Categories
Archives
-
-
-
-
Recent Posts
- “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
- “I don’t want to show things, but to give people the desire to see.” — Agnès Varda
- “I never made a message picture, and I hope I never do.” — Howard Hawks
- “If I am going to be a poet at all, I am going to be POET and not NEGRO POET.” — poet Countee Cullen
- Reviews: Currents (2026)
- Reviews: Forge (2026)
- “Only the bad directors tell you how to read a line, how to define your character. The good ones let you do your job.” — Carroll Baker
- “I never heard the term ‘rockabilly’ back then. Nobody did…When people asked what music we played, we were rock ’n’ rollers.” — Sonny Burgess
- “I am in a prison: one wall is the avant-garde, the other wall is the past, and I want to escape.” — György Ligeti
- An Acting Lesson: John Wayne and the “Reality of the Doing”
Recent Comments
- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on “I never made a message picture, and I hope I never do.” — Howard Hawks
- Bryan Summers on “I never made a message picture, and I hope I never do.” — Howard Hawks
- Lyrie on “I just love telling stories. That’s what we do and it’s a good business to be in, especially if you know you have talent.” –Jensen Ackles
- Kendra Williams on Josh White, singer of “the fighting blues”
- sheila on “I dont want to just do just country type stuff the rest of my life. I want to do some different things.” — Charlie Rich
- sheila on The Books: “Awake and Sing” (Clifford Odets)
- Jincy Willett on “There’s nobody as good as the Ramones, never will be.” — Joey Ramone
- Bill Wolfe on “I dont want to just do just country type stuff the rest of my life. I want to do some different things.” — Charlie Rich
- Donn Harris on The Books: “Awake and Sing” (Clifford Odets)
- sheila on “Listen, I never meant to make money. I never wanted it. I’m a singer, man.” — Gene Vincent
- Pat on “Listen, I never meant to make money. I never wanted it. I’m a singer, man.” — Gene Vincent
- sheila on “There’s nobody as good as the Ramones, never will be.” — Joey Ramone
- Jincy Willett on “There’s nobody as good as the Ramones, never will be.” — Joey Ramone
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
- Biff Dorsey on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
- Dave on Review: The Chronology of Water (2025)
- Biff Dorsey on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
- sheila on “I just love telling stories. That’s what we do and it’s a good business to be in, especially if you know you have talent.” –Jensen Ackles
-
Tag Archives: drama
The apartment in What Happened Was…
This is a companion piece to my latest Present Tense column. I wanted to get even more into the apartment and its decor – Daniel Ouellette’s was production designer and Andras Kanegson did the set decoration. The apartment is part … Continue reading
Present Tense: On What Happened Was…, one of the great films about loneliness
For my next “Present Tense” column at Film Comment, I wrote about Tom Noonan’s award-winning 1994 film What Happened Was… It was impossible to see the film for a good 10 years too (it was never released on DVD. If … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged drama, Edward Hopper, Olivia Laing, Present Tense, reviews, Tom Noonan, What Happened Was
Leave a comment
June 2019 Viewing Diary
Once again: if you’re not a Supernatural fan, this might be a tough read. I’m so busy with work, this is how I unwind. Supernatural, Season 14, episode 4 “Mint Condition” (2018; d. Amyn Kaderali) I loved this episode. Perfectly … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Ben Edlund, Bob Dylan, Charles Beeson, comedy, documentary, drama, England, Jared Padalecki, Jean Arthur, Jensen Ackles, Joel McCrea, Martin Scorsese, Mike Rohl, Myrna Loy, Phil Sgriccia, Robert Singer, screwball comedy, Supernatural, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Thomas J. Wright, westerns, William Powell, women directors
72 Comments
Film Comment Podcast: On Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir
Had a lot of fun talking about The Souvenir with Nicolas Rapold (editor-in-chief of Film Comment) and Michael Koresky on the Film Comment podcast. (My article on the film is the cover story for the May-June issue of Film Comment.)
Review: Mouthpiece (2019)
I really loved this movie, people. I loved it for so many reasons. My review is of Mouthpiece is now up at Rogerebert.com.
Review: Trial by Fire (2019)
10 years ago, Daniel Grann wrote a fascinating (and infuriating) article/investigation for The New Yorker about the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham in Texas, convicted of murder by arson. It’s pretty clear Texas executed an innocent man. Now comes Ed … Continue reading
For Criterion: “Love is Strange”: The Hot-Blooded Love Cry at the Cold Heart of Badlands
For Criterion’s “Songbook” column: I wrote about the use of Mickey & Sylvia’s “Love is Strange” in Terrence Malick’s Badlands: The Hot-Blooded Love Cry at the Cold Heart of Badlands.
Posted in Movies, Music
Tagged Badlands, drama, Martin Sheen, reviews, Sissy Spacek, Terrence Malick
4 Comments
Review: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
It’s so good. I was hoping it would be since my feelings about Zac Efron are well-known. And I love Joe Berlinger’s stuff. He’s a documentary guy so this is a change-up. It’s so good. I went pretty long in … Continue reading
May-June 2019 Film Comment: on Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir
It was such a pleasure writing about Joanna Hogg’s latest film The Souvenir for Film Comment (I hadn’t realized it would be the cover story! I’m thrilled, not just for myself, but for the film, which I hope everyone sees). … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged drama, England, Joanna Hogg, reviews, Tilda Swinton, women directors
Leave a comment
Visiting “The Beautiful Place”: An Interview with Lian Lunson, director of Waiting for the Miracle to Come (2019)
“If only our parents were born at the same moment we were. How much heartache would be spared. But parents and children can go only go after each other, not with each other. And the distance always lies between us, … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Charlotte Rampling, drama, Elvis Presley, interviews, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, women directors
5 Comments