Director Gerald Peary emphasizes the essential role that disagreements have played in the history of film criticism: from the quarrels of Andrew Sarris and Pauline Kael to the frequent arguments of Siskel and Ebert during their influential years as the co-hosts of At the Movies , critics and their audiences have thrived on divergences of opinion. Peary knows that the joys of reading and writing criticism...
By Veronika Ferdman In Jonathan Parker’s (Untitled) , Adrian (Adam Goldberg) is a composer who puts on performance pieces that include kicking a bucket containing a chain and a shrieking saxophonist. His brother Josh (Eion Bailey), on the other hand, creates commercially viable paintings, while Madeleine (Marley Shelton) is a gallery owner (who both brothers have a thing for) specializing in...
Every once in awhile, a show comes along and completely blows your mind by the sheer randomness of it. When I saw bauhaus back in 1998 at what was once known as the Warehouse, a muscle-bound freak started random fistfights with everyone around him (women included), a future boyfriend’s watch was smashed in, and management [...] Related posts: CD Review: Logos – Atlas Sound [Kranky, 2009]...
Every once in awhile, a show comes along and completely blows your mind by the sheer randomness of it. When I saw bauhaus back in 1998 at what was once known as the Warehouse, a muscle-bound freak started random fistfights with everyone around him (women included), a future boyfriend’s watch was smashed in, and management [...] Related posts: CD Review: Logos – Atlas Sound [Kranky, 2009]...
Boy, you kids today think you have it so damn tough. Well. Like my old friend and one-time Premiere colleague Howard the K used to say, "YCTM." That stands for "You Can't Tell Me." And you can't. So let Old...
It's long been a cliché to laugh at the obliviousness of Pauline Kael, The New Yorker's film critic alleged to have said that "I don't know how Nixon got elected. No one I know voted for him." 1 The idea of a disconnect between the "elite," however defined, and their public is certainly not a recent concept. And the sycophancy surrounding the movers and shakers in Hollywood...
In 1984, the Talking Heads’ release of Stop Making Sense floored critics and fans alike, securing a place in music history as one of the greatest documentaries and performances captured on film. Pauline Kael of The New Yorker described it as “a dose of happiness from beginning to end.” Now, 25 years later, the film is being re-released on Blu-ray by Palm Pictures, on October 13th....
Although the official release date for this is October 19, I can’t resist the urge to review Logos right now. I’m late for the gatecrashing, but who cares. Logos is one of the best releases of 2009 and that’s all you need to know. It’s hard for me to decide whether this release is better than [...] Related posts: Review: Atlas Sound – Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See...
The director's Derek-and-Clive-style chat with star Danny Dyer has become a YouTube hit. But it shouldn't detract from the fact that Nick Love is a real film-maker The Why, That's Delightful blog by comedy writer and director Graham Linehan this week draws its readers' attention to an item from YouTube, now running at 15,430 hits and climbing. It features highlights from the director's commentary...
The other ACORN scandal : Nobody in the MSM, except Fox, picked up on the scoop by BigGovernment.com of ACORN employees giving advice to a proposed brothel with under age, illegal immigrant prostitutes on how to get government grants and avoid taxes. Charlie Gibson hadn't even heard of the story when he was asked about it. I've just learned the meaning of the term Kaelian surprise, named after Pauline...
Using my rarely-tapped powers of quiet diplomacy and sweet reason, I manage to convince a prominent not-left-wing blogger that the old canard about Pauline Kael and Nixon is just that. On the other hand, the guy's still never gonna link...
Tata Sky has recently added TCM, MGM, NDTV Lumiere and WB to its package of movie channels, which means I have to rethink my reluctance to watch films on TV. It’s a joy to have access to TCM again after all these years – brings back good memories of gorging on Old Hollywood on TNT in the early 1990s shortly after cable television first came in. I’ve been carefully checking schedules...
The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni RiefenstahlAllen Greenfield The German documentary "The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl" is a profoundly unsettling three hours at the movies. At the beginning, a voice-over narration tells us that the movie intends to examine Riefenstahl's unique career "without preconception" -- not an easy task, because her work has always been...
This is actually sort of TV-related because of the most recent episode of Mad Men, which built part of the story around the sensation Ann-Margret caused in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie in 1963 (and the differing reactions of Don, who likes what Pauline Kael called A-M’s “slick, enamelled and appalling” persona, [...]
Not actually a direct link, but Roger Ebert in his piece on Rio Bravo links to a video compilation I created called "The Howard Hawks Woman." I wrote about that video back in 2007 when I put it together ; it feels great to have it used as an illustration of Hawks's penchant for self-borrowing. I should add that -- I believe Pauline Kael was the first to point this out -- some of the tropes...
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