[lbo-talk] Subject: Re: great writers on movies . . .

[Chris Sturr]

On Pauline Kael: I remember reading a good piece on her in the NY Review of
Books a long time ago--I just dug it up and it was by Louis Menand and it
was a 1995 review of one of the anthologies of her reviews (
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1995/mar/23/finding-it-at-the-movies/).
The first few paragraphs, especially, are worth checking out--he situates
Kael's approach in the way the New Yorker at the time tried to deal with
the psychology, and in particular, the insecurities, of its literate--but
not *too* literate--upper-middle-class readership. It helps explain what
Brian pointed out in his recent post about Kael--that she rejected the idea
of understanding movies in terms of their form and content.  I'd quote
extensively, but better to let people just check it out themselves.  I
think Menand is sympathetic toward Kael, but I would side with Brian's
assessment of her.

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Chris Sturr
Editor, *Dollars & Sense*
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Boston, Mass. 02108
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