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- Solidarity, or: The boy in the green bandana
- “As long as they pay me my salary, they can give me a broom and I’ll sweep the stage. I don’t give a damn. I want the money.” – Kay Francis
- “I look back on my life and draw one great generalization: IT WAS MY REFUSAL TO TAKE CAUTIOUS ADVICE THAT MADE ME.” — Jack London
- “I can pick a good song, but I sure couldn’t pick a good man.” — Ruth Brown
- “I’ll stay and look you straight in the eyes like all these normal people when I scream for my rights.” — Taraneh Alidoosti
- “Our prevailing passions are ambition and interest. Wise government should avail itself of those passions, to make them subservient to the public good.” — Alexander Hamilton
- “It’s a situation I’ve never been able to fathom. One minute, it seemed I had more movie offers than I could handle, the next — no one wanted me.” — Sal Mineo
- “We’re not breaking new ground. We’re trying to be entertaining within a format that’s familiar.” — Walter Hill
- For Liberties: The Tactile Spiritual
- “I feel I’m writing for everyone, but they haven’t discovered it yet. They will – I’ll just be six feet under.” — Scott Walker
Recent Comments
- sheila on “It’s a situation I’ve never been able to fathom. One minute, it seemed I had more movie offers than I could handle, the next — no one wanted me.” — Sal Mineo
- Gemstone on “It’s a situation I’ve never been able to fathom. One minute, it seemed I had more movie offers than I could handle, the next — no one wanted me.” — Sal Mineo
- sheila on Talking with Rachel Dratch: Frankenstein is woo-woo adjacent.
- sheila on Talking with Rachel Dratch: Frankenstein is woo-woo adjacent.
- Ian on Talking with Rachel Dratch: Frankenstein is woo-woo adjacent.
- Gemstone on “Well, if I can’t be happy, I can be useful, perhaps.” — Louisa May Alcott
- sheila on December 2025 Snapshots
- Gemstone on December 2025 Snapshots
- Regina Bartkoff on November 2023 Viewing Diary
- sheila on November 2023 Viewing Diary
- sheila on November 2023 Viewing Diary
- Regina Bartkoff on November 2023 Viewing Diary
- sheila on November 2023 Viewing Diary
- sheila on November 2023 Viewing Diary
- sheila on November 2023 Viewing Diary
- regina bartkoff on November 2023 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2025 Snapshots
- sheila on December 2025 Snapshots
- sheila on December 2025 Snapshots
- sheila on “I think I’m a pretty good storyteller.” — John Sturges
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Author Archives: sheila
Elvis forever and happy birthday
Elvis pieces (just a few): Most recently, I wrote about Marion Keisker’s crucial role in “discovering” Elvis. I wrote on his acting career for Film Comment For Criterion: Elvis’s Adventures in Hollywood And here’s the text of the talk I … Continue reading
NYFCC: Best Non-Fiction Film: My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow
This year, the NYFCC awarded Julia Loktev’s five-and-a-half-hour documentary My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow Best Documentary. There were many good docs this year, it was a very strong year, but this one was undeniable. For … Continue reading
Posted in Founding Fathers, Movies
Tagged Benjamin Franklin, documentary, Russia, Ukraine, women directors
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Talking with Rachel Dratch: Frankenstein is woo-woo adjacent.
This was such a treat: I was a guest on Rachel Dratch’s extremely entertaining podcast Woo Woo. She has people on to talk about their personal encounters with the paranormal – like Tina Fey staying in a haunted hotel in … Continue reading
“I was looking for what was coming from a man’s soul and a man’s conviction.” — Sam Phillips
The myth. The legend. There’s a lot of bull shit with the legend, and saying that does not mean throwing out the whole thing. But Sam did have a way of placing him at the center of every story in … Continue reading
“I was just glad to get the Grammy. I didn’t know what the thing was. It’s the honor what I loved.” — Elizabeth Cotten
Elizabeth Cotten, folk/blues music pioneer, was born on this day in 1895. She taught herself to play the guitar and banjo as a child. She was left-handed but she played a guitar for a right-hander, meaning she played everything upside … Continue reading
Posted in Music, On This Day
4 Comments
Why This Film? podcast: Martin Scorsese’s After Hours
I had a really good time as a guest on the new Why This Film? podcast talking about Martin Scorsese’s After Hours (I wrote the booklet essay for the Criterion Collection’s release of the film). There’s only been a couple … Continue reading
December 2025 Snapshots
The days are short but they feel very long. So much has happened in the last four months. I have not even begun to process it. Did I enjoy it? I think so! But I had no time to linger … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged animation, family, Frankenstein, friends, Japan, Joan Crawford, snapshots
7 Comments
2025 National Society of Film Critics Awards
It’s the 60th year of the National Society of Film Critics. We met up in New York / Los Angeles / Zoom to vote today. We also have a couple of fun categories – like Best Experimental Film – and … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Argentina, Brazil, documentary, Ethan Hawke, Iranian film, Jafar Panahi, Norway, Paul Thomas Anderson, Richard Linklater, Russia
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“A lot of people don’t like to think. They get annoyed when you ask them to.” — Thelma Schoonmaker
“The priority is absolutely on the best take for performance, and frankly I don’t understand why people get so hung up on these issues, because if you look at films throughout history, you will see enormous continuity errors everywhere, particularly … Continue reading
“I think I’m a pretty good storyteller.” — John Sturges
It’s the birthday today of great and weirdly under-rated American director, John Sturges. One of the best parts about writing about the Criterion essay for the release of The Great Escape was getting to do a deep dive into the … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged drama, John Sturges, Steve McQueen, thrillers, war movies, westerns
8 Comments