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Tag Archives: The Netherlands
Substack: Interview with Jeremy Richey about Sylvia Kristel
Today is Sylvia Kristel’s birthday, the Dutch actress mostly known for the notoriously soft-core Emmanuelle (1974)- but she did a lot more and worked with some of the greatest directors and actors of her era (70s). In his book about … Continue reading
Screen Slate 2024 Poll
Happy to participate in Screen Slate’s annual poll: Best Movies of 2024: First Viewings & Discoveries and Individual Ballots My pics: Fun to scroll through – so many people polled, including directors like Pedro Almodovar and Whit Stilman! … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged comedy, documentary, Douglas Sirk, drama, George Sanders, historical drama, India, Iranian film, Ireland, Italy, Lucille Ball, Palestine, Poland, Pre-Code, Radu Jude, Romania, silent films, The Netherlands, women directors
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“I was a silent actress: a body. I belonged to dreams – to those who can’t be broken.” — Sylvia Kristel
Today is the birthday of Dutch actress and – briefly – international superstar – Sylvia Kristel. The timing is fortuitous. Often pigeonholed due to the massive success of the soft-core classic Emmanuelle, Kristel was a gifted and intuitive actress, who … Continue reading
Mirrors #19
Two striking mirror moments in Marleen Gorris’ provocative directorial debut, a major entry in the catalog of feminist cinema, a film still poking the bear, 1982’s A Question of Silence. (People freaking out about how Barbie is anti-man clearly have … Continue reading
April/May 2023 Viewing Diary
River of Grass (1994; d. Kelly Reichardt) Reichardt’s first film. Wendy and Lucy (2008; d. Kelly Reichardt) The start of Reichardt’s collaboration with Michelle Williams. Showing Up (2023; d. Kelly Reichardt) Reichardt’s latest. I reviewed for Ebert. It’s fine. Her … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Ann-Margret, art, baseball, Belgium, crime movies, documentary, drama, Elvis Presley, France, friends, Italy, Japan, Little Richard, musicals, reviews, silent films, South Korea, The Netherlands, Viva Las Vegas, women directors
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Review: Close to Vermeer (2023)
I liked hanging out with the people in this documentary, I liked soaking up their passion and expertise. I reviewed for Ebert. Thank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you … Continue reading
Posted in Art/Photography, Movies
Tagged art, documentary, reviews, The Netherlands, women directors
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Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol: a QA with author Jeremy Richey
When I first started to “swerve” my blog away from diary-like entries to a focus on film and books, there were a couple of people whose example I followed, or who, at least, were fully doing what I was already … Continue reading
2013 Books Read
It’s been a hell of a year. Devastating as well as redemptive. I started it out in Memphis, and end it here in New Jersey. And now my new niece Pearl has arrived! It’s been both a busy year as … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged A.S. Byatt, Anne Fadiman, Annie Proulx, Arthur Koestler, Balkans, books read, Darkness at Noon, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Edvard Radzinsky, Elinor Lipman, England, friends, George Eliot, H.L. Mencken, Henry James, Herman Melville, Hungary, Ireland, J.D. Salinger, Jeanette Winterson, Joan Acocella, Joan Didion, John Banville, Joseph Heller, Joshua Ferris, Lester Bangs, Lorrie Moore, Patricia Highsmith, Philip K. Dick, Russia, Sam Cooke, Stalin, Tana French, The Netherlands, The Only Game In Town, Thomas Carlyle, Victor Serge, William Shakespeare, Yugoslavia
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