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Duncan Shepherd

Duncan Shepherd was the Reader's sole movie critic for nearly 40 years. When he came to the Reader, Shepherd was a graduate student and teaching assistant in the Visual Arts department of UCSD, under critic and artist Manny Farber. Shepherd retired from the Reader in 2010.

Read about Shepherd on Wikipedia.

Some of Shepherd's notable work:

Thick Skin, Dec. 4, 1975 (Shepherd's view on pornography)

Naysaying, June 10, 1976 (response to Shepherd critics)

Gorin by Himself, Oct. 18, 1979 (collaborator of Jean-Luc Godard, friend of Shepherd's)

Cease Fire, April 30, 1981 (another frontal stand against Shepherd's critics)

Upside, Downside, July 7, 1994 (the new phenomenon of films on video)

More Than Money, March 7, 1996 (review of Fargo)

One Cent's Worth, Sept. 27, 2001 (reflections on 9/11)

Bloop, Nov. 1, 2001 (review of The Man Who Wasn't There — first Coen Bros. film to disappoint him)

Articles by Duncan Shepherd

1976 guide to surfspots, poetry, dance bars, Navy slang, where to park

1976 San Diego guide to surfing spots Tamarack, Swami's, Black's, Windansea, Ocean Beach, Needle's Eye, Ralph's, Tijuana Sloughs 1976 San Diego guide to sailing Mission Bay, Navy Sailing Club, Southwestern, Silvergate, Seaforth, Coronado and San …

September 19, 2022
1973 Reader guide to jogging, bookstores, cheesecake

1973 San Diego guide to cheap eats How to eat on a dollar a day 1973 San Diego guide to rock music Best clubs 1973 San Diego guide to movies Grim harvest 1973 San Diego …

September 12, 2022
San Diego – city of shame, University Avenue, roommates from hell, writers write about moms

Roommates from Hell I walked outside to the storage door. I pushed on the door and opened it. I saw the rope around John’s neck and John’s face looking at me. I screamed and ran …

December 5, 2021
San Diego vs. L.A. – guess who wins?

Two Views of San DiegoI used to consider San Diego roads relatively sane, compared to L.A. Now the freeway is full of lunatics. Everyone’s trying to go faster than the next guy. People used to …

July 24, 2021
Movie critic Duncan Shepherd answers critics, Vincente Minnelli, Robert Rossellini visit UCSD

Shoot If You Must This Old Grey Head The complainer expects to be in agreement: he is certain that there is some chicanery afoot if his innate common sense clashes with some idea he encounters: …

November 30, 2020
Movie stories by Duncan Shepherd from the 1970s

Shoot If You Must This Old Grey Head The complainer expects to be in agreement: he is certain that there is some chicanery afoot if his innate common sense clashes with some idea he encounters: …

Duncan Shepherd and the Reader

Duncan Shepherd was the Reader's sole movie critic for nearly 40 years. When he came to the Reader, Shepherd was a graduate student and teaching assistant in the Visual Arts department of UCSD, under critic …

March 2, 2019
What was thought hot 45 years ago

1973 San Diego guide to San Diego guidebooks What Neil Morgan never told you. 1973 San Diego guide to the San Diego Reader Who are these people? 1973 San Diego guide to cheesecake Supermarket, specialty …

January 5, 2019
So Long

It had to end sometime. Now’s as bad a time as any. After thirty-eight years of them — commencing with a typo-marred encomium on Hickey and Boggs dated November 2, 1972 — this is to …

November 10, 2010
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