| Harry Knowles | |
|---|---|
Harry Knowles at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2010. |
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| Born | December 11, 1971 Austin, Texas |
| Occupation | Writer, critic |
| Spouse | Patricia Cho Jones (July 15, 2007 – present) |
Harry Knowles (born December 11, 1971) is a film critic and writer known for his website called Ain't It Cool News. Knowles is a member of the Austin Film Critics Association.[1]
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Harry Jay Knowles was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Jarrell Jay Knowles and Helen Jane (Harrison) Knowles, who married September 19, 1970, in Austin. His early years were spent traveling the Southwest and Mexico with his parents who did light shows for touring rock bands. His parents then settled in Austin and began trading comic books and movie memorabilia from the upstairs floor of their Victorian era house, as well as from Austin's first comic and movie memorabilia store, the N.E. Mercantile Company, Inc. (N.E. was short for "New Economics"), which they founded in 1970 and ran until 1984. Knowles's parents also produced the Austin Fantasy Film Fest in 1976, one of the first science fiction conventions in Austin. Knowles spent many hours watching B-grade horror movies as well as other genres from mostly bootlegged 16 mm prints.
Knowles's parents separated in 1983 and divorced March 12, 1984; his mother received custody of him and his younger sister Dannie. The children subsequently lived with their mother on her family's ranch, the Portwood Ranch in Seymour, Texas. His mother took possession of the comics, films, and related ephemera, and placed their ownership in the names of Harry and Dannie. With nothing better to do on the ranch, Knowles spent more time immersed in reading comics and watching movies. Knowles's other activities included the Boy Scouts of America and he attained the rank of Eagle Scout.[2] In 1989, at age 17, Knowles moved back in with his father. His mother died in a fire on December 5, 1992, on the Portwood Ranch, and Dannie moved back to Austin shortly thereafter.
Following his divorce from Helen, Harry's father founded Jay's 20th Century Esoterica in Austin in 1985, and was later joined by Harry after he graduated from high school and moved back to Austin in 1989, and by Dannie in 1992. In 1994, Harry Knowles fell while pushing a cart up a ramp at a convention, and was subsequently run over by the cart with its 1,200-pound load of memorabilia. The accident injured his back and left him virtually bedridden. With an unexpected bequest of $5,000 from his mother's life insurance, he purchased a top-of-the-line computer and a friend arranged for Internet service so they could play Doom online together. Jay, Harry and Dannie ran Jay's 20th Century Esoterica until Ain't It Cool News "took off" in 1996, and the family went out of the memorabilia business, but retained their extensive collections and continue to add to them.
Knowles married Patricia Cho Jones on July 15, 2007 at Green Pastures in Austin.[3]
On April 4, 2008, Knowles announced that he was diagnosed as a Type-2 diabetic.[4] On May 20, 2008, Knowles underwent lapband surgery to help alleviate his diabetes and to help lose much of the weight that has contributed to his health issues. In January 2011, Knowles underwent emergency spinal surgery to his T-10 vertebrae. According to Knowles, the surgery restored sensation in his legs for the first time in over 15 years, and he will now be undergoing physical therapy to learn to walk again.[5]
After purchasing a computer in 1994, Knowles taught himself how to navigate the Internet and began frequenting newsgroups to exchange gossip and rumors with other fans about upcoming films. After being chastised by future film critic Mike D'Angelo for posting binary image files to the newsgroups, Knowles launched the website that would become Ain't It Cool News in February 1996.
Due to the popularity of the website, Knowles was sought out by the mainstream media, including magazines, newspapers, and television news programs. In 2000, he was ranked #95 in the Forbes Power List. Knowles has made guest appearances on the television shows Siskel & Ebert & the Movies and Politically Incorrect.[6]
Harry Knowles is featured in the documentary For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism as an advocate of film criticism on the Internet; he articulates the divide between older and younger critics and advocates for the films of Michael Bay.[7]
He was also played by Ethan Suplee in the 2009 movie Fanboys.
Every year since 1999, on the weekend closest to his birthday (December 11), Knowles hosts an event called Butt-Numb-A-Thon (BNAT). The event, also known as Geek Christmas, is a 24-hour celebration of film, featuring un-official premieres, and vintage films- from classics reprinted for the big-screen, to the rare, weird and unheard of. Film fans and professionals alike travel from all over the United States and the world to attend the event, which is hosted in the critic's hometown of Austin, Texas at the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse. BNAT has been called "the world's most exclusive and mysteriously secretive film celebration" and "the hardest film event to get into in the country".
Additionally, Knowles co-programs Austin's Fantastic Fest, an eight-day film festival focusing on the genres of horror, science fiction and fantasy. This event is also held annually in September at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's South Lamar location in Austin.
Knowles attends events offered to the press, paid for by the movie studios, including visits to movie sets and premieres. Questions have sometimes emerged about the resulting impartiality of his articles and reviews.[8] For example, he was flown to the premiere of Godzilla, and gave the movie a wildly positive review,[9] while a vast majority of critics disliked the film.[10] Knowles later reversed himself and panned the film after the ensuing outcry. Knowles and his defenders, however, have noted that he has given mixed reviews to movies for which he has been sent to junkets and premieres, and in any case is often out of step with mainstream critics. Knowles also gave a negative review to the film Monkeybone, in which he made a cameo appearance.[11]
In another controversy in 1999, he wrote an article praising a script by Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan. He failed to mention, however, that McWeeny was a contributor to the site, writing under the pseudonym "Moriarty." This and other alleged lapses were reported in a series of articles in Film Threat magazine.[12]
In early 2000, Knowles posted materials stolen from an ABC staffer's home computer, which Knowles took at face value to be the Oscar nominees for the Academy Awards—a day before the official announcement. When the actual nominees were announced the following day, it was discovered that his finalists in almost every category were incorrect. Knowles acknowledged his error when it became clear he was wrong, but then disclosed the IP address of the person whose computer had been hacked, compounding the error. The Academy considered suing Knowles for trademark and copyright infringement, but ultimately decided against it.[13]
Harry became the subject of more controversy in the TalkBack section of his Drive review, due to the belief that he had pirated the film. Many AICN "talkbacker's" pointed out that the films' composer, Cliff Martinez, had been replaced in the pirated versions of the film with another musician. Harry managed to name the wrong composer and upon realizing his error quickly changed the review to reflect Cliff Martinez as the original composer.