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
November 2024 Viewing Diary
Stranger Things, Season 2, episodes 5, 6, 7 (2016) Continuing the very slow “binge” watch with my niece Lucy, and having so much fun. She gets such a kick out of showing it to me. She knows every moment and … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Charles Vidor, comedy, documentary, drama, Edna O'Brien, film noir, Iranian film, Ireland, Jane Fonda, Jeff Bridges, Mohammad Rasoulof, Paul Schrader, Richard Gere, Rita Hayworth, romantic drama, sci-fi, Sidney Lumet, women directors
28 Comments
Substack: on Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point
One of the best films of the year. A surprise to me. I wrote about it on my Substack. Behind a paywall. Consider supporting my work if you like it. If not, that’s cool too. I appreciate that you’re here. … Continue reading
Review: All We Imagine as Light (2024)
This is so good. I reviewed for Ebert. Thank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you feel inclined to support my work, here’s a link to my Venmo account. And … Continue reading
Review: Small Things Like These (2024)
Cillian Murphy gives one of my favorite performances this year in the quiet painful Small Things Like These, an intimate character study with Ireland’s shameful Magdalene Laundries looming over everything. I reviewed for Ebert. Thank you so much … 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
Review: Magpie (2024)
There’s a lot that’s fun here, particularly the subtleties of psychology on display. You might miss the subtleties because of the style of the film and the twisty-clever plot – but for me the emotional insights were the real point … Continue reading
September 2024 Viewing Diary
My First Film (2024; d. Zia Anger) In my Top 10 of the year (so far). I reviewed for Ebert. Sweetheart Deal (2024; d. Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller) A very upsetting and beautifully made documentary, representing a decade of … Continue reading
Mirrors #22
Working Girls (1931) Directed by Dorothy Arzner! I did a deep dive into this pioneering director’s work when I was working on the Dance Girl Dance essay for Criterion. I really like her films. I hadn’t seen this one! Two … Continue reading
August 2024 Viewing Diary
Tumbledown (2015; d. Sean Mewshaw) Allison and I re-watched this. I reviewed for Ebert when it came out in 2016. I really like it. Gosh, August feels like a long time ago. I was in New York for half of … Continue reading
Mirrors #21
Constance Bennett and Clark Gable, What Price Hollywood? (1932)

