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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
- “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.” — Charlie Chaplin
- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
- “Even though I’m writing about very dark material, it still feels like an escape hatch.” — Olivia Laing
- “It’s just one of the mysteries of filmmaking that sometimes you do something that you don’t even think it’s important, then it turns out to be.” — Lili Horvát
- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Scott Abraham on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on March 2026 Snapshots
- sheila on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- Jessie on March 2026 Snapshots
- Helen Erwin Schinske on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Maddy on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- sheila on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Helen Erwin Schinske on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Joseph Pedulla on Susan Hayward Sleeps Raw
- sheila on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
- P Nickel on “The realization of ignorance is the first act of knowing.” — Jean Toomer
- Melissa Sutherland on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
- Bryce on The Books: “Nine Stories”- ‘The Laughing Man’ (J.D. Salinger)
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Tag Archives: Ellen Burstyn
“Really, there isn’t such a thing as ‘method acting.’ There’s only good acting and bad acting.” — Ellen Burstyn
“It’s been awhile. My Oscar is getting kind of tarnished. I looked at it a couple of years ago and thought I really needed a new one.” — Ellen Burstyn It’s her birthday today. In less than a decade, Ellen … Continue reading
March 2019 Viewing Diary
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (2017; d. Catherine Bainbridge) Mum came and visited me and we watched this amazing documentary about the contributions Native Americans have made to music. It starts with Link Wray. I loved this documentary … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Al Pacino, Brian De Palma, Chile, Dean Stockwell, Diane Keaton, Dustin Hoffman, Ellen Burstyn, England, Faye Dunaway, Francis Ford Coppola, Frank O'Hara, Italy, Jack Nicholson, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Jill Clayburgh, Joanna Hogg, John Cazale, Julianne Moore, Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Link Wray, Marlon Brando, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Mike Nichols, Quantum Leap, Robert De Niro, Robert Redford, Roy Scheider, Supernatural, women directors, Woody Allen
26 Comments
“Masters of the Acting Art”: An Interview with Author Dan Callahan
Dan Callahan is one of our best writers on the craft of acting. Not only does he describe why a performance is good, he digs into the much thornier issue of how it is good. This is where most critics … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Al Pacino, Cate Blanchett, Charles Laughton, Diane Keaton, Dustin Hoffman, Ellen Burstyn, Faye Dunaway, Gena Rowlands, interviews, John Cassavetes, Judy Davis, Laurence Olivier, Lee Strasberg, Maggie Smith, Marlon Brando, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Patricia Clarkson, River Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Stella Adler
11 Comments
May 2015 Viewing Diary
The X-Files, Season 2 Episode 20 “Humbug” (1995; d. Kim Manners). Mulder and Scully investigate murders among circus-folk. Laugh-out-loud funny, especially Mulder in the fun-house, sliding out of the wall, gun drawn. The X-Files, Season 2 Episode 22 “The Calusari” … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Abbas Kiarostami, Argentina, China, documentary, Ellen Burstyn, England, France, Iran, Iranian film, Italy, Joaquin Phoenix, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Martin Scorsese, Mia Hansen-Løve, Michelangelo Antonioni, Otto Preminger, Robert Mitchum, Russia, Supernatural, X-Files
45 Comments
The Books: “Lessons In Becoming Myself” (Ellen Burstyn)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Lessons in Becoming Myself, by Ellen Burstyn In less than a decade, Ellen Burstyn was nominated 5 times for an Oscar (for The Last Picture Show, The Exorcist (speaking of The Exorcist …), Alice Doesn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged Actors Studio, Ellen Burstyn, entertainment biography, Lee Strasberg
20 Comments
Requiem For a Dream: “Let it all go”
Excerpt from Lessons in Becoming Myself, by Ellen Burstyn. About Requiem For A Dream: The most difficult scene was one in which my son realizes I’m on speed. It was a nine-page scene, but the last three pages were my … Continue reading