
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
In 1939, reviewing the beloved M-G-M classic “The Wizard of Oz” for The New Yorker, the critic Russell Maloney declared that the film held “no trace of imagination, good taste, or ingenuity.” The use of color was “eye-straining,” the dialogue was unbelievable, and the movie as a whole was “a stinkeroo.” This take might shock today’s audiences, but Maloney is far from the only critic to go so pointedly against the popular view. In a special live show celebrating The New Yorker’s centenary, the hosts of Critics at Large discuss this and other examples drawn from the magazine’s archives, including Dorothy Parker’s 1928 takedown of “Winnie-the-Pooh” and Pauline Kael’s assessment of Al Pacino as “a lump” at the center of “Scarface.” These pieces reveal something essential about the role of criticism and the value of thinking through a work’s artistic merits (or lack thereof) on the page. “I felt all these feelings while reading Terrence Rafferty tearing to shreds ‘When Harry Met Sally…,’ ” Alexandra Schwartz says. “But it made the movie come alive for me again, to have to dispute it with the critic.”
Read, watch, and listen with the critics:
“Lies, Lies, and More Lies,” by Terrence Rafferty (The New Yorker)
“Bitches and Witches,” by John Lahr (The New Yorker)
“Don’t Shoot the Book-Reviewer; He’s Doing the Best He Can,” by Clifton Fadiman (The New Yorker)
“The Feminine Mystique,” by Pauline Kael (The New Yorker)
“The Wizard of Hollywood,” by Russell Maloney (The New Yorker)
“The Fake Force of Tony Montana,” by Pauline Kael (The New Yorker)
“Renoir’s Problem Nudes,” by Peter Schjeldahl (The New Yorker)
“Humans of New York and the Cavalier Consumption of Others,” by Vinson Cunningham (The New Yorker)
“The Great Sadness of Ben Affleck,” by Naomi Fry (The New Yorker)
“President Killers and Princess Diana Find Musical Immortality,” by Alexandra Schwartz (The New Yorker)
“Obscure Objects of Desire: On Jeffrey Eugenides,” by Alexandra Schwartz (The Nation)
“Reading ‘The House at Pooh Corner,’ ” by Dorothy Parker (The New Yorker)
New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.
4.4
447447 ratings
In 1939, reviewing the beloved M-G-M classic “The Wizard of Oz” for The New Yorker, the critic Russell Maloney declared that the film held “no trace of imagination, good taste, or ingenuity.” The use of color was “eye-straining,” the dialogue was unbelievable, and the movie as a whole was “a stinkeroo.” This take might shock today’s audiences, but Maloney is far from the only critic to go so pointedly against the popular view. In a special live show celebrating The New Yorker’s centenary, the hosts of Critics at Large discuss this and other examples drawn from the magazine’s archives, including Dorothy Parker’s 1928 takedown of “Winnie-the-Pooh” and Pauline Kael’s assessment of Al Pacino as “a lump” at the center of “Scarface.” These pieces reveal something essential about the role of criticism and the value of thinking through a work’s artistic merits (or lack thereof) on the page. “I felt all these feelings while reading Terrence Rafferty tearing to shreds ‘When Harry Met Sally…,’ ” Alexandra Schwartz says. “But it made the movie come alive for me again, to have to dispute it with the critic.”
Read, watch, and listen with the critics:
“Lies, Lies, and More Lies,” by Terrence Rafferty (The New Yorker)
“Bitches and Witches,” by John Lahr (The New Yorker)
“Don’t Shoot the Book-Reviewer; He’s Doing the Best He Can,” by Clifton Fadiman (The New Yorker)
“The Feminine Mystique,” by Pauline Kael (The New Yorker)
“The Wizard of Hollywood,” by Russell Maloney (The New Yorker)
“The Fake Force of Tony Montana,” by Pauline Kael (The New Yorker)
“Renoir’s Problem Nudes,” by Peter Schjeldahl (The New Yorker)
“Humans of New York and the Cavalier Consumption of Others,” by Vinson Cunningham (The New Yorker)
“The Great Sadness of Ben Affleck,” by Naomi Fry (The New Yorker)
“President Killers and Princess Diana Find Musical Immortality,” by Alexandra Schwartz (The New Yorker)
“Obscure Objects of Desire: On Jeffrey Eugenides,” by Alexandra Schwartz (The Nation)
“Reading ‘The House at Pooh Corner,’ ” by Dorothy Parker (The New Yorker)
New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.
9,058 Listeners
3,872 Listeners
37,881 Listeners
3,322 Listeners
3,849 Listeners
1,877 Listeners
515 Listeners
6,657 Listeners
2,065 Listeners
1,195 Listeners
27,201 Listeners
781 Listeners
384 Listeners
414 Listeners
14,670 Listeners
1,396 Listeners