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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Twelfth Night: or, What You Will
- “Literature is the written expression of revolt against expected things.” Happy Birthday to the least happy man ever, Thomas Hardy
- “I’m not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.” – Marilyn Monroe
- “[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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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Tag Archives: reviews
Review: Big Eyes (2014); directed by Tim Burton
Fascinating story, rather conventionally told. My review of Big Eyes is now up at Rogerebert.com.
Goodbye To All That (2014); directed/written by Angus MacLachlan
No, not the famous Joan Didion essay (strange, to pick such a famous title. Kind of like that recent Vanessa Hudgens’ movie called Gimme Shelter. Although maybe MacLachlan is consciously connecting his movie to Didion’s essay?) I wrote about this … Continue reading
The Crowd (1928); directed by King Vidor
Last night was a really special evening: my friend Farran Smith Nehme has written a wonderful novel called Missing Reels. It’s about a bunch of movie-mad characters in 1980s New York who start on a wild goose chase to track … Continue reading
Millennium Mambo (2001); directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
A circuitous and depressing film by the Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien, Millennium Mambo takes place in 2001, but, as the exhausted-sounding female narrator tells us, the events in the film happened “ten years ago”, giving a sheen of nostalgia and … Continue reading
Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014); directed by Peter Jackson
Mixed feelings. Thought “Unexpected Journey” was an unnecessarily elongated prologue, loved “Desolation of Smaug” (review here), and the final installment feels like a long-drawn-out closing paragraph. Should have been done in one film. Could have been done in one film. … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged fantasy movies, J.R.R. Tolkien, New Zealand, reviews, The Hobbit
42 Comments
The Passionate Thief (1960); directed by Mario Monicelli
Charlie and I went to The Film Forum last night to check out the restored The Passionate Thief (1960), directed by Mario Monicelli, and starring Anna Magnani, Ben Gazzara and Toto. It’s getting a nice theatrical re-release, and it looks … Continue reading
Inherent Vice (2014); directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
In Joan Didion’s essay “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” there is a section that reminds me of the vibe that Thomas Pynchon captured in his druggy LA-noir set in 1970. Didion wandered through Haight-Ashbury in 1968, 1969, meeting people, hanging out, and … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged drama, Inherent Vice, Joaquin Phoenix, Paul Thomas Anderson, reviews
28 Comments
We Are the Best! (2014); directed by Lukas Moodysson
“We should start a band.” “We seriously should.” One of the perfect gems of 2014. With all the hype about Boyhood (much of it deserved), it is wonderful to see a movie about young girls coming of age, a story … Continue reading
The Babadook (2014); written and directed by Jennifer Kent
3/4s of the way through The Babadook, I thought to myself, wildly, “I can’t take much more of this.” I was desperate for it all to be over with. One of the reasons The Babadook is so effective is that … Continue reading
Miss Julie (2014); directed by Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann directing August Strindberg’s wacky 1888 comedy, Miss Julie. Jessica Chastain, man. But all three of the main actors – Chastain, Colin Farrell, and Samantha Morton, give phenomenal performances. It’s rather unforgettable, actually. My review of Miss Julie is … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged August Strindberg, Colin Farrell, drama, Ireland, literary adaptation, Liv Ullmann, Norway, reviews
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