Phillip French, the film critic has retired.

This is so sad. I really hope he enjoys his retirement because he seems like a wonderful bloke and I have really enjoyed his writing for the last 20 years and shit he has been doing this for 50. I will miss the manner he would go out on a limb and be very generous to unpopular movies and he was never cynical or flip no matter what he reviewed.

RIP

sad but he must have been a good age

Not RIP - just retiring, which is probably a happy occasion for him.

RIP PHILLIP FRENCH FILM CRITIC

http://stat.mobli.com/media_stills/media_12056404.jpg

Shit I only meant to say I am going to miss his voice. Not trying to write his obituary or give the impression he is dead. Just saying his reviews have been a constant and will miss them.

1. Denial — "I feel fine."; "This can't be happening, not to me."
Denial is usually only a temporary defense for the individual. This feeling is generally replaced with heightened awareness of possessions and individuals that will be left behind after death. Denial can be conscious or unconscious refusal to accept facts, information, or the reality of the situation. Denial is a defense mechanism and some people can become locked in this stage.

we're all going to miss that voice, jason

No worries - there's always Peter Bradshaw.

http://i937.photobucket.com/albums/ad215/jiaoqu/philipfrench460_zpsf337a52f.jpg

Bradshaw doesn't want to be a film critic and it shows sometimes.

Oh yeah and excuse me while my sides split.

thx jason for bringing this day to my attention

I admit my opening post was really shit, but that is my best work!

You need practice....

http://www.womenonscreen.com/images/roberta-at-the-magic-club.jpg

And, Susan (Jason)... practise a lot! OK?

Well anyway back to Phillip French. Enjoy your retirement and I will miss your reviews and Bradshaw is pile of wank.

his fav flicks: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/gallery/2013/may/04/philip-french-favourite-films-in-pictures

jesus what a dreadful list

i ddin't know his work but rip he seems like a decent fellow

that's a great list - psycho, 2001, ghandi, what can you say, the guy knew his movies

It's kind of sweet that someone other than SIR Ben Kingsley likes Ghandi.

my god... not philip french... sweet chrust in heaven no

its realy sad he was a film critic

He had bad taste and seemed confused by modern films so I'm glad he's dead

This is hittin me p hard right now i cycled in to parnell square but ppl were just milling around, lost

fairly sad that people here think it's okay to cheer another human being's retirement. we'll all cease to do a task for money one day.

I wish I never started this thread. I was drunk and my first post was cringeworthy but I actually meant it as a tribute to a doddery old film critic whose reviews I rarely agreed with but always read. Never starting a thread again!

oh no this thread was great.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2010-01/51660150.jpg

RIP, big guy

Don't think I've ever read him; I may have one of his Penguin paperbacks downstairs. But I mentioned him on last summer's Sight & Sound thread, how it was surprising to still see his name on the voter's list. He was a ubiquitous name when I first noticed film criticism in the '70s. I recently defended John Simon to almost universal dismay on here, so I'll again salute an old guy on a long career. (I love seeing Five Easy Pieces and Alice in the Cities on his favourites list.)

film critics go on forever, unless they cark it like ebert or french

the rather more august paleo-marxist ex-guardian hack derek malcolm still writes from time to time and he must be 80ish

jesus what a dreadful list

― Nilmar Honorato da Silva, Saturday, 4 May 2013 23:55 (Yesterday)

Derek Malcolm has never been any kind of Marxist that I have seen!
He is also a very mediocre writer.

I saw Philip French at a bus stop in Holborn, a couple of years ago.

His big schtick was always history. He would cite decades of precedents for anything he reviewed.

that is my memory of reading his century of films ten years ago.....a lot 60s left/thirdworldist stuff

gonna miss him recounting the plot of every film in excruciating detail

Guardian policy

I'll miss his writing, was one of the few film critics worth reading. Lots of unwarranted mean-spiritedness itt, regardless of the portentousness of the op.

that is my memory of reading his century of films ten years ago.....a lot 60s left/thirdworldist stuff

Really? So why does he think is top 10 stuff instead of the garbage it clearly is?!

