Bill Cunningham New York 2011

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: Cunningham's work is about seeing and teaching us how to see, and that should be plenty for us. Read more

Carina Chocano, New York Times: If the film suggests that there's something bittersweet about a life dedicated to a single pursuit cultivated with an almost religious fervor, it also stands in awe of its subject's... capacity to remain attuned to the expression of others. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: He finds beauty; watching him, we find joy. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: A slight, glancing, yet subtly wrought slice of New York life. And it seems likely that the exceedingly modest Cunningham would want it that way. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It's not just what he does. It's who he is. And he approaches it with such unbridled passion and joy that you can't help but sharing in it; absolutely no knowledge or love of fashion is required. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: It's as much a portrait of a kind of artist as it is a document of a city's evolving sense of style. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Equally at home chronicling the latest fashions on the street and the biggest celebrations among Manhattan's aristocratic swell set, he might as well be the city that forms his vast canvas. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: [A] marvelous documentary. Read more

Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: Fascinating doc about a photographer surveying the highs and lows of New York society. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Obsessive artists often create exceptional bodies of work. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Bill Cunningham New York shows us a man who not only derives great pleasure from devoting himself to his job but also, in the process, has helped shaped the greatest city in the world. Read more

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: The equal billing in the title is no accident: Cunningham's story is the story of New York itself, about the ways it has changed through the decades and how that history was captured on all those miles of film passing through Cunningham's camera. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Those who pore over his fashion columns in the New York Times Style section will particularly appreciate this respectful look at a true local character. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Cunningham talks freely about his passion for fashion and photography. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: I love this man, I love this movie. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Here is a movie about a happy and nice man. Read more

Nathan Heller, Slate: Using the low-key approach that shapes Cunningham's column, Press works up a portrait that's as raw, gentle, funny, and -- in the end -- irresistible as the pictures themselves. Read more

Sara Glassman, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Filmmaker Richard Press offers a humorous, touching and insightful portrait about a subject who clearly would have preferred to stay behind the camera. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Cunningham seems genuinely in love with his work... Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Bill Cunningham New York is as winning as its subject, the affable chronicler of New York style from the sidewalk to the runway. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: He was the first, and what's obvious from this lively and engaging doc, an original. Read more

Ronnie Scheib, Variety: Whatever this Times-produced, TV-ready tribute lacks in tension is amply compensated by the pleasure of watching an enthusiast ply the craft he loves. Read more

Mark Holcomb, Village Voice: No passion for fashion is required to enjoy this absorbing portrait of legendary New York Times "On the Street" photographer Bill Cunningham, but a sense of history and tragedy might help. Read more