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Recent Posts
- “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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- sheila on “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
- sheila on “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
- Joe Markley on “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
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- Lyrie on “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
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Category Archives: Personal
Substack: Writing roundup
A freebie for all subscribers: Roundup of my writing over the last couple of months, plus some thoughts on Viva Las Vegas, After Hours, Ebertfest, my time in Chicago … everything I’ve been doing. Thanks for reading!
Posted in Movies, Personal, Television
Tagged Elvis Presley, Martin Scorsese, Substack, Viva Las Vegas
5 Comments
“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
Snapshots
It’s been a while. March and April were a whirlwind. February too. — I worked on this. It was a challenging one, and a little different for me. I loved the challenge. — Michael messaged me (you know. Michael. This … Continue reading
Posted in James Joyce, Movies, Personal
Tagged Elvis Presley, friends, Martin Scorsese, snapshots, Viva Las Vegas
24 Comments
May 7: Viva Las Vegas at the Paris Theater!
^^ This promo, gigantic on the Paris Theatre website, is now my favorite thing on the planet. My name up there, my outlet, and the MASSIVE faces of Elvis and Ann-Margret. Life is a curious thing. You never know where … Continue reading
“I wanted to deliver a work that could be read universally as the-thing-in-itself but that would also sustain those extensions of meaning that our disastrously complicated local predicament made both urgent and desirable.” — Seamus Heaney
It’s his birthday today. Jean and I went to visit Siobhan in Ireland. Siobhan was in school, so while she was in classes Jean and I rented a car and drove across the country to Galway, and other Western points. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, Personal, writers
Tagged Belfast, Ireland, Irish poetry, poetry, Seamus Heaney
4 Comments
Ten Years.
Me on New Years Eve, Memphis, December 31, 2012. Sitting outside of my hotel with a plastic cup of champagne. Alone. It’s been 10 years since Roger Ebert died. He emailed me to ask me to write for him on … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
41 Comments
In Memory of Roger Ebert: His Review of Kwik Stop (2001)
Roger Ebert died 10 years ago today. One of the early series the Rogerebert.com writers participated in was something called “My Favorite Roger.” Each writer wrote an essay discussing their favorite Roger review. I chose his review of Kwik Stop, … Continue reading
Posted in Movies, On This Day, Personal
Tagged drama, friends, July and Half of August, Kwik Stop
8 Comments
It’s Ron Eldard’s Birthday: the first famous person I interviewed
Here’s the story of the first famous person I interviewed – an actor I had admired for a long time: Mr. Ron Eldard. I saw the excellent Roadie at the Tribeca Film Festival. Eldard plays a roadie fired from his … Continue reading
Valentine’s Day Story #2: The Spitball Valentine
In the 6th grade, I was passionately in love with a boy named Andrew Wright. My love for him had begun to blossom tentatively in the fifth grade, but the sensation that exploded in sixth grade was real love, no … Continue reading