Boston Globe film critic wins Pulitzer Prize

BOSTON (AP) -- Boston Globe film critic Wesley Morris on Monday won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism for his reviews and essays.

The 36-year-old writer, a Yale University graduate who once worked as a New York City video store clerk, has been with the newspaper for a decade.

"This is just a total, total surprise and it's a wonderful feeling," Morris told The Associated Press. "I'm extremely lucky, and honored, and flattered."

Globe editor Martin Baron called Morris' reviews full of energy and penetrating insights. "He's able to perform gymnastics with words, but he's able to offer words with meaning as well," he said.

The Pulitzer judges said Morris' writing was "distinguished by pinpoint prose and an easy traverse between the art house and the big-screen box office."

Among the stories that won Morris the prize were his reviews of the movies "The Help," ''Drive," and "Water for Elephants," and an essay after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, in which he dubbed him "the Ernest Hemingway of technology."

The Pulitzer Prizes are given out annually by Columbia University on the recommendation of a board of journalists and others. Each award carries a $10,000 prize except for the public service award, which is a gold medal.