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- “Art is theft, art is armed robbery, art is not pleasing your mother.” — Janet Malcolm
- “I’m one of those people who thinks you can have a happy life and still be an artist.” — Shelley Duvall
- “There’s a difference between writing about something and living through it. I did both.” — poet/novelist Margaret Walker
- “I believe what Camus says. When the curtain rings down, your job is done.” — Warren Oates
- Physical Media Booklet Essay podcast interview
- “My voice isn’t an instrument I can just hang up on a hook.” — Audra McDonald
- “You can’t be on top all the time. It isn’t natural.” — Olivia de Havilland
- “If I don’t feel it, I can’t play it.” — James Cotton
- “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: Actors
Dynamic Duo #38
Marlene Dietrich and Konstantin Paustovsky. This moment occurred after a concert she gave in Moscow, 1964. She had been blabbing to the press about the revered (and sometimes suppressed) author Konstantin Paustovsky from the moment she arrived in Russia, declaring … Continue reading
R.I.P. Michael Gambon
All the headlines mention Dumbledore. and I get it. Fine. But Dumbledore Shmumbledore. Michael Gambon’s stage career was spectacular. He played everything (see him here as King Lear), and when I heard he passed, I thought immediately of a hilarious … Continue reading
Podcast: Watch With Jen: Let’s talk about Elvis!
Well, THIS was a blast. Jen Johans had me onto her excellent podcast again to talk about 5 Elvis movies of my choosing! I picked: King Creole, Flaming Star, Girl Happy, Live a Little Love a Little and The Trouble … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Elvis Presley, King Creole, Live a Little Love a Little, podcast
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Classic Hollywood + Elvis
It’s so nice to see this “Classic Hollywood” archive page on the Criterion Channel with Elvis’ movies included. His movies aren’t usually discussed as part of “classic Hollywood” even though … they ARE part of “classic Hollywood”, or, at the … Continue reading
For Criterion: Elvis in the Movies
Here’s the big piece I’ve been working on: to accompany the current Elvis-movie programming on the Criterion Channel, I wrote about Elvis’ movie career for Criterion.
Marilyn Monroe and Method Acting
Nobody writes about Marilyn Monroe like my friend Kim Morgan. Nobody. That’s why I am so excited she wrote about Marilyn for Criterion – and not only Marilyn, but Marilyn’s connection to Method acting, and how important that technique was … Continue reading
Pee Wee
Mitchell and I, juniors in college, sat at Bickford’s diner one night in Cranston, Rhode Island. We had been to the movies, I think. Our regular ritual. I’d go and pick him up, we’d drive to the movies, then we’d … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, RIP, Television
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Back-ting and Mirrors
If you’ve been around here for a while, you know how I love moments where actors have their back to the camera (back-ting) and moments where characters stare at themselves in the mirror. I started mulling about this 15 years … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged backting, Five Easy Pieces, Harriet Andersson, Ingmar Bergman, Jack Nicholson, mirrors
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