Tag Archives: River Phoenix

September/October 2023 Viewing Diary

I moved in late September. Again. I found a little cozy apartment, the second floor of a little house, with slanted ceilings, little cubbyhole-eaves everywhere, and a big yard. It’s a 10 minute walk to the beach. I found it … Continue reading

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“I try to lie as much as I can when I’m interviewed. It’s reverse psychology. I figure if you lie, they’ll print the truth.” — River Phoenix

It’s his birthday today. Just as I will never get over Kurt Cobain’s death, and will never stop missing him and wondering what he would be doing now, I will never get over River Phoenix’s death. Losing the two of … Continue reading

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Sidney Lumet: Excerpts from Making Movies

It’s Sidney Lumet’s birthday. Here are many excerpts from his classic and invaluable film-making handbook Making Movies: In Murder on the Orient Express, I wanted Ingrid Bergman to play the Russian Princess Dragomiroff. She wanted to play the retarded Swedish … Continue reading

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“Masters of the Acting Art”: An Interview with Author Dan Callahan

Dan Callahan is one of our best writers on the craft of acting. Not only does he describe why a performance is good, he digs into the much thornier issue of how it is good. This is where most critics … Continue reading

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Identity, Lies, Music, and Love: A Conversation about Running on Empty for Bright Wall Dark Room

Chad Perman and I recently had an in-depth discussion about Sidney Lumet’s Running on Empty (an all-time favorite of mine, perpetually hovering around the ever-shifting Top 5) for the new issue of Bright Wall Dark Room (the theme of the … Continue reading

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May 2016 Viewing Diary

Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 5, “Bedtime Stories” (2007; d. Mike Rohl) So silly. Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 6, “Red Sky at Morning” (2007; d. Cliff Bole) I like this episode a lot. I don’t care that the SPN writers threw … Continue reading

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Ethan Hawke: “It Didn’t Come For Free.”

Ethan Hawke, the part of the Charlie Rose interview where he discusses Robin Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and River Phoenix.

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The Return of Nancy Savoca’s Dogfight

For a while now, Nancy Savoca’s masterpiece Dogfight has been out of print. It had been released on DVD, with a wonderful commentary track by Savoca, but it was threatening to slide into obscurity. (I have made a couple of … Continue reading

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Beautiful Boys

Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix, 1991 From interview with the two actors in Interview magazine, 1991: KR: Um, who knows? I really would like to do Shakespeare with River. I think we’d have a hoot. We could do A Midsummer … Continue reading

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The Lost Boys

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