Kracauer was an astute observer of modern mass culture and developed methods for analyzing films, photography, advertising, urban planning and dance. His book "From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of German Film" helped lay the foundation for modern film criticism.

Layered, Philosophy, Smart

Although it's tempting to assume that a film devoted to the representation of an objective reality would suffer stylistically, French film critic Andre Bazin would say otherwise. Bazin craved a cinema of truth, one whose success depended on a director's finely tuned, disinterested observation.

Contemplative, Pioneering, Smart, Witty

Twenty minutes to collect 100,000 deutsche marks. Pulsating techno. Whip pans and fast edits. A fiery heroine with dyed-red hair frantically running to save her boyfriend's life. "The initial idea was an image," says 34-year-old director Tom Tykwer. "The image of a woman running." This apparently or

Avant-garde film, Bright, Cartoonish, Chance, Charming, New german cinema, Pop, Repetition, Smart

"I believe that we respond most and best to work in any art form (and to other experience as well) if we are pluralistic, flexible, relative in our judgments, if we are eclectic," wrote Pauline Kael, the undisputed queen of journalistic film criticism. Born in tiny Petaluma, California, Kael went

Eclectic, In-your-face, Smart, Witty