Former Los Angeles Occasions movie critic Justin Chang was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for criticism on Monday.
Chang was honored for his work printed final yr, led by an August article that defended director Christopher Nolan’s controversial choice to keep away from depictions of the horrific atomic bombings of the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Nolan’s epic film “Oppenheimer,” which went on to win the Academy Award for greatest image.
Chang was a critic with The Occasions for practically eight years; he left the paper in late January to develop into a movie critic for New Yorker journal. He started his profession at Hollywood commerce journal Selection, the place he spent 12 years, beginning as an intern and dealing his means as much as develop into the publication’s chief movie critic earlier than segueing to The Occasions.
“The one job I ever needed was to be a movie critic,” Chang mentioned in a short interview Monday. “And to get to do it on the L.A. Occasions — I grew up in Orange County studying The Occasions — was only a dream come true.”
The Occasions’ workers was chosen as a Pulitzer finalist for breaking information for its protection of the January 2023 mass capturing on the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park that left practically a dozen individuals lifeless. About 20 minutes after the capturing, the suspect walked into one other studio in close by Alhambra however a younger man disarmed him and he ran away.
An infinite manhunt started and ended when legislation enforcement officers converged on a strip mall car parking zone in Torrance, the place the suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
As well as, Occasions workers author Keri Blakinger was named a finalist within the options class for a report she authored, along side the Marshall Challenge and New York Occasions Journal, earlier than becoming a member of the paper final yr to cowl legal justice and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Division.
Chang’s award marked the sixth yr in a row that The Occasions gained at the least one Pulitzer, bringing the newspaper’s all-time Pulitzer whole to 52.
“Justin dives deep into his concepts with a rigor that’s not solely uncommon, however singular,” mentioned Occasions Movie Editor Joshua Rothkopf, who edited most of Chang’s columns. “His readability of considering and creativity are beacons to all of us who love films. Our work collectively was immensely pleasing.”
Final yr, The Occasions gained the Pulitzer for breaking information for its protection of a secret audio recording that uncovered L.A. Metropolis Council members scheming in crude and racist methods — a jarring take a look at the town’s political factions and energy struggles.
Photographer Christina Home was additionally awarded a Pulitzer in function images in 2023 for her placing and empathetic pictures of a younger unhoused lady who was dwelling alongside the Hollywood Freeway whereas coping with drug points and childbirth.
In 2022, Occasions photographer Marcus Yam obtained the breaking information images award for his sobering pictures of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan that captured the human value of the historic change within the nation.
“Everyone knows Justin is such an illuminating thinker about movies, the artists who make them and the artwork kind itself,” Leisure and Arts Editor Craig Nakano mentioned. “What people won’t know is that his intelligence and sleek writing are matched with an incredible work ethic and kindness, even beneath deadline stress. All of his sensible work since becoming a member of The Occasions in 2016 led as much as this second.”
The newsroom celebrated Chang and his main accomplishment, which continued the popularity for a number of Occasions columnists who’ve captured the prize for criticism through the years. Occasions artwork critic Christopher Knight gained the award in 2020. 5 years earlier, senior critic Mary McNamara was honored for her columns that strayed past tv to look at bigger cultural developments.
Chang’s columns targeted on works for the display screen, singling out these he felt deserved reward for artistry, humanity and sheer storytelling.
Equally, he didn’t conceal his disappointment in different works, corresponding to Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers.” His evaluation of that movie was titled: “Bah, humbug! ‘The Holdovers’ is a clunky, phony white-elephant present of a film.”
Within the interview, Chang singled out reward for his mentor, The Occasions’ longtime movie critic Kenneth Turan, as his “first nice trainer of movie and movie criticism.”
“I realized quite a bit from Kenny nearly carry oneself, method the work with humility, which is one thing I’ve tried to do,” Chang mentioned. “I’ve this factor in my head, it’s a formulation that I can’t let go of — which is that humility and authority go hand in hand. You begin with the one, the opposite will comply with.”
The 41-year-old movie critic is a local of Anaheim Hills.
“My years at The Occasions had been simply an incredible expertise,” Chang mentioned. “From the second I walked within the doorways on Spring Avenue — after we had been nonetheless on Spring Avenue — The Occasions gave me all the liberty on the planet to method this job as I noticed match. And I don’t take that without any consideration.
“Individuals have loads of concepts and assumptions about what a critic ought to be, what a critic ought to cowl, what they need to prioritize and generally these agendas are very a lot tied to the agendas of the American industrial film trade,” Chang mentioned. “Whereas I really like the American film trade, I’m actually concerned about different kinds of films, too. I’m concerned about the entire cinematic spectrum. And I’m so grateful to The Occasions as a result of they’ve simply at all times let me discover that spectrum to the fullest.”
