Pauline Kael

When these statements pop up in Pazz and Jop essays, they suggest burn-out and boredom. I roll my eyes and wonder why the editor keeps publishing the writer's work.

I agree that non-stop complaining gets tired very quickly--it's a cliche by now, going back to Bangs's '81 or '82 ballot--but I don't agree with the idea that you ought to pack it in if what's going on now doesn't mean as much to you as what went on 10 or 20 years ago. If you still have something valid to say, and can say it in an interesting or funny or smart way, well, keep a goin'. (Admitting that I have to believe this, else I'm out of here.)

well, I've been saved, cuz there have been a huge number of quality films shown in NYC compared to '09 and '10, which I think were the worst two years I can recall.

I didn't mean anyone in particular, I jusdt wonder if The Wages of Fear and Seven Samurai are "action movies" (loathsome term).

― Dr Morbois de Bologne (Dr Morbius), Monday, November 7, 2011 3:22 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

seven samurai would definitely (deservedly) win that hypothetical poll. curious what you find loathsome about the term

Cuz movies ARE action by nature?

lol i hate that (x) year/decade was better than (y) stuff. what i hate most of all is when someone rhapsodizes about an album or film being reflective of/essential in/important for "these uncertain/troubled times"

that's another thread entirely maybe.

I'm troubled and uncertain as to how I feel about this.

It was a bombshell for the Rutles. They were shocked... and stunned.

i guess i was reminded of that tedious cliche by this film review subheader on the village voice site.

Barely Skating By in Dragonslayer

A new kind of youth movie for these uncertain times

By Karina Longworth

what i hate most of all is when someone rhapsodizes about an album or film being reflective of/essential in/important for "these uncertain/troubled times"

truth

Dragonslayer is a pretty weird movie

I'm with morbz re: the term "action movie" tho

what i hate most of all is when someone rhapsodizes about an album or film being reflective of/essential in/important for "these uncertain/troubled times"

oh man that Big & Rich album got me through the turbulent mid-2000s

"These troubled and uncertain times" are probably the last five words I would ever expect to turn up in a Kael review.

i feel like maybe at one point albums actually did reflect that sort of thing, but people seem to really stretch for finding meaning as it pertains to current events sometimes. that rolling stone review of the new coldplay album is p hilarious in that regard.

I'm with morbz re: the term "action movie" tho

― The Uncanny Frankie Valley (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, November 7, 2011 3:46 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

i dunno i feel like its useful to have a term that encompasses all kinds of movies where dramatic conflict is rendered as a physical struggle. its like how a zillion different types of movies get to be 'comedies'

actioner

when was the "action movie" genre term coined...?

movies where dramatic conflict is rendered as a physical struggle

like when Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn got into that fistfight at the end of My Dinner With Andre rite

inaction movie^^^

I doubt "action movie" was widely used until the industry had decided it had to aim for the priorities of a Schwarzenegger vehicle or Bad Boys instead of, say, Frankenheimer's The Train.

that's my guess/hazy memory too - I can't recall this term ever appearing prior to the 80s

my dinner with andre is psychological thriller.

I think the 80s also spawned my favorite genre term ever, the "erotic thriller"

Like, this page doesn't really see the Action Movie existing as a genre until the 1980s, despite its roots in the Bond movies, the "maverick cop" thrillers, etc.

http://www.filmbug.com/dictionary/action-movies.php

kael's objections to the french connection declare preemptive war on action movies

she lost that one, obv

should have a poll

Dressed to Kill (1980)
Body Heat (1981)
Cat People (1982)
Body Double (1984)
Tightrope (1984)
Fatal Attraction (1987)
Sea of Love (1989)
Basic Instinct (1992)
Blown Away (1992)
Poison Ivy (1992)
Single White Female (1992)
Body of Evidence (1993)
Boxing Helena (1993)
The Crush (1993)
Sliver (1993)
Color of Night (1994)
The Last Seduction (1994)
Jade (1995)
Bound (1996)
Wild Things (1998)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Unfaithful (2002)
In the Cut (2003)
Killing Me Softly (March 2003)
Swimming Pool (2003)
Lust, Caution (2007)
Chloe (2009)
Secret Love (2010)
The Housemaid (2010)

Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases. They occasionally have a resourceful character struggling against incredible odds such as, life-threatening situations, an evil villain, and/or being chased in several ways of transportation (car, bus, truck, etc.), with victory achieved at the end after difficult physical efforts and violence.[1][2][3] Story and character development are generally secondary to explosions, fist fights, gunplay and car chases.[4]

so if it doesn't do that it isn't that.

There was an article years ago in S&S (ie mid-90s), when I was subbing there, by a Hollywood screenwriter* called Larry something (sorry, his surname's gone completely out of my head), which was basically a history of the idea of the action movie: he traced it to Bond as a concept, fast cars, gunplay, explosions, sex and -- and this was the key, in his opinion -- a certain kind of flippant banter. Did this mix exist prior to Bond (which was important** as much as anything as a franchise)? If I remember his argument correctly, the sub-species only really took off in the 80s (the explosion-filled 70s blockbusters contain zero banter).

*significant because this was the type of movie he wrote (or aspired to)
**in the nuisance-innovation sense

i feel like the hitchcock film 'the 39 steps' was kind of ahead of its time in that regard, having (iirc) a hero facing difficult odds, on the run, engaging in flippant banter.

should have a poll

Dressed to Kill (1980)

wins

north by northwest always felt like a proto-action movie to me too

x-post - please make that a real poll

wtf have you guys never seen an Errol Flynn movie

also yes I would vote in all these erotic thriller polls

well, that's bcz the Bond films ripped it off rather profitably. (esp From Russia with Love)

xxxp

http://www.gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs/31777_o.gif

i was thinking a car chase poll would be cool too, but probably too specialized

I think the Kael thread is over.

it was over when they started talking about boring novelists

can't remember if there was any 'flippant banter' in this one lol

(actually i'd like to see a poll of what morbs calls "ambitious films" upthread -- though the battle to establish an agreed-on definition might destroy us all)

just like aguirre!

Nashville, first two Godfathers, Intolerance, the Apu trilogy, On the Waterfront, The Wild Bunch, The Unbearable Lightness of Being...whether or not you think they did what they set out to do or fell woefully short, they're all pretty ambitious, no?

I dunno if Waterfront is *that* ambitious, at least as ambition is defined by the other films listed there. I love it and all, but its a fairly straightforward drama no matter how much emphasis you choose to place on Kazan's issues.

it's likely one of the first A-pictures cast almost entirely with NY Method actors.

I was being a bit disingenuous yesterday, in that I agree with Morbius that she had less patience for high ambition the last few years of her career. I don't think it's a fair charge through the '60s, '70s, or most of the '80s.

I was talking mostly about ppl who latch onto her NOW -- yay, she likes American junk and not that weird Antonioni shit. But she doesn't seem to have liked many '60s European auteurs besides Godard (to a point).