Tag Archives: Patricia Neal

April 2024 Viewing Diary

To Be or Not to Be (1942; d. Ernst Lubitsch) It’s 82 years later. 82 years. And it’s still a little bit shocking this film even exists. The film lampoons Nazis, and Hitler, and tyranny, which – in 1942 – … Continue reading

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February 2019 Viewing Diary

St. Agatha (2019; d. Darren Lynn Bousman) I reviewed this nunsploitation horror film which I resisted at first for some reason, but then I got into the spirit of it. It’s fun. It’s what it needs to be. It also … Continue reading

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For Film Comment: Reviews of The Night Digger (1971) and Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)

I had so much fun watching, researching, and writing up these two (somewhat) little-known films, The Night Digger (1971), starring Patricia Neal (adaptation by her husband Roald Dahl: her second role post-stroke), and Alice, Sweet Alice, a bonkers religious-horror movie … Continue reading

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November 2016 Viewing Diary

Elle (2016; d. Paul Verhoeven) I loved it. People HATE this movie. One lady on Twitter said that men should be banned from making films about rape. How you would enforce such a rule is beyond me. Also: No fucking … Continue reading

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R.I.P., Patricia Neal

Actress Patricia Neal has died. Life is unfair. That’s one of the things I got from Patricia Neal’s autobiography,published in 1988. Neal’s life was full of unfair events (as I suppose all of us experience from time to time). But … Continue reading

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Some Island snapshots

— “I cannot imagine how a casual reference to Suetonius and Petronius Arbiter can be construed into evidence of a desire to impress by an assumption of superior knowledge. I should fancy that the most ordinary of scholars is perfectly … Continue reading

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The Books: “As I Am: An Autobiography” (Patricia Neal)

Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: As I Am: An Autobiography, by Patricia Neal This is one of those rare books where my response to it was, “Dear God, it’s me, Sheila. Could you please give Patricia Neal a break? Hasn’t … Continue reading

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Culture Snapshots

— I’m reading A Widow for One Year by John Irving and also The Fortune of War by Patrick O’Brian. Awesome counterpoint. Both superb writers in their own way. — Thank you, dear Siobhan, for introducing me to the amazing … Continue reading

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