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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
- “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
- “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 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- sheila on March 2026 Snapshots
- sheila 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
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- Helen Erwin Schinske on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- 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: Norma Shearer
September/October 2023 Viewing Diary
I moved in late September. Again. I found a little cozy apartment, the second floor of a little house, with slanted ceilings, little cubbyhole-eaves everywhere, and a big yard. It’s a 10 minute walk to the beach. I found it … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Bette Davis, biopic, comedy, Costa-Gavras, Dana Andrews, documentary, drama, Eli Wallach, England, Ewan McGregor, film noir, France, Fritz Lang, George Cukor, George Sanders, Germany, Gloria Grahame, Hal Wallis, historical drama, Ireland, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Judy Blume, Kate Lyn Sheil, Lana Turner, Lee Marvin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Miriam Hopkins, Norma Shearer, Otto Preminger, Paul Schrader, River Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Roman Polanski, Rosalind Russell, Sidney Lumet, Spain, Supernatural, Vincente Minnelli, women directors, WWII
29 Comments
January 2018 Viewing Diary
Supernatural, Season 7, episode 10 “Death’s Door” (2011; d. Robert Singer) What an extraordinary episode of television. It’s funny: I too block out what happened in that kitchen in Bobby’s childhood. I forget it almost every time. Those actors playing … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Charles Vidor, Chile, documentary, Dogfight, Doris Day, Fredric March, James Cagney, Japan, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Kurt Russell, Norma Shearer, Paul Thomas Anderson, Paul Verhoeven, Sebastián Lelio, Supernatural, women directors, X-Files
13 Comments
Ebertfest 2014: He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
One of the highlights of Ebertfest this year (and we’re not even done yet) is getting a chance to see the 1924 silent film He Who Gets Slapped on the gigantic Virginia Theatre screen, surrounded by a packed house, and … Continue reading
Transformation: Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette
It is such a good performance. Brilliant, really. More thoughts about it here.
Seen Recently: The Conjuring (2013), Marie Antoinette (1938), Chasing Mavericks (2012), Danton (1983)
The Conjuring directed by James Wan At one point during The Conjuring, my friend Jen whispered to me, “I have got to stop screaming.” Well, no, you don’t. Why would you? Let it out. Let your screams cry out into … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Andrzej Wajda, France, historical drama, horror, Norma Shearer, Poland, politics, reviews, sports movies
19 Comments
Seen Recently: A Free Soul (1931), Whirlpool (1949), The Women (1939)
A Free Soul directed by Clarence Brown A daring (to say the least) pre-Code film, starring Norma Shearer (very good, for the most part, here), a ferocious and sexy Clark Gable, a sympathetic and noble Leslie Howard, and a masterful … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Clark Gable, film noir, George Cukor, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Otto Preminger, Pre-Code, reviews, Rosalind Russell, screwball comedy
15 Comments
Norma Shearer and George Sanders:
Two appreciations by Dan Callahan, who is such a marvelous writer. Here is his piece on Shearer – a measured and detailed examination of this controversial star. People hate her, people stick up for her, the gays love her … … Continue reading