Ann Hornaday, Washington Post’s longtime chief film critic, dies at 66

Ann Hornaday, who, states The Washington Post, "championed the craft of filmmaking and helped readers understand the enduring magic and occasional disappointment of movies" as The Post’s longtime chief film critic, died Oct. 18 at her home in Baltimore. She was 66.

The cause was glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, said her husband, Dennis Greenia.

According to The Post, "Hornaday brought a casual, if knowledgeable, approach to her reviews, writing more from the viewpoint of a popcorn-eating moviegoer than from the lofty perch of a scholar of cinema. She wrote hundreds of reviews for The Post over more than 20 years and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in criticism in 2008. She was also the author of “Talking Pictures,” a book about how to watch films with a deeper level of discernment."

“For many years, Post readers were blessed by Ann’s informed, insightful, warm, accessible, and totally unique voice,” Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray said in a statement. “Reading her work was like talking with a close — if much more knowledgeable — friend.”