Pauline Kael

An excerpt of an interview that Jim Lehrer conducted with Pauline Kael and Woody Allen. It was rebroadcast in memoriam of Pauline Kael's death.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Pauline
• Kael
• Jim
• Lehrer
• Woody
• Allen

[alainsoir]

What is it with the Kubrick fanboys? I find I disagree with Kael on countless films and filmmakers, but to call Kael a "dumb bitch" because she doesn't like Kubrick's cold, technical films seems to imply what she's saying: they're empty movies appealing to the kind of people who call someone a "dumb bitch." I disagree with her on many films, including many she rarely, if ever, reviewed, like Fassbinder and Ozu and Bresson. But she widened the discussion, and that should be recognized.

[mauress]

Terrible sound synch

[chowbok]

@MrGrevy That story isn't true.

[CastleRockFan]

Pauline Kael is clearly the finest film critic the stork ever brought. I disagree with her, sometimes VERY STRONGLY, on more films than I can count. But even her negative reviews are illuminating, and when we agree, I never feel more energized. Even if you don't agree with most of her opinions (her harsh criticism of much of Kubrick's work was hard for me to take), there's no denying her genius. Honestly, genius.

[Smaruku]

I pity the person who can't appreciate Barry Lyndon.

[terratrema]

@kickodude

Not exactly. She liked him until he got shite, which was at the point of A Clockwork Orange and beyond.

[Megaritz]

@kickodude You mean disliking someone almost universally admired makes someone a dumb bitch? By that logic you're a dumb bitch for not liking Pauline Kael. That's by your logic, not mine.

[McRighty]

@MrGrevy I wish she could've lived to see the end of Ratatouille. She says her criticism used her emotional reaction as her film rating criteria. Would she have been delighted by the great animated film or trashed it for pointing out how irrelevant professional criticism really is?

[kickodude]

This is the dumb bitch who didn't like Stanley Kubrick!