Tampa's Blind Movie Critic to Appear on Kimmel Show

Jay Forry (Movie Critic who is Blind) to Appear on Jimmy Kimmel Show

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TAMPA — When film critic Jay Forry gives a movie a thumbs up, he jokes that “it’s so good blind people will like it.”  Thumbs down means he’s glad that he couldn’t see it.  Forry, who has reviewed hundreds of films that he hasn’t seen, is believed to be the nation’s only blind movie critic.

Often featured on radio stations throughout the country, the Tampa native also posts his critiques on his web site BlindsideReviews.com as well as right here on the BrailleWorks Blog.

Forry, who lost his eyesight to diabetes when he was 28, has been a movie critic since the 1990′s.  But there’s renewed interest in his novel abilities and he’s been invited to be a guest on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday (7-19) night at midnight (EST).

“This is exciting for me to get on his show and talk about what I do,” said Forry, who added that he got the invite thanks to a short video profile posted online in March.  The promotional film, “Using Your Hearing” is just more than a minute long and shows Forry and his wife, Dorothy, in an empty movie theater as he explains in a voiceover how important sound is in films.  Jimmy must have seen it.  “I’ve been reviewing movies for a long time but this little promotional film is getting a lot of attention,” Forry said.

Known for joking about his blindness and making wisecracks about the movies he doesn’t like, Forry said you don’t have to see a film to enjoy a good story.  “I may not be able to hear things better than other people in a film,” he said.  “But I do pick out particular sounds and intriguing dialogue when other people may be watching the action scenes, gorgeous women or special effects.”

Forry previews movies with the assistance of a narrator (usually his wife) who accompanies him to the theater to describe the action on screen.  “I do a lot of research on each film before attending a screening,” he says.  “I know the actors, the plot, the setting – I’m prepared because I don’t want to go in blind,” he joked.

Dorothy Forry said she does not have to explain much because her husband knows the film. “I just personally don’t like horror and silly sex comedies like ‘The Hangover,’ ” she said.  “I know what she means,” joked Forry.  “The dialogue on some makes me wish I was deaf, too.”

When he lost his eyesight, he gave up his job as a construction foreman and returned to community college where he wrote his first movie reviews for the school paper “as a joke.”  He later graduated from the University of South Florida.  He said he liked going to the movies so much that he decided to make it a career.

He says Kimmel’s producers have contacted him and discussed topics that might be brought up during the segment.  A spokesperson for the show confirmed Forry’s scheduled appearance and added that Kyra Sedgwick of “The Closer” also will be on the program.
It airs at Tuesday, July 19th at midnight on ABC (WFTS, Channel 28).

Source Article: TBO.com | By: Walt Belcher | The Tampa Tribune