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December 19, 2005
Full Kael Press: Armond and Matt on Pauline and a sly Stone
In this week's New York Press, they're raising Kael. First, Matt Zoller Seitz: "This year's theatrical one-two crucifixion punch of Aslan from Narnia and Kong recalls a great Pauline Kael description in her review of the 1976 Kong:"Christ as a mistreated pet." Armond White is on the Family Stone's case. On PK: “The left are really great haters,” Pauline Kael wrote when taking exception to Mike Leigh’s class comedy High Hopes. White also gets at one of the the sly Stone's accomplishments, then cites an obscure precursor while kicking class: "When Thad is around, the Stones use sign language—to better ostracize Meredith while enjoying the in-jokes and private codes that families take pride in. This incestuous badinage is a fact of family life rarely shown on screen; the last time was the 1991 classic Crooked Hearts where a family imploded of its own claustrophobic rituals and secrets.
"There were moments of aching intimacy in Crooked Hearts (such as a physical fight between brothers that turned tenderly forgiving) that I’ll never forget; quotidian American scenes took on Ingmar Bergman intensity. But though The Family Stone’s style is farce, it becomes similarly moving."
Posted by pride at December 19, 2005 02:07 PM
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