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

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“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

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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

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Series: Stars Wearing Big Sweaters

Greta Garbo James Dean Carroll Baker A mostly-forgotten one-hit wonder Marilyn Monroe Elizabeth Taylor To be continued …

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December 2018 Viewing Diary

Swimming with Men (2018; d. Oliver Parker) A rather slight little comedy about men forming a synchronized swimming team. I reviewed for Ebert. Zama (2018; d. Lucrecia Martel) One of the best films of the year (I saw it after … Continue reading

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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

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Year in Review: Shooting My Mouth Off 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

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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

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September 2016 Viewing Diary

Kicks (2016; d. Justin Tipping) Absolutely loved it. There have been so many excellent first-time directors making features this year. My review for Rogerebert.com. Kiss Me Deadly (1955; d. Robert Aldrich) I love this bizarre paranoid insanely phantasmagorical … film … Continue reading

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The Books: Sex, Art, and American Culture; “Elizabeth Taylor: Hollywood’s Pagan Queen,” by Camille Paglia

NEXT BOOK on the essays shelf: Sex, Art, and American Culture: Essays, by Camille Paglia. When Elizabeth Taylor died it felt like the end of an era. Something vital had left the landscape. One of our Movie Goddesses, and unlike … Continue reading

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