Tag Archives: Spain

Orwell’s “nightmare world”

From George Orwell’s essential essay “Looking Back on the Spanish War”, where he reflects on all the lies and falsifications of that essential conflict, the rehearsal for Hitler-Stalin and all the monstrousness that followed. (It is the Spanish civil war … Continue reading

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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

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“I should like to make even the most ordinary spectator feel that he is not living in the best of all possible worlds.” – Luis Buñuel

Today is Luis Buñuel’s birthday! From Luis Buñuel’s autobiography My Last Sigh: Connoisseurs who like their martinis very dry suggest simply allowing a ray of sunlight to shine through a bottle of Noilly Prat before it hits the bottle of … Continue reading

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2023 National Society of Film Critics Awards

I was voted into the National Society of Film Critics this year and we had our voting meeting today. The group is nationwide so there were groups in LA, a group in New York, and people Zooming in from Chicago, … Continue reading

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Review: Society of the Snow (2024)

First review of 2024: A review of Society of the Snow, the latest filmed version of the Andes plane crash in 1972.

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2023 Books Read

I think I might have read more books by non-American authors than American this year. Countries represented below: Austria, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Croatia, Ireland, France, Russia, Colombia. I revisited some old favorites, which I will continue to do in … Continue reading

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2023 films I loved, in no particular order

On my Substack, open to all: my Top whatever Films of 2023. Unranked. An eccentric sampling, featuring some of the usual suspects but, more importantly, pointing towards some lesser-known films which – for whatever reason – got lost in the … Continue reading

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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

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Trapped: La Cabina and After Hours

This lies outside the scope of my essay on After Hours, although I wondered if I could somehow include it. Not meant to be. When I interviewed Michael Koresky about his book Films of Endearment, during our conversation he mentioned … Continue reading

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For International Women’s Day: Ladies I Love

These women inspire, entertain, challenge, comfort, provoke, or were “there” in my formative years as an inspiration. The list is huge. Below the jump.

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