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- Reviews: Currents (2026)
- Reviews: Forge (2026)
- “Only the bad directors tell you how to read a line, how to define your character. The good ones let you do your job.” — Carroll Baker
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- “I am in a prison: one wall is the avant-garde, the other wall is the past, and I want to escape.” — György Ligeti
- An Acting Lesson: John Wayne and the “Reality of the Doing”
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- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
- Biff Dorsey on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
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- Dave on Review: The Chronology of Water (2025)
- Biff Dorsey on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
- sheila on “I just love telling stories. That’s what we do and it’s a good business to be in, especially if you know you have talent.” –Jensen Ackles
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Tag Archives: dystopia
January 2026 Viewing Diary
The Sound of Falling (2026; d. Mascha Schilinski) It took me a couple of days to shake off the effect of The Sound of Falling. I saw it at a screening room on 29th Street. I knew very little about … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Australia, Canada, documentary, drama, dystopia, film noir, Germany, Isabelle Adjani, Norway, short films, Sofia Coppola, women directors
4 Comments
“I knew that I had a facility with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts.” — George Orwell
Orwell was born on this day. When Animal Farm was released in a new edition, Christopher Hitchens wrote specifically about the quote from Orwell shown in the title above. Very few people can “face unpleasant facts”. Hitchens: A commissar who … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged 1984, Animal Farm, dystopia, England, essays, George Orwell, nonfiction, politics, Russia, war
7 Comments
January 2025 Viewing Diary
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992; d. James Foley) I saw this one in the theatre back in the day. There’s a revival coming up on Broadway and Bill Burr is going to be in it. It’s kind of perfect! He’ll be … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, Al Pacino, art, Bill Pullman, David Lynch, David Mamet, documentary, drama, dystopia, Elia Kazan, Gary Cooper, heist movies, Jack Lemmon, Karl Malden, Kristen Stewart, Kristen Wiig, Marlene Dietrich, Marlon Brando, Mulholland Drive, Patricia Arquette, short films, Tennessee Williams, Twin Peaks, Vivien Leigh
14 Comments
Reviews: Love Me (2025)
I know I didn’t give Love Me that good a review, but I think it’s still worth checking out, particularly for the first half, its visuals and creativity.
Posted in Movies
Tagged dystopia, Kristen Stewart, reviews, romantic drama, women directors
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Review: The End (2024)
Joshua Oppenheimer’s two documentaries about the genocidal campaigns in Indonesia in 1965-66 are so haunting and terrible – the leering mask withdrawn to show something even more monstrous underneath – I don’t know if I can see them again. But … Continue reading
December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
The Golden Bachelor Watched – in great hilarity – with Karen and Allison during a raucous sleepover, and Carol pulled up on FaceTime. So we could watch together. The whole thing is so ridiculous. Maestro (2023; d. Bradley Cooper) I … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Al Pacino, Aline MacMahon, biopic, Charlie Chaplin, Chile, Denmark, documentary, drama, dystopia, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Juliette Binoche, Kazuo Ishiguro, literary adaptation, Michael Mann, North Korea, Paul Schrader, Pre-Code, Radu Jude, Ray Milland, Richard Pryor, Romania, romantic comedy, sci-fi, short films, Sidney Poitier, silent films, Spain, Sylvia Sidney, Tana French, true crime, William Wellman, Wim Wenders, women directors
41 Comments
Nuclear winter television events in 1983-84
On my Substack I wrote about three television events which aired in the jittery world of 1983-84, all of which depict the aftermath of a nuclear bomb: the BBC’s Threads, aired only twice, scarring a generation, the American version, The … Continue reading
Review: Light of My Life (2019)
Light of My Life, a dystopian father-daughter survival drama, is Casey Affleck’s narrative feature directorial debut. He also wrote and starred. I found it quite effective. My review of Light of My Life is now up at Rogerebert.com.
Review: Downsizing (2017)
Oh dear. My review of Alexander Payne’s latest is now up at Rogerebert.com.
Review: The Discovery (2017)
Unfortunately, this is my second negative review for “Women Writers Week” on Rogerebert.com. I am the Crankypants of the Ladies. My review of The Discovery is now up at Rogerebert.com.