By Phil Dellio I’m writing about Pauline Kael again. Cue Al Pacino in The Godfather Part III (one of Kael’s last reviews before her retirement, one that was perhaps a little too forgiving—I think she would have eviscerated that film in 1977). I don’t really want out; I still enjoy talking and writing about her, and I expect I’ll be doing so for as long … Continue reading Pauline Again (Naturally)
Trailer for upcoming movie about Kael. Continue reading What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (Trailer)
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael is a documentary in the works; see the trailer. Continue reading What She Said
Don’t ask me why, but the library around the corner had a mint condition soft-cover copy of Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon on their remainder rack for $1 (I know, I know, how utterly poetic of them), so of course I bought it, but then I got to wondering, “Didn’t Pauline Kael once have something to say about Harold Bloom?,” which led me to Google … Continue reading “What’s so Great About Pauline Kael?”
“Really, Altman’s Nashville is to America what country music is to music — not a close approximation.” Lewiston Morning Tribune, Aug 3, 1975 Continue reading George F. Will & Pauline Kael
There is [Renata Adler’s] famous Pauline Kael review. It is hard to remember what a cultural despot Kael, then the New Yorker‘s film critic, was when Adler took her down in 1980. Kael was bully, drama queen, suck-up, disciplinarian, hysteric, and — taking jobs and inducements from the people she promoted — a bit corrupt, too. Still, opprobrium yet attaches to Adler for her sweeping emperor’s-new-clothes … Continue reading Bad Friday Reading #1
But I especially like this shirt as a symbol. Just the idea of people wearing t-shirts of a film critic makes me happy. I know a few of you wear a shirt of my logo, which is obviously the best thing you could do ever. But this one is amazing because it looks like a rock t-shirt. It treats analysis of film art as rock … Continue reading Three chords and a Pauline Kael t-shirt
Talking About Pauline Kael (Scarecrow Press essay collection; deadline for abstracts is June 1, 2013; accepted essays due October 15, 2013). Calling for essays for a collection, Talking About Pauline Kael, which will examine how New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael’s unique vision, writing style, or critical authority has, in any way, influenced the study of film, the role of film criticism, or even the … Continue reading Kael Essays Wanted
From Brian Kellow‘s Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark. The argument here seems to be “Let them grow up” (Kael) vs. “Use what you know to help shape their tastes” (Barra). I’m with Kael on this one, but it’s murky ground, especially when you consider the impulse to proselytize, which is part and parcel (well, to some degree, and not to the same degree … Continue reading Critical Parenting 101
