-
Recent Posts
- “Rock n’ roll! It’s the music of puberty.” — Suzi Quatro
- “Literature is the written expression of revolt against expected things.” Happy Birthday to the least happy man ever, Thomas Hardy
- “I’m not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.” – Happy Birthday, Marilyn Monroe
- “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
- “In my films I always wanted to make people see deeply. I don’t want to show things, but to give people the desire to see.” — Agnès Varda
- “If I am going to be a poet at all, I am going to be POET and not NEGRO POET.” — poet Countee Cullen
- Remembering, Honoring
- It’s the birthday of composer György Ligeti
- “Only the bad directors tell you how to read a line, how to define your character. The good ones let you do your job.” — Carroll Baker
- Review: Close to Vermeer (2023)
Recent Comments
- Justine Valinotti on R.I.P. Tina Turner
- sheila on “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
- Joe Markley on “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
- sheila on “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
- sheila on “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
- Joe Markley on “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
- bill savoy on The Books: “The Bridge Across Forever” (Richard Bach)
- sheila on Snapshots
- sheila on R.I.P. Tina Turner
- sheila on R.I.P. Tina Turner
- sheila on Rest with Satan, Kenneth Anger
- Desirae on Rest with Satan, Kenneth Anger
- Desirae on R.I.P. Tina Turner
- Kristen Westergaard on R.I.P. Tina Turner
- Barb on Snapshots
- Lyrie on Snapshots
- Barb on Snapshots
- Lyrie on Snapshots
- Lyrie on Snapshots
- Lyrie on “My films are about ideals that clash with the world. Every time it’s a man in the lead, they have forgotten about the ideals. And every time it’s a woman in the lead, they take the ideals all the way.” — Lars von Trier
Categories
Archives
-
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM
Tag Archives: Elvis Presley
Substack: Writing roundup
A freebie for all subscribers: Roundup of my writing over the last couple of months, plus some thoughts on Viva Las Vegas, After Hours, Ebertfest, my time in Chicago … everything I’ve been doing. Thanks for reading!
Posted in Movies, Personal, Television
Tagged Elvis Presley, Martin Scorsese, Substack, Viva Las Vegas
5 Comments
“I don’t adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that. I’ve learned more from the songs than I’ve learned from any of this kind of entity. The songs are my lexicon. I believe the songs.” – Bob Dylan
For Bob Dylan’s birthday “When I first heard Elvis Presley’s voice I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody and nobody was going to be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out … Continue reading
Snapshots
It’s been a while. March and April were a whirlwind. February too. — I worked on this. It was a challenging one, and a little different for me. I loved the challenge. — Michael messaged me (you know. Michael. This … Continue reading
Posted in James Joyce, Movies, Personal
Tagged Elvis Presley, friends, Martin Scorsese, snapshots, Viva Las Vegas
24 Comments
May 7: Viva Las Vegas at the Paris Theater!
^^ This promo, gigantic on the Paris Theatre website, is now my favorite thing on the planet. My name up there, my outlet, and the MASSIVE faces of Elvis and Ann-Margret. Life is a curious thing. You never know where … Continue reading
“I don’t cook and I don’t care.” — Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret entertaining US troops in Vietnam, 1966 Today is Ann-Margret’s birthday. Her autobiography, Ann-Margret: My Story is wonderful. What a career. And it’s still unfolding. There are so many classic scenes. Tommy. Carnal Knowledge. Of course, too, there is the … Continue reading
I agree with you, kid. I say yes to those movies too.
The Queen’s Gambit
“I heard Ruth Brown, and I just found my kind of music,” — Janis Martin
Cultural history is peppered with What Ifs. What if someone like Janis Martin had gone the distance? What if she hadn’t lapsed into obscurity? Would she have carved out a small space for women in rock ‘n roll (alongside the … Continue reading
“If it hadn’t been for the videocassette, I may not have had a career at all.” — Kurt Russell
It’s his birthday today. How I love him. I grew up with him. The Computer Who Wore Tennis Shoes. I remember that being screened for us in grade school in what they called “the multi-purpose room” (lol: gym, cafeteria, theatre). … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Elvis Presley, Kurt Russell, miracle on ice
19 Comments
Happy Birthday to the Man in Black, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash, singing “Man in Black” in Denmark: Here he is on Tex Ritter’s Ranch Party, 1956 or so. Great guitar solo, too. He’s not just strumming that guitar. The guitar CHUGS along, with an irresistible beat. It’s almost percussion. … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Norman Taurog
American director Norman Taurog was born in 1899. Literally during the first gasps of cinema. What an improbable journey. He’s born into a world before cinema has even cohered into an artform … and he ends his career at the … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Elvis Presley, Live a Little Love a Little
1 Comment