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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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Tag Archives: Frank Capra
“I guess I became an actress because I didn’t want to be myself.” — Jean Arthur
It’s her birthday today, one of my all-time favorite actresses! First up, two pieces I wrote for Film Comment: For my “Present Tense” column, I wrote about her career and her distinctive voice. For TCM Diary, I wrote about onscreen … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, On This Day
Tagged Cary Grant, Frank Capra, Jean Arthur, Only Angels Have Wings
16 Comments
March 2020 Viewing Diary: A Before and After List
I began this viewing diary in a time of innocence (and naivete) before social distancing became compulsory (or at least strongly suggested). We here were months behind schedule, due to the disgraceful anti-science buffoonery of the current administration, who do … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Cary Grant, Claude Rains, comedy, coming of age, documentary, drama, Faye Dunaway, film noir, Frank Capra, Gary Cooper, George Stevens, Germany, Jane Austen, Jean Arthur, Jerry Lewis, Jimmy Stewart, John Garfield, Johnny Depp, Johnny Flynn, Lili Taylor, literary adaptation, Natasha Richardson, Paul Schrader, romantic comedy, Supernatural, Thomas Mitchell
9 Comments
Present Tense: on Jean Arthur
For my next Present Tense column at Film Comment (because life goes on and I am very grateful that all of my work is web-based and can continue in this climate): I wrote about one of my favorite actresses, whom … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Frank Capra, Jean Arthur, Only Angels Have Wings, Present Tense
2 Comments
September 2017 Viewing Diary
Nightcrawler (2014; d. Dan Gilroy) Such a good film. I wrote about it here. Rancho Notorious (1952; d. Fritz Lang) Marlene Dietrich rules. I totally buy her as that ranch owner. It makes no sense but she makes it make … Continue reading
August 2017 Viewing Diary
Columbus (2017; d. Kogonada) I loved this movie so much. One of the best of the year so far. My review. Dunkirk (2017; d. Christopher Nolan) Overwhelming. Saw it in IMAX 70 mm so I can’t compare to others’ experiences … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Billy Wilder, Channing Tatum, Charles Laughton, Dana Andrews, David Lean, David Lynch, documentary, Elvis Presley, France, Frank Capra, Henry Fonda, Howard Hawks, Lawrence of Arabia, Olivia de Havilland, Otto Preminger, Thomas Mitchell, Twin Peaks, women directors
44 Comments
June 2016 Viewing Diary
Homeland Season 3, Episode 4 “Game On” (2013; d. David Nutter) Hey, Nutter, what’s up? Thanks for the Supernatural pilot. Going on 12 seasons now, you set it up real good. I have now watched up until Season 5 of … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Alain Delon, Alfred Hitchcock, Dennis Hopper, documentary, England, F. Scott Fitzgerald, family, France, Frank Capra, friends, Germany, Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Jack Nicholson, Jimmy Stewart, July and Half of August, Nicholas Ray, Nina Hoss, Olivia de Havilland, Patricia Highsmith, Raoul Walsh, Robert Redford, Stanley Kubrick, Supernatural, Wim Wenders
96 Comments
The 5 Most-Deserving Best Picture Winners
(I don’t like a lot of the Best Picture winners. I far prefer the “losers”, in general – some true classics there. It was hard to leave off a couple but I gave myself the task to pick 5. So … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged David Lean, Elia Kazan, Frank Capra, Lawrence of Arabia, On the Waterfront
35 Comments
Some Island snapshots
— “I cannot imagine how a casual reference to Suetonius and Petronius Arbiter can be construed into evidence of a desire to impress by an assumption of superior knowledge. I should fancy that the most ordinary of scholars is perfectly … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged Andrei Tarkovsky, Block Island, Christopher Walken, Deborah Kerr, E.E. Cummings, Emily Dickinson, Evelyn Waugh, Frank Capra, Gary Cooper, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hope, In a Lonely Place, Keri Hulme, Oscar Wilde, Patricia Neal, snapshots, T.S. Eliot, The Bone People
10 Comments