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- “I know that for myself, what is deeper than I understand is often the most pertinent to me and the most lasting.” — Lorine Niedecker
- Substack: on All I’ve Got & Then Some (2024)
- Review: Force of Nature: The Dry 2 (2024)
- Natasha Richardson as Sally Bowles
- “To me, Martha Graham is one of America’s few authentic geniuses.” – Bette Davis
- R.I.P. Steve Albini
- News about Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof
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Tag Archives: Fred Astaire
“Have you ever noticed how a cat stretches after a nap? We can learn from watching animals.” — Cyd Charisse
Legs for weeks, not days. While there are so many classic and unforgettable dance numbers to choose from, the “Girl Hunt” number from Band Wagon is my favorite. Please read this wonderful tribute to Charisse by my friend, Dan Callahan. … Continue reading
“Dancing in Tijuana when I was 13 — that was my ‘summer camp.’ How else do you think I could keep up with Fred Astaire when I was 19?” — Rita Hayworth
It’s her birthday today! In early 2016, it was all Rita Hayworth all the time at my humble abode, due to the research I did for my essay on Gilda, included in the Criterion Collection release of Gilda. Gilda represented … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Cyd Charisse, Fred Astaire, Gilda, Rita Hayworth
24 Comments
Stuff I’ve Been Reading
Reading for pleasure has taken a hit, what with all the research I’ve been doing, for this or that, and so I haven’t done one of these “stuff I’ve been reading” things in a while. I have barely slept in … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books, Movies, Personal
Tagged culture, Eminem, fiction, Fred Astaire, friends, Ginger Rogers, Martin Scorsese, Memoirs, noir, Robert De Niro, Russia, stuff I've been reading
2 Comments
Watch What You Want. Find Comfort Where You Can.
I originally posted this on Facebook. It is not directed (as far as I know) to anyone who reads me here. But I still think it’s important to share, as a general commentary on the VIBE I have noticed post … Continue reading
Posted in James Joyce, Movies, Personal, Television
Tagged Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Ingmar Bergman, Jane Austen, Johnny Flynn, Marcel Proust, Michelangelo Antonioni, screwball, Supernatural
55 Comments
September 2015 Viewing Diary
I got a pretty big writing assignment this past month, with a deadline of October 5. So I’ve been working hard, researching, as the below list will probably show. Not ready to talk about it yet, still working on the … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Agnes Varda, Alan Ladd, Anna Karina, Canada, Charles Vidor, Charlton Heston, Claude Chabrol, Dana Andrews, documentary, Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor, England, France, Fred Astaire, Fritz Lang, Gilda, Gloria Grahame, Iran, Iranian film, Irene Dunne, J. Miller Tobin, Jafar Panahi, James Cagney, Jean-Luc Godard, John Wayne, Laura Dern, Marilyn Monroe, Mélanie Laurent, Mexico, Otto Preminger, Out of the Past, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ramin Bahrani, Rita Hayworth, Robert Mitchum, Supernatural, Terrence Malick
159 Comments
Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire: You’ll Never Get Rich (1941)
Fred Astaire was once asked who was his favorite dance partner, in all his years performing. He didn’t want to answer (because he knew Ginger would probably be pissed and hurt) but finally he caved and said, “All right, I’ll … Continue reading
The Books: The Fun of It: Stories from The Talk of the Town, edited by Lillian Ross; ‘Dancing Couple’, by James Thurber
Next up on the essays shelf: The Fun of It: Stories from The Talk of the Town is a collection of “The Talk of the Town” pieces in The New Yorker, grouped by decade, which is a lot of fun … Continue reading
2010 Books Read
Round-up of the books I read this year, in the order in which I read them. I am nearly finished with one last book (a collection of stories by Miranda July, given to me by my sister Siobhan for my … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged A.S. Byatt, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Annie Proulx, books read, Dava Sobel, David O. Selznick, David Thomson, E.M. Forster, Elia Kazan, Ellen Terry, Emily Dickinson, Ernest Hemingway, Evelyn Waugh, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fred Astaire, Fyodor Dostoevsky, George Bernard Shaw, George Orwell, George Washington, Gouverneur Morris, Ireland, Jane Langton, Jaws, Joan Blondell, John Banville, John McGahern, Mark Helprin, Orson Welles, Oscar Wilde, Peter Bogdanovich, Rebecca West, Roman Polanski, Ron Chernow, Russia, Serbia, Shakespeare, Shirley Jackson, Stefan Zweig, Sylvia Beach, Tana French, Tarkovsky, Tennessee Williams, Warren Beatty
37 Comments