Tara McNamara

As a movie critic and film journalist, Tara McNamara loves watching movies, but more than that, she loves spurring audiences to THINK about movies.

A member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, McNamara is a frequent contributor to TV, print, and digital outlets including ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, INSIDE EDITION, CNN, Variety, The Wrap, and USA Today. Her purpose is to motivate people to think how media messages affect their own actions and opinions. To that end, she has appeared as the Fandango Film Mom, co-hosted the digital series “Mom’s Movie Minute;” and had recurring segments “Reel Moms” on TODAY and “Parents Guide” on THE INSIDER. Recently, she became HDNet Movies’ first female host alongside actress Lea Thompson for the network’s Iconic ‘80s Week. Currently, she’s reviews films from a parent perspective for Common Sense Media. McNamara's film journalism career began in 2004 when she and her children created KidsPickFlicks, a website where kids could send in their own movie reviews. After the site was acquired by Fanlala, she was the Editor-in-Chief of a movie news and review site for parents and another one for teens.

Tara continues to make movies a family affair. After Tara’s 20-year-old daughter Riley declared ‘80s movies to be her generation’s classics, the duo created 80sMovieGuide.com and the podcast ‘80s Movies: A Guide to What’s Wrong with Your Parents, celebrating why we love '80s movies, why some of their messages are so messed up, and how they affected a generation..

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