Allowing for exceptions, there is still one basic difference between the traditional arts and the mass-media arts: in the traditional arts, the artist grows; in a mass medium, the artist decays profitably.
Pauline KaelGood movies make you care, make you believe in possibilities again. If somewhere in the Hollywood-entertainment world someone has managed to break through with something that speaks to you, then it isnโt all corruption. The movie doesnโt have to be great; it can be stupid and empty and you can still have the joy of a good performance, or the joy in just a good line. An actorโs scowl, a small subversive gesture, a dirty remark that someone tosses off with a mock-innocent face, and the world makes a little bit of sense.
Pauline KaelMoviemaking is so male-dominated now that they think theyโre being pro-feminine when they have women punching each other out.
Pauline Kael