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Tag Archives: Bette Davis
Mirrors #11
Bette Davis giving one of her greatest performances (and one of the greatest movie performances of all time) in Little Foxes. She basically avoids looking herself in the eyes. For obvious reasons. You can click on the “mirrors” tab to … Continue reading
August 2021 Viewing Diary
Pig (2021; d. Michael Sarnoski) I wish I could write at length about some of these. I just don’t have the time these days. I absolutely loved Pig, about an isolated woodsman-truffle-hunter (Nicolas Cage) whose beloved truffle pig is stolen. … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, backting, Belgium, Bette Davis, comedy, documentary, drama, film noir, France, Golshifteh Farahani, Howard Hawks, James Cagney, Jean Arthur, Jim Jarmusch, Joan Blondell, Marion Cotillard, Mervyn LeRoy, musicals, Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Pre-Code, Richard Linklater, Robert Mitchum, Supernatural, surfing, William Carlos Williams
44 Comments
Bette needs hair of the dog stat
Bette Davis in Dangerous as Joyce Heath, a once-great-actress and now-disgraceful-has-been, living in a drunken stupor. It’s 1935. She’s totally hit her stride as an actress. She does not care about likability. This is so rare, particularly for young actresses. … Continue reading
Gee thanks a lot
Franchot Tone confessing emotional infidelity to his fiancee Margaret Lindsay, Dangerous (1935)
Don’t we all?
Bette Davis in Housewife (1934) shaking up the all-male advertising office by declaring this on her first day of work as a copywriter. Hm, this reminds me of something. What could it be …
July 2021 Viewing Diary
Sally, Mary and Irene (1925; d. Edmund Goulding) For some reason, I forgot to include this gem in my June viewing diary. Considered lost forever, it is one of Joan Crawford’s earliest films – and one where she is actually … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Ann Dvorak, Bette Davis, Billy Wilder, Bong Joon-Ho, comedy, dance movies, documentary, drama, France, Fred MacMurray, Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Jack Lemmon, Japan, Jimmy Stewart, Joan Blondell, Joan Crawford, Juliette Binoche, Marilyn Monroe, Mervyn LeRoy, Miriam Hopkins, Pre-Code, Shirley MacLaine, silent films, thrillers
16 Comments
Angles and Archetypes: From Burt to Brando to Rourke to Jensen Ackles to Martha Graham to Hieroglyphs to Paul Le Mat
“Cock your hat – angles are attitudes.” — Frank Sinatra When Burt Reynolds died I wrote this whole thing about how he “worked his angles.” Like Tyra Banks tells you to do. Like all the great personae of yore knew … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, Television
Tagged Bette Davis, Burt Reynolds, James Dean, Jensen Ackles, John Wayne, Marlon Brando, Martha Graham, Mickey Rourke, Supernatural
6 Comments
July 2019 Viewing Diary
Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love (2019; d. Nick Broomfield) I reviewed this documentary – about the relationship between Marianne Ihlen and Leonard Cohen – for Rogerebert.com. Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (2005; d. Lian Lunson) I watched this beautiful … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged backting, Bette Davis, Christian Petzold, comedy, documentary, drama, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Germany, heist movies, Jack Black, James Gandolfini, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Kristen Wiig, Nicole Kidman, Quentin Tarantino, romantic drama, Russia, Supernatural, Tom Noonan, What Happened Was, Will Ferrell, William Wyler, women directors
44 Comments
Present Tense: On that thing we call “back-ting”
For my latest “Present Tense” column at Film Comment, I wrote about something that’s been percolating for decades. In college, my friend Mitchell coined the phrase “back-ting” – moments where actors perform scenes with their backs to the camera (or … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, backting, Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Jafar Panahi, John Wayne, Kristen Wiig, Present Tense, William Wyler
8 Comments
May 2019 Viewing Diary
Again, just like my April viewing diary, this will be a pretty tough read for anyone not into Supernatural. It may be a tough read for those who DO watch Supernatural (especially if you loved the last 3 seasons. If … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Bette Davis, Bob Dylan, Bob Fosse, Canada, Emma Thompson, France, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Joanna Hogg, Joe Berlinger, John Ford, John Wayne, Juliette Binoche, Martin Scorsese, Sam Rockwell, Supernatural, Sylvia Plath, William Wyler, Zac Efron
97 Comments