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- November 2024 Viewing Diary
- “I have trouble working off things that are too preconceived, like storyboards.” — Terrence Malick
- “I thought girls in their teens might like to read [Anne of Green Gables], that was the only audience I hoped to reach.” — L.M. Montgomery
- “I have ever hated all nations, professions, and communities, and all my love is toward individuals.” — Jonathan Swift
- “Look in thy heart and write.” — Sir Philip Sidney
- For Busby Berkeley’s birthday: Remember My Forgotten Man and Sucker Punch
- “Well, if I can’t be happy, I can be useful, perhaps.” — Louisa May Alcott
- Exeunt, pursued by hundreds of beavers. Literally.
- “Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius.” — poet/engraver/visionary William Blake
- For Liberties: Edna O’Brien: Documentary of A Writer and A Star
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Tag Archives: Kristen Wiig
“If you’re creating anything at all, it’s really dangerous to care about what people think.” — Kristen Wiig
Today is the birthday of one of the greatest actors working today. I can’t seem to stop mentioning Kristen Wiig in my writing. I mention her even if she isn’t the main subject. She’s my favorite. I am in awe … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day, Television
Tagged backting, comedy, drama, Kristen Wiig, mirrors
4 Comments
Review: Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)
God, I needed this silliness. Silliness like this practically reaches profundity. My review for Ebert.
August 2019 Viewing Diary
While We’re Young (2014; d. Noah Baumbach) Part of my own Noah Baumbach retrospective in preparation for writing a piece for Film Comment about his filmography. On stands now. Or order here! I love this one. It’s so honest and … Continue reading
Present Tense: Female Comedians
For my next column at Film Comment, I wrote about actresses who come from a comedy/improv background, and the special gifts they bring to bear in dramatic material. Featuring a couple of interviews I did with circus people, and also … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Catherine O'Hara, Kristen Wiig, Lily Tomlin, Lon Chaney, Meryl Streep, Present Tense, Robert Altman
2 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, Kristen Wiig, Nicole Kidman, Quentin Tarantino, romantic drama, Russia, Supernatural, What Happened Was, Will Ferrell, William Wyler, women directors
44 Comments
Present Tense: On that thing we call “back-ting”
For my latest “Present Tense” column at Film Comment, I wrote about something that’s been percolating for decades. In college, my friend Mitchell coined the phrase “back-ting” – moments where actors perform scenes with their backs to the camera (or … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, backting, Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Jafar Panahi, John Wayne, Kristen Wiig, Present Tense, William Wyler
8 Comments
May 2018 Viewing Diary
First Reformed (2018; d. Paul Schrader) The best film of the year thus far. This is not an exaggeration: I had trouble breathing during the final sequence (as in: I felt like I stopped breathing) – and once the film … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Denmark, documentary, France, Kate Winslet, Kristen Wiig, Link Wray, Margaret Atwood, Sandra Bullock, Steven Spielberg, Supernatural, war, women directors
25 Comments
October 2015 Viewing Diary
Moontide (1942; d. Archie Mayo – and an uncredited Fritz Lang) And John O’Hara wrote the screenplay. How I love this film. Ida Lupino plays a suicidal girl, rescued from the waves by Bobo (a to-die-for Jean Gabin). Bobo is … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Australia, Channing Tatum, Chantal Akerman, Charles Vidor, Claude Rains, documentary, England, France, Gena Rowlands, Gilda, Ida Lupino, Iran, Iranian film, Ireland, Joe Berlinger, John Ford, John Sturges, John Wayne, Kristen Wiig, Maureen O'Hara, Mexico, Nicholas Ray, Peter Weir, Poland, Ridley Scott, Rita Hayworth, Supernatural, Thomas Mitchell, William Wellman
70 Comments