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Tag Archives: Elizabeth Taylor
“If you want to see the girl next door, go next door.” – Joan Crawford
Today is Joan Crawford’s birthday. Some links first: World-Class Acting: On Joan Crawford and Sudden Fear Here are the re-caps of Feud: Bette and Joan I did for The New York Times. Lots of discussions of Joan Crawford’s career and … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Clark Gable, Dana Andrews, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, Johnny Guitar, Otto Preminger, Sudden Fear, Vincente Minnelli
10 Comments
February 2025 Viewing Diary
Twin Peaks: The Return (2017; d. David Lynch) There’s nothing else like it in all of God’s green earth and I am just so grateful it exists. It’s so pure. Suze (2025; d. Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart) I liked … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Angela Lansbury, Canada, Cary Grant, Charles Beeson, David Lynch, drama, Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Astaire, George Stevens, Germany, Ginger Rogers, historical drama, Howard Hawks, Jared Padalecki, Jean Arthur, Jensen Ackles, Judy Garland, musicals, Only Angels Have Wings, Oscar Wilde, Phil Sgriccia, Rita Hayworth, Robert Singer, romantic comedy, Sissy Spacek, sports movies, Supernatural, Thomas J. Wright, Thomas Mitchell, Twin Peaks, Vincente Minnelli, women directors
118 Comments
“I, along with the critics, have never taken myself very seriously.” — Elizabeth Taylor
It’s her birthday today. I wrote a big piece on my Substack about National Velvet/A Place in the Sun/Suddenly Last Summer/Cat on a Hot Tin Roof/Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and General Hospital. Naturally there is more to discuss – … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged A Place in the Sun, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Elizabeth Taylor, National Velvet
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“So Many Currents In Such a Little Puddle”: Dana Stevens and I Chat About National Velvet
For Elizabeth Taylor’s birthday Introduction: Dana Stevens, film critic for Slate, and I had a conversation about National Velvet. In the middle of our planning phase for our talk, Elizabeth Taylor passed away. The coincidence was striking, certainly, not to … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Angela Lansbury, children's movies, drama, Elizabeth Taylor, National Velvet
5 Comments
Series: Stars Wearing Big Sweaters
Greta Garbo James Dean Carroll Baker A mostly-forgotten one-hit wonder Marilyn Monroe Elizabeth Taylor To be continued …
Posted in Actors
Tagged Carroll Baker, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Greta Garbo, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe
15 Comments
December 2017 Viewing Diary
Supernatural, Season 11 (2015-16) What an incredible season, right up until the moment …. it was not an incredible season. I hadn’t re-watched in its entirety since it aired, although I cherry-picked favorite episodes to re-watch (of which there are … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Coen brothers, Darren Aronofsky, David Fincher, documentary, Elizabeth Taylor, France, Garrett Hedlund, Georgia, Jack Kerouac, Jean Renoir, Jeremy Renner, John Huston, Julie Harris, Kentucker Audley, Margaret Atwood, Marlon Brando, Michelle Pfeiffer, Richard Gere, Star Wars, Steven Spielberg, Supernatural, women directors, Zodiac
21 Comments
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2016
I look at this and I wonder why I always feel like I haven’t done jack-squat. Or, at the very least, I could do more. Well, I always can do more. Regardless, here are links to some of the things … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books, Movies, On This Day, Personal, RIP
Tagged Abbas Kiarostami, Baz Luhrmann, Buddy Holly, Camille Paglia, Carrie Fisher, Carroll Baker, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Chantal Akerman, Compulsion, David Bowie, Dean Stockwell, Dolly Parton, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Elizabeth Bishop, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Eminem, friends, Gena Rowlands, George Stevens, Gilda, Isabelle Huppert, James Dean, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, July and Half of August, Katherine Dunn, Langston Hughes, Little Richard, Marion Cotillard, Marlon Brando, Matthias Schoenaerts, Merle Haggard, Mia Hansen-Løve, Miriam Hopkins, Patricia Highsmith, Rebecca Hall, Richard Linklater, Rocky, Sam Cooke, Shakespeare, Something Wild, Stephen King, Sudden Fear, Supernatural, Sylvester Stallone, Tennessee Williams, The Great Gatsby, Wanda Jackson, women directors, year in writing, Zac Efron
6 Comments
Giant (1956): 60th Anniversary Screening at Film Forum
September 30, 2016: QA with George Stevens Jr. – the son of the director – and Carroll Baker before the film, moderated by historian and writer Foster Hirsch Foster Hirsch: We are very lucky to have with us the son … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Carroll Baker, drama, Elizabeth Taylor, George Stevens, interviews, James Dean
21 Comments

