38 James Wolcott Quotes for You to Enjoy

James Wolcott

American Critic

Born: Dec 10, 1952

Comedy Down King Party People You

Related authors: George Steiner Henry Louis Gates Kimberly Guilfoyle Lawrence Clark Powell Margaret Fuller Pauline Kael Roger Ebert bell hooks

I understand that one of the purposes of bipartisanship is to cram something difficult and necessary down the American people's gullets for which neither party has the fortitude to assume full responsibility. It's a way of turning a possible gangplank into a teeter-totter. James Wolcott

One reason I'm such a wayward prognosticator of rightwing trends is that I'm incapable of blacking out enough neural sectors to see the world through reptilian-brained eyes, a prerequisite for any true channeling of the mean resentments and implanted fears that drive hardcore conservatives. James Wolcott

It was with 9/11 that I came to fully appreciate and embrace NPR's irreplaceability as a sanity preserver, its unique virtues as first responder on the burning scene. James Wolcott

First Virtues Embrace Scene Came Burning Sanity Fully Unique Appreciate

What a turnaround in sentiment 'Glee' exemplifies. It was only a few years ago that pursuing the dream of a Broadway career or cabaret stardom relegated some poor yearning dope to a lavender ghetto of losers, self-deluders, and social rejects. James Wolcott

At 'The Village Voice,' there were all these fevers inside the offices, that would break out into full-scale rumbles between writers. James Wolcott

Out Would Inside Voice Writers Between Were Offices Break Village

Slashing its way to the finish line, 'Black Swan' is the first ballet movie for highbrow horror fans for whom ballet itself signifies little to nothing. Those of us who know and love ballet can only look on it with a different kind of horror. James Wolcott

Love Fans Black Finish Line First Nothing Way Those Kind Horror Finish Only Highbrow Know Look Ballet Line Itself Different Movie Swan Little Different Kind Us Who Whom Slashing

What stars do in their off-hours is a never-ending source of diddling curiosity to the tabloid sensibility. James Wolcott

Stars Tabloid Never-Ending Source Curiosity Sensibility

The days when the words 'Hollywood actor' framed Ronald Reagan like bunny fingers as an ID tag and an implied insult seem far-off and quaint: nearly everybody in politics - candidate, consultant, pundit, and Tea Party crowd extra alike - is an actor now, a shameless ham in a hoked-up reality series that never stops. James Wolcott

Politics Reality Words Party Tea Extra Everybody Framed Alike Seem Fingers Crowd Tag Consultant Shameless Never ID Implied Days Quaint Like Insult Reagan Ham Bunny Candidate Stops Ronald Reagan Hollywood Tea Party Series Now Actor Nearly

Historically, Hollywood comedy has arrived in skinny envelopes. From fence post Buster Keaton to herky-jerky Jerry Lewis to wiry nerve-bundle Woody Allen to hung-loose Richard Pryor to whippy contortionist Jim Carrey, its comics and clowns have tended to be sliced thin and bendable. James Wolcott

Post Comedy Jim Sliced Jim Carrey Allen Comics Fence Arrived Historically Pryor Woody Woody Allen Clowns Hollywood Richard Richard Pryor Skinny Keaton Buster Jerry Thin Lewis

If you were to hold me down and tickle me to pick my favorite 'plus-comic,' it would have to be Kevin James, a broad physical pratfaller capable of deadpan underplay, a technique honed from years of reaction-shot close-ups on TV, where every teeny fraction of a squint registers. James Wolcott

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