Categories
Archives
-
-
-
-
Recent Posts
- “Rock n’ roll! It’s the music of puberty.” — Suzi Quatro
- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Twelfth Night: or, What You Will
- “Literature is the written expression of revolt against expected things.” Happy Birthday to the least happy man ever, Thomas Hardy
- “I’m not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.” – Marilyn Monroe
- “[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman
- “I don’t want to show things, but to give people the desire to see.” — Agnès Varda
- “I never made a message picture, and I hope I never do.” — Howard Hawks
- “If I am going to be a poet at all, I am going to be POET and not NEGRO POET.” — poet Countee Cullen
- Reviews: Currents (2026)
- Reviews: Forge (2026)
Recent Comments
- Lyrie on “Rock n’ roll! It’s the music of puberty.” — Suzi Quatro
- Maddy on “I’m not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.” – Marilyn Monroe
- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on “I never made a message picture, and I hope I never do.” — Howard Hawks
- Bryan Summers on “I never made a message picture, and I hope I never do.” — Howard Hawks
- Lyrie 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
- Kendra Williams on Josh White, singer of “the fighting blues”
- sheila on “I dont want to just do just country type stuff the rest of my life. I want to do some different things.” — Charlie Rich
- sheila on The Books: “Awake and Sing” (Clifford Odets)
- Jincy Willett on “There’s nobody as good as the Ramones, never will be.” — Joey Ramone
- Bill Wolfe on “I dont want to just do just country type stuff the rest of my life. I want to do some different things.” — Charlie Rich
- Donn Harris on The Books: “Awake and Sing” (Clifford Odets)
- sheila on “Listen, I never meant to make money. I never wanted it. I’m a singer, man.” — Gene Vincent
- Pat on “Listen, I never meant to make money. I never wanted it. I’m a singer, man.” — Gene Vincent
- sheila on “There’s nobody as good as the Ramones, never will be.” — Joey Ramone
- Jincy Willett on “There’s nobody as good as the Ramones, never will be.” — Joey Ramone
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
- Biff Dorsey on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
- Dave on Review: The Chronology of Water (2025)
-
Tag Archives: mirrors
Mirrors #26
Zoey Deutch and Aubry Dullin as Jean Sebert and Jean-Paul Belmondo in Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, one of my favorite films of the year. The film is a maze of mirrors, with mirror moments in almost every scene. There are … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged France, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, mirrors, Richard Linklater
Leave a comment
“Certainly there have been better actors than me who have had no careers. Why? I don’t know.” — Richard Gere
It’s his birthday today. Here’s a piece I wrote about him: The Narcissist at Home: Richard Gere in American Gigolo.
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged drama, mirrors, newsletter, Paul Schrader, Richard Gere
Leave a comment
“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
“It’s important not to indicate. People don’t try to show their feelings, they try to hide them.” — Robert De Niro
I haven’t written about the majority of his roles – not for lack of admiration (and in some cases, awestruck wonder) – but here is what I have written: I included his “you talkin’ to me” scene in my gigantic … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Martin Scorsese, mirrors, Raging Bull, Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver
6 Comments
“I take rejection as someone blowing a bugle in my ear to wake me up and get going, rather than retreat.” — Sylvester Stallone
Old-timers here will remember the Rocky phase that took over for a while. Of course the movies weren’t new to me. As a matter of fact, I know the first movie by heart, practically shot for shot, and there was … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged mirrors, Rocky, Sylvester Stallone
6 Comments
Mirrors #25
I wrote a whole essay about scenes where men look at themselves in the mirror. Mirrors are amazing thematic and visual motifs, but they also work for moments where a character has to grapple with himself. Women grapple too. But … Continue reading
Mirrors #24
A couple of great ones from Desire, starring Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper, with John Halliday as third lead, and Akim Tamiroff in one scene as a suspicious police inspector. A heist movie, and I love heist movies! Dietrich plays … Continue reading
Mirrors #23
Gena Rowlands, Opening Night (1977) Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl (2024. My review.) Thank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you feel inclined to support my work, here’s a link … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, mirrors, Opening Night, women directors
Leave a comment
Mirrors #22
Working Girls (1931) Directed by Dorothy Arzner! I did a deep dive into this pioneering director’s work when I was working on the Dance Girl Dance essay for Criterion. I really like her films. I hadn’t seen this one! Two … Continue reading
Mirrors #21
Constance Bennett and Clark Gable, What Price Hollywood? (1932)