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- “I’m not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.” – Marilyn Monroe
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- 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
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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
- Biff Dorsey on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
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- 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
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Tag Archives: France
Review: Being Maria (2025)
This angry mournful movie tells the story of teenage Maria Schneider, plucked out of obscurity to play opposite Marlon Brando in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris. It’s mostly about the trauma she endured during filming – which she tried … Continue reading
October 2024 Viewing Diary
Downfall (2005; d. Oliver Hirschbiegel) I’ve watched a couple of times. Always good to have a reminder of the madness of those final months, where even the most hardened monstrous men were like, “… uhm, yeah, he’s a lunatic, I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged animation, Australia, biopic, documentary, drama, England, France, Germany, Ginger Rogers, historical drama, Iranian film, Japan, Michelle Pfeiffer, Natalie Portman, Palestine, Poland, Pre-Code, Robert De Niro, romantic comedy, war movies, women directors
31 Comments
Delon, part deux
I loved reading my good friend Farran’s tribute to Alain Delon – in all his complexity, and my God, his life was complex – on Ebert.
Alain Delon’s chilly beauty. RIP
Alain Delon thought, “A world without Gena Rowlands is not a world worth living in.” I put a piece up on my Substack about Delon which I wrote years ago, and it was his beauty and how it operated in … Continue reading
July 2024 Viewing Diary
Anyone But You (2023; d. Will Gluck) The fascination with Glen Powell continues. I’ve seen this maybe four times now? The NY Times did a whole ROUNDTABLE about Glen Powell, like: what is going on with this guy? It’s like … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged action movies, Ben Gazzara, coming of age, documentary, drama, England, France, Gena Rowlands, Glen Powell, historical drama, horror, Ireland, Italy, Joan Blondell, John Cassavetes, Mary Shelley, Opening Night, romantic comedy, sci-fi
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June 2024 Viewing Diary
Sunset Boulevard (1950; d. Billy Wilder) I had so much fun discussing Sunset Boulevard with the audience after the screening at Jacob Burns Film Center. I’ll be doing another one in August, after Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. The audience was … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged action movies, Billy Wilder, comedy, film noir, France, Glen Powell, Gloria Swanson, Meryl Streep, New Zealand, Richard Linklater, romantic comedy, romantic drama, short films, Steven Spielberg, Sunset Boulevard, Thomas J. Wright, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, war movies, William Holden, women directors
12 Comments
Review: Just the Two of Us (2024)
Virginie Efira is a new fave. Revoir Paris, which I put top of the list of my watches last year, was what really got me on board, but when I backtracked I was like, “Oh. Okay. Wow. She’s been crushing … Continue reading
Review: Jeanne du Barry (2024)
A sweeping historical drama about the controversial mistress of King Louis XV, Madame du Barry. I reviewed for Ebert.
Posted in Movies
Tagged France, historical drama, Johnny Depp, reviews, women directors
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