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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
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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
- “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.” — Charlie Chaplin
- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
- “Even though I’m writing about very dark material, it still feels like an escape hatch.” — Olivia Laing
- “It’s just one of the mysteries of filmmaking that sometimes you do something that you don’t even think it’s important, then it turns out to be.” — Lili Horvát
- “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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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- sheila on March 2026 Snapshots
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- Maddy on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- sheila on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
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- sheila on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
- P Nickel on “The realization of ignorance is the first act of knowing.” — Jean Toomer
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- Bryce on The Books: “Nine Stories”- ‘The Laughing Man’ (J.D. Salinger)
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Tag Archives: Nicolas Cage
August 2021 Viewing Diary
Pig (2021; d. Michael Sarnoski) I wish I could write at length about some of these. I just don’t have the time these days. I absolutely loved Pig, about an isolated woodsman-truffle-hunter (Nicolas Cage) whose beloved truffle pig is stolen. … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, backting, Belgium, Bette Davis, comedy, documentary, drama, film noir, France, Golshifteh Farahani, Howard Hawks, James Cagney, Jean Arthur, Jim Jarmusch, Joan Blondell, Marion Cotillard, Mervyn LeRoy, musicals, Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Pre-Code, Richard Linklater, Robert Mitchum, Supernatural, surfing, William Carlos Williams
44 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
2018 Top 10 Movies
To cut off people who want to say “But what about …” or “You forgot …”, let me just say: No. I did not. I did not forget. There will be another list to follow of all of the films … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Abbas Kiarostami, documentary, Ethan Hawke, Japan, John Huston, Nicolas Cage, Orson Welles, Paul Schrader, Peter Bogdanovich, Sydney Pollack, women directors
13 Comments
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2014
I may write some magnum opus in the next two days, you never know, but here are links to some of the things I’ve written in 2014, here and elsewhere. I have worked hard to keep my site an eclectic … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Movies, Music, Personal
Tagged Alfred Wertheimer, Anna Magnani, Austria, Carroll Baker, Christopher Hitchens, Claude Rains, Eli Wallach, Elvis Presley, Eminem, France, friends, Gena Rowlands, Germany, Harry Potter, Howard Hawks, Inherent Vice, Iran, Iranian film, Israel, Italy, Jafar Panahi, Japan, Jim Jarmusch, Joan Crawford, John Cassavetes, Juliette Binoche, Kristen Wiig, Kwik Stop, Lars von Trier, Lauren Bacall, Lester Bangs, Liv Ullmann, Lon Chaney, Love Streams, Mark Twain, Martin Scorsese, Nicolas Cage, Orpheus Descending, Palestine, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Poland, Richard Linklater, Romania, Russia, Seth Rogen, Seymour Cassel, Sudden Fear, Supernatural, Sweden, Tennessee Williams, The Beatles, The Everly Brothers, Tommy Lee Jones, Trotsky, war, year in writing, Zac Efron
14 Comments
Joe (2013); directed by David Gordon Green
Joe barely got a release. It was in New York for about 4 days, and I missed it. The fact that Joe, a great American film, in my opinion, couldn’t even get distribution is evidence of the dire-ness of the … Continue reading
Review: The Frozen Ground (2013)
Starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and Vanessa Hudgens, it’s the story of the manhunt for creepy Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen back in the early 80s. It’s barely getting a theatrical release, which is confusing, since I thought it was … Continue reading
Valley Girl: The Theory of Electricity and Wanting
Martha Coolidge, director of Valley Girl: I wanted that feeling of love at first sight that just hits you. Hard. My goal in this picture was to accomplish the feelings that you have in your first love, the kind of … Continue reading
The Weather Man: Marketed Wrong
I’ve always liked Nicholas Cage even when I’m not wacky about his performance. Why? Because he takes risks. (The first time I ever saw him was in the beautiful Valley Girl. I still remember thinking: “Holy crap … who is … Continue reading

