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Tag Archives: Germany
December 2022 Viewing Diary
The Whale (2022; d. Darren Aronofsky) I thought it was appalling, and not for the obvious reasons. His body is viewed as literally a movie monster, with all these horror-movie shots of his gigantic ankles, etc.) It felt tired and … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged action movies, animation, Austria, Brad Pitt, Brian De Palma, Charles Dickens, Christopher Walken, Claude Chabrol, Claudette Colbert, comedy, coming of age, Czechoslovakia, Darren Aronofsky, David Bowie, documentary, drama, England, France, Germany, heist movies, historical drama, Hungary, India, Isabelle Huppert, Kentucker Audley, Natasha Richardson, Paul Schrader, Paul Thomas Anderson, Preston Sturges, Punch-Drunk Love, Russia, Sandrine Bonnaire, screwball comedy, thrillers, Ukraine, war, women directors
3 Comments
2022 Books Read
Some re-reads this year, but a lot of new-to-me authors as well. New novels written by faves. Been a year of upheaval and transitions. I’ve managed to keep up my regular reading schedule. I just don’t feel right if I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged A.S. Byatt, Alfred Hitchcock, Anne Fadiman, art, Australia, Biography, books read, Canada, Christopher Hitchens, Edmund Burke, Elinor Lipman, England, entertainment biography, essays, Eve Babitz, friends, Germany, Greece, Hitler, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Janet Malcolm, Joan Didion, Joseph Cornell, Lorrie Moore, Machiavelli, Master and Margarita, Memoirs, Michael Curtiz, Mikhail Bulgakov, Mitford sisters, nonfiction, Paul Zindel, politics, Quentin Tarantino, Robert De Niro, Russia, Ryszard Kapuściński, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Beatles, Tom Wolfe, true crime, Victor Klemperer, Victor Serge, war, William Hazlitt, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, WWII, YA fiction
10 Comments
On This Day: September 1, 1939
From Newsweek: Scenes from the invasion of Poland From MSN: Friends, foes, mark WWII’s start in Poland Hitler’s speech on Sept. 1, 1939, from Berlin: To the defense forces: The Polish nation refused my efforts for a peaceful regulation of … Continue reading
Posted in On This Day
Tagged Germany, Hitler, Poland, Victor Klemperer, W.H. Auden, war, William Shirer, WWII
12 Comments
May 2022 Viewing Diary
This was the month of watching only the first two episodes of various television series. I just couldn’t keep going – not because they’re bad, but because … I have other things I have to do and/or watch. Robert De … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Al Pacino, Brad Pitt, comedy, Diane Keaton, documentary, drama, Dustin Hoffman, Elvis Presley, England, Frankenstein, Germany, Jack Black, Kurt Russell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Mary Shelley, Michael Mann, Owen Wilson, Robert De Niro, Robert Mitchum, romantic comedy, Sanaa Lathan, Sandra Bullock, Shelley Winters, Steve Martin, Sylvester Stallone, Tony Scott, women directors
13 Comments
2021 Books Read
I lived at three addresses this year. I moved twice. In the middle of a pandemic. It’s been a year of upheaval, transition, as well as endurance. For most of this year, the majority of my stuff was in storage. … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Austria, Balkans, Billy Wilder, Biography, books read, Cary Grant, Croatia, Czeslaw Milosz, David McCullough, Dubravka Ugrešić, Edvard Radzinsky, Elinor Lipman, England, essays, Eve Babitz, Evelyn Waugh, fiction, Germany, Guillermo del Toro, Hitler, Howard Hawks, Ireland, Italy, Liz Phair, Memoirs, Nancy Lemann, Nick Tosches, nonfiction, Olivia Laing, Poland, politics, Robert Conquest, Robert Kaplan, Russia, Sergei Kirov, Stalin, Sweden, Thomas Mann, Tom Wolfe, Vladimir Nabokov, war, WWII, Yugoslavia
1 Comment
Commonplace Book: Two from Heinrich Heine
“That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people as well.” “Christianity – and that is its greatest merit – has somewhat mitigated that brutal Germanic love of war, but it could not destroy it. … Continue reading
Commonplace Book: Continuity
“Thus Hitler establishes a firm continuity between persuasion, propaganda, intimidation and terror, between words and deeds, and this continuity is the characteristic praxis of his regime. Facing this continuity, the citizen of the Third Reich has allowed himself to be … Continue reading
Podcast: The Last Thing I Saw: Focus on Billy Wilder
It was so much fun appearing on Nicolas Rapold’s “The Last Thing I Saw” to discuss Billy Wilder. The other guests were Farran Smith Nehme (a good friend of mine), and Steven Mears. The inspiration to discuss Billy Wilder was … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Directors, Movies
Tagged Austria, Billy Wilder, Germany, Jack Lemmon, podcast, Ray Milland, Shirley MacLaine, Stalag 17, William Holden
2 Comments
Stuff I’ve Been Reading
My lifestyle has changed. It now involves shuffling children around to dentist appointments and Little League games, joining the solidarity of the parents in the bleechers. I live in a small working-class town by the beach. I’m busy with writing … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Eve Babitz, Germany, Memoirs, nonfiction, Russia, Stalin, Stefan Zweig, stuff I've been reading, Thomas Mann, Yugoslavia
6 Comments