Richard Corliss dead: Time film critic was 71

Famed TIME critic Richard Corliss has died at 71, the magazine reports. Corliss served as a film critic at TIME for 35 years.

“Film critics can sometimes be intimidating figures: self-assured, cynical, crusaders for an overlooked masterpiece one week, debunkers of your favorite movie the next. Richard Corliss, TIME‘s movie critic for the past 35 years, conveyed nothing so much as the sheer joy of watching movies — and writing about them,” wrote Richard Zoglin in an obituary for Corliss published by TIME. “He savored it all: the good, the bad, the indifferent. Except that he was indifferent to nothing. To any fan or friend who would ask whether a new movie was ‘worth seeing,’ Corliss had a stock, succinct reply: ‘Everything is worth seeing.’ He meant it.”

Corliss died following complications from a stroke he suffered last week. He’s survived by his wife, Mary Corliss, and his brother, Paul Corliss.

For the full obituary, head to TIME.