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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.”
- 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)
- sheila 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
- 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
- Todd Restler on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
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Category Archives: Directors
“Often I pretended to a cameraman to know less than I did. That way I got more cooperation.” — Ida Lupino
It’s the birthday of actress and director Ida Lupino. To give some perspective on her unlikely and inspiring trajectory: she was born into a theatre family dynasty. By the time she was 14, 15, she was playing adult roles. She … Continue reading
“The main thing about directing is: photograph the people’s eyes.” — John Ford
It’s his birthday today. For Film Comment, I wrote about his somber, emotional WWII movie, with the title that really BITES: They Were Expendable. And they really were expendable. It’s an amazing film and – in my opinion – one … Continue reading
“In France, I’m an auteur; in Germany, a filmmaker; in Britain; a genre film director; and, in the USA, a bum.” — John Carpenter
Kurt Russell as Elvis Presley, 1979 “An Elvis movie is always worth watching because of Elvis.” – Kurt Russell John Carpenter, director: In dealing with Elvis, I’m bringing a lot of my own feelings to it and how I feel … Continue reading
“We’re not breaking new ground. We’re trying to be entertaining within a format that’s familiar.” — Walter Hill
“I very purposely — more and more so every time I do a script — give characters no back story. The way you find out about these characters is by watching what they do, the way they react to stress, … 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, Western
6 Comments
“My philosophy is that to be a director you cannot be subject to anyone, even the head of the studio. I threatened to quit each time I didn’t get my way, but no one ever let me walk out.” — Dorothy Arzner
It’s her birthday today. I have written quite a bit about her films here, mainly one of my favorites, Merrily We Go to Hell, a superb drama about a marriage gone terribly wrong, starring Sylvia Sidney and Fredric March in … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Clara Bow, Dorothy Arzner, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Maureen O'Hara, Rosalind Russell, women directors
4 Comments
“We want to see our lives dramatized on the screen as we are living it, the same as other people, the world over.” — Oscar Micheaux
Pioneering filmmaker Oscar Micheaux was born on this day. Just remember: when someone says Tyler Perry is the first African-American filmmaker to have created and owned his own production company … they are erasing Oscar Micheaux. This is not to … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
2 Comments
“There is no other way to break the frozen cinematic conventions than through a complete derangement of the official cinematic senses.” — Jonas Mekas
When the avant-garde filmmaker (he referred to himself often as a “film diarist” died at the age of 96, the outpouring of tributes was overwhelming (and, in many cases, instructive. There was a lot I didn’t know.) My fellow NYFFC … Continue reading
“In lieu of private themes we had generalisation, in lieu of what was special the typical, in lieu of accident causality. Decorativeness gave way to constructedness, Reason was put on a par with Emotion, while sensuality was replaced by didacticism and fantasy by documentary reality.” — Erwin Piscator
It’s Erwin Piscator’s birthday. Even if you didn’t set OUT to learn about him, if you have done any reading about actors/theatre in the 20th century – either in Germany or in America – you will run into his name … Continue reading
“The best thing that can come with success is the knowledge that it is nothing to long for.” — Liv Ullmann
It’s her birthday today. In 2018 I was assigned by the Criterion Collection to write tributes to four of Ingmar Bergman’s actresses: Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, (Liv and Bibi were paired together in one video – Bergman saw them as … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Ingmar Bergman, Liv Ullmann, Norway, women directors
2 Comments