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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
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- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
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Tag Archives: musicals
For Busby Berkeley’s birthday: Remember My Forgotten Man and Sucker Punch
I wrote a piece originally for the Musings blog at Oscilloscope (it was included in a book!), and now lives on my site (since it’s off the Musings blog). It’s about the similarities between Busby Berkeley’s Gold Diggers of 1933 … Continue reading
Posted in Movies, On This Day
Tagged Busby Berkeley, dance, Gold Diggers of 1933, Joan Blondell, Mervyn LeRoy, musicals, Sucker Punch, war, WWI
15 Comments
February 2025 Viewing Diary
Twin Peaks: The Return (2017; d. David Lynch) There’s nothing else like it in all of God’s green earth and I am just so grateful it exists. It’s so pure. Suze (2025; d. Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart) I liked … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Angela Lansbury, Canada, Cary Grant, Charles Beeson, David Lynch, drama, Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Astaire, George Stevens, Germany, Ginger Rogers, historical drama, Howard Hawks, Jared Padalecki, Jean Arthur, Jensen Ackles, Judy Garland, musicals, Only Angels Have Wings, Oscar Wilde, Phil Sgriccia, Rita Hayworth, Robert Singer, romantic comedy, Sissy Spacek, sports movies, Supernatural, Thomas J. Wright, Thomas Mitchell, Twin Peaks, Vincente Minnelli, women directors
118 Comments
Review: The End (2024)
Joshua Oppenheimer’s two documentaries about the genocidal campaigns in Indonesia in 1965-66 are so haunting and terrible – the leering mask withdrawn to show something even more monstrous underneath – I don’t know if I can see them again. But … Continue reading
Review: Glitter & Doom (2024)
For Ebert, I reviewed Glitter & Doom, a coming-of-age queer-romance, powered by the music of the Indigo Girls. It’s a mixed bag as a film, and runs into the normal jukebox musical challenges, but it’s super fun to hear the … Continue reading
R.I.P. Treat Williams
This is devastating news. In Sydney Lumet’s Making Movies, he talked about the choice to cast Treat Williams in Prince of the City: I wasn’t sure whether we were in drama or tragedy territory [with Prince of the City]. knew … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, RIP
Tagged coming of age, drama, Laura Dern, Milos Forman, musicals, Sidney Lumet
16 Comments
April/May 2023 Viewing Diary
River of Grass (1994; d. Kelly Reichardt) Reichardt’s first film. Wendy and Lucy (2008; d. Kelly Reichardt) The start of Reichardt’s collaboration with Michelle Williams. Showing Up (2023; d. Kelly Reichardt) Reichardt’s latest. I reviewed for Ebert. It’s fine. Her … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Ann-Margret, art, baseball, Belgium, crime movies, documentary, drama, Elvis Presley, France, friends, Italy, Japan, Little Richard, musicals, reviews, silent films, South Korea, The Netherlands, women directors
14 Comments