Marshall Fine (born November 7, 1950) is an American author, journalist, filmmaker and film critic from

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Early life

Fine grew up in

Richfield, Minnesota Richfield is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota. An inner-ring suburb of Minneapolis, Richfield is bordered by Minneapolis to the north, Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport and Fort Snelling to the east, Bloomington to the south, ...

, a Minneapolis suburb, until he was 13. His family subsequently moved to St. Louis Park, Minnesota, another Minneapolis suburb.

Career

Fine began his career as a critic at 18, writing reviews of rock concerts and albums for the

Minneapolis Star ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the seventh-largest in the United States by circula ...

while a freshman at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. He worked in newspapers from 1973-2004, at papers in Durango, Colo.; Lawrence, Kan.; Jackson, Miss.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Rochester, NY; Marin County, Calif.; and Westchester County, NY. He subsequently served as film/TV critic for Star magazine from 2004-2016, before retiring from reviewing. He conducted the Playboy Interview with

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American broadcaster and media personality. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1 ...

and

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and Jacob Singer in '' Jacob's Ladder'' (1990), as well as winning an Academy ...

for

Playboy Magazine ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefn ...

. Fine directed a documentary short,
Flo Fox's Dicthology
" that was selected for the

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

and Amsterdam film festivals in 2002. His documentary feature, "Do You Sleep in the Nude?," about film critic

Rex Reed Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, journalist, and media personality. Raised throughout the southern United States and educated at Louisiana State University, Reed moved to New York City in the early 1960s to begi ...

, was selected for the Hamptons Film Festival (2007) and the

South by Southwest Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

(2008). His documentary,
Robert Klein Still Can't Stop His Leg
" about comedian Robert Klein, had its debut at the 2016 South by Southwest Film Festival and subsequently played at Tribeca and the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. It premiered on the Starz network in March 2017 and is currently unavailable because of The Weinstein Co. bankruptcy. He directed the New York Film Critics Circle's 202
awards video
He is the author of three biographies
"Bloody Sam: The Life and Films of Sam Peckinpah"
(1991)
"Harvey Keitel: The Art of Darkness"
(1997); an
"Accidental Genius: How John Cassavetes Invented the Independent Film"
(2006). Fine is a four-time former chairman of the

New York Film Critics Circle The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) 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 scho ...

: 1992, 2002, 2006 and 2015. He was named general manager of the NYFCC in 2016 and retired from the position in 2021. He received a special award from the group in 2022 for "service to the group and his many decades on the New York film scene." As a contributing editor for

Cigar Aficionado ''Cigar Aficionado'' is an American lifestyle magazine that is dedicated to enjoying the “good life” and the world of cigars. It is a publication of M. Shanken Communications, which also publishes '' Wine Spectator'', '' Whisky Advocate'', ...

magazine, he has written more than 40 cover stories since 2009. Among his cover story subjects wer
Jay-ZArnold SchwarzeneggerBrad PaisleySylvester StalloneSean CombsJeff BridgesStanley Tucci
an
Jeremy Irons
He helped create and hosted the Journal-News Film Club at the Jacob Burns Film Center in

Pleasantville, NY Pleasantville is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located 30 miles north of Manhattan. The village population was 7,513 at the 2020 census. Pleasantville is home to the secondary cam ...

, from 2001-2004. Fine subsequently created, produced and hosted the Emelin Film Club at the Emelin Theater in Mamaroneck, NY, from 2005-2014. He hosted the Thalia Film Club at

Symphony Space Symphony Space, founded by Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theat ...

on Manhattan's

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

from 2010-14. He was named critic-in-residence a
The Picture House Regional Film Center
in Pelham, NY, in 2014, where he produced and hosted The Picture Hous
Film Club
until his retirement in May 2021. From March 2020, the film club moved online because of the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to his retirement, he hosted screenings of more than 400 films at the four venues. He received the Harold Lloyd Lifetime Achievement Award from The Picture House in 2021. He served as an adjunct professor of journalism at Purchase College, SUNY, for the 2020-21 academic year. An exhibit of his photography, "Natural & Unnatural," was shown at the Ossining Public Library Gallery in January 2023. His novel, "The Autumn of Ruth Winters," will be published by Lake Union Press in November 2024. On July 16, 2012, he provoked anger when he posted the first negative review of ''

The Dark Knight Rises ''The Dark Knight Rises'' is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the final instal ...

''. His review was posted on review site

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

and within minutes, started receiving hateful comments and death threats. Rotten Tomatoes had to remove the link to his review and temporarily disable comments on reviews for the movie. When asked about the situation in an interview, he said "It's part of the job." He is a founding member of Westchester Collaborative Theater, and wrote several plays – one-act and full-length – produced by the company.

Bibliography

* ''Bloody Sam: The Life and Films of Sam Peckinpah'' (1991) * ''Harvey Keitel: The Art of Darkness'' (1997) * ''Accidental Genius: How John Cassavetes Invented the American Independent Film'' (2005)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fine, Marshall 1950 births American biographers American male biographers American film critics Living people