David Thomson is the author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film.
February 2025
‘He let us hate him’: Gene Hackman had a rare power – he didn’t need to be liked
David Thomson
The former marine was able to plumb depths of nastiness that set him apart from other ‘hard men’ actors of his generation, such as Robert Duvall and Clint Eastwood, writes David Thomson
November 2020
Mank: a death wish of a movie that could never live up to the legend of Orson Welles
Welles and writer Herman Mankiewicz created Citizen Kane through a titanic creative wrestling match – so Mank’s take is a feeble self-indulgence
February 2020
Kirk Douglas obituary
One of the greatest Hollywood film stars, loved for his roles in Spartacus, The Vikings and Lust for Life
June 2019
The warrior critic: in praise of Pauline Kael
The New Yorker’s legendary reviewer would have been 100 this year. Here, fans of her work assess her essential contribution to film journalism
February 2019
Stanley Donen obituary
US film director and choreographer whose hits included Singin’ in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Two for the Road
August 2017
My parents’ Dunkirk spirit is probably why I exist
As the British Expeditionary Force was being defeated in France and it looked like the end of the world, did my tyrannical father decide he might want a child after all?
January 2017
Film blog
Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds's deaths were tragic coincidence – but we're suckers for a story
The poignancy of Fisher and Reynolds’ passing is worthy of Hollywood melodrama. But after 100 years of vividly filmed plots, it’s as if we are trapped in an endless fiction
December 2016
Film blog
Why I wish I'd married Zsa Zsa Gabor
In many ways, the Hungarian diva was my ideal woman – a trailblazer who always made time to marry, divorce and shop
November 2016
‘Happy Birthday, Mr President’: the story of Marilyn Monroe and that dress
The Jean Louis dress that Monroe wore to sing Happy Birthday to JFK is up for auction, a glittering memento of her tragic last days
April 2016
Film blog
How Louder than Bombs dares to discuss some of our stickiest relationships
Most families have tensions, but the fractured one in Joachim Trier’s drama tests the limits of how far blood ties can stretch without losing connection altogether
March 2016
Film blog
Biggest lesson of the 2016 Oscars? The Academy should be scrapped
David Thomson: This self-serving club has outlived its purpose, and reforming its membership will do nothing to make things better
February 2016
The wilderness sweeping the Oscars speaks to America’s sense of dread
The Revenant, The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road and even The Big Short all reflect an end-of-days mood in both the natural and political world
November 2015
The folly of Empire: how Star Wars menaced Hollywood
Things were never the same after George Lucas’s Star Wars conquered all – the arty 70s gave way to a universe of blockbuster franchises. Is The Force Awakens the last chapter in a process that began a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away?
January 2014
David Thomson on Tom Rosenthal, publisher of The Biographical Dictionary of Film
I first met Tom Rosenthal in the 1970s in Secker and Warburg's offices in Carlisle Street, Soho
December 2013
Peter O'Toole obituary
Stage and screen actor who brought a touch of danger to his roles in Lawrence of Arabia, Becket and The Lion in Winter
July 2013
Sleepless in Hollywood: Tales from the New Abnormal in the Movie Business by Lynda Obst – review
David Thomson on the cynicism and gush of the hard-bitten Hollywood producer Lynda Obst
January 2013
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright – review
From reincarnation to revenge to extraterrestrial time travel, David Thomson is astounded by a straight-faced and scrupulous exploration of Scientology's dark and outlandish belief system
March 2012
Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars by Scotty Bowers – review
A sexually obliging bartender dishes the dirt on Hollywood royalty, but are we any the wiser, asks David Thomson
January 2012
Biographical dictionary of film
Michael Fassbender
David Thomson
David Thomson: X-Men was a shrewd career move, but in Shame, Michael Fassbender's bold, full-frontal performance – so handsome, yet so cold – carries the film
December 2011
My favourite film
My favourite film: The Truman Show
David Thomson continues our writers' favourite film series with a look at the Jim Carrey film that changed his – and Truman Burbank's – life
