Critical Conversations: Forty-Three Hours to Share with Old Friends

 
     Listening to people talk intelligently about film can often prove a profound experience. I have always been interested in hearing my favorite critics talk about movies, not just in print but in-person at special events, Q&As, etc. In a bizarre way, to see what these men and women look like and to get an idea of their public personas helped to increase my enjoyment of their writing. Sounds strange, right? After all, the written word is what reigns supreme and will live on forever. But hearing them speak and engage with cinema in a lively, extremely personal manner (with a respectful — but not always — listening audience) served as an experience as equally fascinating and inspiring. Camille Paglia is as interesting to hear as she is to read, for example.

      I have attended as many talkbacks and book signings over the years as the next obsessed cinephile (too many these days are about the tired "death of film criticism" debate), but we can always use more. Thus, I took to Youtube to find critics I had either never heard speak or whom I wanted to hear more from. I must admit that the Pauline Kael clips on the program City Lights provoked me to move this project along.

     As much a chronological narrative of "live" criticism as it is a visual history of how the voices have changed, I curated forty hours of critical talks that I was able to dig up on Youtube. About ninety percent of the material is related to film criticism, with an ten five percent related to theater (Isherwood, Als, Kauffmann) or media theory and film distribution (Postman, Vidal, Barker, Bernard, etc.) It is, however, one hundred percent about critics and film-lovers discussing their love for and understanding of criticism. Agee and Farber videos couldn't be found, but when possible, I tried to find other critics discussing their work. I created the playlist for those that haven't had the opportunity to seek out the great film conversationalists and debaters. It is also for those that want to revisit and get re-inspired, to offer new videos and other writers of interest.

Here is a link to the playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE7FA59D46FAD6CC2&feature=mh_lolz