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- Randolph Merritt on Diary Friday: “OK, it wasn’t just a normal assembly. It was a CONCERT from a rock group – Freedom Jam.”
- Mike Molloy on Dynamic Duo #39
- mutecypher on Review: You’ll Never Find Me (2024)
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- mutecypher on Review: You’ll Never Find Me (2024)
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- sheila on “The Greeks already understood that there was more interest in portraying an unusual character than a usual character – that is the purpose of films and theatre.” — Isabelle Huppert
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- Peter on R.I.P. Sam Schacht
- Peter on R.I.P. Sam Schacht
- Lyrie on “The Greeks already understood that there was more interest in portraying an unusual character than a usual character – that is the purpose of films and theatre.” — Isabelle Huppert
- Jack on “I’ve never thought of my characters as being sad. On the contrary, they are full of life. They didn’t choose tragedy. Tragedy chose them.” — Juliette Binoche
- Todd Restler on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- Todd Restler on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
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Tag Archives: Robert De Niro
2023 films I loved, in no particular order
On my Substack, open to all: my Top whatever Films of 2023. Unranked. An eccentric sampling, featuring some of the usual suspects but, more importantly, pointing towards some lesser-known films which – for whatever reason – got lost in the … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged biopic, Christian Petzold, David Fincher, documentary, drama, Emily Bronte, England, France, Germany, historical drama, Little Richard, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Romania, romantic drama, short film, Spain, Substack, thrillers, Ukraine, Wes Anderson, women directors
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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
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Bette Davis, biopic, comedy, Costa-Gavras, Dana Andrews, documentary, drama, Eli Wallach, England, Ewan McGregor, France, Fritz Lang, George Cukor, George Sanders, Germany, Gloria Grahame, Hal Wallis, historical drama, Ireland, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Judy Blume, Kate Lyn Sheil, Lana Turner, Lee Marvin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Miriam Hopkins, noir, Norma Shearer, Otto Preminger, Paul Schrader, Rachel McAdams, River Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Roman Polanski, Rosalind Russell, Sidney Lumet, Spain, Supernatural, Vincente Minnelli, women directors, WWII
29 Comments
“It’s important not to indicate. People don’t try to show their feelings, they try to hide them.” — Robert De Niro
I haven’t written about the majority of his roles – not for lack of admiration (and in some cases, awestruck wonder) – but here is what I have written: I included his “you talkin’ to me” scene in my gigantic … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Martin Scorsese, mirrors, Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver
2 Comments
2022 Books Read
Some re-reads this year, but a lot of new-to-me authors as well. New novels written by faves. Been a year of upheaval and transitions. I’ve managed to keep up my regular reading schedule. I just don’t feel right if I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged A.S. Byatt, Alfred Hitchcock, Anne Fadiman, art, Australia, Biography, books read, Canada, Christopher Hitchens, culture, Edmund Burke, Elinor Lipman, England, entertainment biography, essays, Eve Babitz, fiction, friends, Germany, Greece, history, Hitler, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Janet Malcolm, Joan Didion, Joseph Cornell, Lorrie Moore, Machiavelli, Master and Margarita, Memoirs, Michael Curtiz, Mikhail Bulgakov, Mitfords, nonfiction, novel, Paul Zindel, politics, Quentin Tarantino, Robert De Niro, Russia, Ryszard Kapuściński, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Shakespeare, The Beatles, Tom Wolfe, true crime, Victor Klemperer, Victor Serge, war, William Hazlitt, William Wordsworth, WWII, YA fiction
10 Comments
“So give me a stage where this bull here can rage”: Two essays on Raging Bull
Yesterday was the release-day of Criterion’s 4K edition of Raging Bull, for which I contributed a video-essay. There are two essays included in the booklet (also online), and I just read them both and must share them: First: Raging Bull: … Continue reading
Criterion’s Raging Bull: available now!
Raging Bull has entered the Criterion Collection and is available for purchase, at Criterion or elsewhere, Amazon, Barnes & Noble whatever. (Also, by the way, David Lean’s Summertime also entered the collection, simultaneously, with an essay by my friend Stephanie … Continue reading
Things done and seen in Chicago
I haven’t flown in three years, maybe more. There’s still a lot of stress in going out into the world and mingling with the populace. Plane tickets are insanely expensive right now too. But I was determined to take a … Continue reading
Posted in Movies, Music, Personal, Television, Theatre
Tagged Elvis Presley, friends, Judy Garland, Robert De Niro, snapshots, Taxi Driver
6 Comments
Criterion’s Raging Bull: official release date 7/12
Looks like the release date is mainly for ordering from the Criterion site, because it’s available now as part of the Barnes & Noble Criterion sale. At any rate: hot on the heels of the Worst Person in the World … Continue reading
June 2022 Viewing Diary
Watcher (2022; d. Chloe Okuno) I was super impressed – and totally freaked out – by this thriller, psychological and otherwise. The mood is HEAVY with omnipresent DREAD. I reviewed for Ebert. Russian Doll (Season 1 and 2, 2019-2022) I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged animation, Australia, Baz Luhrmann, comedy, David Mamet, drama, Dustin Hoffman, Elvis Presley, Emma Thompson, England, France, George Cukor, Judy Garland, literary adaptation, Meryl Streep, musical, Paul Schrader, Quentin Tarantino, Robert De Niro, Robert Walker, short film, Supernatural, Susan Sarandon, thrillers, true crime, Vincente Minnelli, women directors
43 Comments
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
Posted in Actors, Books, Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Al Pacino, Dean Stockwell, Dog Day Afternoon, Faye Dunaway, Ingrid Bergman, Jane Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Marlon Brando, Network, Paul Newman, River Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Running on Empty, Sidney Lumet, William Holden
15 Comments