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- “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)
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Category Archives: Directors
“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
It’s the birthday of Belgian filmmaker Agnès Varda, a pioneering force in the development of the French New Wave – she was French New Wave before it was even named “French New Wave.” When she died at the age of … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Agnes Varda, Belgium, France, Sandrine Bonnaire, women directors
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103 Years Ago Today: Oscar Micheaux’s Within Our Gates
There’s this really cool site/project called NYC 1920 – a day by day archive of events in NYC exactly 100 years ago. It’s created and edited by a friend of mine, author/scholar/literature professor Jonathan Goldman, whom I met through the … Continue reading
“Boredom is very important in life. It helps you feel when something is wrong.” — John Strasberg
It’s John Strasberg’s birthday today. I told this story before on here years ago, when I used to write like this on here, on occasion. Figured I’d re-post it. He is very very important to me. Back in the late … Continue reading
“I should have been dead ten times over. I’ve thought about that a lot. I believe in miracles. It’s an absolute miracle that I’m still around.” — Dennis Hopper
It’s his birthday today. I’m so glad I used one of my columns at Film Comment -now on hiatus – to sing the praises of Dennis Hopper’s wild and nihilistic Out of the Blue, starring Linda Manz and Hopper. Of … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Art/Photography, Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Actors Studio, Croatia, Dennis Hopper, Out of the Blue, photography
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“That’s the way I work: I try to imagine what I would like to see.” — Sofia Coppola
It’s her birthday today. Doing these posts is a way to pull up things from my gigantic archives. I might as well find ways to share them. But it’s also a reminder of how much I haven’t written. Topics I … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Bill Murray, George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Sofia Coppola, women directors
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“I’m very concerned that we don’t make movies that are original anymore.” — Robert Zemeckis
It’s his birthday today. While Robert Zemeckis has gone on to be a bazillionaire and one of the most successful producers in Hollywood, he started off small and rowdy – with two films I love love LOVE – first, I … Continue reading
“And that’s the other thing about [Green], by acknowledging that these feelings exist I feel like then you see it, and you recognize that in yourself.” –Sophia Takal
It’s Sophia Takal’s birthday today. “I think a fear of portraying something negatively ends up creating more stereotypes. Like a fear of going into these negative feelings that I have had and a lot of women that I’ve spoken to … Continue reading
“I started at the top and worked my way down.” — Orson Welles
It’s his birthday today. When Orson Welles was just a teenager, he traveled to Ireland. And although it seems improbable (perhaps not, because this is Orson Welles we’re talking about), he decided to audition for the newly-formed Gate Theatre, and … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, On This Day, Theatre
Tagged Micheál MacLiammóir, Orson Welles
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“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
It’s his birthday today. So … happy (?) birthday to this provocative sometimes-maddening always-fascinating auteur. Question mark due to the doubt that “happy” has anything to do with the Danish film director, who has been poking the bear from the … Continue reading
Jafar Panahi at the airport??!! What a moment to celebrate.
Jafar Panahi and his wife Tahereh Saeedi. At the airport. Leaving Iran. I repeat: JAFAR PANAHI IS LEAVING IRAN. I can’t believe this day has come. I am almost afraid to believe it. Like it’s a trap. Jafar Panahi’s wife, … Continue reading