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Recent Posts
- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
- “At some point, you have to set down the past. At some point, you have to accept that everyone was doing their best. At some point, you have to gather yourself up, and go onward into your life.” — Olivia Laing
- “It’s just one of the mysteries of filmmaking that sometimes you do something that you don’t even think it’s important, then it turns out to be.” –Lili Horvát
- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
- “I wanted to deliver a work that could be read universally as the-thing-in-itself but that would also sustain those extensions of meaning that our disastrously complicated local predicament made both urgent and desirable.” — Seamus Heaney
- “I don’t think you go to a play to forget, or to a movie to be distracted. I think life generally is a distraction and that going to a movie is a way to get back, not go away.” — Tom Noonan
- “If you don’t see the book you want on the shelves, write it.” — Beverly Cleary
- “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” Happy Birthday, Poet Christopher Smart
- My new column at Liberties magazine: First up: acting and film criticism and how the twain meet
- Review: It’s Only Life After All (2024)
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Tag Archives: dance movies
July 2021 Viewing Diary
Sally, Mary and Irene (1925; d. Edmund Goulding) For some reason, I forgot to include this gem in my June viewing diary. Considered lost forever, it is one of Joan Crawford’s earliest films – and one where she is actually … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Ann Dvorak, Bette Davis, Billy Wilder, Bong Joon-Ho, comedy, dance movies, documentary, drama, France, Fred MacMurray, Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Jack Lemmon, Japan, Jimmy Stewart, Joan Blondell, Joan Crawford, Juliette Binoche, Marilyn Monroe, Mervyn LeRoy, Miriam Hopkins, Pre-Code, Shirley MacLaine, silent films, thrillers
16 Comments
Review: Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones And D-Man In The Waters (2021)
This documentary – about Bill T. Jones’ seminal dance “D-Man In the Waters” – is so good. As history lesson, as art appreciation, AND – best of all – a realistic look at the creative process. I loved it. I … Continue reading
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940): Criterion release today 5/19
My second Criterion booklet essay to come out in one month. Taking a moment to be proud of this. First came The Great Escape (my essay here), and now my essay for the long-awaited release of Dorothy Arzner’s Dance, Girl, … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged dance, dance movies, Dorothy Arzner, Lucille Ball, Maureen O'Hara, Ralph Bellamy, women directors
3 Comments
Criterion May releases announced
I wrote booklet essays for two of Criterion’s May 2020 releases – Dorothy Arzner’s 1940 film Dance, Girl, Dance, and the 1963 beloved classic The Great Escape. There are multiple reasons these were very exciting assignments. Dance, Girl, Dance is … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged action movies, dance movies, Dorothy Arzner, John Sturges, Lucille Ball, Maureen O'Hara, Steve McQueen, war movies, women directors
1 Comment
R.I.P. Stanley Donen
“For me directing is like having sex: when it’s good, it’s very good; but when it’s bad, it’s still good.” – Stanley Donen I feel so fortunate to have met him when he came and spoke at my school. In … Continue reading
Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire: You’ll Never Get Rich (1941)
Fred Astaire was once asked who was his favorite dance partner, in all his years performing. He didn’t want to answer (because he knew Ginger would probably be pissed and hurt) but finally he caved and said, “All right, I’ll … Continue reading
Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly: “Put Me to the Test”
From Cover Girl (1944). Directed by Charles Vidor (same director as Gilda). Starring Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth. It is, putting it mildly, NOT a film noir. It’s a musical comedy, having to do with high-fashion, Broadway, class differences, Brooklyn … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Charles Vidor, dance, dance movies, musical, Rita Hayworth
5 Comments
Review: Tap World (2015)
“Rhythm is the international language.” That’s just one quote of many about the importance of rhythm in Dean Hargrove’s Tap World a celebration of the global tap dancing community. Coming in at a brisk 72 minutes, Tap World makes its … Continue reading
Review: Bravetown (2015)
I really liked this movie. I could feel the formulas working, and sometimes there were too many formulae in one given moment, but the end result is its own thing. Very good. My review of Bravetown is up at The … Continue reading
La Bare (2014): A Doc About “The Most Popular Male Strip Club in the World.”
La Bare, the club, is in Dallas. La Bare, the movie, is a fascinating backstage look at the dancers, who they are, what they’re about. It was directed by actor Joe Manganiello, who was in Magic Mike, not to mention … Continue reading