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- “When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered.” — Dorothy Thompson
- “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
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Category Archives: Actors
Marlene Dietrich’s Marginalia
I love marginalia so much that I created an entire “tag” for it on my site. I love to read about the marginalia of famous people. The tiny markings Thomas Jefferson would place beside lines of text that … interested … Continue reading
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2016
I look at this and I wonder why I always feel like I haven’t done jack-squat. Or, at the very least, I could do more. Well, I always can do more. Regardless, here are links to some of the things … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books, Movies, On This Day, Personal, RIP
Tagged Abbas Kiarostami, Baz Luhrmann, Buddy Holly, Camille Paglia, Carrie Fisher, Carroll Baker, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Chantal Akerman, Compulsion, David Bowie, Dean Stockwell, Dolly Parton, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Elizabeth Bishop, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Eminem, friends, Gena Rowlands, George Stevens, Gilda, Isabelle Huppert, James Dean, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, July and Half of August, Katherine Dunn, Langston Hughes, Little Richard, Marion Cotillard, Marlon Brando, Matthias Schoenaerts, Merle Haggard, Mia Hansen-Løve, Miriam Hopkins, Patricia Highsmith, Rebecca Hall, Richard Linklater, Rocky, Sam Cooke, Something Wild, Stephen King, Sudden Fear, Supernatural, Sylvester Stallone, Tennessee Williams, The Great Gatsby, Tom Jones, Wanda Jackson, William Shakespeare, women directors, year in writing, Zac Efron
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R.I.P. Debbie Reynolds
My thoughts are with Billie Lourd and Todd Fisher. This is crushing. She was so talented and she was lucky enough to have “come up” in a Hollywood that knew what to do with her. She could do it all. … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, RIP
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11:20 a.m. EST: BBC World Service “World Have Your Say”: Remembering Carrie Fisher
I’ll be appearing on the BBC’s “World Have Your Say” program this morning – 11:20 a.m. EST – to discuss Carrie Fisher.
R.I.P. Carrie Fisher
This blows. I am honored to pay tribute to her over at Rogerebert.com.
From Rogerebert.com: The Great Performances of 2016
This is a really fun list. Rogerebert.com contributors each talk about a different great performance from 2016. I wrote about Trevante Rhodes in Moonlight. You can read the full list here.
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Hugh Grant, Isabelle Huppert, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon
6 Comments
Performances I Loved This Year
I still haven’t seen a couple of big ones. Hence … it’s a work in progress, and I’m sure I’m forgetting people. But these stand out. Royalty Hightower, “The Fits” [My review] Matthias Schoenaerts, “A Bigger Splash” Cliff Curtis, “The … Continue reading
Gotham Awards Winners 2016
Here is the winner-tally from the Gotham Awards ceremony last night. I was on the nominating committee for Best Breakthrough Performance, and I am thrilled for Anya Taylor-Joy on her win last night. Hugely deserved! This is my second time … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
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The Greatest Performance in Cinema
Renee Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc, directed by Carl Dreyer (1928) Actors should at least know that the bar was set. A long long time ago. Pauline Kael: One of the greatest of all movies. The director, … Continue reading
Gotham Awards 2016: Our Nominations for Best Breakthrough Performance
It’s that time of year again: one of (if not the?) first awards shows of the season: The Gotham Independent Film Awards! I was on the committee to nominate the category of Breakthrough Actor Performance, along with Bilge Ebiri of … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
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