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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
“I have trouble working off things that are too preconceived, like storyboards.” — Terrence Malick
“When people express what is most important to them, it often comes out in cliches. That doesn’t make them laughable — it’s something tender about them. As though in struggling to reach what’s most personal about them they could only … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Badlands, Days of Heaven, Terrence Malick
6 Comments
For Busby Berkeley’s birthday: Remember My Forgotten Man and Sucker Punch
I wrote a piece originally for the Musings blog at Oscilloscope (it was included in a book!), and now lives on my site (since it’s off the Musings blog). It’s about the similarities between Busby Berkeley’s Gold Diggers of 1933 … Continue reading
Posted in Movies, On This Day
Tagged Busby Berkeley, dance, Gold Diggers of 1933, Joan Blondell, Mervyn LeRoy, musicals, Sucker Punch, war, WWI
15 Comments
Review: The Thing with Feathers (2025)
If you insist on making a film adaptation of a book where said book takes its entire thematic structure from Ted Hughes’ 1970 poetry collection Crow– and if in your adaptation you cut out all references to Ted Hughes – … Continue reading
“You can’t dance in a long dress.” — Tina Turner
I pretty much said what I needed to say about Tina Turner in my review of this year’s documentary Tina. I saw her in concert. I was there, I was present for her rise to total dominance in the culture, … Continue reading
Dynamic Duo #46
John Waters and Johnny Knoxville. Knoxville got married this month, and John Waters was the minister who performed the ceremony. “Pink Flamingos was a form of rebellion; it was the spirit of the age. And a chance to go against … Continue reading
Review: Zodiac Killer Project (2025)
Charlie Shackleton’s documentary showing us the movie he wasn’t allowed to make might be too slight and/or irritating to certain kinds of viewers, but this is very much my kind of thing. I liked it. I reviewed for Ebert.
“I would rather use light to draw with instead of making thousands of drawings.” — Mary Ellen Bute
“There were so many things I wanted to say, stream-of-consciousness things, designs and patterns while listening to music. I felt I might be able to say [them] if I had an unending canvas.” pioneering experimental animator Mary Ellen Bute If … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, James Joyce, Movies, On This Day
Tagged animation, Finnegans Wake, Ireland, literary adaptation, women directors
3 Comments
“Being understood is not the most essential thing in life.” — Jodie Foster
It’s her birthday today. She’s not my favorite actress in the world although I admire her journey, which – if you think about it – is quite exceptional. Consider the other child actors who dominated in the ’70s. Who has … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, On This Day, Personal
Tagged Jodie Foster, women directors
7 Comments
“I care desperately about what I do. Do I know what product I’m selling? No.” — Owen Wilson
I just want to point you towards a recent remarkable profile of Wilson in Esquire, the cover story. The writer – Ryan D’Agostino – really knows what he’s doing. It’s a beautiful piece of writing filled with interesting observations. Wilson … Continue reading
“There’s nothing you can tell me about guilt.” — Martin Scorsese
It’s his birthday today. It will be a huge loss when this man goes. He holds up the torch for continuity of cinema history, and his breadth and depth of knowledge – which he is so eager to share – … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Martin Scorsese, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver
17 Comments