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- “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
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- “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
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Category Archives: Actors
Present Tense: on Nick Nolte
My next column at Film Comment is on Nick Nolte. I’ve been percolating with this one for a while. I did a full re-watch (or close enough) of his entire filmography in 2019, just for the hell of it. I … Continue reading
Interview with Jennifer McCabe: On-camera Acting Training and the Actor’s Process
Jennifer McCabe has been teaching acting and directing in various capacities for almost 25 years. After getting her Master’s through the MFA program at the Actors Studio, she first worked with Enact, a not-for-profit arts-in-education company which goes into at-risk … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, Television
Tagged Al Pacino, Charlie Chaplin, Cher, interviews, Jerry Lewis, John Patrick Shanley, Lee Strasberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Michael Caine, Montgomery Clift, Robert De Niro, Sanford Meisner, Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, women directors
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R.I.P. Buck Henry
As someone whose family can (and does) recite What’s Up, Doc? from beginning to end – “What happened to Fritz?” “There is only me. Franz.” “Oh, what a SHAME.” – this is sad news! (My old friend Trav has written … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, On This Day, writers
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Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2019
Thanks, everyone, who hangs out here, who likes what I do, whether you’re an Elvis fan, a Supernatural fan, a general cinephile, a book-lover, or just someone who’s been checking in periodically for 17 years – WHAT? – I appreciate … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, James Joyce, Movies, Television
Tagged Agnes Varda, animation, Anna Karina, backting, Badlands, Belfast, Bibi Andersson, Bob Dylan, Bong Joon-Ho, Canada, Charlotte Rampling, comedy, Dennis Hopper, documentary, Doris Day, drama, Dubliners, Elvis Presley, Emily Dickinson, Frank O'Hara, friends, Gaspar Noe, George Stevens, Gold Diggers of 1933, horror, Ireland, Jean Arthur, Joanna Hogg, Joe Berlinger, Joel McCrea, John Ford, Kristen Stewart, Leonardo DiCaprio, Linda Manz, Marlon Brando, Martin Scorsese, Mary Oliver, Matthias Schoenaerts, Myrna Loy, Nick Nolte, Nick Tosches, Nicolas Roeg, Out of the Blue, Paraguay, Paul Thomas Anderson, poetry, Poland, Present Tense, Robert Evans, Sandrine Bonnaire, sci-fi, Sophia Takal, Sucker Punch, Supernatural, Sylvia Plath, Terrence Malick, Tom Noonan, What Happened Was, William Powell, Willie Nelson, women directors, year in writing, Zac Efron
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R.I.P. Anna Karina
French New Wave star Anna Karina has died. How to describe her accomplishment? It was an accomplishment of Persona. Her “persona” onscreen is so alive that it’s never just one thing: you think you understand what a moment IS, but … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, RIP
Tagged Agnes Varda, Anna Karina, France, Jean-Luc Godard, women directors
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R.I.P. Caroll Spinney
Caroll Spinney, legendary puppeteer and creator of the characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street, has died at the age of 85. I knew this day was coming, of course. But I still was not prepared. A … Continue reading
For Film Comment: On Kristen Stewart
As long as she keeps working, I’ll keep wanting to write about her. For my latest column over at Film Comment.
NYFCC winners announced!
So yesterday, the members of the NYFCC, yours truly included, sat down in a windowless room and voted. At one point I murmured, “Jesus, this has been a really strong year.” And it really has, but not until I saw … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged animation, drama, France, Macedonia, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, South Korea, women directors
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Happy Birthday, Groucho Marx
Here’s Groucho Marx’s letterhead. One of Groucho Marx’s letters to Peter Lorre, having to do with Ulysses that makes me so happy. Peter Lorre, sending Groucho a book explaining James Joyce’s Ulysses?? This makes me feel that the world is … Continue reading
Present Tense: Death Scenes
William Holden, “Sunset Boulevard” For my next “Present Tense” column at Film Comment, I wrote about a long-time obsession – which I have covered from time to time here on my site: Actors performing death scenes. And a tribute to … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Bonnie and Clyde, Faye Dunaway, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cagney, Janet Leigh, Jensen Ackles, Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep, Present Tense, Raoul Walsh, Roaring Twenties, Shirley MacLaine, Sunset Boulevard, Supernatural, Vincente Minnelli, Warren Beatty, William Holden
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