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- “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
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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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- “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”
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- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- 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
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- 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
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Tag Archives: drama
Review: The Unknown Country (2023)
I loved this film about a Lakota woman, estranged from her family and the reservation, driving from the Badlands down to Texas in the wake of her grandmother’s death. Starring the wonderful Lily Gladstone (from Certain Women, where she first … Continue reading
June 2023 Viewing Diary
Succession (2018-2023) I finally watched, having somehow resisted the DEAFENING buzz over the last couple of years. I like Jeremy Strong, liked his small moment in Zero Dark Thirty, he totally stood out in The Big Short (directed by one … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Billy Wilder, Cristian Mungiu, documentary, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., drama, Elia Kazan, Eva Marie Saint, France, Harriet Andersson, Ingmar Bergman, Karl Malden, Katharine Hepburn, Lee J. Cobb, Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront, Otto Preminger, reviews, Rod Steiger, Romania, romantic drama, Stalag 17, Stanley Kramer, Sweden, true crime, war movies, William Holden, women directors
23 Comments
Review: Prisoner’s Daughter (2023)
I dig Catherine Hardwicke’s films, but I didn’t dig this. My review at Ebert.
R.I.P. Treat Williams
This is devastating news. In Sydney Lumet’s Making Movies, he talked about the choice to cast Treat Williams in Prince of the City: I wasn’t sure whether we were in drama or tragedy territory [with Prince of the City]. knew … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, RIP
Tagged coming of age, drama, Laura Dern, Milos Forman, musicals, Sidney Lumet
16 Comments
April/May 2023 Viewing Diary
River of Grass (1994; d. Kelly Reichardt) Reichardt’s first film. Wendy and Lucy (2008; d. Kelly Reichardt) The start of Reichardt’s collaboration with Michelle Williams. Showing Up (2023; d. Kelly Reichardt) Reichardt’s latest. I reviewed for Ebert. It’s fine. Her … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Ann-Margret, art, baseball, Belgium, crime movies, documentary, drama, Elvis Presley, France, friends, Italy, Japan, Little Richard, musicals, reviews, silent films, South Korea, The Netherlands, Viva Las Vegas, women directors
14 Comments
Review: Mending the Line (2023)
Fly fishing as metaphor for life is well-trod ground, but Mending the Line homes in specifically on veterans and PTSD, and fly fishing as effective therapy. Brian Cox, Wes Studi, gorgeous scenery. The film has some flaws, but I approve … Continue reading
Rachel, Rachel (1968)
I wrote about Paul Newman’s directorial debut, Rachel, Rachel, starring Joanne Woodward, for my Substack.
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies
Tagged drama, Joanne Woodward, newsletter, Paul Newman
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Review: Reality (2023)
This was so interesting: a film adapted from the play Is This a Room, with script made up entirely of the transcript of the FBI’s interrogation of whistleblower Reality Winner. I reviewed for Ebert. Thank you so much … Continue reading
103 Years Ago Today: Oscar Micheaux’s Within Our Gates
There’s this really cool site/project called NYC 1920 – a day by day archive of events in NYC exactly 100 years ago. It’s created and edited by a friend of mine, author/scholar/literature professor Jonathan Goldman, whom I met through the … Continue reading