And Kael did not hold back on her opinions and analytical arguments. She approached movies emotionally, with a strongly colloquial writing style. Before long, she was writing cover articles and briefly became Vogue’s film critic. The film pivots on Julie Andrews’s inarguably excellent performance as Maria – she not only sings with great skill and charm, but no doubt also brought lots of audience goodwill and a useful aura of maternal efficiency from her performance in Mary Poppins the previous year. Take a bow, Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Rodgers and Hammerstein, director Robert Wise, all the warbling Von Trapp children and even that saucy, if wooden, yodelling goatherd – you created a movie that is inordinately beloved. There is also more than one way to watch The Sound of Music. It takes all sorts … The Greatest Showman proved a fan favourite. Most famously, Pauline Kael called it “the sugar-coated lie that people seem to want to eat ... and this is the attitude that makes a critic feel that maybe it’s all hopeless. Take a bow, Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Rodgers and Hammerstein, director Robert Wise, all the warbling Von Trapp children and even that saucy, if wooden. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. She said of the film that it was, “more embarrassing than most, if only because of its suggestion that history need not happen to people … Just whistle a happy tune, and leave the Anschluss behind.”, Both women lost their jobs shortly after, and it’s commonly thought that it was because of their negative takes, though this has been disputed over the years. In fact, perhaps the recent success of The Greatest Showman, as well as other fan favourites such as Mamma Mia! She was a staff writer for a popular women’s magazine called McCall’s and also had a regular film column at Vogue. Pauline Kael’s review of Interiors is full of the same holes, but goes a step further in the way it reverts to her classic brand of ad hominem, faulting Woody Allen for his supposed Jewish (or non-Jewish?) It’s even possible to enjoy being manipulated. In 1965, Didion was writing for Vogue Magazine. It’s as though they decided to position themselves in contrast to the virtuous ideal that Julie Andrews’ Maria represents. Movies That Pauline Kael Really Liked. For Brand, Andrews alone is worth the price of admission. To the Editor: Sorry to be a spoilsport, but Pauline Kael's review of ''The Sound of Music'' in McCall's was not what cost her the job [''All Together Now: The Hills Are Still Alive . “Only those of us who, despite the fact that we may respond, loathe being manipulated in this way and are aware of how cheap and ready-made are the responses we are made to feel. Movies. Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. By Nathan Helle r. October 14, 2011 Save this story for later. “It’s so overt and it even has a critic character who can’t appreciate the show because he can’t appreciate joy.” The Sound of Music does something similar. Whose side are you on? “Only those of us who, despite the fact that we may respond, loathe being manipulated in this way and are aware of how self-indulgent and cheap and ready-made are the responses we are made to feel.”, Didion’s review isn’t quite laced with same venom, but it is snide and caustic. The Sound of Criticism Kael went to UC-Berkeley in 1936 and became an art-film maker and a movie exhibitor. The actor, director and producer discusses his latest project and reflects on his remarkably varied career. Why not, indeed, as audiences and the Academy took little note of those negative notices. That line about the “sugar-coated lie” refers to The Sound of Music all right, but it comes from an aside in a review of a later film, The Singing Nun, for McCall’s. Julie Andrews sure worked her mojo on that one. “Whom could it offend?” she wrote. As The Sound of Music returns to cinemas in the UK, this time in 70mm, it might be worth reflecting on the film’s place within the canon. the recent success of The Greatest Showman. At the same time, Kael was building her own reputation as a film critic. Just look at Mamma Mia! The Sound of Music is intended to be a feel-good extravaganza – one that sweeps aside considerations of logic and intelligence in a tide of exuberance that crests with an emotional high. “To be able to play an Austrian with impeccable English vowels, to make us concerned for her because she’s the politest rebel in all cinema, to be able to make singing sound exciting whilst never giving the impression it is anything but radiantly enjoyable, above all to challenge Audrey Hepburn in the tomboy stakes.” Just like Captain Von Trapp himself, we may start out sceptical but soon find ourselves to warming to plucky Maria and her guitar. We believe in Truth & Movies. Menu. Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) and his family. The film has only grown in prominence over the years, yet at the time of its release, the critical consensus was far from glowing. Pauline Kael trounced it as “mechanically engineered” to transform the audience into “emotional and aesthetic imbeciles when we hear ourselves humming the sickly, goody-goody songs.” The one thing about a Clockwork Orange Kael does seem to want to eat ” fan. Want to ask is this: is the performance by Malcom McDowell as.! Movies emotionally, with a strongly colloquial writing style we shouldn ’ t forget that even Kael herself susceptible... Its distortion of history was fired for panning the Sound of Music Brand, Andrews alone is worth the of... Trailer for 70mm screening of the Nazi invasion committed to championing great movies and the talented people who them. Great movies and the talented people who make them, on Golden Pond not, indeed, as and! 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