Tag Archives: Croatia

“It’s an absolute miracle that I’m still around.” — Dennis Hopper

Posted on May 17, 2025 by sheila

It’s his birthday today. I’m so glad I used one of my columns at Film Comment -now on hiatus – to sing the praises of Dennis Hopper’s wild and nihilistic Out of the Blue, starring Linda Manz and Hopper. Of … Continue reading →

Posted in Actors, Art/Photography, Directors, Movies, On This Day | Tagged Actors Studio, Croatia, Dennis Hopper, Out of the Blue, photography | 2 Comments

“As an outsider I was free to pick my own literary traditions, to build my own system of literary values.” — Dubravka Ugrešić

Posted on March 27, 2025 by sheila

“Retouching is our favourite artistic device. Each of us is a curator in his own museum…Uncover A, cover up B. Remove all spots. Keep your mouth shut. Think of your tongue as a weapon. Think one thing and say another. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, On This Day, writers | Tagged Croatia, Dubravka Ugrešić, war, Yugoslavia | Leave a comment

For International Women’s Day: Ladies I Love

Posted on March 8, 2025 by sheila

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 | 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, 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 | 106 Comments

2024 Year in Review

Posted on December 27, 2024 by sheila

Here’s a roundup of most of the things I’ve written this year: here on my site, for Rogerebert.com, for my newsletter, and for my new column at Liberties Journal. Every year it’s the same thing. I spend so much time … Continue reading →

Posted in Actors, Books, Movies, Music | Tagged Alain Delon, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brenda Lee, Carl Perkins, Carole Lombard, Charlie Rich, Chile, comedy, Croatia, Denmark, documentary, drama, Dubravka Ugrešić, Edna O'Brien, Elvis Presley, England, France, friends, Gena Rowlands, Gene Vincent, Glen Powell, historical drama, horror, India, Indigo Girls, Ireland, James Burton, Jensen Ackles, John Cassavetes, Liberties, Mia Wasikowska, musicals, newsletter, Nicole Kidman, Opening Night, Radu Jude, reviews, Ricky Nelson, Robert De Niro, Romania, Sam Phillips, screwball comedy, silent films, Spain, Supernatural, Tennessee Williams, Tilda Swinton, Two-Character Play, women directors, year in writing, Yugoslavia | 5 Comments

Today, the Sheila Variations turns 22. wtf.

Posted on October 18, 2024 by sheila

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

2023 Books Read

Posted on December 31, 2023 by sheila

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 | 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 | 16 Comments

Bikers back-ting

Posted on June 25, 2023 by sheila

Well, one is back-ting and one is just living. Marlon Brando as Johnny in “The Wild One” (1953) Croatian biker on the boat in the Adriatic, taken by yours truly

Posted in Movies | Tagged backting, Croatia, Marlon Brando | Leave a comment

R.I.P. Dubravka Ugrešić

Posted on March 18, 2023 by sheila

I return to her The Museum of Unconditional Surrender again and again. A classic in the canon of books dealing with being forced to live in exile. But there are so many other books: Baba Yaga Laid an Egg, Culture … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, RIP, writers | Tagged Balkans, Croatia, Dubravka Ugrešić, politics, war, Yugoslavia | Leave a comment

2021 Books Read

Posted on January 1, 2022 by sheila

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 Austria, Balkans, Billy Wilder, Biography, books read, Cary Grant, Croatia, Czeslaw Milosz, David McCullough, Dubravka Ugrešić, Edvard Radzinsky, Elinor Lipman, England, essays, Eve Babitz, Evelyn Waugh, fiction, Germany, Hitler, Howard Hawks, Ireland, Italy, Liz Phair, Memoirs, Nancy Lemann, Nick Tosches, nonfiction, Olivia Laing, Poland, politics, Robert Conquest, Robert Kaplan, Russia, Sergei Kirov, Stalin, Sweden, Thomas Mann, Tom Wolfe, Vladimir Nabokov, war, WWII, Yugoslavia | 1 Comment

Photo of the Day: Just how I pictured it, but more

Posted on June 6, 2021 by sheila

Wandering through Dubrovnik.

Posted in Personal | Tagged Croatia, photo of the day | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: Croatia

“It’s an absolute miracle that I’m still around.” — Dennis Hopper

“As an outsider I was free to pick my own literary traditions, to build my own system of literary values.” — Dubravka Ugrešić

For International Women’s Day: Ladies I Love

Today, the Sheila Variations turns 22. wtf.

2023 Books Read

Bikers back-ting

R.I.P. Dubravka Ugrešić

2021 Books Read

Photo of the Day: Just how I pictured it, but more

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