The Flick Filosopher debuted on the Web in September 1997, making it one of the longest-lived movie-review sites on the Internet.

Unlike some other popular movie Web sites, The Flick Filosopher does not post rumors or gossip, does not break review embargoes, and does not review test screenings. Instead, critic MaryAnn Johanson -- a New York City-based freelance writer -- offers serious film reviews written in a casual and accessible voice that attempt to recreate the kind of conversation intelligent film fans have while the credits roll or the video rewinds. The site's audience currently averages around 125,000 visitors per month, and traffic is constantly growing.

Time magazine says The Flick Filosopher features "snarky, well-informed commentary in a breezy style." Variety calls Johanson "one of online's finest" film critics. Yahoo! Internet Life magazine wishes "that every dinner-party guest were as clever as MaryAnn Johanson."

Johanson is a member of the MCN 100, an invitation-only voting bloc of critics from print, television, radio, and online organized under the auspices of David Poland's Movie City News, which includes such well-known and respected critics as Newsweek's David Ansen, Premiere's Glenn Kenny, USA Today's Claudia Puig, and New York Magazine's Peter Rainer, as well as a handful of the highest-profile online critics, including James Berardinelli, Slate's David Edelstein, and Film Threat's Chris Gore.

The recently defunct CheckTheGrid.com included Johanson among its two dozen premiere print and online critics, a select list that included The New York Times, Salon, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Film Threat, Roger Ebert, and Movie Juice. Johanson's reviews are counted in Rotten Tomatoes' influential TomatoMeter, and she is among the polled reviewers at Critics.com. Links2Go.com recognizes The Flick Filosopher as a Key Resource for movie reviews. The site has been named a What's Cool site at Netscape Netcenter and a Best of the Net site at The Mining Co. (now About.com). Alexa places The Flick Filosopher among the top 1 percent of all sites on the Internet (as ranked by traffic).

The Flick Filosopher has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the Austin American-Statesman, Long Island Newsday, Sight & Sound magazine, and in numerous other publications and on radio programs in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Australia. Johanson has appeared as a cultural commentator on BBC Radio, and she makes regular appearances at science fiction conventions as a film expert. She was a judge at the first Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Festival at the 2003 I-Con, the largest SF convention on the East Coast.

In late 2000, Johanson helped found Cinemarati: The Web Alliance for Film Commentary, a professional guild for film writers whose work appears primarily online. Cinemarati strives to counter the notion that "anyone with a modem can be a critic" and raise the level of discussion about film on the Internet to the point at which it will be considered on a par with print journalism.

Offline, Johanson is a contributing critic to Salt Lake City Weekly newspaper, Video Librarian magazine and Web site, and Cineman Syndicate/Minireviews.com. Her entertainment writing has appeared in Archaeology, Staten Island Advance, Yahoo! Internet Life, My AOL, and The Encyclopedia of U.S. Popular Culture. She is also an award-winning screenwriter.

contact info:
MaryAnn Johanson
thechick@flickfilosopher.com
914-843-9136

mailing address:
MaryAnn Johanson
FlickFilosopher.com
PO Box 221
The Bronx, NY 10470