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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
On Charlie Chaplin and his Influence on Other Comedians
The Gold Rush has ben playing at The Film Forum for the past week, and here’s a 2011 essay I wrote for Capital New York about Charlie Chaplin.
Breaking Down the Schtick: Jensen Ackles, Physical Comedy, Objectification, Consent, and Other Supernatural Topics Inspired By Three Seconds of Footage
Supernatural re-caps here. I wanted to talk about Jensen Ackles (aka Dean Wichester in Supernatural) and his gift for comedic schtick. Schtick being: acting that is obvious and BIG, a body that is able to express in BIG terms the … Continue reading
Seriously? Because It’s Almost a Joke.
I mean the beauty.
R.I.P. Peter O’Toole
Mitchell and I can recite My Favorite Year almost word for word, and “I AM NOT AN ACTOR! I’M A MOVIE STAR!!” is the best of the bunch (although “I only wore it once” is a close second). I know … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, RIP
14 Comments
The Books: A Mencken Chrestomathy: His Own Selection of His Choicest Writing, “Valentino,” by H.L. Mencken
Next up on the essays shelf: A Mencken Chrestomathy: His Own Selection of His Choicest Writing, by H.L. Mencken H.L. Mencken, as can be expected, didn’t have much good to say about this new-fangled business of movie-making. He thought it … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged A Mencken Chrestomathy, Elvis Presley, essays, H.L. Mencken, Italy, Rudolph Valentino
24 Comments
The Books: “Vivien: The Life of Vivien Leigh” (Alexander Walker)
A Re-post. For Vivien Leigh’s birthday, which is today. Vivien: The Life of Vivien Leigh, by Alexander Walker I had seen Gone with the Wind as a kid, and while it’s not my favorite movie, it certainly made an impression. … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, entertainment biography, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh
31 Comments
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
Dana Andrews in Where the Sidewalk Ends: The long closeup where he writes the letter. You only see his face, but you totally believe that he is writing off-frame, writing and thinking up what to write. And having feelings about … Continue reading
“Studying [Wallace] Reid’s history is studying the inception of movies – all of it…”
Kim Morgan on the “pre-McQueen real-life gearhead” Wallace Reid. A beautifully researched beautifully written piece on one of Hollywood’s first big movie stars.
Posted in Actors, Movies
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On “The Quarterback”
video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player Cousin Mike talking with Ellen about Cory Monteith’s passing, and the Glee episode (from last night) that dealt with it.