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- February 2026 Snapshots
- “I’ve never thought of my characters as being sad. On the contrary, they are full of life. They didn’t choose tragedy. Tragedy chose them.” — Juliette Binoche
- Happy Birthday, “Mr. Personality” Lloyd Price
- For International Women’s Day: Ladies I Love
- “Have you ever noticed how a cat stretches after a nap? We can learn from watching animals.” — Cyd Charisse
- Review: Pompei: Below the Clouds (2026)
- “Since when was genius found respectable?” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- Happy Birthday, Dean Stockwell
- “Character roles definitely age better than your ingenues. You don’t get to keep doing that.” — Catherine O’Hara
- “Silence is necessary to tyrants and occupiers, who take pains to have their actions accompanied by quiet.” — Ryszard Kapuściński
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Tag Archives: East of Eden
For James Dean’s Birthday
Some links: For Library of America: I wrote about East of Eden … an essay I had been waiting to write for almost my whole entire life. For my Substack, a re-post of the piece I wrote in 2013 on … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged East of Eden, James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause
20 Comments
The First Glimpse of The Guy Who Started It All
For James Dean’s birthday Age 13. Babysitting. Up later than I normally would be. East of Eden was on late-night television. I had never seen it. I don’t even know that I was aware of who James Dean was. And … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, Personal
Tagged Actors Studio, East of Eden, Elia Kazan, James Dean, Lee Strasberg
8 Comments
“I’ve had the kind of fame which I felt was just the right amount.” — Lois Smith
Lois Smith, who turns 95 years old today, made her film debut in 1955, playing a young prostitute in East of Eden. She has a small scene with James Dean, and then exits the film forever. But the memory of … Continue reading
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2017
It’s been a God-awful year in so many unprecedented ways. It’s also been a great year for me professionally (which has brought with it its own set of challenges.) Here are some of the things I’ve written this year. Reviews, … Continue reading
Posted in Movies, Television
Tagged Actors Studio, B.B. King, Bette Davis, Carrie Fisher, Cate Blanchett, Chuck Berry, documentary, East of Eden, Elvis Presley, Greta Gerwig, Groundhog Day, Harry Dean Stanton, Howard Hawks, Isabelle Huppert, Jack Garfein, Jerry Lewis, Joachim Trier, Joan Crawford, John Steinbeck, July and Half of August, Kim Stanley, Kristen Stewart, Mary Astor, Pat McCurdy, Robert Duvall, Sam Shepard, Sofia Coppola, Supernatural, William Faulkner, women directors, year in writing
15 Comments
On Elia Kazan’s East of Eden and the Revelation That Was James Dean: for Library of America
Recently, I wrote a small piece which could be given a High School English class title: What James Dean and East of Eden meant to me. When I wrote it, I was deep in research for a huge piece which … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged drama, East of Eden, Elia Kazan, James Dean, John Steinbeck, reviews
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2016 Books Read
I’ve enjoyed myself this year with reading. I have finally bounced back from 2009 and 2010, when I was so out of my mind that I could barely read anymore. (Larry McMurtry describes a similar thing happening to him post-heart … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Baz Luhrmann, books read, Camille Paglia, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, David Thomson, East of Eden, Elia Kazan, Elvis Presley, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Horton Foote, James Agee, James Salter, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Steinbeck, Katherine Dunn, Mark Danielewski, Nick Tosches, Pauline Kael, Robert Kaplan, Shane Leslie, Stephen King, Tana French, Tennessee Williams, The Great Gatsby, William Faulkner
19 Comments
Peter Labuza Interviews Me for The Cinephiliacs Podcast: We Discuss John Cassavetes’ Opening Night
I had a great time talking with Peter Labuza for his wonderful Cinephiliacs podcast. You can download the episode here. We get into it! We talk about actors, movies, movie stars, John Wayne, Elvis, Judy Garland, gesture – and then … Continue reading
Nothing Creepier Than a Creepy Kid: Creepy Kids in Cinema
This article originally appeared on Capital New York. Hollywood loves scary children. The most haunting image in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is the Grady Twins, those dead-eyed girls in identical blue dresses standing at the end of the hallway. The … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged East of Eden, George Sanders, horror, Jack Nicholson, John Steinbeck, Stanley Kubrick
8 Comments