Matt Zoller Seitz (born December 26, 1968) is an American film and television critic, author and filmmaker.

Career

Matt Zoller Seitz is editor-at-large at RogerEbert.com, and the television critic for ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'' magazine and Vulture.com, as well as a member of the

George Foster Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in ...

s board of jurors. He was previously a television critic at Salon.com and '' The Newark Star Ledger'', and a film critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Prior to this he was a regular media columnist for the ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

''. He founded the film and media criticism blog ''The House Next Door''. Seitz is known as a leader in the creation of video essays, frequently featured on ''Moving Image Source'' and ''The L Magazine'', and served as the publisher of ''PressPlay'', a site for video-based film and television criticism. He was a finalist for the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Seitz's second book, ''The

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. Wes Anderson filmography, His films are known for themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Due to his films' eccentricity, distinctive visual and narrative ...

Collection'', was published by

Abrams Books Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery. The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher Média-Participations. Run by president and CEO Mar ...

in 2013. In February 2015, ''The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel'' was published by Abrams Books. ''The Wes Anderson Collection'' was praised for its design and layout, which was intended to suggest the look and feel of an Anderson film and suggest that the reader was being taken on a tour of the filmmaker's imagination. "This book is the future," wrote Michael Sicinski in ''Cineaste''. ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

Carousel: The Complete Critical Companion'' written by Seitz and with illustrations by Max Dalton was published by Abrams Books in November 2015. His latest book, The Press Gang, co-written with Godfrey Cheshire and

Armond White Armond Allen White (born 1953) is an American film and music critic who writes for ''National Review'' and ''Out''. He was previously the editor of '' CityArts'' (2011–2014), the lead film critic for the alternative weekly '' New York Press ...

and published by Seven Stories Press in 2020, is a compilation of Seitz's long-form film criticism written in the alternative weekly ''

New York Press ''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011. The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hento ...

'' during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Filmmaking

He wrote, directed, and edited the feature film ''Home'' (2005).

Personal life

Zoller Seitz grew up primarily in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. He was the son of jazz pianist David Zoller (1941–2020). Zoller Seitz was married to Jennifer Dawson from 1994 until her death on April 27, 2006. They had two children, Hannah and James Seitz. He married his second wife, Nancy Dawson, who was his first wife's sister and the ex-wife of his step-father's son Richard, in February 2017. They divided their time between

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, Dyker Heights to the east, the Nar ...

and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Nancy Dawson died of cancer on April 27, 2020. Zoller Seitz's father died in November of that year, and his mother in April 2021. Zoller Seitz wrote extensively about his personal experiences with grief and loss in a series of articles published on RogerEbert.com.

Preferences

He participated in the decennial 2022 Sight & Sound Poll, where he selected his 10 favorite films of all time: '' All That Jazz'' (1979), ''

Close-Up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, s ...

'' (1990), '' Days of Heaven'' (1978), '' Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans'' (1927), '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968), '' Goodfellas'' (1990), ''

American Dream The "American Dream" is a phrase referring to a purported national ethos of the United States: that every person has the freedom and opportunity to succeed and attain a better life. The phrase was popularized by James Truslow Adams during the ...

'' (1990), '' Do the Right Thing'' (1989), ''

Salesman Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

'' (1969), and '' A Bread Factory'' (2018).

Bibliography

*''Brad Pitt'' (1996) () *''The Wes Anderson Collection'' (2013) () *''The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel'' (2015) () *''Mad Men Carousel: The Complete Critical Companion'' (2015) () *'' TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time'' (2016), Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall () *''The Oliver Stone Experience'' (2016) () *''Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone'' (2017), Matt Zoller Seitz and Simon Abrams () *''The Sopranos Sessions'' (2019), Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall *''The Deadwood Bible: A Lie Agreed Upon'' (2022)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seitz, Matt Zoller 1968 births 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American bloggers American columnists American film critics American male bloggers American male screenwriters American online publication editors American television critics Film directors from New York City Film directors from Texas Living people New York (magazine) people New York (state) Democrats People from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Salon (website) people Screenwriters from New York (state) Screenwriters from Texas Southern Methodist University alumni Writers from Brooklyn Writers from Cincinnati Writers from Dallas