CityLights interview with Pauline Kael part 2

[hoegaarden27]

Pauline Kael AND Brian Linehan were so central to making me take an interest in films. It's good to be able to see this again after so many years. Thanks!

[BenWatts1]

Why do you have an intro on each part?

[briankressaustin]

Brock Linehan!

[KingMinosxxvi]

there isnt much to prove wrong in "Kael, sucks" is there ...maybe next time you should think about that before you give some patronizing response to such a comment :P anyways not only does kael suck she blows to. I f somone has the balls to stand up criticise art no matter how witty they might i have every right to say they suck if i disagree, and not only have the right but should do so immediately and as crudely as possible.

[shnoepie1]

Is she wearing Nike's in this video? If so, I think I love her.. I don't really know her work, but she seems to know what she's talking about.

[detriplea]

She's my Idol.

[ajdc88]

She's usually pretty good, but this interview is rather boring, and not because it's so dated. It's just her presenting a bunch of conclusory statements and unfounded and unanalyzed opinions.

[KingMinosxxvi]

what is she talking about the verdict is brilliant. still stands up. kael sucks

[Megaritz]

@KingMinosxxvi Her tastes sometimes can seem arbitrary, and may often depend on her mood when she sees a certain movie. Still, she's a wonderful writer, and for you to dismiss her with "kael sucks" is just petty. Of course I'm responding to a year-old comment so you might've learned more about her since then. I know I've had people responding to my year-old comments and making me feel quite silly.

[KingMinosxxvi]

@Megaritz "Her tastes sometimes can seem arbitrary, and may often depend on her mood whe she see's a certain movie" That sounds like the perfect description of a bad critic. Just based on this interview, and this is a youtube comment board so that what i based it on. she is a windy old hag. and if she want to say that sidney lumet "embalms" (as a slight) paul newman in the verdict she obviously does not understand the tone of the film. she functions in the form of the editorial or the

[KingMinosxxvi]

@Megaritz "her tastes sometimes can seem arbitrary, and may often depend on her mood" that sounds like a pretty crappy critic. Sidney Lumet "embalms"(a slight) newman in the verdict. she clearly doesnt understand the tone of the film. I lost my reply here as second ago and dont care to recreate for the moment. but i stand by my previous statement having not read a single further line about or by pauline kael in the last year. "Kael Sucks" !!!she is a dusty old windbag who wouldnt know the wor..

[KingMinosxxvi]

Respond to this video...  worth of a given work of art if it smacked her in the face. and if you want to tell me im wrong you can do more to prove than say urrghh "blah blah you know shes actually a lovely writer"

[Megaritz]

@KingMinosxxvi Her writing will prove you wrong--if there is anything to BE proven wrong in the assertion "kael sucks," which is nearly meaningless as a description anyway. She is intelligent, thoughtful, and articulate when it comes to writing about her moviegoing experiences, and she's very witty, and she especially helped legitimize film criticism. I probably disagree with her about as many things as you would. In fact, I think The Verdict is a great movie.

[meacarston]

I think she has a very random taste and some spotty taste in films. I think she is being far too hard on exceptional films lie The Verdict.

[PussycatGoGo]

She is being very honest. Particularly about how movies manage to get buzz long before it's even released let alone finished. George Clooney's career is built on this. The man has talent but you can feel the push to treat his work as the best before a single person has seen it.

[DeanLeonard1]

Kael rocks.

[BarbierStephane]

it would be highly ironic if Meryl Streep played Kael in a film, since Kael hated Streep's work with a vengeance!

[Musclehustle]

I think Jane Alexander is the perfect fit to play Kael in a film :)

[KellyGreen5555]

I think Pauline is great but she is off the mark regarding Newman in The Verdict. Newman & the film are simply extraordinary.

[jot2b]

So true Kelly, so true.

[KellyGreen5555]

I wholeheartedly disagree with you: The subject matter is downbeat, but so what? So was Schindler's List.

Newman's character finds redemption by the end & it stayed with me. "Impaled by the camera?" His character is going through a personal hell.

[bondurango]

Like the Playboy centerfold, her reviews were the first thing you looked at in the New Yorker. That's how much she stood out from the rest of the magazine's literary output. It was like eating dessert before the main course & her writing was like lemon pie, i.e. sweet & sour. Her book, Losing It At The Movies, said it all. Films had to be little, kinky, culinary, mind fucks. Sex & violence was hot sauce she generally hated except on buttermilk pancakes like Sam Peckinpah & Walter Hill.

[MacNair]

I feel like Meryl Streep could play her very well in a movie.

[DeanLeonard1]

That would be a juicy irony (one that Kael would probably have appreciated): Kael was perhaps Streep's most ardent detractor.

[1814Brandan]

She's brutally honest whether she's being positive or negative - I like that about her. She's missed.

[nsicanada]

Yep - more bits to come soon.

[cinemaman3105]

Aren't there 2 other parts of this interview?

[kopblue]

Read her books of film criticism/essays, whether you agree or not they are fascinating. I have bought films i have not seen on her recommendations and have not been dissapointed.