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- “Excessive consciousness is a disease.” Happy Birthday, Fyodor Dostoevsky
- “Each time I see it, I know I accomplished what I set out to do as an actress, that I created a person.” — Bibi Andersson on Persona
- Review: Die My Love (2025)
- “Here in the movies I can be as mean, as wicked as I want to – and all without hurting anybody.” — Claude Rains
- #OTD Open season, 1938
- “I have a fan base that’s super, super loyal.” — Lance Kerwin
- Happy Birthday, Ralph Macchio, or: How one episode of Eight is Enough saved my life
- “A mind which really lays hold of a subject is not easily detached from it.” — journalist Ida Tarbell
- “People say I’m a one-note actor, but the way I figure it, those other guys are just looking for that one right note.” — Joel McCrea
- “If the thing is there, why, there it is.” Happy Birthday, Walker Evans
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- Gale on For John Wayne’s Birthday: Hondo (1953) at MoMA: John Wayne in 3D
- Pam on The Books: “Rally Round the Flag, Boys!” (Max Shulman)
- Steve on The Books: Ellen Terry & Bernard Shaw: A Correspondence
- sheila on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
- Maddy on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
- sheila on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
- sheila on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
- sheila on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
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- mutecypher on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
- Melissa Sutherland on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
- Maddy on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
- Jay on The Books: “Talk To Me Like the Rain … And Let Me Listen” (Tennessee Williams)
- O on “Since when was genius found respectable?” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- sheila on “The other girls weren’t singing quite like I was.” — Wanda Jackson
- sheila on “If my life wasn’t funny it would just be true, and that is unacceptable.” — Carrie Fisher
- sheila on “Acting gives me permission that maybe I don’t give myself in real life.” — Gillian Jacobs
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Tag Archives: Barbra Streisand
“I only began to sing because I couldn’t get a job as an actress.” — Barbra Streisand
You can’t understand Barbra Streisand if you don’t know the famous story of her audition for I Can Get It For You Wholesale, which ended up being her big break. She made a splash in her Broadway debut, which of … Continue reading →
“There won’t be another Bette Davis. There can’t be.” Mitchell and I discuss Bette Davis
From the audio files: Mitchell and I discuss one of our favorite topics: acting, and how the “old” style of acting – let’s call it before what’s loosely known as the Method- is not only under-appreciated in certain circles (most … Continue reading →
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
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Tagged backting, Barbra Streisand, Bette Davis, friends
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25 Comments
For International Women’s Day: Ladies I Love
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
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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
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106 Comments
2024 Books Read
1. Brotherhood of Tyrants: Manic Depression and Absolute Power, by D. Jablow Hershman I was talking with the doctor who helps me manage my bipolar. He saved my life back in 2013. Well, it was a group effort. He knows … Continue reading →
Posted in Books, James Joyce
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Tagged Austria, Barbra Streisand, Biography, books about Hollywood, books read, Carole Lombard, Christopher Hitchens, Elvis Presley, England, entertainment biography, essays, fiction, George Orwell, Germany, Hitler, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jonathan Swift, Lorrie Moore, Mary Shelley, Memoirs, nonfiction, Oscar Wilde, Patricia Highsmith, Philip Larkin, poetry, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, scripts, Shakespeare, Stalin, Thomas Jefferson, WWII
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5 Comments
2023 Books Read
I think I might have read more books by non-American authors than American this year. Countries represented below: Austria, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Croatia, Ireland, France, Russia, Colombia. I revisited some old favorites, which I will continue to do in … Continue reading →
Posted in Books, James Joyce
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Tagged A.S. Byatt, Aline MacMahon, Amongst Women, Austria, Barbra Streisand, Biography, books read, Cary Grant, children's books, Chile, Christopher Hitchens, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Czeslaw Milosz, Dubliners, Dubravka Ugrešić, Elinor Lipman, England, essays, Eve Babitz, fiction, France, Frank Sinatra, friends, George Orwell, Germany, Henry James, Hungary, Hunter S. Thompson, Ireland, J.D. Salinger, James Salter, Jeanette Winterson, John McGahern, Judy Garland, Lives of the Saints, Marcel Proust, Mark Danielewski, Mary Gaitskill, Memoirs, Nancy Lemann, Nick Tosches, nonfiction, Olivia Laing, Oscar Wilde, Philip Larkin, poetry, Poland, politics, Rebecca West, Russia, Shakespeare, Spain, Stefan Zweig, The Fiery Pantheon, Tom Wolfe, Ulysses, Victor Serge, war, WWI, WWII, Yugoslavia
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16 Comments
Bing and Billie and Frank and Ella and Judy and Barbra: an interview with author Dan Callahan
I’ve interviewed Dan about almost every one of his books! It’s almost a ritual now. His latest is, so far, his most ambitious: a book about, of course, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, and Barbra … Continue reading →
Posted in Actors, Books, Movies, Music, Theatre
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Tagged Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, friends, Judy Garland
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8 Comments
After a long break: Let’s iTunes Shuffle
I work from home. It’s a busy job, lots of meetings and Zoom calls, and then there’s my writing work, as well as family stuff and having a personal life, and in the last 3 months I have been – … Continue reading →
Posted in Music
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Tagged Barbra Streisand, Bleu, Bob Dylan, Brenda Lee, Charlie Rich, Dolly Parton, Doris Day, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, Eminem, Eric Church, Everclear, Foo Fighters, Indigo Girls, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Adams, Johnny Cash, Lady Gaga, Lenny Kravitz, Link Wray, Little Richard, Louvin Brothers, Mike Viola, Queen, Robbie Williams, Sam Cooke, shuffle, Sinéad O'Connor, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner
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11 Comments
September 2021 Viewing Diary
Busy month. I found an apartment. I moved. AGAIN. Second time this year. Plus, a family wedding. Plus a new job. It’s been a full year of upheaval, no stability, nothing regular, my stuff scattered in storage units. I’m doing … Continue reading →
Stressful Autumn Shuffle
The past two months have been so stressful I’m not sure I even processed the stress. I’ve been up in Rhode Island, mostly, and then Allison and I went and stayed in a cottage in the woods of Connecticut for … Continue reading →
Posted in Music, Theatre
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Tagged Barbra Streisand, Billy Lee Riley, Bleu, Bob Dylan, Brendan Benson, Britney Spears, Charlie Rich, Chuck Berry, Clancy Brothers, Eddie Cochran, ELO, Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley, Eminem, Eric Church, Foo Fighters, Glee, Green Day, Indigo Girls, Jerry Lee Lewis, Joan Jett, Johnny Cash, Lady Gaga, Link Wray, Madonna, Mike Viola, Nirvana, Ok Go, Pat McCurdy, Pink, Queen, Robbie Williams, Rufus Wainwright, shuffle, Sinéad O'Connor, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Tori Amos, Tracy Bonham, Waylon Jennings
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15 Comments
March-April 2020 Film Comment
I have two pieces in the current issue of Film Comment (neither of which are online, so pick up a copy at your local bookstore – if they have it). The first piece is on Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes … Continue reading →