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{{short description|American editor and film critic for Time magazine}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{More footnotes|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
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| image = Richard Corliss.jpg
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| birth_name = Richard Nelson Corliss
| birth_date = {{birth date|1944|3|6|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = {{nowrap|[[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, U.S.}}
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| death_date = {{death date and age|2015|4|23|1944|3|6}}
| death_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
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| nationality = American
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| alma_mater = [[Saint Joseph's University|St. Joseph's College]]<br/>[[Columbia University]]<br/>[[New York University]]
| occupation = Editor, writer, critic
| years_active = 1966–2015
| era =
| employer = {{bulleted list |''Film Comment'', journal published by the [[Film Society of Lincoln Center]] {{small|1970–1980}}|[[Time (magazine)|Time Magazine]] {{small|1980–2015}}}}
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| notable_works = {{bulleted list
|''Talking Pictures: Screenwriters in American Cinema''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Corliss|first1=Richard|title=Talking Pictures : Screenwriters in the American Cinema, 1927–1973|date=1974|publisher=Overlook Press|location=Woodstock, N.Y.|isbn=978-0879510077|edition=1st}}</ref>
|''Greta Garbo (A Pyramid illustrated history of the movies)''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Corliss|first1=Richard|editor1-last=Sennett|editor1-first=Ted|title=Greta Garbo|date=1974|publisher=Pyramid Publications|location=New York|isbn=978-0515034806|edition=1st}}</ref>
|1980 cover story on [[Dallas (1978 TV series)|Dallas]]'s '''"[[Who Shot J.R.?]]"'''<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Richard|first1=Corliss|title=TV's Dallas: Whodunit?|journal=Time Magazine|date=August 11, 1980}}</ref>
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'''Richard Nelson Corliss''' (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and [[magazine editor]] for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects.<ref>Villanova University Proquest search list of 2596 articles, [https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Summon/Search?type=Author&lookfor=Richard%20Corliss 2009-2005.]</ref>

He was the former editor-in-chief of ''[[Film Comment]]'' and authored several books including ''Talking Pictures'',<ref>Richard Corliss (1974), ''Talking Pictures: Screenwriters in the American Cinema, 1927–1973''</ref> which, along with other publications, drew early attention to the screenwriter, as opposed to the director.

==Personal life and background==
Corliss was born in 1944 in [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania,<ref name=filmr>[http://www.filmreference.com/film/37/Richard-Nelson-Corliss.html Profile], filmreference.com; accessed September 6, 2014.</ref> the son of Elizabeth Brown (née McCluskey) and Paul William Corliss.<ref name=filmr/> He attended [[St. Joseph's College, Philadelphia]] (now [[Saint Joseph's University]]), obtaining a [[Bachelor of Arts|bachelor]]'s degree, before progressing to [[Columbia University]] to earn a [[Master of Arts|master]]'s degree in [[film theory|film studies]]. Corliss resided in New York City with his wife, Mary, whom he married on Sunday, August 31, 1969. Mary was formerly a curator in the Film Stills Archive of the [[Museum of Modern Art]].

In a 1990 article, Corliss mentions his mother clipping movie ads with quotes of his and posting them to her refrigerator door.<ref>Richard Corliss (1990) "All Thumbs, Or, Is There a Future for Film Criticism?" ''Film Comment'', March/April. Reprinted in Roger Ebert (2006),
''Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=K_kGn5cpwfIC&pg=PA394&lpg=&dq=false#v=onepage&q=false&f=false 394].</ref>

On April 23, 2015, Corliss died under hospice care in New York City after suffering a stroke.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/25/business/media/richard-corliss-71-longtime-film-critic-for-time-dies.html?_r=0|title = Richard Corliss, 71, Longtime Film Critic for Time, Dies|last = Weber|first = Bruce|date = April 24, 2015|work = The New York Times|access-date = May 17, 2015}}</ref>

==Career==
Corliss wrote for many magazines—''[[National Review]]'' from 1966 to 1970, ''[[New Times Media|New Times]]'', ''[[Maclean's]]'' and ''[[SoHo Weekly News]]'' in 1980. At ''Film Comment'', Corliss helped draw attention to the screenwriter in the creation of movies. Corliss challenged [[Andrew Sarris]]'s idea of the Director as author or auteur of this work. Corliss was one of Sarris' students at [[New York University]] (NYU); the two remained friends until Sarris' death.

Corliss brought [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] to ''Film Comment'' as a Paris correspondent. Despite working for ''National Review'', a conservative magazine, Corliss was a self-described "liberal".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1653918-2,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025044456/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1653918-2,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 25, 2007|title=Superbad: A Fine Bromance|author=Richard Corliss|publisher=Time|date=August 17, 2007}}</ref> In 1980, Corliss joined ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. Although he started as an associate editor, he was promoted to senior writer by 1985.

