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- “I don’t have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I’d become. I’m me, and I’m like nobody else.” — Lena Horne
- “But man has always succeeded in rising again.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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Category Archives: Movies
“When I was discovered, everything happened like dominos. I don’t know how to talk about it now because it’s too mindblowing. It’s so unreal, and yet it’s real.” — Faye Dunaway
Bonnie and Clyde It’s her birthday today. I haven’t written all that much about Faye Dunaway – at least in a concentrated way – although I’ve seen all of her big and rightfully iconic performances many times. I think she’s … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Arizona Dream, Faye Dunaway, Jerry Lewis, Johnny Depp
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“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
“My life? Well, I get up at a quarter to six in the morning if I’m going to wear an evening dress on camera. That sentence sounds a little ga-ga, doesn’t it? But never mind, that’s my life … When … Continue reading
“I’ll stay and look you straight in the eyes like all these normal people when I scream for my rights.” — Taraneh Alidoosti
“I’ve inherited this courage from the women of my land, who for years have been living their lives, every day with resistance… I will stay, I will not quit, I will stand with the families of the prisoners and murdered … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Asghar Farhadi, Iranian film, Taraneh Alidoosti
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“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
It’s his birthday today. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be a gay kid in the 1950s and see Rebel Without a Cause, particularly Sal Mineo’s performance as “Plato,” the lonely teenage boy, with a picture … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Alan Ladd, James Dean, James Ellroy, Rebel Without a Cause, Sal Mineo
10 Comments
“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
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
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
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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