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- March 2024 Viewing Diary
- “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- “I don’t like being approached by people who look at me too intensely, who needed something from me that I didn’t have. I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.” — Charlie Chaplin
- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
- “At some point, you have to set down the past. At some point, you have to accept that everyone was doing their best. At some point, you have to gather yourself up, and go onward into your life.” — Olivia Laing
- “It’s just one of the mysteries of filmmaking that sometimes you do something that you don’t even think it’s important, then it turns out to be.” –Lili Horvát
- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
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- sheila on “The only thing an actor owes his public is not to bore them.” — Marlon Brando
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Tag Archives: Sidney Lumet
“Acting is like letting your pants down; you’re exposed.” — Paul Newman
It’s his birthday today. I am so glad I grew up in a time when Paul Newman was still a leading man (and he was a leading man up until the end). So I got to experience the pleasure of … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Elvis Presley, James Dean, Joanne Woodward, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Sidney Lumet
20 Comments
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
August 2023 Viewing Diary
Oppenheimer (2023; d. Christopher Nolan) In general, I am not a Nolan fan (the only one of his I liked was Dunkirk), and I went into this hesitantly because I read an interview with him where he said the whole … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged animation, biopic, children's movies, coming of age, crime movies, drama, Elvis Presley, England, France, heist, horror, Kentucker Audley, King Creole, Michael Curtiz, Michael Mann, romantic drama, Sidney Lumet, South Korea, Western, women directors
30 Comments
For Sidney Lumet’s Birthday: A Personal Memory: or: What Dog Day Afternoon Means to Me
When I was 12 or 13, I saw Dog Day Afternoon one night while I was babysitting, and it changed the course of my life. This is not hyperbole. It is partially responsible for me being who I am today, … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon, Sidney Lumet, Stanley Kramer
9 Comments
R.I.P. Treat Williams
This is devastating news. In Sydney Lumet’s Making Movies, he talked about the choice to cast Treat Williams in Prince of the City: I wasn’t sure whether we were in drama or tragedy territory [with Prince of the City]. knew … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, RIP
Tagged coming of age, drama, Laura Dern, Milos Forman, musical, Sidney Lumet
16 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
November 2021 Viewing Diary
The Wire, half of Season 3 This is the busiest time of year in re: film-critic-land, so had to stop my re-watch of The Wire to make room for new releases. I’ll get back to it! All Is Forgiven (2007; … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Amy Heckerling, Balkans, Dean Stockwell, documentary, drama, Ethan Hawke, Eugene O'Neill, France, Ingmar Bergman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Japan, Katharine Hepburn, literary adaptation, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Mexico, Mia Hansen-Løve, Mia Wasikowska, New Zealand, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quantum Leap, Rebecca Hall, Sidney Lumet, Spain, Sweden, The Beatles, Will Ferrell, women directors
22 Comments
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
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