I count myself as very unfortunate to be just a hair too young to have been around for the prime of Pauline Kael. There are several new books about her, which I have not yet read. Instead, I'll turn over explication to two women I greatly respect, the first of whom I have the great pleasure of knowing personally:
The Self-Styled Siren on Pauline Kael.
Camille Paglia on same.
Two very different perspectives, but there was no easy and consistent way to sum up Pauline Kael. Even though if she knew me she'd probably think I was a fatuous, pretentious jerkoff, I still think she's just swell and I encourage all of you who are not yet acquainted with her work to get up on her body of critical work. Even in death, she'd probably be able to win an argument (the perils of stepping to Pauline in life were dire).
And remember this very important lesson: you do not always have to agree with someone to know they're smart.
Such a pity! I find your writing much more interesting than the movies you endorse. But it only takes away a little of the pleasure I've had these past couple of hours reading your review. "And remember this very important lesson: you do not always have to agree with someone to know they're smart." Yes, indeed, but how frustrating a lesson. I find myself, to my surprise, much more in agrement with Armond White, whose style is sometimes verging on the unsufferable (not to say, automatic). But give the guy his due, he MAKES his points. "Film buffs" (what an horrible expression, at least to my delicate, French ears) lack his humor and his "recul" (accounts of his behavior year after year at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards are uprarious). Liking Torque when it came out was an interesting move. Très content d'avoir découvert votre blog, en tout cas.
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