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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
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- “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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Tag Archives: James Gandolfini
“I’ve been very lucky, considering what I look like and what I do.” — James Gandolfini
Like a lot of people, he first came on my radar through the extraordinary scene in the motel room with Patricia Arquette in True Romance (“you gotta lotta heart, kid.”) The moment I always remember, the moment that struck me … Continue reading
“I’ve been very lucky, considering what I look like and what I do.” — James Gandolfini
It’s his birthday today. 51 years old. It seems incomprehensible. Like a lot of people, he first came on my radar through the extraordinary scene in the motel room with Patricia Arquette in True Romance (“you gotta lotta heart, kid.”) … Continue reading
February 2020 Viewing Diary
Ted Bundy: Falling For a Killer (2020; d. Trish Wood) I can’t help it. I’ve been reading about Ted Bundy since I read Ann Rule’s book in high school. I hate him so much, but I can’t quit him. I … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Bill Pullman, Claude Chabrol, comedy, documentary, drama, Germany, hockey, Isabelle Huppert, James Gandolfini, Jane Austen, Jean Arthur, Kurt Russell, Laura Dern, literary adaptation, miracle on ice, Nicolas Cage, Robert Duvall, romantic comedy, Sandrine Bonnaire, sci-fi, sports movies, William Powell, women directors
8 Comments
July 2019 Viewing Diary
Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love (2019; d. Nick Broomfield) I reviewed this documentary – about the relationship between Marianne Ihlen and Leonard Cohen – for Rogerebert.com. Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (2005; d. Lian Lunson) I watched this beautiful … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged backting, Bette Davis, Christian Petzold, comedy, documentary, drama, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Germany, heist movies, Jack Black, James Gandolfini, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Kristen Wiig, Nicole Kidman, Quentin Tarantino, romantic drama, Russia, Supernatural, Tom Noonan, What Happened Was, Will Ferrell, William Wyler, women directors
44 Comments
The Drop (2014); directed by Michaël R. Roskam
The Drop, which opens this week, is James Gandolfini’s last film. He plays “cousin Marv,” a big Brooklyn guy who owned a bar called Cousin Marv’s Bar. The bar was Marv’s life’s work. Yes, it was a dive bar populated … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged drama, James Gandolfini, Matthias Schoenaerts, reviews, Tom Hardy
30 Comments
Enough Said (2013)
Enough Said is only playing in two theaters in Manhattan, the Angelika, and the AMC Lincoln Square uptown. It opened yesterday, and Allison and I bought tickets to the 7:10 show at the Angelika. Beforehand, we went out for Mexican … Continue reading
R.I.P., James Gandolfini
James Gandolfini, Jeff Daniels, “God of Carnage”, Broadway, 2009 Shockingly sad. I wrote a tribute to James Gandolfini for Capital New York. Too soon, dammit, too soon.
Where the Wild Things Are; (2009) Dir. Spike Jonze
Maurice Sendak’s children’s classic Where the Wild Things Are isn’t plot-driven. There’s not much text, and he uses a lot of repetition (“and they roared their terrible roars,” etc.) that gives the book an incantatory feel. As though we, as … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged children's books, James Gandolfini, literary adaptation, Spike Jonze
12 Comments