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- On This Day: March 25, 1911: The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
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- Dynamic Duo #39
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- Valentina Ferrante on The Books: “Italian American Reconciliation” (John Patrick Shanley)
- Randolph Merritt on Diary Friday: “OK, it wasn’t just a normal assembly. It was a CONCERT from a rock group – Freedom Jam.”
- Randolph Merritt on Diary Friday: “OK, it wasn’t just a normal assembly. It was a CONCERT from a rock group – Freedom Jam.”
- Mike Molloy on Dynamic Duo #39
- mutecypher on Review: You’ll Never Find Me (2024)
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- mutecypher on Review: You’ll Never Find Me (2024)
- sheila on “I’ve never thought of my characters as being sad. On the contrary, they are full of life. They didn’t choose tragedy. Tragedy chose them.” — Juliette Binoche
- sheila on “The Greeks already understood that there was more interest in portraying an unusual character than a usual character – that is the purpose of films and theatre.” — Isabelle Huppert
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- Peter on R.I.P. Sam Schacht
- Peter on R.I.P. Sam Schacht
- Lyrie on “The Greeks already understood that there was more interest in portraying an unusual character than a usual character – that is the purpose of films and theatre.” — Isabelle Huppert
- Jack on “I’ve never thought of my characters as being sad. On the contrary, they are full of life. They didn’t choose tragedy. Tragedy chose them.” — Juliette Binoche
- Todd Restler on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- Todd Restler on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- Todd Restler on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
- sheila on December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
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Tag Archives: Pre-Code
December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
The Golden Bachelor Watched – in great hilarity – with Karen and Allison during a raucous sleepover, and Carol pulled up on FaceTime. So we could watch together. The whole thing is so ridiculous. Maestro (2023; d. Bradley Cooper) I … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Al Pacino, Aline MacMahon, biopic, Charlie Chaplin, Chile, D.W. Griffith, Denmark, documentary, drama, dystopia, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Juliette Binoche, Kazuo Ishiguro, literary adaptation, Michael Mann, North Korea, Paul Schrader, Pre-Code, Ray Milland, Richard Pryor, Romania, romantic comedy, sci-fi, short film, Sidney Poitier, silent films, Spain, Sylvia Sidney, Tana French, true crime, William Wellman, Wim Wenders, women directors
41 Comments
“As long as they pay me my salary, they can give me a broom and I’ll sweep the stage. I don’t give a damn. I want the money.” – Kay Francis
“My life? Well, I get up at a quarter to six in the morning if I’m going to wear an evening dress on camera. That sentence sounds a little ga-ga, doesn’t it? But never mind, that’s my life … When … Continue reading
91 Years Apart
Blue Jean (2023) Big City Blues (1932)
“The trouble with Hollywood is everybody is crazy for money.” — Ann Dvorak
Anna McKim chose “Ann Dvorak” as her stage name. She chose a challenging name to pronounce (for American audiences, that is) over her easily-pronounceable real name. Who does that?? Well, she does. It says a lot. It’s mischievous. I love … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, Howard Hawks, Mervyn LeRoy, Pre-Code
4 Comments
March 2023 Viewing Diary
March was a bitch. Working on a big single project which sucked up all of my attention. Marathon not a sprint. I can’t do things half-way. This project was never ever out of my mind. I’m close to the finish … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged biopic, Claudette Colbert, documentary, Dorothy Arzner, drama, England, Fredric March, horror, Ireland, Pre-Code, reviews, Shakespeare, short film, Supernatural, women directors
3 Comments
January 2023 Viewing Diary
Friday Night Lights No time like the present. I binged this entire series in a couple weeks. This took commitment, and a couple days of sick leave, while trapped in my hotel room in Memphis, too sick to move. I … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Aubrey Plaza, Baz Luhrmann, Bette Davis, biopic, Cary Grant, comedy, documentary, Dorothy Parker, drama, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, Hedy Lamarr, Hungary, Italy, Jean Renoir, Little Richard, noir, Poland, Pre-Code, Ralph Bellamy, Raoul Walsh, reviews, Spencer Tracy, Teresa Wright, true crime, William Wyler, women directors
9 Comments
March 2022 Viewing Diary
I’m going along my own viewing way, and then I get a gig, and everything changes. You can tell when it happens. Not announcing this gig yet, and will not be confirming or denying anything. The viewing diary is what … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Al Pacino, Australia, Cary Grant, Charles Grodin, comedy, Diane Keaton, documentary, drama, Francis Ford Coppola, horror, Ireland, Jerry Lewis, John Cazale, Josef von Sternberg, Martin Scorsese, Miriam Hopkins, Palestine, Pre-Code, Robert De Niro, Romania, Shelley Winters, Sylvia Sidney, women directors
2 Comments
“My ambition is to be an actress. Hollywood had no parts for me.”—Theresa Harris
It’s her birthday today. Criminally, Theresa Harris often went uncredited in the films she appeared in. Nevertheless, she always made an impression. She is probably most well-known now for her unforgettable and realistic performance in the pre-Code Baby Face, as … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Baby Face, Gold Diggers of 1933, noir, Out of the Past, Pre-Code
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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, France, Golshifteh Farahani, Howard Hawks, James Cagney, Jean Arthur, Jim Jarmusch, Joan Blondell, Marion Cotillard, Mervyn LeRoy, musical, Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, noir, Pre-Code, Richard Linklater, Robert Mitchum, Supernatural, surfing, William Carlos Williams
44 Comments