Tag Archives: Australia

“I swear my next project is going to be something really simple and focused and minimal.” — Baz Luhrmann

Posted on September 17, 2025 by sheila

It’s his birthday today. “I think what I’m saying is, when you get to where I am in your journey, you just have to start to accept that there’s something inside you that you’ve been trying to get out and … Continue reading →

Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day, Theatre | Tagged Australia, Baz Luhrmann, Ewan McGregor, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman, The Great Gatsby | 9 Comments

Review: Went Up the Hill (2025)

Posted on August 15, 2025 by sheila

Vicky Krieps and Dacre Montgomery star in this intense two-handed ghost story, which is really an exploration of grief. They’re both so good: this is single-minded not-ingratiating work – not crowd-pleasing – and I am here for it. I reviewed … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged Australia, drama, New Zealand, reviews | Leave a comment

For International Women’s Day: Ladies I Love

Posted on March 8, 2025 by sheila

I post edited versions of this every year. I add names. I take names off if I feel like it. I enjoy compiling it. It’s not just about enjoyment. As women’s rights are up for grabs more than ever, like … Continue reading →

Posted in Actors, Art/Photography, Directors, Personal, writers | Tagged A.S. Byatt, Abigail Adams, Agnes Varda, Aline MacMahon, Amy Heckerling, Ann Savage, Anna Karina, Anne Frank, Anne V. Coates, Annie Proulx, art, Aubrey Plaza, Australia, Austria, Barbara Bel Geddes, Barbara Stanwyck, Barbra Streisand, Bette Davis, Bibi Andersson, Brazil, Britney Spears, Busby Berkeley, Camille Paglia, Canada, Carole Lombard, Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Bronte, Charlotte Rampling, China, Croatia, Diane Keaton, Dolly Parton, Drew Barrymore, Dubravka Ugrešić, Edie Sedgwick, Ellen von Unwerth, England, Etta James, Eve Babitz, France, Frances Farmer, Gena Rowlands, George Eliot, Georgia, Germany, Gloria Grahame, Golshifteh Farahani, Greta Garbo, Greta Gerwig, Harriet Andersson, Hediyeh Tehrani, Hong Kong, Ida Lupino, Ingrid Thulin, Iran, Ireland, Isabelle Adjani, Isabelle Huppert, Italy, Janet Malcolm, Japan, Jean Arthur, Jeanette Winterson, Jill Clayburgh, Joan Crawford, Joan Didion, Joan Jett, Joanna Hogg, Josephine Decker, Judy Garland, Julie Christie, Kate Lyn Sheil, Kay Francis, Keri Hulme, Kristen Stewart, Kristen Wiig, L.M. Montgomery, Laura Dern, Laurette Taylor, Leila Hatami, Lily Tomlin, Liv Ullmann, Louise Glück, Madeleine L'Engle, Madeline Kahn, Maggie Cheung, Maggie Smith, Marianne Moore, Marilyn Monroe, Martha Graham, Mary Oliver, Maud Gonne, Mélanie Laurent, Mia Hansen-Løve, Nancy Savoca, Natalie Portman, Nina Hoss, Nina Simone, Olivia Laing, Olympia Dukakis, Patricia Highsmith, Pauline Kael, photography, Poland, Rebecca West, Romania, Rosalind Russell, Russia, Sandrine Bonnaire, Shabnam Toloui, Shirley Jackson, Sophia Takal, South Korea, Spain, Supernatural, Sweden, Tana French, Taraneh Alidoosti, The Netherlands, Tiffany Haddish, Tina Turner, Tuesday Weld, Wanda Jackson, women directors | 106 Comments

December 2024 Viewing Diary

Posted on January 1, 2025 by sheila

The Last Showgirl (2024; d. Gia Coppola) Pamela Anderson gives my favorite performance by a woman this year. I reviewed the film for Ebert. Dark Waters (2019; d. Todd Haynes) I love movies about rapacious evil corporations, and a dogged … Continue reading →

Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television | Tagged Australia, Barbara Stanwyck, comedy, documentary, drama, Iran, Iranian film, Ireland, Jean Harlow, musicals, Nicole Kidman, Pre-Code, sex drama, short films, Taraneh Alidoosti, Tilda Swinton, true crime, women directors | 8 Comments

2024 Year in Review

Posted on December 27, 2024 by sheila

Here’s a roundup of most of the things I’ve written this year: here on my site, for Rogerebert.com, for my newsletter, and for my new column at Liberties Journal. Every year it’s the same thing. I spend so much time … Continue reading →

Posted in Actors, Books, Movies, Music | Tagged Alain Delon, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brenda Lee, Carl Perkins, Carole Lombard, Charlie Rich, Chile, comedy, Croatia, Denmark, documentary, drama, Dubravka Ugrešić, Edna O'Brien, Elvis Presley, England, France, friends, Gena Rowlands, Gene Vincent, Glen Powell, historical drama, horror, India, Indigo Girls, Ireland, James Burton, Jensen Ackles, John Cassavetes, Liberties, Mia Wasikowska, musicals, newsletter, Nicole Kidman, Opening Night, Radu Jude, reviews, Ricky Nelson, Robert De Niro, Romania, Sam Phillips, screwball comedy, silent films, Spain, Supernatural, Tennessee Williams, Tilda Swinton, Two-Character Play, women directors, year in writing, Yugoslavia | 5 Comments

October 2024 Viewing Diary

Posted on November 2, 2024 by sheila

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

Happy Birthday, Jacqueline McKenzie

Posted on October 24, 2024 by sheila

I first saw this phenomenal Australian actress in Romper Stomper in 1992, and she was so intense, so unpredictable, she was on another level. I couldn’t get her out of my head. She made more of an impression on me … Continue reading →

Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day | Tagged Australia, romantic drama | 4 Comments

August 2024 Viewing Diary

Posted on September 15, 2024 by sheila

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 →

Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television | Tagged action movies, Al Pacino, Alain Delon, Australia, comedy, coming of age, drama, England, Italy, John Cazale, Michelangelo Antonioni, Rebecca Hall, Ryan Gosling, Sidney Lumet, thrillers, women directors | 12 Comments

Review: Bad Behaviour (2024)

Posted on June 14, 2024 by sheila

Jennifer Connelly’s performance is WILD and really REALLY out there. It’s very much my jam. I wish the movie was better but … the performance!! I reviewed for Ebert.

Posted in Movies | Tagged Australia, drama, reviews, women directors | Leave a comment

Review: Force of Nature: The Dry 2 (2024)

Posted on May 11, 2024 by sheila

I dug The Dry (reviewed for Ebert), and this – despite the tagged-on The Dry 2 – is not really a sequel. It’s more an unrelated next chapter. It doesn’t work as well as The Dry: too complicated in structure! … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged Australia, drama, reviews | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: Australia

“I swear my next project is going to be something really simple and focused and minimal.” — Baz Luhrmann

Review: Went Up the Hill (2025)

For International Women’s Day: Ladies I Love

December 2024 Viewing Diary

October 2024 Viewing Diary

Happy Birthday, Jacqueline McKenzie

August 2024 Viewing Diary

Review: Bad Behaviour (2024)

Review: Force of Nature: The Dry 2 (2024)

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