Corliss wrote for time.com as well as the print magazine including a retired column about nostalgic pop culture called ''That Old Feeling''. He wrote occasional articles for [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']]. He was an occasional guest on [[The Charlie Rose Show|Charlie Rose's talk show]] commenting on new releases, mostly during the 1990s with [[Janet Maslin]] and [[David Denby (film critic)|David Denby]]. His last appearance on the show was in December 2005 to talk about the year in film. Corliss also appeared on [[A&E Biography]] to talk about the life and work of [[Jackie Chan]],<ref>{{IMDb title|448983|Jackie Chan: From Stuntman to Superstar}}</ref> and appeared in Richard Schickel's documentary about [[Warner Brothers]].

Corliss attended the [[Cannes Film Festival]] along with [[Roger Ebert]] and [[Todd McCarthy]] for the longest period of any US journalist. He also attended festivals in Toronto and Venice. Corliss used to work on the board of the [[New York Film Festival]], but resigned in 1987 after longtime head [[Richard Roud]] was fired due to his challenging of editorial direction of the festival.

''Lolita'', Corliss's third book, was a study of [[Vladimir Nabokov]]'s [[Lolita|book]] and [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s [[Lolita (1962 film)|film]]. Later Corliss has written an introductory essay for ''[[Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]]: A Portrait of the [[Ang Lee]] Film''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781557044570&itm=8|title=Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Portrait of Ang Lee's Epic Film|date=January 23, 2001|work=Barnes & Noble|access-date=April 29, 2015}}</ref>

Corliss also admired the [[Pixar]] movies, including listing ''Finding Nemo'' as one of his and fellow ''Time'' critic [[Richard Schickel]]'s 100 all-time greatest movies. With recent Pixar releases ''[[Cars (film)|Cars]]'' and ''[[Ratatouille (film)|Ratatouille]]'' Corliss had access into the studio's inner workings.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1630548,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611160233/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1630548,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 11, 2007|title=Savoring Pixar's Ratatouille|publisher=Time|date=June 7, 2007|first=Richard|last=Corliss/Emeryville}}</ref> Pixar director [[Brad Bird]] has said of critics in general that he has "got nothing against critics." He also that he had "done very well with them, over the years."<ref>[http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_movies_blog/2007/06/richard-corliss.html Blogsite] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214071212/http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_movies_blog/2007/06/richard-corliss.html |date=December 14, 2007 }}, orlandosentinel.com; accessed September 6, 2014.</ref>

In addition to writing for ''Time'', Corliss had a lengthy association with ''[[Film Comment]]'' magazine, serving as its editor from 1970 to 1990. Corliss covered movies for the magazine and for time.com simultaneously. Corliss along with [[Martin Scorsese]] first came up with the idea for the issue on "guilty pleasures".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,289644,00.html|work=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|title=Mail Page|date=October 3, 1997}}</ref>

Corliss along with [[Richard Schickel]] made a 100 Greatest movies list. Corliss alone created lists of the 25 greatest villains, the 25 best horror films, and the 25 most important films on race. In addition Corliss was on the 2001 jury for [[American Film Institute|AFI]]'s 100 Greatest movies list. In a 1993 ''[[Time magazine]]'' [[movie review]] of ''[[The Crying Game]]'', Corliss subtly gave away the [[spoiler (media)|spoiler]] of the film, by spelling it out with the first letters of each paragraph of his review.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977553-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417191558/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977553-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 17, 2009|title=Queuing for the Crying Game|publisher=[[Time magazine]]|access-date=2011-08-12|date=January 25, 1993|first=Richard|last=Corliss}}</ref>

==Conflict and criticism==
Corliss has had movies on his top ten lists that fellow ''Time'' critic [[Richard Schickel]] has rated the worst of the year. These included 2001's ''[[Moulin Rouge!]]'', 2003's ''[[Cold Mountain (film)|Cold Mountain]]'' and 2004's ''[[Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind]]''. In August 2004, [[Stephen King]], criticizing what he saw as a growing trend of leniency towards films by critics, included Corliss among a number of "formerly reliable critics who seem to have gone remarkably soft – not to say softhearted and sometimes softheaded – in their old age."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,681657,00.html|title=Stephen King on summer film's four-star follies|work=Entertainment Weekly's EW.com|access-date=April 29, 2015|date=February 1, 2007}}</ref>

Richard Corliss appears in the 2009 documentary film ''[[For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism]]'', confessing that he was the film critic who, in the 1970s, coined the term "Paulettes" for the ardent followers of [[Pauline Kael]], a label which has stuck.

Despite challenging [[At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper|Siskel and Ebert]] in his ''Film Comment'' article, "all thumbs", Corliss praised Ebert in a June 23, 2007 article "Thumbs up for Roger Ebert." Corliss later appeared in Ebert's book ''Awake in the Dark'' in discussions and debates with Ebert about film criticism where "all thumbs" was reprinted.

