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Tag Archives: Cary Grant
My Ideal New Year’s Eve Party … Is Fictional
I’m not much for New Year’s Eve (I have already covered this), and I’m not much for big parties anymore, nor am I into people who can’t hold their liquor. My friend Ann Marie calls New Years Eve “open mic … Continue reading
Today, the Sheila Variations turns 22. wtf.
The above pic of me – taken by Michael – graced the top of my original blog, when I set it up 22 years ago today. I never should have put my picture up on my site – it led … Continue reading
Posted in On This Day, Personal
Tagged Block Island, Cary Grant, Croatia, Dean Stockwell, Elvis Presley, family, friends, Hope, Humphrey Bogart, Iran, Ireland, Jafar Panahi, Joanna Hogg, July and Half of August, Martin Scorsese, Memphis, politics, Raging Bull, September 11, Supernatural, Tilda Swinton, war
117 Comments
“I guess I became an actress because I didn’t want to be myself.” — Jean Arthur
It’s her birthday today, one of my all-time favorite actresses! First up, two pieces I wrote for Film Comment: For my “Present Tense” column, I wrote about her career and her distinctive voice. For TCM Diary, I wrote about onscreen … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, On This Day
Tagged Cary Grant, Frank Capra, Jean Arthur, Only Angels Have Wings
12 Comments
Three unknowable men from the same angle
Devlin (Cary Grant), Notorious, 1946 Don Draper (Jon Hamm), Mad Men pilot, 2007 Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott), Ripley, 2024
Happy Birthday to My Favorite Actor, Archie Leach
As my friend Mitchell observed (in our conversation about Cary Grant – nee Archie Leach – linked to below): To this day, people say, “Oh so-and-so’s the new Cary Grant.” Cary Grant was acting in 1930. We’re talking 70 years … Continue reading
“Often we’d secretly like to do the very things we discipline ourselves against. Isn’t that true? Well, here in the movies I can be as mean, as wicked as I want to – and all without hurting anybody.” — Claude Rains
For Claude Rains’ birthday: a conversation some years back, where Mitchell and I discuss the superb actor. I asked Mitchell to describe him in one word, and we took it from there. We both love Rains so much, it was … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Claude Rains, Joan Crawford, Meryl Streep
10 Comments
January 2023 Viewing Diary
Friday Night Lights No time like the present. I binged this entire series in a couple weeks. This took commitment, and a couple days of sick leave, while trapped in my hotel room in Memphis, too sick to move. I … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Aubrey Plaza, Baz Luhrmann, Bette Davis, biopic, Cary Grant, comedy, documentary, Dorothy Parker, drama, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, film noir, Hedy Lamarr, Hungary, Italy, Jean Renoir, Little Richard, Poland, Pre-Code, Ralph Bellamy, Raoul Walsh, reviews, Spencer Tracy, Teresa Wright, true crime, William Wyler, women directors
9 Comments
March 2022 Viewing Diary
I’m going along my own viewing way, and then I get a gig, and everything changes. You can tell when it happens. Not announcing this gig yet, and will not be confirming or denying anything. The viewing diary is what … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Al Pacino, Australia, Cary Grant, Charles Grodin, comedy, Diane Keaton, documentary, drama, Francis Ford Coppola, horror, Ireland, Jerry Lewis, John Cazale, Josef von Sternberg, Martin Scorsese, Miriam Hopkins, Palestine, Pre-Code, Radu Jude, Robert De Niro, Romania, Shelley Winters, Sylvia Sidney, women directors
2 Comments