Opinions
Kael's opinions often ran contrary to consensus critical opinion. Occasionally, she energetically championed films that were considered critical failures, such as The Warriors and Last Tango in Paris. She was not especially cruel to some films that had been roasted by many critics, such as the 1972 Man of La Mancha, in which she praised Sophia Loren's performance. She also condemned films that elsewhere attracted admiration, such as It's a Wonderful Life, West Side Story, and Shoah. The originality of her opinions, as well as the forceful way in which she expressed them, won her ardent supporters as well as angry critics.
Notable film reviews by Kael included a venomous criticism of West Side Story that drew harsh replies from the film's supporters; ecstatic reviews of Z and MASH that resulted in enormous boosts to those films' popularity; and enthusiastic reviews of Brian De Palma's early films. Her 'preview' of Robert Altman's 1975 film Nashville appeared several months before the film was actually completed, in an attempt to prevent the studio from re-cutting the film and to catapult it to box office glory.
Read more about this topic: Pauline Kael
Famous quotes containing the word opinions:
“Grandparents who want to be truly helpful will do well to keep their mouths shut and their opinions to themselves until these are requested.”
—T. Berry Brazelton (20th century)
“There is much to be said in favour of modern journalism. By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community. By carefully chronicling the current events of contemporary life, it shows us of what very little importance such events really are. By invariably discussing the unnecessary, it makes us understand what things are requisite for culture, and what are not.”
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