Bill goodykoontz biography

One of the things people ask me most about my job is: How did you become a movie critic?

The answer is simple.

The previous one died.

If that sounds flippant, well, it is, a little. But the previous movie critic, the late, great Bill Muller, was one of my best friends, and he’d have had me respond no other way.

Like me, he started out in news, both of us at one time working as night-cop reporters. He was just as aware as I am that the fortunes of journalists often rise due to the misfortunes of others.

I also had been a television critic for years, so I knew something about criticism, at least in theory. I’d filled in here and there with some movie reviews, so I wasn’t ignorant about the job.

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Or so I thought.

I became the critic for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, and shortly thereafter for the USA TODAY  Network, 10 years ago.

In that time, according t