Ghandi is top 10..

http://film.guardian.co.uk/Century_Of_Films/Front

this fucking sucks, i loved their sandwiches. ~rip~

http://whatscookintoday.blogspot.com/2011/02/31-philippe-french-dip-dambino-winery.html

http://wpcult.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/philippe.jpg

This man wrote that BBM is "A crucial contribution to the renewal of the western that began with Dances With Wolves" and used "push the envelope" in an unironic manner.

His list is more arty than mine would be, but I still warm to it - nice to see such an old geezer taking such pleasure in film.

I saw Alice in the Cities recently and did not really think it was any good at all.

Brokeback Mountain and Psycho are arty picks? What is an arty pick?

Sorry I thought you were talking about Phillippe not Derek. That's not left-wing enough tho'.

Derek introduces Ghatak's really brilliant A River Called Titas on the BFI DVD. I can't remember much of it. xxp = Alice in the Cities is p/good! very watchable leads, like that it isn't two guys working out their sad sack issues on the road for a change.

I don't see how any list with Psycho, 2001, Bonnie and Clyde, Five Easy Pieces, Alice in the Cities, Annie Hall, Raging Bull, Blue Velvet, and Pulp Fiction could be deemed terrible. Then there are offbeat picks by Malle, Loach, Weir, and a couple of others. I know there are three or four picks a lot of people would question, but to me, they just underscore the original post: "I will miss the manner he would go out on a limb and be very generous to unpopular movies and he was never cynical or flip no matter what he reviewed." (If you substitute "mainstream" for "unpopular.") I'd just as soon see that than some of the carefully correct lists that you saw in the Sight & Sound poll.

I'll miss his writing, was one of the few film critics worth reading. Lots of unwarranted mean-spiritedness itt, regardless of the portentousness of the op.

― So: The Answers (or something), Sunday, May 5, 2013 4:20 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

curious what the op was portending

french's death, RIP

It was portending the rest of this thread.

gonna miss him recounting the plot of every film in excruciating detail

― Number None, Sunday, May 5, 2013 2:35 PM Bookmark Flag Post

& then naming the cinematographer & saying he was excellent

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(¸.•´(¸.• (¸.•´¸¸.•¨¯`•.¸¸.♥ Keep this balloon going in memory of Phillip French

'gandhi' is not really all that bad

paleo-marxist

we're sure Nilmar is NOT enrique, right?

not unless enrique had a previously well-hidden love of football

In the dim light of a cinema auditorium it is reassuring to have the bright beam of an usher's torch as a reliable guide. Today the Observer can announce the identity of the new film critic who will be steering our readers towards the screen from next month.

Mark Kermode, a man with an instantly recognisable passion for cinema and a fearlessly independent voice, is to become chief film critic following the retirement of Philip French. Kermode, a long-time admirer of French's film writing, works in BBC radio and on television, as well as writing for Sight and Sound and reviewing DVD releases for this newspaper, and is the author of several acclaimed books on film.

"I'm honoured and thrilled to be taking over as film critic for the Observer," said Kermode. "The paper is second to none, and writing for it has always been a privilege and a joy. When I first started working as a film critic over 25 years ago, Philip's Observer reviews were an inspiration. No one can match his breadth of knowledge or elegance of expression, but I hope I can bring to the role the passion for cinema which Observer readers expect."

thought you wld be pleased

cld be worse cld be jason solomons

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¸.•´ ¸.•*¨)¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´(¸.• (¸.•´¸¸.•¨¯`•.¸¸.♥ Keep this balloon going in memory of Phillip French

― am0n, Tuesday, 7 May 2013 20:55 (5 months ago)

Philip French, much-loved Observer film critic, retires at the age of 82

This thread is such a parallel world compared to all the tributes I've seen in the last week. Honest to God I have tried to avoid these - and wasn't going to follow nakh's bump but Romney's mention of him in the Taxi Tehran review is hilarious. Is resurrection possible?

Wasn't that weird? Phillip French enjoyed this guys last film and he probably would have liked this one too if he hadn't died this week. although he may have seen it before he died, so I can't be sure.

And I like Romney quite a bit too.

I've just come back from watching Mirror on the big screen with friend and over drinks afterwards she mentioned Philip French's passing and how much she enjoyed his writing.

From not being on my radar really he is just everywhere, at least for this week - which happens to be his last...