Here’s a personal list of the 25 most important, influential books about American cinema. Only one book per author.
Pauline-Kael
Film Review: “What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael” — Rebellion Has an Expiration Date
Pauline Kael capitalized on counterculture snobbery, the pecking order of the oh-so enlightened.
Book Review: “Movie Freak” — A Critic Who Doesn’t Hold Back
If Owen Gleiberman has any complaint against today’s world of criticism it’s that everyone seems to be speaking in one voice.
Response: Critical Justification
A certain number of people (not huge) want to read critics who take the arts seriously, who do more than tell readers what is worth spending their money on.
Arts Commentary: Pauline Kael’s Critical Influence — Revisited
The Hub Review features a perceptively waspish consideration of Pauline Kael’s unhealthy influence on film reviewers, taking scathing aim at a couple of her jittery heirs, A.O. Scott of the NYTimes and Ty Burr of the Boston Globe. I particularly like Tom Garvey’s concluding paragraph: But if the Paulettes have all repudiated their maker, where’s her baleful […]