1. Catherine Keener As Pauline Kael
While critics like Ebert, Bazin and Sarris have a profound authority over the legacy of film criticism and film theory, Pauline Kael has all of that and something rarer: a female perspective. Kael's reviews are still being quoted to this day, even though she hasn't been with us since 2001 and effectively stopped writing reviews since the early 90s which can be equally attributed to battling Parkinson's and being severely depressed at the state of American cinema. Her scathing reviews in women's magazine McCall's, her best-selling book I Lost It At The Movies, and her towering status as the film critic for the New Yorker are only the most prominent bits and pieces which make Pauline Kael the most fascinating famous movie critic to put on film. As a ridiculously underrated actress scorching with talent, Catherine Keener could breathe life into Kael on screen like no one else. Meryl Streep might be the obvious choice for many, but I think that Keener's work on Being John Malkovich, Capote and Where The Wild Things Are prove that she'd be a better fit to be the no-sh*t-taking trailblazing woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind about the sad state of affairs in films. Hell, the woman is brilliant in
anything she's been in, each film a painful reminder that massive talents like hers are often pushed to the sidelines thanks to age and gender. Well, Pauline Kael could change that a little. Already nominated twice for a Best Supporting Oscar, Keener's Kael would have Best Actress Oscar nomination written all over it.
Thumbs up or thumbs down? Think you can pick better actors? Are there some other famous movie critics that would be more worthy to be film characters? Speak your mind in the comments section below!