T O M S H O N E
T H E S E V I O L E N T D E L I G H T S
— F i l m C r i t i c & A u t h o r —
“One of the best film critics currently writing in the English Language”
NICK HORNBY
“Most critics are at their best when speaking the language of derision but Shone has the precious gift of being carried away”
CLIVE JAMES
“Is there anyone now writing about movies better than Tom Shone?”
JOHN HEILEMANN, NEW YORK MAGAZINE
A TIMES / SIGHT & SOUND BOOK OF THE YEAR
“Greengrass’s fifty years of filmmaking, from Northern Ireland to 9/11 and beyond, are a hell of a ride, but this is not Shone’s first rodeo, so hang on — the book is a thrill” TOM STOPPARD
"A brilliant, epic evocation of the uncompromising giant amongst us ‘real life’ filmmakers." MIKE LEIGH
“Urgent and wise” MATTHEW MCCONNAUGHEY
"Shone’s wonderfully detailed, intimate book is the story of an artist’s origin and process.... Unique and fascinating.” MICHAEL MANN
“High octane and deeply informed” — TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
BLOCKBUSTER: HOW HOLLYWOOD LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE SUMMER (2004)
TELEGRAPH FILM BOOK OF THE YEAR
“Compelling, witty, authoritative and very, very smart… Blockbuster is weirdly humane: it prizes entertainment over boredom, and audiences over critics, and yet it’s a work of great critical intelligence”
Nick Hornby —The Believer
“[An] impressively learned narrative... Shone evinces an intuitive knowledge of what makes audiences respond.” Kirkus Reviews
“Startlingly original... his ability to sum up an actor or director in one well-turned phrase is reminiscent of Pauline Kael’s... For anyone interested in film, this book is a must read.”
Toby Young —The Spectator
“Fascinating and insanely entertaining” Los Angeles Times
After thirty years as chief film critic of the Sunday Times, Tom Shone now writes books — on Nolan and Scorsese, Tarantino and Greengrass, and the enduring pull of the movies. He lives with his family in East Sussex.
S E L E C T E D W O R K S
THE NOLAN VARIATIONS (2020)
“The Nolan Variations is that rare thing, a superb book about a living filmmaker. Erudite, complex, labyrinthine and mind-expanding - it’s as close as you’re ever going to get to the Escher drawing that is Christopher Nolan’s remarkable brain” SAM MENDES
“One of the great filmmaker Q & A filmmaker portraits, up there with Hitchcock/Truffaut” GLENN KENNY
“This has to be one of the very best auteur studies ever written.”
DAVID BORDWELL
“Fabulous: intelligent, illuminating, rigorous, and highly readable… the very model of what a filmmaking study should be.” NEAL GABLER
“We’re fortunate indeed to have him, and fortunate now to have this book” WILLIAM GIBSON
THE GREENGRASS PAPERS (2025)
A SUNDAY HERALD FILM BOOK OF THE YEAR
“One of the most eloquent and acute film writers we have”
Teddy Jamieson — The Sunday Herald
“Shone’s text is a seamless mixture of career biography, retrospective appreciation, and film criticism…. essential for fans of the director.” Cinemaliterate
"Must have… The best book on Quentin Tarantino" Quentin Tarantino FanClub
"A glory to leaf through…SShone is a clever film columnist who can also write a wise book: two attributes that don't often go together.” Clive James — Prospect
"A beautiful book on the Taxi Driver director's career by critic Tom Shone who relishes Scorsese's ‘energetic winding riffs that mix cinema history and personal reminiscence’.”
Kate Muir—The Times
"Shone gives the book the heft of a smart critical biography... his arguments arealways strong and his insights are fresh. The oversized book’s beauty is matched by its brains.”
Connecticut Post