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- Frankenstein coming to life …
- “I grew up believing that I was fundamentally powerless.” — Thom Yorke
- Frankenstein and Tiffany, part deux
- “I want to live, not pose!” — Carole Lombard
- “When I’m performing, that’s the real me.” — Billy Lee Riley
- “If someone spends his life writing the truth without caring for the consequences, he inevitably becomes a political authority in a totalitarian regime.” — Václav Havel
- “[At Swim-Two-Birds is] just the book to give to your sister, if she is a dirty, boozey girl.” – Dylan Thomas on Flann O’Brien’s masterpiece
- “All my life I have been happiest when the folks watching me said to each other, `Look at the poor dope, wilya?” — Buster Keaton
- “That cat was royalty, man.” — Mick Jagger on Eddie Cochran
- “The problem with taking amps to a shop is that they come back sounding like another amp.” — Stevie Ray Vaughan
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Monthly Archives: August 2025
“The movie doesn’t wink; it believes in the story it’s telling.”
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein premiered yesterday at the Venice Film Festival (coincidentally, also Mary Shelley’s birthday! Or maybe it wasn’t a coincidence?) The red carpet stuff has been so fun to watch. I’m so happy for everyone involved. This has … Continue reading
“Certainly there have been better actors than me who have had no careers. Why? I don’t know.” — Richard Gere
It’s his birthday today. Here’s a piece I wrote about him: The Narcissist at Home: Richard Gere in American Gigolo.
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged drama, mirrors, newsletter, Paul Schrader, Richard Gere
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“Now I am alone– oh, how alone! I am left to fulfil my task. So be it.” — Mary Shelley
“How can I move thee? Will no entreaties cause thee to turn a favourable eye upon thy creature, who implores thy goodness and compassion? Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity: but am I … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, sci-fi
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“In the 20s, you were a face. And that was enough. In the 30s, you also had to be a voice. And your voice had to match your face, if you can imagine that.” — Joan Blondell
It’s Joan Blondell’s birthday today. I am sure I saw Joan Blondell in her 1930s movies when I was a kid, although maybe not the Pre-Codes. That would come later. My real introduction to her, though, came through her performance … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Busby Berkeley, Elvis Presley, Gold Diggers of 1933, James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Mervyn LeRoy, WWI
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“We were reflecting what we could perceive, which was paranoia everywhere and irrational fear. Certainly, my films of the 1970s reflected just that.” — William Friedkin
William Friedkin was “there” in my life before I put it together that movies were a thing made by humans. As a kid, they were just full-immersion stories coming from out of the land of the imagination. It wasn’t until … Continue reading
Review: The Thursday Murder Club (2025)
I enjoyed this English caper! Great cast. I reviewed for Ebert.
“I just sat at the drums and said, ‘Can I have a go?’ I just took to it.” — Honey Lantree
It’s her birthday. Even now, a “girl drummer” in an all-boy band is a rare thing. Back in the 1960s, it was unheard of. Which is why Honey Lantree, drummer for the Joe Meek-produced The Honeycombs, stands out. Still. When … Continue reading
“I do not ever want to be a huge star.” — Tuesday Weld
It’s her birthday today. From the great “Pretty Poison” (1968) with Anthony Perkins. And below you can see her as the creepily blank and heart-achingly gorgeous teenage majorette in the fantastic opening sequence of the film. See Pretty Poison if … Continue reading
“You can understand a lot about yourself by working out which fairytale you use to present your world to yourself in.” — A.S. Byatt
I didn’t mark the passing of A.S. Byatt last year when it happened. I was overwhelmed with work at the time. But I did take a moment … a very still and silent moment … to reflect on her, on … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged A.S. Byatt, fiction, George Eliot, nonfiction, Possession
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“I like to sing to women with meat on their bones and that long green stuff in their pocketbook.” — Wynonie Harris
It’s the birthday today of the influential blues shouter Wynonie Harris. I’ll hand the microphone over to Nick Tosches, because why would I bother to try to add to it? Tosches devoted a chapter in his book Unsung Heroes of … Continue reading