Categories
Archives
-
-
-
-
Recent Posts
- “What are you gonna do, talk the alien to death?” — James Cameron
- The last photo and the Stutz
- “I had never seen anything like him . . . I vowed nothing would stop me from signing this boy for films.” – producer Hal Wallis on Elvis Presley
- “There’s no one ‘right’ way of making a science fiction movie; there’s no one way of making any kind of movie, really!” — Nicolas Roeg
- “Yeah, and I’m buddies with Alfred.” — Eminem on Alfred Hitchcock
- “I like myself poems that are gentle rather than arrogant intellectually. Where language fades into cries or whispers.” — Medbh McGuckian
- “One day I hope I can write happier poems, but most of the things I think about aren’t very cheerful.” — poet Philip Larkin
- “I gave my eardrums to MGM. And it’s true: I really did.” — Esther Williams
- On This Day: August 7, 1934: “It must always be remembered that his locale was Celtic and his season Spring.”
- “These kids only want to talk about acting method and motivation. in my day all we talked about was screwing and overtime.” — Robert Mitchum
Recent Comments
- Becca on Diary Friday: “OK, it wasn’t just a normal assembly. It was a CONCERT from a rock group – Freedom Jam.”
- sheila on Substack: My first press badge
- Scott Abraham on Substack: My first press badge
- sheila on Dynamic Duo #49
- Biff Dorsey on Dynamic Duo #49
- sheila on “Why can’t people take me as a regular singer without making a bogeyman out of me?” — Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
- Ken on “Why can’t people take me as a regular singer without making a bogeyman out of me?” — Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
- sheila on Physical Media Booklet Essay: Being scholarly about movies that don’t exist
- sheila on Physical Media Booklet Essay: Being scholarly about movies that don’t exist
- sheila on R.I.P. Jennifer Finch
- sheila on “I think something once broken and put back together is even stronger.” — Jared Padalecki
- Lyrie on Physical Media Booklet Essay: Being scholarly about movies that don’t exist
- Lyrie on “I think something once broken and put back together is even stronger.” — Jared Padalecki
- Lyrie on R.I.P. Jennifer Finch
- Lyrie on “I think something once broken and put back together is even stronger.” — Jared Padalecki
- sheila on “I’m not a yesterday’s woman. I’m a tomorrow’s woman.” — Barbara Stanwyck
- sheila on Happy Birthday, Chips Moman
- Ken on “I’m not a yesterday’s woman. I’m a tomorrow’s woman.” — Barbara Stanwyck
- Tony McCrorie on Happy Birthday, Chips Moman
- sheila on “Reality is diabolical.” — Ingmar Bergman
-
Tag Archives: Clifford Odets
The night we performed for William Hurt
It’s William Hurt’s birthday today. Back in the day, when Twitter was still a thing, I would often write long stories which occasionally went viral. My story of meeting William Hurt was one of them. When I deactivated my account, … Continue reading
“The worst enemy of truth and freedom in our society is the compact majority.” — Henrik Ibsen
It’s his birthday today. Some posts from my archive: This is a doozy, an excerpt from an amazing book made up of transcribed lectures on Ibsen, Chekhov and Strindberg, by legendary actress and acting teacher Stella Adler. It’s a great … Continue reading
Posted in James Joyce, On This Day, Theatre, writers
Tagged Clifford Odets, Henrik Ibsen, Lee Strasberg, Norway, scripts, Stella Adler
4 Comments
“I didn’t think then, and I still don’t, that I was actually sick.” — Frances Farmer
“She’ll come back as fire To burn all the liars And leave a blanket of ash on the ground.” — Nirvana, “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle” It’s her birthday today. When Nirvana’s album In Utero came out … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day, Theatre
Tagged Clifford Odets, Frances Farmer, Group Theatre
22 Comments
Meeting Elia Kazan
For Elia Kazan’s birthday I met Elia Kazan once. He showed up at a production of Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing, which was being put on at the Actors Studio. I was involved in the production as a general Girl … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, On This Day, Personal
Tagged Actors Studio, Awake and Sing, Clifford Odets, Elia Kazan
11 Comments
Sunday night, 8 pm ET: Movie Club discussion of The Big Knife
Every Sunday night, the Criterion Channel has been hosting “Movie Club” discussions on Twitter. Everyone watches the same movie and talks about it. They’ve been so much fun and a wonderful way to continue to create community. This Sunday night, … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Clifford Odets, drama, Jack Palance, Robert Aldrich, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters
Leave a comment
2018 Books Read
2018 Books Read 1. Tamburlaine, Part 1, by Christopher Marlowe I finished 2017 with Paradise Lost, in the mood to continue with rigorous challenging poetry. I decided to read the complete plays of Christopher Marlowe (re-read in most cases). The … Continue reading
Posted in Books, James Joyce
Tagged Animal Farm, Annie Proulx, books read, Christopher Hitchens, Christopher Marlowe, Clifford Odets, Edgar Allan Poe, England, Evelyn Waugh, fiction, Finnegans Wake, friends, George Orwell, H.L. Mencken, Hunter S. Thompson, Ian McEwan, Ireland, Italy, Jack Kerouac, Joan Didion, nonfiction, Olivia Laing, Pauline Kael, poetry, Poland, politics, Robert Kaplan, Romania, Ron Chernow, Russia, Ryszard Kapuściński, Sergei Kirov, Stalin, The Soccer War, Tom Wolfe, true crime, Truman Capote, Victor Serge, Waiting for Lefty
7 Comments
Bookshelf Tour #6
More plays! First up: the essential two volumes of Paddy Chayefsky’s stuff (and there’s still more out there). The Stage Plays and The Collected Works of Paddy Chayefsky: The Television Plays. He’s so good for acting classes, both his plays, … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Theatre
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Arthur Miller, bookshelves, Christopher Marlowe, Clifford Odets, Paddy Chayefsky, scripts
Leave a comment
The Books: Real Life Drama: The Group Theatre and America 1931-1940, by Wendy Smith
Daily Book Excerpt: Theatre Next book on the acting/theatre shelf is Real Life Drama: The Group Theatre and America 1931-1940, by Wendy Smith The Group Theatre I suppose it is clear what my theatrical background is. I am always shocked … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Clifford Odets, Elia Kazan, Group Theatre, Harold Clurman, John Garfield, Lee Strasberg, Morris Carnovsky, politics, Waiting for Lefty
2 Comments