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- Substack: on All I’ve Got & Then Some (2024)
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- Natasha Richardson as Sally Bowles
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Tag Archives: France
Review: Jeanne du Barry (2024)
A sweeping historical drama about the controversial mistress of King Louis XV, Madame du Barry. I reviewed for Ebert.
Posted in Movies
Tagged France, historical drama, Johnny Depp, reviews, women directors
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“I prefer a national film to an international film.” — Jean-Paul Belmondo
It’s his birthday today. I wrote about him on my Substack. Thank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you feel inclined to support my work, here’s a link to my … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged France, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Substack
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“The Greeks already understood that there was more interest in portraying an unusual character than a usual character – that is the purpose of films and theatre.” — Isabelle Huppert
It’s her birthday today. Nobody like her. She’s almost in her own category. Her work is mysterious. It feels like she gives the wheel over totally to her subconscious. You never feel the puppet-strings of the actress. She never even … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Claude Chabrol, France, Isabelle Huppert, Mia Hansen-Løve, Paul Verhoeven, Sandrine Bonnaire
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“I couldn’t keep a dog and a James Joyce and a bookshop.” — Sylvia Beach
It’s her birthday today. Sylvia Beach is one of my heroes due to her influential bookshop in Paris (Shakespeare & Co.), and her nurturing of the writers of that time. You know, minor writers like James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, and … 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, Battleship Potemkin, biopic, Charlie Chaplin, Chile, D.W. Griffith, 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 film, Sidney Poitier, silent films, Spain, Sylvia Sidney, Tana French, true crime, William Wellman, Wim Wenders, women directors
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“I should like to make even the most ordinary spectator feel that he is not living in the best of all possible worlds.” – Luis Buñuel
Today is Luis Buñuel’s birthday! From Luis Buñuel’s autobiography My Last Sigh: Connoisseurs who like their martinis very dry suggest simply allowing a ray of sunlight to shine through a bottle of Noilly Prat before it hits the bottle of … Continue reading
“I’m really confident. I had a perfect childhood. I had perfect parents and grandparents. They just love me, simply. So I have no fears.” — Mélanie Laurent
Today is the birthday of French actress and director Mélanie Laurent. Probably most American audiences (and international audiences, outside of France) were first introduced to the extraordinary Mélanie Laurent in her perfoƒrmance as the revolutionary Shoshanna in Inglourious Basterds. Laurent … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged France, Mélanie Laurent, Quentin Tarantino, women directors
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“I don’t need to ‘tell’ the story…The story is being told from itself by following the different moments in different locations.” — Mia Hansen-Løve
One of my favorite contemporary film-makers is Mia Hansen-Løve. Hansen-Løve is interested in people, in how people listen, how they walk (very important to her), the locations where they live, the conversations they have about philosophy, film, politics. She is … Continue reading
2023 National Society of Film Critics Awards
I was voted into the National Society of Film Critics this year and we had our voting meeting today. The group is nationwide so there were groups in LA, a group in New York, and people Zooming in from Chicago, … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged drama, England, France, Jean-Luc Godard, Martin Scorsese, romantic drama, Spain, women directors
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