John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College.[1] He was a critic for Time, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone, among other magazines, before shifting to screenplay writing.[1] He was married to actress Verna Bloom from 1972 until her death in 2019.[2] They had a son, Sam, born in 1981.
As a screenwriter, he is notable for his collaborations with director Martin Scorsese, particularly The Age of Innocence[3] and Gangs of New York[4] — a screenplay he started working on in 1976 — as well as Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days.[5] He did an uncredited rewrite of James Cameron's screenplay for Titanic and was, with Scorsese, the co-screenwriter of Silence. Cocks and Scorsese approached author Philip K. Dick in 1969 for an adaptation of his 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Though the duo never optioned the book, it was later developed into the movie Blade Runner by screenwriter Hampton Fancher and director Ridley Scott.[6]
Under the pseudonym "Joseph P. Gillis", Cocks and filmmaker Brian De Palma wrote a spec script for the crime drama television series Columbo in 1973; their teleplay, titled "Shooting Script", was never filmed.[7] De Palma and Cocks did however contribute to the writing of the narrative crawl that opens the 1977 film Star Wars.[8]
^ abSome Notable Alumni Archived 2013-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, kenyon.edu; accessed August 28, 2015.
^Sandomir, Richard (January 11, 2019). "Verna Bloom, 80, Amorous Dean's Wife in 'Animal House,' Dies". The New York Times.
^Vincent Canby (1993-09-17). "Review/Film: The Age of Innocence; Grand Passions and Good Manners". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
^A.O. Scott (2002-12-20). "Gangs of New York - FILM REVIEW; To Feel A City Seethe". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
^"Jay Cocks' filmography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-10-08. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
^Schulman, Michael (14 September 2017). "The Battle for Blade Runner". Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
^"Brian De Palma's lost Columbo, and the Lieutenant's unfilmed final case". The Columbophile Blog. August 20, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
^"The Origin of the Crawl". Force Material. December 12, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College. He was a critic for Time...
American historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by JayCocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1927...
has a sackful of unrealized projects including a comedy he wrote with [Jay] Cocks a few years ago in which a character resembling Truman Capote wipes out...
historical drama film directed by James Mangold and written by Mangold and JayCocks, based on the 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald. The film...
Cape Fear Yes No No 1993 The Age of Innocence Yes Yes No Co-written with JayCocks 1995 Casino Yes Yes No Co-written with Nicholas Pileggi 1997 Kundun Yes...
original draft. It was rewritten several times by various writers including JayCocks (who went on to co-script later Scorsese films The Age of Innocence and...
Colorado, which operated from 1963 to 1965. In 1972 she married film critic JayCocks. They had a son, Sam, born in 1981. The couple remained married until...
Monterey Jazz Festival. The film was highly acclaimed with critics, such as JayCocks in Time magazine, Andrew Sarris in the Village Voice, and Archer Winsten...
Times called it a "masterfully executed and profoundly affecting movie." JayCocks of Time magazine wrote that American Graffiti "reveals a new and welcome...
Morrison compositions from "Hymns to the Silence". In a review for Time, JayCocks said "Hymns focuses and redefines Morrison's themes over his long career...
I Know What It's Like to Be Dead". Psychotronic Video. No. 7. p. 35. JayCocks (December 3, 1973). "Terminal Station". Time. pp. 75–76. Archived from...
ISBN 978-0-571-21108-1. Cocks, Geoffrey (2004). The Wolf at the Door: Stanley Kubrick, History, & the Holocaust. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-0-8204-7115-0. Cocks, Geoffrey;...
Yes Uncredited 1995 Strange Days No Yes Yes Uncredited Co-written with JayCocks 1997 Titanic Yes Yes Yes Yes Also director of photography: Titanic deep...
films. He wrote that Bronson threatened to "get" Time magazine critic JayCocks, who had written a negative review he viewed as a personal attack and...
science fiction thriller. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and co-written by JayCocks, Strange Days was critically and financially unsuccessful. In 1996, Cameron...
Washington protest is peaceful. At the end, Scorsese, Harvey Keitel, JayCocks and Verna Bloom discuss the events and the current state of world affairs...
Without Women, was released. This album earned the most critical praise and JayCocks of TIME magazine dubbed it one of the ten best albums of the year. Van...
Air, Variety) Anupama Chopra (Anupama Chopra) Michel Ciment (Positif) JayCocks (Time) Pat Collins (WWOR-TV) Richard Corliss (Time) Kevin Courrier (CBC...
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