Tag Archives: Scotland

Finding Elvis Shakespeare in Edinburgh

I’ve been in Scotland for the last 8 days. I haven’t had a ton of free time, but there was kind of an unexpected afternoon off so I decided to go out into the streets of Edinburgh and seek out … Continue reading

Posted in Personal | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

“These English songs gravel me to death. I have not the command of the language that I have of my native tongue. In fact, I think that my ideas are more barren in English than in Scotch.” — Robert Burns, “the Ploughman Poet” of Scotland

“For my own part I never had the least thought or inclination of turning poet till I got once heartily in Love, and then Rhyme and Song were, in a manner, the spontaneous language of my heart.” — Robert Burns … Continue reading

Posted in On This Day, writers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

“Even to this day, I watch The Wizard of Oz like I did when I was five years old. I get really involved in it.” — Lynne Ramsay

“When I go to the cinema, I want to have a cinematic experience. Some people ignore the sound and you end up seeing something you might see on television and it doesn’t explore the form. Sound is the other picture. … Continue reading

Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Movies I Loved in 2022

It is the month of Top 10 Lists. I’ve submitted a few to different sites. And … each list is slightly different. Because I’m not a list person and I don’t rank things and I really don’t like to argue … Continue reading

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

NYFCC 2022 Awards

If you’ve been reading entertainment news then you already know: Yesterday, all the members of the NYFCC met up at Lincoln Center to vote on this year’s awards. It was so good to see people – friends I rarely get … Continue reading

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

October 2022 Viewing Diary

Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation (2020; d. Lisa Immordino Vreeland) Fascinating dual portraits. No “talking heads”. The entire thing is made up of their own voices, told in talk shows, or interviews. Amazing footage I’ve never seen before. Christine … Continue reading

Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Review: Aftersun (2022)

I’ve been really looking forward to this one. Charlotte Wells’ feature film directorial debut. It did not disappoint. I really loved it. I reviewed for Ebert.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

R.I.P. Sean Connery

In 1965, Oriana Fallaci sat down to interview Sean Connery. It remains one of my favorite celebrity interviews ever, it’s the wild west honestly, and can be read in full in her book The Egotists. Here’s an excerpt, which I … Continue reading

Posted in Actors, RIP | Tagged | 1 Comment

“[My function] in Scotland during the past twenty to thirty years [is] that of the cat-fish that vitalizes the other torpid denizens of the aquarium.” –Hugh MacDiarmid

The function, as it seems to me, O’ Poetry is to bring to be At lang, lang last that unity … — Hugh MacDiarmid, “A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle” It’s his birthday today. He was born on August … Continue reading

Posted in Books, James Joyce, On This Day, writers | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Under the Skin (2014)

I am thrilled that all I knew, going into Under the Skin, was that Scarlett Johansson plays a creepy woman who drives around Scotland in her van luring men to hitch a ride with her. That’s all I knew. What … Continue reading

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | 36 Comments