When the Lights Go Down

When the Lights Go Down (1980) is a collection of film reviews by Pauline Kael, written for The New Yorker in the second half of the 1970s. The reviews cover a period of American filmmaking that included the work of directors such as Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma and Steven Spielberg, alongside foreign films and popular entertainment. Kael writes about each film in a personal, conversational style, discussing performances, direction and what the movies reveal about their audiences.

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Quentin Tarantino: “Pauline Kael is probably my favorite writer, and not just favorite movie critic. She's probably my favorite writer, definitely the writer that means the most to me.”