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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
- “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.” — Charlie Chaplin
- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
- “Even though I’m writing about very dark material, it still feels like an escape hatch.” — Olivia Laing
- “It’s just one of the mysteries of filmmaking that sometimes you do something that you don’t even think it’s important, then it turns out to be.” — Lili Horvát
- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
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- sheila on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
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- Bryce on The Books: “Nine Stories”- ‘The Laughing Man’ (J.D. Salinger)
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What a genuinely lovely, touching letter.
“You have the audacity to believe that if you make a film about anything that interests you, it will interest us as well. And you have proven it.”
I love that line.
Wow. I need to see EVERY one of those 55 films. Have you seen his Loch Ness monster movie? Lord. It is hilarious and scary and weird and annoying. And ‘Grizzly Man’ is beyond belief.
Bren – Aguirre is a freak-fest with Klaus Kinski as a total madman (surprise surprise) and Fitzcarraldo has to be seen to be believed – I think they’d blow your mind!
I have such fond memories of watching Grizzly Man with you and Alex! That was such a fun night!
Ah, I love Werner Herzog. Now I need to devote myself to seeing more of his movies.
And that picture of him with Roger Ebert choked me up. I love him, too, and I just miss him. It was a tradition around here to watch his reviews on the weekends. It’s just not the same on that show without him.
Tracey, I know what you mean, but that show lost its mojo for me when Gene Siskel passed away. I loved the arguments they’d get in over the minuteae, or when they were simply at odds. I remember one episode where they got into it over some children’s film, and it was so funny. It went something like this.
Gene: “Ugh, it’s just not any good. Very disappointing.”
Roger: “Wait a minute, it’s a KIDS’ movie. You’re being ridiculous.”
Gene: “So that means it’s ok for it to be bad?”
Roger: “No, I’m saying that for kids, it’s not a bad film at all. It’s a nice little picture.”
Gene (disgusted, dismissive): “You’re wrong. Come on.”
I loved those kinds of arguments.
Oddly, I had, for the longest time, only ever thought of Ebert as that TV guy. The joy is inreading him, because he’s not just a super critic, he’s a great writer. The kind you can learn a lot from just through reading him.
This Herzog letter is fantastic. But So is Roger, so how could it be anything but?
Ebert is such a wonderful writer!! he wrote a piece about Saturday Night Fever that was basically a tribute to Siskel – who always said it was his favorite movie (whoda thunk). Wait – let me see if I can find it – it makes me cry to read it.
I have an anniversary version of Casabalanca – a 2 disc extravaganza – and Ebert’s commentary track is seriously not to be missed. he’s encyclopedic about that film but even better: he is still capable of getting totally MOVED. So many critics lose that, they become cynical. He is still moved to emotion during the “dueling anthems” scene in Casablanca – even after seeing it 100 times – and that, to me, is one of the marks of a truly great critic.
he’s the reason I got into Werner Herzog – because of how he wrote about him!
Thank you, dear web! A quick search on his site:
Here’s the piece he wrote about Saturday Night Fever. Gulp.
You know, I have that version of Casablanca and haven’t watched it yet. Maybe I’ll have to sit and watch it with the commentary over the long weekend. Casablanca is so awesome, I Tivo’d it even though i have the DVD. You know, for spontaneous watching in case of a TV-suck emergency. Sometimes you see a name on that Tivo list and just have to hit play. (I’ve been doing this with Frankenheimer’s Ronin, lately. I think I’ve watched it 3 times in the last 10 days.)
Ebert’s dissection of SNF as it relates to Gene makes me want to sit down and BS with him about movies for hours on end.
Isn’t it wonderful??
It’s excellent.