James Berardinelli

Personal life

Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. When he was nine, his family moved to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where he attended Cherry Hill High School East.

He attended the University of Pennsylvania from 1985 to 1990, obtaining both a bachelor's and master's degree in electrical engineering. After graduating he worked for Bellcore Company, now Telcordia Technologies. He worked during the next 15 years "in a variety of fields, including fiber optics, video testing, and software systems."

Berardinelli has categorized himself as an agnostic and a libertarian. They have two children: a son born in May 2010, and a daughter born in November 2019.

Career

Starting in January 1992, Berardinelli began writing movie reviews, his first being a review of the 1991 drama Grand Canyon. His first review published to the Internet was of the 1992 drama Scent of a Woman, which was posted both to Usenet and his Colossus Inc-hosted website, ReelViews.

Roger Ebert referred to Berardinelli as "the best of the Web-based critics" in 2001, and wrote a foreword for the 2003 book, Reelviews, a collection of Berardinelli's reviews. Berardinelli is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic.

In January 2004, he began his blog ReelThoughts, by which time his reviews could attract as many as 100,000 readers, up from around 1,400 weekly readers in 1997. In August 2006, the site moved to ReelViews.net, a domain Berardinelli had originally registered by late 2000.

In November 2015, Berardinelli published the first book in a fantasy novel trilogy entitled The Last Whisper of the Gods. The second book followed in January 2016, the third in March 2016.

Berardinelli appears as a guest on the pop-culture radio program Fictional Frontiers every two weeks.

Annual film rankings

• 1993: Schindler's List
• 1994: Pulp Fiction
• 1995: Cry, The Beloved Country
• 1996: Hamlet
• 1997: The Sweet Hereafter
• 1998: Saving Private Ryan
• 1999: The War Zone
• Best of 1990s : Schindler's List
• 2000: Requiem for a Dream
• 2001: Memento
• 2002: Minority Report
• 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• 2004: Maria Full of Grace
• 2005: Munich
• 2006: The Departed
• 2007: The Lives of Others
• 2008: The Dark Knight
• 2009: Avatar
• Best of 2000s: The Lord of the Rings
• 2010: The King's Speech
• 2011: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• 2012: Looper
• 2013: Before Midnight
• 2014: Interstellar
• 2015: The Hateful Eight
• 2016: Arrival
• 2017: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• 2018: Shoplifters
• 2019: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Best of 2010s: Before Midnight
• 2020: Tenet
• 2021: The Father
• 2022: Avatar: The Way of Water
• 2023: Past Lives
• 2024: The Outrun{{Cite web |last=Berardinelli |first=James |title=Rewinding 2024 - The Year in Film

Bibliography

• Berardinelli, James (2003) ReelViews : The Ultimate Guide to the Best 1,000 Modern Movies on DVD and Video,
• Berardinelli, James (2005) ReelViews 2: The Ultimate Guide to the Best 1,000 Modern Movies on DVD and Video, 2005 Edition,
• Berardinelli, James (2015) The Last Whisper of the Gods, ASIN B-016IWS-UN-M
• Berardinelli, James (2016) The Curse of the Gift, ASIN B-019CPR-EH-K
• Berardinelli, James (2016) The Shadow of the Otherverse, ASIN B-01BRSW-VH-S
• Berardinelli, James (2017) The Lingering Haze,

