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Tag Archives: miracle on ice
“If it hadn’t been for the videocassette, I may not have had a career at all.” — Kurt Russell
It’s his birthday today. How I love him. I grew up with him. The Computer Who Wore Tennis Shoes. I remember that being screened for us in grade school in what they called “the multi-purpose room” (lol: gym, cafeteria, theatre). … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Elvis Presley, hockey, Kurt Russell, miracle on ice
19 Comments
February 22, 1980: “Do you believe in miracles? YES!”
Member when Russia was our enemy? I miss those days. It is truly wild to watch certain people – whose identity for 75 years was opposition to Russia’s tyranny – flip-flop. The cognitive dissonance has to be insane. Or it … Continue reading
Review: The Man Who Saves the World? (2025)
I have quietly been looking out for director Gabe Polsky ever since I saw – and LOVED – his feature film directorial debut (a credit he shared with his brother Alan), Motel Life (I reviewed for Ebert – and then … Continue reading
Dynamic Duo #40
Wayne Gretzky and Vladislav Tretiak, 1983
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2020, Part 1
What a year. Hard to say “the worst” because I was at least somewhat mentally stable during 2020, but this year was an assault. An assault after a couple of years of exhausting assault. It was an assault on us … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, RIP
Tagged Arizona Dream, Aubrey Plaza, Australia, Derek Mahon, Dorothy Arzner, Eavan Boland, England, Faye Dunaway, Germany, H.D., hockey, Iranian film, Jane Austen, Jean Arthur, Jerry Lewis, John Sturges, Johnny Depp, Jonathan Demme, Josephine Decker, Kurt Russell, Lili Taylor, Linda Manz, Little Richard, Lucille Ball, Martha Coolidge, Maureen O'Hara, miracle on ice, Nick Nolte, Patricia Bosworth, Shirley Jackson, Steve McQueen, Supernatural, women directors, year in writing
2 Comments
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
Present Tense: on Miracle (2004) and the “miracle on ice” – which turns 40 this week
If you’ve been round these here parts, you know my obsession with the miracle on ice. Many thanks to the editors at Film Comment, for taking my pitch to write a piece on the 1980 Winter Olympics, as seen through … Continue reading
“If we play ‘em ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight.”
A little boy imitates Herb Brooks’ pre-game speech to the 1980 Olympics hockey team. I can’t stop watching it. Continue reading
Two hockey greats meet
Wayne Gretzky travels to Russia and meets Vladislav Tretiak and his family. I love Tretiak’s little girl doing a dance in the living room.

