What an impact Sarris had on world cinema, and what a time to be a critic! Sarris wrote in the age of the auteur, and wrote the seminal piece on this amazing time for movies. It would be hard for our current climate to produce an Andrew Sarris, when the Internet has given everyone an instant platform, and our best critics are accosted and lambasted (sometimes from within their own ranks) for voicing their well considered opinion. It’s a dark time for movie critics. And I would never have made filmmaking my life’s journey had it not been for the likes of Kael and Sarris, Agee, Bazin, and now Hoberman, AO Scott, Ebert et al.
RIP Sarris. One of the timeless greats.