Ann Hornaday
{{short description|American film critic}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2018}}
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| alma_mater = Smith College
| occupation = Film journalist, critic
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| employer = The Washington Post
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| title = Chief film critic
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| awards = Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
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Ann Hornaday is an American film critic. She has been film critic at The Washington Post since 2002 and is the author of Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies (2017). In 2008, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.
Early life
Hornaday grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. She attended Smith College, majoring in government; she graduated in 1982.{{Cite web|url=https://alumnae.smith.edu/spotlight/wordsmith/|title=WordSmith|publisher=Smith College Office of Alumnae Relations|language=en-US|access-date=April 8, 2018|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409044038/https://alumnae.smith.edu/spotlight/wordsmith/|url-status=live}}
Career
After graduating from college, Hornaday moved to New York to become a freelance writer, contributing to Premiere, Us and Ms. magazines; at the latter, she also worked as a researcher and assistant to Gloria Steinem,{{Cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2017/09/03/Cinema-Paradiso-Ann-Hornaday-Talking-Pictures/stories/201709030033|title=A leading critic teaches us how to watch the movies|last=Vancheri|first=Barbara|date=September 3, 2017|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=April 8, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409043716/http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2017/09/03/Cinema-Paradiso-Ann-Hornaday-Talking-Pictures/stories/201709030033|url-status=live}} a role she held from 1983 to 1985.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hvSgZEdAUiIC&pg=PT218|title=Education of a Woman: The Life of Gloria Steinem|last=Heilbrun|first=Carolyn G.|date=July 20, 2011|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=9780307802132|language=en|access-date=April 8, 2018|archive-date=February 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201171132/https://books.google.com/books?id=hvSgZEdAUiIC&pg=PT218|url-status=live}} Hornaday began contributing to the "Arts & Leisure" section of The New York Times, eventually going on to become film critic at the Austin American-Statesman in 1995.{{Cite web |title=Women's Media Center |url=https://womensmediacenter.com/profile/ann-hornaday |access-date=2022-10-22 |website=womensmediacenter.com}} In 1997 she moved to The Baltimore Sun, then to The Washington Post in 2002, following the retirement of the Post{{'s}} previous critic Rita Kempley.{{cite news|last1=Fraley|first1=Jason|title=How to watch movies like a world-class critic|url=https://wtop.com/entertainment/2017/08/ann-hornaday-book-talking-pictures-teaches-viewers-how-to-watch-movies/|accessdate=April 8, 2018|work=WTOP News|date=August 22, 2017|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409043311/https://wtop.com/entertainment/2017/08/ann-hornaday-book-talking-pictures-teaches-viewers-how-to-watch-movies/|url-status=live}} She has also written features for Working Woman and Self magazine.{{Cite web |last=Dellecese |first=Cheryl |title=Film Critic Ann Hornaday '82 Talks Film Trends |url=https://www.smith.edu/news/ann-hornaday-critic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702114656/https://www.smith.edu/news/ann-hornaday-critic |archive-date=2 July 2022 |access-date=2022-10-22 |website=Smith College |language=en}}
In 2008, Hornaday was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/02/books/review/talking-pictures-how-to-watch-movies-ann-hornaday.html|title=Getting Beyond 'I Love It': How to Understand Movies|last1=Schwarzbaum|first1=Lisa|date=June 2, 2017|work=The New York Times|accessdate=April 8, 2018|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409051109/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/02/books/review/talking-pictures-how-to-watch-movies-ann-hornaday.html|url-status=live}} with the prize committee citing "her perceptive movie reviews and essays, reflecting solid research and an easy, engaging style."{{Cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/ann-hornaday|title=Finalist: Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post|website=www.pulitzer.org|language=en|access-date=April 8, 2018|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409105851/http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/ann-hornaday|url-status=live}}
In 2017, Hornaday published Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies.{{cite news|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ann-hornaday/talking-pictures-hornaday/|title=TALKING PICTURES by Ann Hornaday|date=April 2, 2017|work=Kirkus Reviews|accessdate=April 8, 2018|language=en-us|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409043929/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ann-hornaday/talking-pictures-hornaday/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Minow|first1=Nell|title=Illuminating Insight: Ann Hornaday on|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/chazs-blog/illuminating-insight-ann-hornaday-on-talking-pictures|website=www.rogerebert.com|accessdate=April 8, 2018|language=en|date=March 27, 2017|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409044243/https://www.rogerebert.com/chazs-blog/illuminating-insight-ann-hornaday-on-talking-pictures|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Barsanti|first1=Chris|title=Movies Matter in 'Talking Pictures'|url=https://www.popmatters.com/talking-pictures-ann-hornaday-movies-matter-2495389286.html|accessdate=April 8, 2018|work=PopMatters|date=June 23, 2017|language=en|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409043702/https://www.popmatters.com/talking-pictures-ann-hornaday-movies-matter-2495389286.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Movies are more than screen deep. Here's how to watch like a critic|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/movies-screen-deep-heres-watch-like-critic|first=Jeffrey|last=Brown|accessdate=April 8, 2018|work=PBS NewsHour|date=August 18, 2017|archive-date=April 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407134232/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/movies-screen-deep-heres-watch-like-critic|url-status=live}} The book, a 304-page text published with Basic Books,{{cite news|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-465-09423-3|title=Nonfiction Book Review: Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies by Ann Hornaday. Basic, $26 (304p) ISBN 978-0-465-09423-3|date=April 3, 2017|work=Publishers Weekly|accessdate=April 8, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409105922/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-465-09423-3|url-status=live}} draws on a series Hornaday began writing in 2009 for the Post, aimed at explaining the various specialized crafts in filmmaking – like sound, editing, cinematography – to a general audience. Hornaday approached it as a journalistic project, interviewing people working in a variety of roles in film to ask them to describe what they do as well as "what they wished audiences appreciated more about their work". In a review for The New York Times, Lisa Schwarzbaum described the book as "a pleasantly calm, eminently sensible, down-the-middle primer for the movie lover — amateur, professional or Twitter-centric orator — who would like to acquire and sharpen basic viewing skills."
Personal life
Hornaday lives in Baltimore.{{Cite news|url=http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/author-ann-hornaday-talking-pictures-ivy-bookshop/2017/07/23|title=Author Ann Hornaday 'Talking Pictures' at the Ivy Bookshop|last=Hughes|first=Bill|date=July 23, 2017|work=Baltimore Post-Examiner|access-date=April 8, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=February 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201171117/https://baltimorepostexaminer.com/author-ann-hornaday-talking-pictures-ivy-bookshop/2017/07/23|url-status=live}}
References
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External links
- [https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/ann-hornaday/ Archive] at The Washington Post
- [https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/01/23/34-best-political-movies-ever-made/ Ann Hornaday, "The 34 best political movies ever made" The Washington Post Jan. 23, 2020)]
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:The Washington Post people
Category:The Baltimore Sun people
Category:Austin American-Statesman people
Category:Writers from Des Moines, Iowa
Category:American women film critics
Category:National Society of Film Critics Members
Category:20th-century American women journalists
Category:20th-century American women writers
Category:20th-century American journalists
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:21st-century American journalists
Category:21st-century American women journalists