Louis J. Lumenick (born September 11, 1949) is an American

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

. He was the chief film critic and film editor for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' where he reviewed films from 1999 until his retirement in 2016.

Life and career

Lumenick was born and raised in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Queens, Long Island C ...

. He attended

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

(CCNY) and took filmmaking courses at

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

. He previously worked at '' The Hartford Times'', a defunct newspaper in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and ''

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...

'' in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, reviewing films over a nine-year span for the latter.Lumenick, Lou (September 13, 1992). Fall Preview '92. ''

'' He was metropolitan editor at the ''Post'' before taking the film reviewer position. In 2007 he was inducted into the CCNY Communications Hall of Fame. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle. Lumenick and Farran Smith Nehme conceived and created "Shadows of Russia," a 20-film series that aired in January, 2010, on

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

. He also appeared as an on-air TCM guest programmer in October 2010 as part of the Critic's Choice film series, introducing ''The Last Flight'' and ''All Through the Night ''with Robert Osborne. His essay on ''

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' is a 1963 American Technicolor epic comedy film in Ultra Panavision 70 produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, from a screenplay by William and Tania Rose. The film, starring Spencer Tracy with an all ...

'' is included in

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...

's January 2014 release of the film. Lumenick has introduced films at the United Palace (the former Loews 175th Street) in Washington Heights, Manhattan, as well as at the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of the Moving Image, Loews Jersey and at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood. He has also recorded introductions for DVD releases of several classic films for the Troma Team's Roan Group label.

Roger Ebert incident

At the 2008 Toronto Film Festival, during the premiere of ''Slumdog Millionaire'', Lumenick was sitting in front of

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

, who both could not speak and was unable to freely move his head due to his medical condition caused by cancer. Ebert was inconvenienced by Lumenick obstructing his line of sight, could not see the subtitles, and tapped him on the shoulder a few times to get him to move a bit to the side. Lumenick abruptly rose from his seat, shouting "Don't touch me!"; he did this again a few minutes later and then also hit Ebert with a large binder, causing a loud noise that reportedly startled the audience. He then understood that he had yelled at and hit Ebert, but reportedly did not apologize at the time.

References

External links

Lumenick on Film
ia ''

''
Lou Lumenick profile
via New York Film Critics Circle {{DEFAULTSORT:Lumenick, Lou 1949 births Living people American film critics City College of New York alumni