Categories
Archives
-

-
Recent Posts
- “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
- “I’ve had the kind of fame which I felt was just the right amount.” — Lois Smith
- Dynamic Duo #45
- “I was never afraid of failure, for I would sooner fail than not to be among the greatest.” –John Keats
- Trailer for The Art and Making of Frankenstein, by me.
- Dynamic Duo #44
Recent Comments
- 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
- sheila on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
- sheila on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
- Frances on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
- Lyrie on Publication day: The Art and Making of Frankenstein
- 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
- Bill Wolfe on “Acting gives me permission that maybe I don’t give myself in real life.” — Gillian Jacobs
-
Tag Archives: biopic
March 2025 Viewing Diary
I embarked on a backwards-Supernatural watch in February, and it is continuing still, and is pretty much what I am doing right now, outside of viewing for work. We will soon be back to our regular scheduled program. But I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged biopic, drama, England, France, women directors
Leave a comment
Review: Being Maria (2025)
This angry mournful movie tells the story of teenage Maria Schneider, plucked out of obscurity to play opposite Marlon Brando in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris. It’s mostly about the trauma she endured during filming – which she tried … Continue reading
“In France, I’m an auteur; in Germany, a filmmaker; in Britain; a genre film director; and, in the USA, a bum.” — John Carpenter
“An Elvis movie is always worth watching because of Elvis.” – Kurt Russell John Carpenter, director: In dealing with Elvis, I’m bringing a lot of my own feelings to it and how I feel about him, and how I interpret … Continue reading
October 2024 Viewing Diary
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
Review: Kneecap (2024)
I reviewed Kneecap for Ebert, a fun interesting fictionalized-ish movie about the formation/rise of Kneecap, the Irish-language-only hiphop trio from Belfast. The trio play themselves!
December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
The Golden Bachelor Watched – in great hilarity – with Karen and Allison during a raucous sleepover, and Carol pulled up on FaceTime. So we could watch together. The whole thing is so ridiculous. Maestro (2023; d. Bradley Cooper) I … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Al Pacino, Aline MacMahon, Battleship Potemkin, biopic, Charlie Chaplin, Chile, Denmark, documentary, drama, dystopia, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Juliette Binoche, Kazuo Ishiguro, literary adaptation, Michael Mann, North Korea, Paul Schrader, Pre-Code, Radu Jude, Ray Milland, Richard Pryor, Romania, romantic comedy, sci-fi, short films, Sidney Poitier, silent films, Spain, Sylvia Sidney, Tana French, true crime, William Wellman, Wim Wenders, women directors
41 Comments
November 2023 Viewing Diary
After Everything (2018; d. Hannah Marks, Joey Power) In early November, I holed up in a cozy little house in Connecticut with Allison and Carol. I had to work the whole time, which was a bummer but the night was … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged animation, biopic, Chile, Christian Petzold, coming of age, David Fincher, documentary, drama, Elvis Presley, England, family, France, Germany, historical drama, Isabelle Adjani, Japan, Julianne Moore, July and Half of August, Mélanie Laurent, Mexico, Russia, short films, Sofia Coppola, South Korea, thrillers, Tilda Swinton, Ukraine, women directors
3 Comments
2023 films I loved, in no particular order
On my Substack, open to all: my Top whatever Films of 2023. Unranked. An eccentric sampling, featuring some of the usual suspects but, more importantly, pointing towards some lesser-known films which – for whatever reason – got lost in the … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged biopic, Christian Petzold, David Fincher, documentary, drama, Emily Bronte, England, France, Germany, historical drama, Little Richard, Martin Scorsese, newsletter, Robert De Niro, Romania, romantic drama, short films, Spain, thrillers, Ukraine, Wes Anderson, women directors
Leave a comment
September/October 2023 Viewing Diary
I moved in late September. Again. I found a little cozy apartment, the second floor of a little house, with slanted ceilings, little cubbyhole-eaves everywhere, and a big yard. It’s a 10 minute walk to the beach. I found it … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Bette Davis, biopic, comedy, Costa-Gavras, Dana Andrews, documentary, drama, Eli Wallach, England, Ewan McGregor, film noir, France, Fritz Lang, George Cukor, George Sanders, Germany, Gloria Grahame, Hal Wallis, historical drama, Ireland, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Judy Blume, Kate Lyn Sheil, Lana Turner, Lee Marvin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Miriam Hopkins, Norma Shearer, Otto Preminger, Paul Schrader, River Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Roman Polanski, Rosalind Russell, Sidney Lumet, Spain, Supernatural, Vincente Minnelli, women directors, WWII
29 Comments
August 2023 Viewing Diary
Oppenheimer (2023; d. Christopher Nolan) In general, I am not a Nolan fan (the only one of his I liked was Dunkirk), and I went into this hesitantly because I read an interview with him where he said the whole … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged animation, biopic, children's movies, coming of age, crime movies, drama, Elvis Presley, England, France, heist movies, horror, Kentucker Audley, King Creole, Michael Curtiz, Michael Mann, romantic drama, Sidney Lumet, South Korea, westerns, women directors
30 Comments

