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- Happy Birthday, Rhode Island’s first poet laureate, Michael Harper
- “If it hadn’t been for the videocassette, I may not have had a career at all.” — Kurt Russell
- Sláinte! “Hear Dublin Roar!”
- “A pas de deux is a dialogue of love. How can there be conversation if one partner is dumb?” — Rudolf Nureyev
- “The Greeks already understood that there was more interest in portraying an unusual character than a usual character – that is the purpose of films and theatre.” — Isabelle Huppert
- “Life was bitter and I was not. All around me was poverty and sordidness but I refused to see it that way. By turning it into jokes, I made it bearable.” — Max Shulman
- “I couldn’t keep a dog and a James Joyce and a bookshop.” — Sylvia Beach
- March 2025 Supernatural Viewing Diary Season 13, 12, working backwards
- “Make the most of what you have and enjoy being female; enjoy being you.” — Bunny Yeager
- “I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.” — Jack Kerouac
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- Lyrie on February 2025 Viewing Diary
- Michael James Cobb on “I don’t care what anybody says about me as long as it isn’t true.” — Truman Capote
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Tag Archives: Kristen Wiig
January 2025 Viewing Diary
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992; d. James Foley) I saw this one in the theatre back in the day. There’s a revival coming up on Broadway and Bill Burr is going to be in it. It’s kind of perfect! He’ll be … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, Al Pacino, art, Bill Pullman, David Lynch, David Mamet, documentary, drama, dystopia, Elia Kazan, Gary Cooper, heist movies, Jack Lemmon, Karl Malden, Kristen Stewart, Kristen Wiig, Marlene Dietrich, Marlon Brando, Mulholland Drive, Patricia Arquette, short films, Tennessee Williams, Twin Peaks, Vivien Leigh
14 Comments
“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, Tom Noonan, 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