Corliss is noted for his review of 1983's "Superman III", in which he wrote "Superman III is the best yet! It's a hit! It's a delight! The most entertaining Superman yet!" Superman III was widely panned by audiences and critics alike, and has a 23% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 5-star rating (out of 10) on IMDB.

== Number Ones from Corliss' Top-Tens ==
Best English language film in parentheses:
*1969: ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]''
*1980: ''[[Mon Oncle d'Amerique]]'' (''[[The Elephant Man (film)|The Elephant Man]]'')
*1981: ''[[The Mystery of Oberwald]]'' (''[[Thief (film)|Thief]]'')
*1982: ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]''
*1983: ''[[Berlin Alexanderplatz (television)|Berlin Alexanderplatz]]'' (''[[The Big Chill (film)|The Big Chill]]'')
*1986: ''[[The Fly (1986 film)|The Fly]]''
*1988: ''[[The Singing Detective]]''
*1989: ''[[Distant Voices, Still Lives]]''
*1990: ''[[L'Atalante]]'' (re-release) (''[[Internal Affairs (film)|Internal Affairs]]'')
*1991: ''[[My Father's Glory (film)|My Father's Glory]]'' and ''[[My Mother's Castle]]'' (''[[The Simpsons]]: [[Lisa's Substitute]]'')
*1992: ''[[The Simpsons]]'': ''[[Black Widower]]''
*1993: ''[[The Age of Innocence (1993 film)|The Age of Innocence]]''
*1994: ''[[Pulp Fiction (film)|Pulp Fiction]]''
*1995: ''[[Persuasion (1995 film)|Persuasion]]''
*1997: ''[[Ponette]]'' (''[[Chasing Amy]]'')
*2001: ''[[Kandahar (2001 film)|Kandahar]]'' (''[[Moulin Rouge!]]'')
*2002: ''[[Talk to Her]]'' (''[[Gangs of New York]]'')
*2003: ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King|Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]]''
*2004: ''[[Hero (2002 film)|Hero]]'' and ''[[House of Flying Daggers]]'' (''[[Sideways]]'')
*2005: ''[[The White Diamond]]'' (''[[The Squid and the Whale]]'')
*2006: ''[[Pan's Labyrinth]]'' (''[[Borat]]'')
*2007: ''[[No Country for Old Men (film)|No Country For Old Men]]''
*2008: ''[[WALL-E]]''
*2009: ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]''
*2010: ''[[Toy Story 3]]''
*2011: ''[[The Artist (film)|The Artist]]'' (''[[Hugo (film)|Hugo]]'' in second place)
*2012: ''[[Amour (2012 film)|Amour]]'' (''[[Beasts of the Southern Wild]]'')
*2013: ''[[Gravity (2013 film)|Gravity]]''
*2014: ''[[The Grand Budapest Hotel]]''

==Bibliography==
{{Expand list|date=May 2016}}

===Books===
*{{cite book |author=Corliss, Richard |title=Talking pictures : screenwriters in the American cinema, 1927-1973 |location=Woodstock, N.Y. |publisher=Overlook Press |year=1974 }}
*''Greta Garbo'' (1974)
*''Lolita'' (1995)
*''Mom in the Movies: The Iconic Screen Mothers You Love (and a Few You Love to Hate)'' (2014)

===Articles===
*{{cite journal |author=Corliss, Richard |date=April 20, 2015 |title=Date with an android : two guys and a robot square off in Alex Garland's ''Ex Machina'' |department=The Culture. Reviews |journal=Time |edition=South Pacific |volume=185 |issue=14 |pages=45}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|1854547|Richard Corliss}}
*[http://time.com/richard-corliss/ In Memoriam] – ''Time'' Magazine
*[http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=187955&mod=bio Biography] – from ''Allmovie''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051029023042/http://leonardo.spidernet.net/Artus/2386/corliss.htm Corliss's Top Ten Picks] – a yearly breakdown of Corliss's favorite movies.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050524004942/http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/ Top 100 Movies Ever] – Corliss and fellow ''Time'' critic [[Richard Schickel]]'s list of the greatest movies ever made
* [http://www.rogerebert.com/mzs/richard-corliss-1944-2015-everywhere-at-once Richard Corliss, 1944-2015: Everywhere At Once] by Matt Zoller Seitz, Editor-in-Chief, [[RogerEbert.com]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corliss, Richard}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:American film critics]]
[[Category:American magazine editors]]
[[Category:Columbia University School of the Arts alumni]]
[[Category:Saint Joseph's University alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Time (magazine) people]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]

Richard Corliss - Revision history

Flying Bee: Created page with "{{short description|American editor and film critic for Time magazine}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2015}} {{More footnotes|date=September 2014}} {{Infobox person | honorific_pr..."