"Come at you"? I didn't quote you or address you, "Bro," so I don't appreciate the offensive/defensive posturing about points I didn't make to begin with.Altair wrote: ↑Fri Nov 30, 2018 6:31 amAnd who can usually be counted on to a wonderfully literate, stimulating, and provocative writer. I value film criticism as first and foremost, a piece of writing, and Crowther's fundamental problem (apart from his rampant sexism), is that he writes in a dreadful mid-century 'journalese' speak that has not aged well. Kael's essays and reviews however, are still a pleasure to read.Skrmng Skll Th Thd wrote: ↑Thu Nov 29, 2018 9:37 pmPauline Kael, who can always be counted on to never watch a movie twice, to never change her mind, and to value film as a vicarious "experience" rather than the artifact is is...
And don't come at me saying she didn't finish watching all the films she wrote about, or that she played favourites, or that she got Kubrick wrong, and so on, and so forth. Would watching a film twice have made her a better writer? Probably not. And writing about cinema as an experiential art form is perfectly legitimate, because before videos, most people did not encounter the materiality of film, only its expression in flickering projected light.
As for the Kael Vs. Crowther Deathmatch 2018, I agree that Kael is multitudes more readable, and that Crowther is a desiccated turd in comparison. But I think Kael's work, her approach in general, has not dated well either. It's as if she tried to write like the films she most admired were made: off the cuff, in the moment, with an adolescent, Boomer-era "YOLO" sensibility. In fact, the living writer who most reminds me of her is - haha - Jeffrey Wells, with his laughablely cluless "Samurai Poet" self image and middlebrow "Jizz-Whiz" condescension. Kael's much more informed as a viewer, of course (Wells proudly trumps the fact that he hates films about "poor" people, or most Asian films, and so on) but I still find her tedious and unrewarding compared to someone like James Agee or Dwight Macdonald, or - even better - just listening to one director talk about another.