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Tag Archives: Dennis Hopper
An Acting Lesson: John Wayne and the “Reality of the Doing”
An old piece, re-posted for John Wayne’s birthday: In one lengthy scene in Hondo, filmed in one almost unbroken take, Wayne makes horseshoes in the little outdoor smith in the yard. Geraldine Page hovers nearby. He talks to her about … Continue reading
“It’s an absolute miracle that I’m still around.” — Dennis Hopper
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
“I’m a tough little rebel.” — Linda Manz
Days of Heaven (1978) It’s her birthday today. Manz died on August 14, 2020. She was HUGE to me growing up, and I have written about it on occasion. She didn’t work all that much, but her performances meant so … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day, Television
Tagged Days of Heaven, Dennis Hopper, Linda Manz, Orphan Train, Out of the Blue, Terrence Malick
4 Comments
For John Wayne’s Birthday: Hondo (1953) at MoMA: John Wayne in 3D
In real life John Wayne was huge, 6’3″, with broad shoulders, a lean waist, and long ambling legs. He towered over everybody. And yet, he was always graceful. His athleticism is extraordinary, his physicality smooth and controlled. So he was … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Dennis Hopper, Gary Cooper, Gena Rowlands, Geraldine Page, James Dean, John Wayne, Sanford Meisner, Supernatural, westerns
45 Comments
R.I.P. Linda Manz
This teenage actress – from films such as Orphan Train (the first time I saw her), to Days of Heaven (her voiceover makes that film what it is), and Dennis Hopper’s nihilistic punk-rock scream Out of the Blue – is … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, RIP
Tagged Days of Heaven, Dennis Hopper, Linda Manz, Orphan Train, Out of the Blue, Terrence Malick
10 Comments
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2019
Thanks, everyone, who hangs out here, who likes what I do, whether you’re an Elvis fan, a Supernatural fan, a general cinephile, a book-lover, or just someone who’s been checking in periodically for 17 years – WHAT? – I appreciate … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, James Joyce, Movies, Television
Tagged Agnes Varda, animation, Anna Karina, backting, Badlands, Belfast, Bibi Andersson, Bob Dylan, Bong Joon-Ho, Canada, Charlotte Rampling, comedy, Dennis Hopper, documentary, Doris Day, drama, Dubliners, Elvis Presley, Emily Dickinson, Frank O'Hara, friends, Gaspar Noe, George Stevens, Gold Diggers of 1933, horror, Ireland, Jean Arthur, Joanna Hogg, Joe Berlinger, Joel McCrea, John Ford, Kristen Stewart, Leonardo DiCaprio, Linda Manz, Marlon Brando, Martin Scorsese, Mary Oliver, Matthias Schoenaerts, Myrna Loy, Nick Nolte, Nick Tosches, Nicolas Roeg, Out of the Blue, Paraguay, Paul Thomas Anderson, poetry, Poland, Present Tense, Robert Evans, Sandrine Bonnaire, sci-fi, Sophia Takal, Sucker Punch, Supernatural, Sylvia Plath, Terrence Malick, Tom Noonan, What Happened Was, William Powell, Willie Nelson, women directors, year in writing, Zac Efron
1 Comment
Dynamic Duo #19
Linda Manz, Dennis Hopper, Cannes premiere of “Out of the Blue”, 1980 Very exciting news in re: Out of the Blue (which I featured in a recent column on Film Comment): When I wrote the essay, I had come across … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors
Tagged Dennis Hopper, dynamic duo, Linda Manz, Out of the Blue
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August 2019 Viewing Diary
While We’re Young (2014; d. Noah Baumbach) Part of my own Noah Baumbach retrospective in preparation for writing a piece for Film Comment about his filmography. On stands now. Or order here! I love this one. It’s so honest and … Continue reading
Present Tense: On Dennis Hopper’s Out of the Blue (1980)
My new column for Film Comment is about Dennis Hopper’s wild and nihilistic Out of the Blue, starring Linda Manz, in a definite high watermark for performances by teenagers. She’s an icon, and WAS an icon to me when I … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Dennis Hopper, drama, Elvis Presley, Linda Manz, Out of the Blue, Present Tense, reviews
7 Comments

