How Can Someone So Good Be So Wrong

David Thomson is a great writer about film. His Biographical Dictionary of Film is a perfect movie companion, eloquent, well argued, and often very funny. However, this fine book has one gaping error. Thomson doesn't "get" Scorsese, in fact he feels there may be nothing to "get." I allow this heresy because nobody can be right about everything. His most recent edition of that book left out one director who seemed quite worthy of his attention, Richard Linklater. He has made up for it in a recent article. To my surprise he's downright hostile towards what is easily the best film of this decade.