Categories
Archives
-
-
-
-
Recent Posts
- “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
- “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
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: France
R.I.P. Jean-Louis Trintignant
My first encounter with Jean-Louis Trintignant, one of the greatest actors ever, was seeing The Conformist at The Music Box in Chicago, circa mid-90s. I hadn’t seen any of his other work and was completely unfamiliar with him. Even just … Continue reading
Review: Lost Illusions (2022)
For Ebert, I reviewed the new adaptation of Honore de Balzac’s sweeping epic novel about the rise and fall of a young ambitious man trying to “make it” in corrupt voracious 1820s Paris. It’s quite a production. Hundreds of extras, … Continue reading
April 2022 Viewing Diary
When I first got the Raging Bull gig, I began a re-watch of all the Scorsese-De Niro movies – at least the ones clustered around that period. I grew up on these films. These movies were huge to me as … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Anjelica Huston, biopic, Brian De Palma, Canada, Christopher Walken, comedy, Dana Andrews, documentary, drama, Elia Kazan, F. Scott Fitzgerald, France, historical drama, Italy, Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, Joan Didion, John Cazale, Liza Minnelli, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Mickey Rourke, musicals, Ray Milland, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Robert Mitchum, romantic drama, Russia, sci-fi, Tuesday Weld, Ukraine, Vietnam, women directors, WWII
12 Comments
Review: Anaïs in Love (2022)
I reviewed this sometimes entertaining (and sometimes frustrating) film for Ebert.
R.I.P. Jean-Jacques Beineix
The hits keep coming. Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Diva (1982) and Betty Blue (1986) (which I just re-watched last year!) had a massive impact on me back in the day. The delirious chase in DIVA, through the Paris subways, is almost unmatched. … Continue reading
December 2021 Viewing Diary
Nightmare Alley (2021; d. Guillermo del Toro) I will re-post here the thoughts I jotted down on Facebook after I saw it for the first time. I absolutely loved this film. Nightmare Alley is gorgeously shot, with an ominous moody … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged animation, Anna Karina, biopic, Cate Blanchett, children's movies, comedy, Costa-Gavras, drama, Edie Sedgwick, Elia Kazan, film noir, France, Guillermo del Toro, Jane Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, John Keats, Lady From Shanghai, Orson Welles, Radu Jude, Rita Hayworth, Robert Mitchum, Romania, romantic drama, sci-fi, short films, The Rolling Stones, women directors
4 Comments
I’m not sure, but I think Jean-Luc Godard loves Johnny Guitar
Pierrot le Fou (1965) La Chinoise (1967) Weekend (1967) And what’s not to love, really. Been on a Godard kick this month. The December viewing diary may be rather monotonous because of it, but it’s been super fun – even … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged France, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Joan Crawford, Johnny Guitar, Nicholas Ray
Leave a comment
November 2021 Viewing Diary
The Wire, half of Season 3 This is the busiest time of year in re: film-critic-land, so had to stop my re-watch of The Wire to make room for new releases. I’ll get back to it! All Is Forgiven (2007; … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Amy Heckerling, Balkans, Dean Stockwell, documentary, drama, Ethan Hawke, Eugene O'Neill, France, Ingmar Bergman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Japan, Katharine Hepburn, literary adaptation, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Mexico, Mia Hansen-Løve, Mia Wasikowska, New Zealand, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quantum Leap, Rebecca Hall, Sidney Lumet, Spain, Sweden, The Beatles, Will Ferrell, women directors
22 Comments
Review: All Is Forgiven (2007)
What a pleasure to review Mia Hansen-Løve’s directorial debut, All Is Forgiven, released in France in 2007, winning some awards at Cannes, etc., but never released in the United States and long un-see-able. That’s now changed. She’s one of my … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged drama, France, John Keats, Mia Hansen-Løve, reviews, women directors
Leave a comment
Launch of the Commonplace Book
Way back in the day (and I am coming up on the 19th anniversary of starting this blog – CRAZY) – but I used to do “commonplace book” entries, and even started a Tumblr called Commonplace Book. I’ve always kept … Continue reading