References

References

1. Berardinelli, James. (August 3, 2009). "1984". Reelviews.net.
2. "Frequently Asked Questions". Reelviews.net.
3. Robert Stevens. (June 27, 1997). "Amateur film reviewers take opinions to the Internet". Kansas City Star/ Los Angeles Times.
4. He resides in [[Mount Laurel, New Jersey]] with his wife, Sheryl, whom he met through his website.Schneider, Dan. [http://www.cosmoetica.com/DSI16.htm "The Dan Schneider Interview 16: James Berardinelli"], Cosmoetica.com, December 12, 2008. Accessed July 14, 2016. "I was born in New Brunswick, lived in Old Bridge for a year, then spent my childhood in Morristown and my teenage years in Cherry Hill. I went to college at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, then returned to New Jersey to live in Bridgewater, Hillsborough, and Mount Laurel, where I currently reside."
5. Boatman, Gail T. [http://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/life-style/day-in-the-life/when-the-lights-go-down-his-work-begins/article_801faf47-c2a9-532c-87d9-090c2d27f823.html "When the lights go down, his work begins"], ''[[Burlington County Times]]'', February 18, 2015. Accessed July 14, 2016. "MOUNT LAUREL — Like movie fans everywhere, James Berardinelli will be in front of his television set, Sunday, watching the Oscars."
6. Berardinelli, James. (January 26, 2007). "11 Years".
7. (August 21, 2016). "James Berardinelli on Twitter". Twitter.
8. Berardinelli, James. (June 11, 2010). "Welcome, Michael".
9. Berardinelli, James. (December 31, 2019). "Rewinding 2019: The Year in Review".
10. "ReelViews FAQ".
11. "Colossus -- World Wide Web Provider".
12. "ReelViews FAQ".
13. Ebert, Roger. (February 9, 2001). "Saving Silverman". Rogerebert.com.
14. (April 13, 2010). "The Ebert Foreword". Reelviews.
15. "JAMES BERARDINELLI". Fandango.
16. "James Berardinelli".
17. "Archived copy".
18. Jason Silverman. (February 28, 2004). "Invasion of the Web Film Critics".
19. (June 17, 1997). "In Online World, Everyone Can Be A Critic". South Florida Sun-Sentinel / Los Angeles Times.
20. "ReelViews: Movie Reviews and Criticism by James Berardinelli".
21. "ReelViews: James Berardinelli's Movie Reviews".
22. Berardinelli, James. "The Last Whisper of the Gods". ReelViews Movie Reviews.
23. (June 5, 2015). "James Berardinelli on Twitter". Twitter.
24. (September 2023). "Fictional Frontiers".
25. Berardinelli, James. "Schindler's List".
26. Berardinelli, James. "Pulp Fiction".
27. Berardinelli, James. "Cry, the Beloved Country".
28. "1996 Top 10".
29. "January 5, 1998 Commentary: Rewinding 1997 -- The Year in Film".
30. "1998 Top 10".
31. "1999 Top 10".
32. "The Best Films of the 1990s".
33. "2000 Top 10".
34. "2001 Top 10".
35. "December 31, 2002 Commentary: Rewinding 2002 -- The Year in Film".
36. "December 28, 2003 Commentary: Rewinding 2003 - The Year in Film".
37. Berardinelli, James. "2004 Top 10 - #1".
38. Berardinelli, James. "2005: The Top 10".
39. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2006: The Top 10".
40. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2007: The Top 10".
41. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2008: The Top 10".
42. Berardinelli, James. "The Top 10 of 2009".
43. Berardinelli, James. "Closing out the Decade with Another Top 10".
44. Berardinelli, James. "The 2010 Round-Up: The Top 10".
45. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2011: The Top 10".
46. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2012 - The Top 10".
47. Berardinelli, James. "The 2013 Top 10".
48. Berardinelli, James. "The 2014 Top 10".
49. Berardinelli, James. "2015 in Review: The Top 10".
50. Berardinelli, James. "The 2016 Top 10".
51. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2017 - The Top 10".
52. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2018 (Part Four): The Top 10".
53. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2019: The Year in Review".
54. Berardinelli, James. "A Look Back at the 2010s".
55. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2020: The Year in Movies (The Top 10)".
56. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2021: The Year in Film (Including the Top 10)".
57. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2022 - The Year in Review (Including the Top 10 List)".
58. Berardinelli, James. "Rewinding 2023 - The Year in Film".