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- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
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- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
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- “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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Tag Archives: Sunset Boulevard
“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
It’s his birthday today. Years ago, I wrote a long essay about William Holden for Slant, which focused a lot on his physicality (he was so athletic and he had great control). I really like that piece. I reiterated my … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Billy Wilder, Stalag 17, Sunset Boulevard, William Holden
14 Comments
June 2024 Viewing Diary
Sunset Boulevard (1950; d. Billy Wilder) I had so much fun discussing Sunset Boulevard with the audience after the screening at Jacob Burns Film Center. I’ll be doing another one in August, after Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. The audience was … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged action movies, Billy Wilder, comedy, film noir, France, Glen Powell, Gloria Swanson, Meryl Streep, New Zealand, Richard Linklater, romantic comedy, romantic drama, short films, Steven Spielberg, Sunset Boulevard, Thomas J. Wright, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, war movies, William Holden, women directors
12 Comments
Present Tense: Death Scenes
William Holden, “Sunset Boulevard” For my next “Present Tense” column at Film Comment, I wrote about a long-time obsession – which I have covered from time to time here on my site: Actors performing death scenes. And a tribute to … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Bonnie and Clyde, Faye Dunaway, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cagney, Janet Leigh, Jensen Ackles, Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep, Present Tense, Raoul Walsh, Roaring Twenties, Shirley MacLaine, Sunset Boulevard, Supernatural, Vincente Minnelli, Warren Beatty, William Holden
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The Books: Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays, ‘It Happened on Sunset’, by Christopher Hitchens
On the essays shelf: Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays In this 1995 essay for Vanity Fair, about the history of Sunset Boulevard, Hitchens gives Joan Didion a run for her money in delving into the history (social, cultural, … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Billy Wilder, Christopher Hitchens, essays, Love Poverty and War, Mervyn LeRoy, Sunset Boulevard
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Mirrors #2: The Man In the Mirror
You didn’t think I’d forgotten, did you? I forget nothing. I still haven’t written the damn thing but I now have a file folder on my desktop filled with screengrabs of men looking at themselves (or at somebody else) in … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Compulsion, Lady From Shanghai, mirrors, Paris Texas, Rocky, Saturday Night Fever, Sunset Boulevard, Taxi Driver
8 Comments
Sunset Boulevard Chairs
I love how “Script” and “Dialogue” have their own chairs, along with all those giants.
Holden’s Death Scene In Sunset Boulevard:
Holden has to be shot three times – stagger forward – turn back – turn the other way – be shot one last time and fall face first into the pool. One take. That takes not only acting chops and … Continue reading
Holden’s Death Scene in Sunset Boulevard: The “Bang Bang You’re Dead” School of Acting
It is the best kind of make-believe acting. The kind of acting that little kids do so brilliantly when they’re playing and making up games. The kind of belief in the imaginary circumstances that so many adult actors have to … Continue reading