Movies into Film.com
“N.P. is one of those rare critics who recognizes his job is not to synopsize, but to. . .criticize. He parses today's language of film with the care of an Ivy League professor and the passion of a true film geek.” — Warren Etheredge, founder, The Warren Report
“N.P. Thompson's film reviews are absolutely scathing. . .not only for genuinely bad films, but even for films that have garnered almost universal praise. I am grateful, though, that a critic like N.P. Thompson exists. He's not necessarily just a contrarian, but he actually does reveal a certain side of critical opinion that rarely gets shown. Very few critics are brave enough to go against the popular opinion. . .and in some reviews, he's managed to tap into that moment we all have when we see a film that’s been given an inordinate amount of positive reviews, especially art films, and we go, "Wait a minute, this is shit." There are times when it does feel that he is exposing some films for what they really are: shallow and pretentious. In today's critical monotony, this guy is a true curmudgeon in the best sense of the word.”
— Carlo Pangalangan
“. . .as dead-on as it gets these days in film writing. . .a justifiable reaction against the applause given irony.”
— Mark Moskowitz, director, Stone Reader
“. . .smart and meticulous. . .” — John Simon
“. . .a torch singer trapped in the body of a film critic.” — Julie Cascioppo
“. . .delightfully unpopular views.” — Neal Schindler, Seattle Weekly
“. . .a great critic who is always worth reading.” — Matt Zoller Seitz
“. . .quite brilliant. . .” — John Byrne, Editor-in-Chief, The Raw Story
“Although I often don't agree with your opinions, I find that they are some of the most incisive and well thought-out in all of film criticism, whether in print or online.” — Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly
“Sheer pleasure to read. . .a vacation from the vacuous crap that passes for criticism on the arts.” — Robert M. Goodman
“Even when I disagree with you, you teach me things I didn't know about my own opinions.” — Dan Harper, contributor, Senses of Cinema
“. . .brilliant. . .skewering of the clubby go-along-to-get-along school of film criticism. . .spot-on.”
— Chris Kelsey, JazzTimes
“I just wanted to send props for your wonderful screed — it made me laugh, which is always a better bet than crying.”
— Amy Alexander, contributor, The Nation
“[Director Judy Irving and I] appreciated that you noticed things that she'd put in there deliberately, things that, so far, no one else has noticed. There is one ironic aspect to your review that I can't help but mention. In the reveal where the camera is pulling back from my dishes…if you look carefully you'll see poking out behind them a bottle of. . .hair conditioner.” — Mark Bittner, scruffy star and subject, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
“I don't know anyone
simultaneously so articulate and so wrong-headed about so many things.
But that's why I like reading you.” — Tom Tangney, KIRO Radio
“I liked what you had to say about the movies of '05. . .
btw, [I] was recently in Seattle and read a copy of The Stranger (not the Camus version but the local version). Enough said.”
— Roger L. Simon, mystery novelist and Oscar-nominated screenwriter
“Your reviews revive the passion I felt for movies while poring over Kael and Sarris anthologies and Minneapolis alt-weeklies — this was back when we looked forward to Wednesdays, before the Village Voice bought out all those papers around 1998 or ‘99 and replaced them with generic disaffectedness.” — Iris Key
“amazingly insightful” — Matthew O'Brien, author,
Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas
“I knew it was only a matter of time before a story about two guys repeatedly coming out of boxes in their underwear would be described as homoerotic.” — Shane Carruth, director, Primer
“Thompson's description of the score — that [Jonny] Greenwood ‘writes music as if he learned everything he knows about composing by taking a brickbat to hornets' nests’ — is dead on.” — Sarah D. Bunting, Tomato Nation
“I recommend taking a look at critic N.P. Thompson's list of the best and worst of 2005. Some great reading. . .”
— Clive Davis, blogger, The Spectator
©2008, N.P. Thompson
npt [at] moviesintofilm [dot] com