What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael

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Bailey G                                                 What She Said: The Art Of Pauline Kael (Movie Review) {A Very Informative Watch} Make your prediction and guess what Pauline Kael thought of your favorite movie, you're probably wrong. That's how hard of a professional movie critic she was back in her day when she worked as the chief film critic for the New Yorker. This documentary is the perfect one for every movie buff to watch, and just like the other documentary that I did a movie review of, titled, Life Itself, which chronicled the life of The Chicago SunTimes Film Critic, Roger Ebert, this one is evenly just as good, and gives us insights into how people, including both filmmakers and audiences liked and disliked her reviews. What I loved most about this documentary is how Kael's daughter is in it, and how you have a family member's perspective. I think that's really neat. What I also found very fascinating is what her life was like before she became a film critic. I can kind of relate to hers in way, in such a way, I could connect to the documentary in a very strong way that I kept on watching it thinking to myself, this one, just like Life Itself has no dull moments, and you can sit here for five-eight hours straight until the end credits come up, and even then, you might want to watch some bonus material. There's a lot of learning moments in this documentary of Pauline Kael that I really appreciate and took away. I think the majority of everyone else took away learning opportunities as well. I loved seeing how she fell into film criticism by accident and how her story came to be. To me this is a fantastic work of art and one that truly nails not only what Pauline Kael's story is about, but what her film criticism style was all about.  Written by Bailey Giannini - Film Critic Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/19/25 Full Review Ed . Thumb down. I did a seance to channel Ms. Kael and got her brief review of this biodoc. The full piece will be published in The New Yorker sometime in another life. I don't have ADHD but felt like I did in viewing this doc. It drones. A doc or film that relies on lots of recited text needs to make a special effort to keep a viewer's attention. I was surprised to hear Sarah Jessica Parker's voice as the narrator. I tried keeping Sex and the City out of my thoughts without success. SJP is likeable but I can't recall any films of quality of hers. How would Kael review SJP's output? Everyone's a critic: Kael, directly on films and other columnists (Barrett, Reed); her readers, indirectly; other critics (Assassin Adler) back at her. Sounds fair to me. I haven't see Shoah, nor have I read Kael's entire review. I read that it was broadcast in the US on PBS over four days. This is a mini-series: I hope Kael's review considered this and did not base her review like any other movie viewed in one sitting. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/29/25 Full Review Lorenz L This seems to be a “film” based entirely on the Wikipedia entry on Kael. It is occasionally entertaining, sometimes boring, but mostly very dry and contains very little we already hadn’t heard or read. Read the (many) compilations of her reviews, and find a copy of her favourite film, a 1926 French silent entitled “Ménilmontant”. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/06/25 Full Review razvan p the image of evil > contradictory > partially competent > partially spiritual Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review s r Good to learn about Kael and the influence she has had on film. Saw it on TCM. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review dave d A polarizing figure, Pauline Kael deserved a better documentary and maybe someday one will occur. This is rudimentary and cursory for a women that so many feel was the greatest critic of all time. Others view her as a mean-spirited shrew. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle! Final Score: 6.0/10 Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael

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