Pauline Kael, although deceased, still provokes negative reactions.

Occasional NEW YORKER capsule film critic Richard Brody raises his leg and uses the late Pauline Kael's gravestone as a fire hydrant--in the context of a Kael vs. Andrew Sarris mention:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2009/06/critical-condition-part-2.html

As I recall, Kael had her biases (to put it mildly), but she liked a great variety of films and filmmakers (witness the 5001 NIGHTS AT THE MOVIES compilation of her capsule reviews). But you wouldn't know it from Brody's brief, bitchy throwaway remark.

But Kael's desire to be a Cinema Influence (a description the late film producer Saul David tagged her with in his book THE INDUSTRY) did anger a few people--and it could be said that the new Francis Coppola film TETRO (which I generally liked) has a key character (the tastemaker Alone, played by Carmen Maura) clearly intended as Coppola's version of Brody's critique.

But at least Francis put more effort into his characterization of Pauline Kael than Richard Brody does.

Tarantino/Jarmusch: when critics fall out of love with auteurs.

For me, Quentin Tarantino descended from the relative recent heights of the KILL BILL duology to the fitfully effective DEATH PROOF (which I only saw in its shortened GRINDHOUSE version). And his new INGLORIOUS BASTERDS (a loose remake of a late-70s WWII exploitationer with Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson) is getting mixed responses after a Cannes Film Festival screening: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2009/may/20/cannes-film-festival-tarantino-inglourious-basterds

Re BASTERDS, I'm guessing Universal Pictures will insist on trimming the current near-2.5 hour length of the film--which may lead to some fascinating moments of Tarantino screaming and stomping around editing rooms like a man in a Godzilla costume on a miniature set of Tokyo.

The deadpan minimalism of Jim Jarmusch (which was shown at its best in STRANGER THAN PARADISE, DOWN BY LAW and MYSTERY TRAIN) has also been taking a series of baseball bats to the kneecap; here are two reviews of Jarmusch's THE LIMITS OF CONTROL--one from VARIETY fuddy-dud Todd McCarthy and the other from perpetual trend-chaser Peter Travers of ROLLING STONE:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940105.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/25457986/review/27918907/limits_of_control

SLATE.com on the comic book HOWARD THE DUCK--and the fowl movie made from it.

Some essential reading from Keith Phipps, who writes for THE ONION's AV Club section: http://www.slate.com/id/2214067/

The cinematic HOWARD THE DUCK, along with 1984's snide, sour, deservedly-forgotten BEST DEFENSE (which at least had a good David Rasche supporting performance), offers ample explanation as to why Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck (who deserve a positive place in film history for their work on the screenplay for George Lucas' AMERICAN GRAFFITI) won't be remembered for their on-their-own spasms of auteurism.

HOWARD THE DUCK should be remembered for waste and misuse of its human actors--such as Tim Robbins (who, as Phil Blumburtt, plays the Missing Link between Dan Aykroyd and Rainn Wilson), Lea Thompson and Jeffrey Jones.

Don't forget the hideous duck suit and the yuppie-izing of Howard's anarchic-in-comic-books character as well.