Tag Archives: Cary Grant

January 2022 Viewing Diary

Crossfire (1947; d. Edward Dmytryk) Went on a little Robert Mitchum kick, thanks to the Criterion Channel. Crossfire came out the same year as Gentleman’s Agreement, and both films deal with anti-Semitism, which was very much on American minds at … Continue reading

Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

2021 Books Read

I lived at three addresses this year. I moved twice. In the middle of a pandemic. It’s been a year of upheaval, transition, as well as endurance. For most of this year, the majority of my stuff was in storage. … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Stuff I’ve Been Reading

It’s been a while. Been a very busy summer. Family vacation as we do every year. Reunions with family after the lockdown. Tears when hugging aunts and uncles. New job, new digs, lots of change. Lots of writing too! Less … Continue reading

Posted in Books, writers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Now on Criterion: Bringing Up Baby

The Criterion Collection just released Howard Hawks’ 1938 screwball classic Bringing Up Baby, in a new 4k restoration. The special features are EXTENSIVE, including a video-essay on Cary Grant by Scott Eyman (author of the new biography of Grant), as … Continue reading

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

April 2021 Viewing Diary

Jewel Robbery (1932; d. William Dieterle) This glittering pre-Code, starring William Powell as a jewel thief, and Kay Francis as a married woman in love with her jewels, is such a subversive delight. Powell is devastatingly charming and Francis is … Continue reading

Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Criterion July releases announced

And every single one (La Piscine, Working Girls, Deep Cover, The Mirror and Bringing Up Baby) is exciting and a welcome addition to the Criterion library. I was thrilled to have been asked to write the booklet essay for Howard … Continue reading

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

January/February/March 2021 Viewing Diary

Better late than never. I moved at the end of January – a big interstate move – so I’ve been a bit, how you say, busy. Not too busy to keep up my viewing schedule but too busy to put … Continue reading

Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Glowing Poisonous Milk: Two Scenes

Suspicious-acting and potentially-evil husband carries a potentially-poisoned glass of milk upstairs to his unsuspecting wife. Little light put in glass of milk to make it glow in eerie fashion. 1. Cary Grant in Suspicion, Alfred Hitchcock (1941) 2. Bruce Campbell … Continue reading

Posted in Movies, Television | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

March 2020 Viewing Diary: A Before and After List

I began this viewing diary in a time of innocence (and naivete) before social distancing became compulsory (or at least strongly suggested). We here were months behind schedule, due to the disgraceful anti-science buffoonery of the current administration, who do … Continue reading

Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Present Tense: On that thing we call “back-ting”

For my latest “Present Tense” column at Film Comment, I wrote about something that’s been percolating for decades. In college, my friend Mitchell coined the phrase “back-ting” – moments where actors perform scenes with their backs to the camera (or … Continue reading

Posted in Actors, Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments