“A number of critics take phrases and attitudes from me, and those takings stick out—they”
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Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the consensus of her contemporaries.
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culture · American film critic (1919–2001) · film critic · writer · journalist · also Pauline Kael, Kael
Born 19 June 1919 · Died 3 September 2001 · Q436910
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2026· 3 entries
“We were in almost at the beginning, when something new was added to the human experience.”
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“I worked to loosen my style—to get away from the term-paper pomposity that we learn at college. I wanted the sentences to breathe, to have the sound of a human voice.”
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2023· 1 entry
Collider: Quentin Tarantino's Next Film 'The Movie Critic' Is Not About Pauline Kael
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2019· 5 entries
FirstShowing.net: Film Critic Biopic 'What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael' Full Trailer
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Yahoo: ‘What She Said’ Trailer: Pauline Kael’s Critical Legacy Gets Its Very Own Documentary — Exclusive
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The New Yorker: What to Stream This Weekend: “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,” Through the Eyes of Pauline Kael
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National Review: Pauline Kael at 100
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Yahoo: Berlin Film Review: ‘What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael’
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2012· 1 entry
The American Conservative: Pauline Kael & The Power of Criticism
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2011· 1 entry
Brian Kellow published a biography of Kael, A Life in the Dark
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2001· 4 entries
Died 2001-09-03.
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“In the arts, the critic is the only independent source of information. The rest is advertising.”
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“I loved writing about things when I was excited about them. It's not fun writing about bad movies. I used to think it was bad for my skin. It's painful writing about the bad things in an art form, particularly when young kids are going to be enthusiastic about those things, because they haven't seen anything better, or anything different.”
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“Irresponsibility is part of the pleasure of all art; it is the part the schools cannot recognize.”
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1999· 1 entry
Awarded Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award (1999).
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1998· 1 entry
Whether she thought her criticism had affected the way films were made, Kael replied, "If I say yes, I'm an egotist, and if I say no, I've wasted my life"
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1997· 1 entry
Cultural critic Camille Paglia said Kael was her second-favorite critic (after Parker Tyler), criticizing Kael's commentary on such films as La Dolce Vita and Last Year at Marienbad but also calling her "unfailingly perc
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1979· 1 entry
Kael accepted an offer from Warren Beatty to be a consultant to Paramount Pictures, but left the position after only a few months to return to writing criticism
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1978· 2 entries
Awarded Crystal Award (1978).
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Kael received the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women in the entertainment industry
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1974· 1 entry
Awarded National Book Award (1974).
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1971· 1 entry
Kael purchased a house in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and divided her time between it and New York
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1970· 2 entries
Awarded George Polk Award (1970).
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Kael received a George Polk Award for her work as a critic at The New Yorker
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1968· 1 entry
Shawn asked her to join The New Yorker staff; she alternated as film critic every six months with Penelope Gilliatt until 1979, and became the sole critic in 1980 after a year's leave of absence working in the film indus
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1966· 2 entries
Kael wrote a blistering review of The Sound of Music in McCall's
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“s. After mentioning that some of the press had dubbed it”
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1965· 1 entry
As I Lost It at the Movies, the collection was a surprise bestseller, selling 150,000 paperback copies, and remains the collection for which she is best known
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1964· 1 entry
Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship (1964).
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1955· 1 entry
After marrying its owner, Edward Landberg
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1948· 1 entry
And the filmmaker James Broughton had a daughter, Gina James, whom Kael raised alone
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1936· 1 entry
Kael matriculated at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied philosophy, literature, and art
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1919· 1 entry
Born 1919-06-19.
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