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- Happy Birthday, Dean Stockwell
- “Character roles definitely age better than your ingenues. You don’t get to keep doing that.” — Catherine O’Hara
- “Silence is necessary to tyrants and occupiers, who take pains to have their actions accompanied by quiet.” — Ryszard Kapuściński
- Jafar Panahi on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show
- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- “I wasn’t born an actress, you know. Events made me one.” — Jean Harlow
- “I just love telling stories. That’s what we do and it’s a good business to be in, especially if you know you have talent.” –Jensen Ackles
- “I was going upstream, against the current. I was coming from the North before the North had broken”. — John Montague
- Review: EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2026)
- “What a writer asks of his reader is not so much to like as to listen.” — poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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- sheila on Review: EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2026)
- sheila on “I just love telling stories. That’s what we do and it’s a good business to be in, especially if you know you have talent.” –Jensen Ackles
- sheila on “I just love telling stories. That’s what we do and it’s a good business to be in, especially if you know you have talent.” –Jensen Ackles
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Love’s Labour’s Lost
- dres on Supernatural: Season 1, Episode 22: “Devil’s Trap”
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- Kelly C Sedinger on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Love’s Labour’s Lost
- dres on Supernatural: Season 1, Episode 20: “Dead Man’s Blood”
- dres on Supernatural: Season 1, Episode 20: “Dead Man’s Blood”
- dres on Supernatural: Season 1, Episode 20: “Dead Man’s Blood”
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Tag Archives: Joel McCrea
“People say I’m a one-note actor, but the way I figure it, those other guys are just looking for that one right note.” — Joel McCrea
It’s his birthday today. Joel McCrea had a long career, with many different phases. He did it all, although he is primarily associated with Westerns. It was what you might call a “classy” career. Steady, successful, no scandals, and he … Continue reading
September 2024 Viewing Diary
My First Film (2024; d. Zia Anger) In my Top 10 of the year (so far). I reviewed for Ebert. Sweetheart Deal (2024; d. Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller) A very upsetting and beautifully made documentary, representing a decade of … Continue reading
January 2020 Viewing Diary
Hell Is for Heroes (1962; d. Don Siegel) A spare lean and mean war movie – pretty standard, actually – except Steve McQueen is actually presenting a character study here, a character he probably knows something about. He is eerie … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Al Pacino, Brad Pitt, children's movies, Colin Farrell, comedy, coming of age, crime movies, Dean Stockwell, documentary, Dorothy Arzner, drama, Dustin Hoffman, England, France, Ginger Rogers, heist movies, Iran, Iranian film, Jean Arthur, Joaquin Phoenix, Joel McCrea, John Sturges, Judy Garland, Katharine Hepburn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lucille Ball, Martin Scorsese, Maureen O'Hara, musicals, Nick Nolte, Quentin Tarantino, Robert De Niro, romantic comedy, screwball comedy, Steve McQueen, Supernatural, true crime, war movies, women directors
3 Comments
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2019
Thanks, everyone, who hangs out here, who likes what I do, whether you’re an Elvis fan, a Supernatural fan, a general cinephile, a book-lover, or just someone who’s been checking in periodically for 17 years – WHAT? – I appreciate … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, James Joyce, Movies, Television
Tagged Agnes Varda, animation, Anna Karina, backting, Badlands, Belfast, Bibi Andersson, Bob Dylan, Bong Joon-Ho, Canada, Charlotte Rampling, comedy, Dennis Hopper, documentary, Doris Day, drama, Dubliners, Elvis Presley, Emily Dickinson, Frank O'Hara, friends, Gaspar Noe, George Stevens, Gold Diggers of 1933, horror, Ireland, Jean Arthur, Joanna Hogg, Joe Berlinger, Joel McCrea, John Ford, Kristen Stewart, Leonardo DiCaprio, Linda Manz, Marlon Brando, Martin Scorsese, Mary Oliver, Matthias Schoenaerts, Myrna Loy, Nick Nolte, Nick Tosches, Nicolas Roeg, Out of the Blue, Paraguay, Paul Thomas Anderson, poetry, Poland, Present Tense, Robert Evans, Sandrine Bonnaire, sci-fi, Sophia Takal, Sucker Punch, Supernatural, Sylvia Plath, Terrence Malick, Tom Noonan, What Happened Was, William Powell, Willie Nelson, women directors, year in writing, Zac Efron
1 Comment
For Film Comment: Romantic/sexual chemistry in Love Crazy and The More the Merrier
This was really fun, paying tribute to the insanely hot chemistry between Myrna Loy and William Powell (in everything, but for this essay I wrote about Love Crazy) and – my favorite – Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea in one … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged comedy, George Stevens, Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Myrna Loy, reviews, screwball comedy, William Powell
5 Comments
June 2019 Viewing Diary
Once again: if you’re not a Supernatural fan, this might be a tough read. I’m so busy with work, this is how I unwind. Supernatural, Season 14, episode 4 “Mint Condition” (2018; d. Amyn Kaderali) I loved this episode. Perfectly … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Ben Edlund, Bob Dylan, Charles Beeson, comedy, documentary, drama, England, Jared Padalecki, Jean Arthur, Jensen Ackles, Joel McCrea, Martin Scorsese, Mike Rohl, Myrna Loy, Phil Sgriccia, Robert Singer, screwball comedy, Supernatural, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Thomas J. Wright, westerns, William Powell, women directors
72 Comments