, for three of his articles:
* "The Maria Problem" (February 14)
* "The Eye of the Land" (March 13)
* "The Light Side of the Moon" (April 10)

Lane has also been nominated for National Magazine Awards on a number of other occasions, including
* 1996 award for Special Interest, for the article "Look Back in Hunger" (December 18)
* 2000 award for Reviews & Criticism, for the articles
** "The Man in the Mirror" (August 9)
** "In Love with Fear" (August 16)
** "Waugh in Pieces" (October 4)

In 2008, Lane was named one of the top 30 critics in the world by "Intelligent Life", the lifestyle publication from "The Economist" [ [http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/node/941 REVIEWER'S REVIEWED | More Intelligent Life ] ] .

ources

* [http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/contributors/anthony_lane The New Yorker's contributor biography]
*Cohu, Will (14/12/2003) [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2003/12/14/bolane.xml&sSheet=/arts/2003/12/14/bomain.html A writer's life: Anthony Lane] . Telegraph Online, UK

References

External links

* Anthony Lane reviews [http://www.newyorker.com/critics/cinema/articles/050523crci_cinema] .
* "The New Yorker" review of the Da Vinci Code book and film [http://www.newyorker.com/printables/critics/060529crci_cinema] .
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,846240,00.html Review of "Nobody's Perfect"] , in The Guardian .
* [http://www.identitytheory.com/people/birnbaum65.html Interview of Anthony Lane by Robert Birnbaum (October 3, 2002)] .
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/author-4597/ Sample of Lane's cinematic taste] on Rotten Tomatoes.