I had to hit the ground running when I got back from Brookline, MA last week, so I didn’t get time to sit down and do a proper report on the “Beyond Thumbs Up: A Critical Look At Film Criticism” panels I participated in up there at the lovely Coolidge Corner Theater. We—myself, Stephanie Zacharek of Salon, Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, Armond White of The New York Press, Ty Burr of The Boston Globe, Scott Foundas of L.A. Weekly, the venerable David Sterritt and the venerable Phillip Lopate and moderators Richard Porton and Cynthia Lucia of Cineaste—were treated like royalty by the lovely staff there, and we had a grand time arguing over the course of three 150 minute panels over two days. It was kind of exhausting. (There's a very kind review of one of the panels here.)
We began by describing how we each got into film criticism; I think I got cut off about 20 minutes into my own account, by which time I was up to my first driving test. After that, one name started coming up a lot. And a lot.
Almost everyone on the panel had had some significant contact at least, or a substantial personal/professional relationship at most, with Pauline Kael.
Continue reading "Of Pauline Kael, fan mail, and other burning issues of film criticism. " »


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