What do all these quotes have in common?

“Watching All the King’s Men downward tumble makes for perverse fun, with the emphasis on perverse."

Philip Wuntch

“Some comedies appeal to our inner child, while some horror movies appeal to our inner masochist. Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center poignantly appeals to our inner patriot.”

“The story, effective in print, doesn’t survive onscreen scrutiny. You’ll feel detached and, even with its brief 82-minute running time, you’ll get impatient.”

“You, Me and Dupree features three first-rate actors in need of a first-rate movie.”

“Everyone connected with this gangsta opus was probably trying to make a crowd-pleaser. However, you wind up wondering what kind of crowds they were trying to please.”

“Unknown White Male has moments you won’t forget, appropriate praise for a documentary about amnesia.”

The answer is they are all lines from movie reviews written by Philip Wuntch, the greatest film critic in Dallas history, while he reigned at the Dallas Morning News.

And I going to stick my chest out here and claim a very small slice of credit for that reign. I met Mr. Wuntch 36 years ago this month when I joined the News as the paper’s pop music critic. About two years later, some force elevated me to the role of the paper’s entertainment editor. It was the tradition, up to that point, that the entertainment editor was also the newspaper’s chief film critic. Well it didn’t take a genius (which was good for me) to realize that Philip Wuntch had forgotten more about films than I would ever know so one of my first official acts as entertainment editor was to hand Philip the title of “Film Critic of the News.” He was the first person in the history of the paper, as far as I know, to hold that title and it should have been retired with him when he left the paper way to soon.

I bring all this up at this time because today is the great Mr. Wuntch’s birthday. I’m not going to say how old he is because, frankly, compared to me, he’s still a youngster. And I’m still trying to figure out what to give someone who’s forgotten more about film than I’ll ever know. Suggestions are welcomed.