Regarding movie critics, I'd like to start with recommendations and end with a request.
My favorite film critic, Camille Paglia, really doesn't write about movies very much. I check in with her at Salon.com once in a while, where she mostly writes about politics. (She teaches at a college in Philadelphia... I wonder if she ever gives public lectures.) She may be the smartest person in America, now that Jane Jacobs has passed on. Anyway, her little paperback "The Birds" is one of the best examples of film criticism I know. You have to see the movie, then read the book, then you'll want to see the movie again.
The best guy with information about "forgotten" American directors is Andrew Sarris, who's really informative about directors of the 40's and 50's. He's the guy who really popularised the Auteur Theory.
But my favorite criticism occurs during the movie: the DVD of "Basic Instinct" (1992) had, instead of a director's commentary (Paul Verhoeven), a commentary by Camille Paglia. It was great! There may be other versions of the DVD that do not have this commentary and I cannot find reference to it on Amazon where, presumably, someone would be purchasing the DVD. I highly recommend listening to this commentary (whether you like Sharon Stone or not) but I wish I could find a directory of DVDs with critics instead of directors (remember Intentionality?) doing the talking.
If anyone has any guidance on this subject, let me know.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
!
ReplyDeleteCamille Paglia teaches at MY (relatively small) college in Philadelphia! Many of my friends have taken her classes ('Art of Song Lyric' is her most popular). My roommate, Nate, had his first class with her today.
The general attitude is that she's borderline 'crazy'. At the same time, my school consists of many 'artists' that would fault Einstein for giving homework.
I suppose I should look into taking a class with her! I definitely will check out 'The Birds' and ask around about a critic directory.
Sean