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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
R.I.P. Jean-Paul Belmondo
The outpouring of love for Belmondo has been very heartening to see and I was particularly touched by Mickey Rourke’s Instagram post about him. Mickey Rourke is in a direct line from Belmondo. It’s like a baseball play: Brando/Dean to … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, RIP
Tagged Alain Delon, France, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Mickey Rourke, mirrors
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R.I.P. Michael K. Williams
I bet you remember the first time you laid eyes on Michael K. Williams, the first time you saw him in something. And I’m not even talking about the whole performance, but literally your first moment seeing him, listening to … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, RIP, Television
2 Comments
Mirrors #9
I’ve decided to post these as they come up: a continuation of my ongoing collection of (mostly) men looking at themselves – and having private moments – in the mirror. Here’s James Cagney in Picture Snatcher, about a former gangster … Continue reading
Bette needs hair of the dog stat
Bette Davis in Dangerous as Joyce Heath, a once-great-actress and now-disgraceful-has-been, living in a drunken stupor. It’s 1935. She’s totally hit her stride as an actress. She does not care about likability. This is so rare, particularly for young actresses. … Continue reading
Esther and Donna on Oscar Night, 1954
I had never seen these candid photos before and I gasped when I saw them on Instagram. Donna Reed was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in From Here to Eternity. There was a party before the ceremony at the legendary … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
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Mirrors #8
Tom Ewell, in Seven Year Itch, checking himself out. Casually at first and then … it turns. Mirror moments. I always notice them.
Mirrors #7
Joan Crawford in one of her earliest successes, Sally, Irene and Mary (1925). What do you want to bet her character is headed for a rocky road? You know I love mirror shots. Adding it to the collection.
Mirrors #6
I continue to trip over examples in film of men looking at themselves in the mirror. I get so excited! I wrote a whole lengthy essay about it for Oscilloscope Laboratories – and people who have been reading me for … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies
Tagged Billy Wilder, Fred MacMurray, Jack Lemmon, mirrors
2 Comments
For John Wayne’s Birthday: Hondo (1953) at MoMA: John Wayne in 3D
In real life John Wayne was huge, 6’3″, with broad shoulders, a lean waist, and long ambling legs. He towered over everybody. And yet, he was always graceful. His athleticism is extraordinary, his physicality smooth and controlled. So he was … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Dennis Hopper, Gary Cooper, Gena Rowlands, Geraldine Page, James Dean, John Wayne, Sanford Meisner, Supernatural, westerns
45 Comments
#TBT Toil and trouble, you got that right!
Sometimes, as an actor, you can’t help it, you’re cast in a stinker. And there’s nothing you can do about it but make the best of it. Sometimes the best friendships are made from being trapped in a terrible project … Continue reading