Stephen Holden was a cultural critic for The New York Times, specializing in popular music but branching out into theater and film criticism and establishing himself as the paper’s cabaret critic. In the 2000s, he served as one of The Times’s three first-string movie critics. He joined the Times staff in 1988 after working for several years as a freelancer.
His sophisticated collaborations with the lyricist Hal David — “The Look of Love,” “Walk On By,” “Alfie” and many more hits — evoked a sleek era of airy romance.
By Stephen Holden
The cabaret singer’s voice mixed regret with acceptance and consolation. At the end of a song, you’d feel warm — and know that all would be forgiven.
By Stephen Holden
John Schlesinger’s first feature film delivered industrial realism and sexual candor considered ahead of its time.
By Stephen Holden
The New York Times film critics review “Ghost in the Shell,” “Karl Marx City” and “The Zookeeper's Wife."
By Meg Felling and Robin Lindsay
A new film offers an intimate, searching portrait of the turbulent friendship between the writer and the painter.
By Stephen Holden
This true story of a couple who sheltered Jews beneath the Warsaw Zoo has tender moments but its portrayal of the Nazi invasion is too timid and sanitized.
By Stephen Holden
At her debut engagement at the club, Ms. Vega portrays the Southern Gothic writer in pungent biographical songs.
By Stephen Holden
François Ozon’s adaptation of Ernst Lubitsch’s 1932 antiwar film, “Broken Lullaby,” is set in Germany and France in the aftermath of World War I.
By Stephen Holden
The film, which closes the Rendez-Vous With French Cinema series at Lincoln Center, follows the underwater adventures of Cousteau.
By Stephen Holden
In this film from Singapore, the chief executioner at a high-security prison takes on a new assistant.
By Stephen Holden
