Categories
Archives
-
-
-
-
Recent Posts
- On grief: Eric Church and Anderson Cooper
- “Life was bitter and I was not. All around me was poverty and sordidness but I refused to see it that way. By turning it into jokes, I made it bearable.” — Max Shulman
- “I couldn’t keep a dog and a James Joyce and a bookshop.” — Sylvia Beach
- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- “Make the most of what you have and enjoy being female; enjoy being you.” — Bunny Yeager
- “My mother gave me my drive but my father gave me my dreams.” — Liza Minnelli
- “I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.” — Jack Kerouac
- “I am not descended from flesh. I am God.”: It’s Vaslav Nijinsky’s Birthday
- “My aim is to imply rather than to overstate. Whenever the reader participates with his own interpretation, I feel that the book is much more successful.” — Ezra Jack Keats
- “A good director must be able to inspire whoever he was coaching so that the actor would live the scene. Make-believe must become reality.” — Raoul Walsh
Recent Comments
- sheila on February 2026 Snapshots
- dres on Supernatural: Season 2, Episode 17: “Heart”
- wgh. on February 2026 Snapshots
- Andrea on The Books: “Kilmeny Of The Orchard” (L.M. Montgomery)
- Frances on “I am not descended from flesh. I am God.”: It’s Vaslav Nijinsky’s Birthday
- dres on Supernatural: Season 2, Episode 15: “Tall Tales”
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- Duncan Gillies MacLaurin on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Jessie on Supernatural: Season 2, Episode 13: “Houses of the Holy”
- Ian on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- sheila on “I am not descended from flesh. I am God.”: It’s Vaslav Nijinsky’s Birthday
- Frances on “I am not descended from flesh. I am God.”: It’s Vaslav Nijinsky’s Birthday
- dres on Supernatural: Season 2, Episode 14: “Born Under a Bad Sign”
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- Ian on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Romeo & Juliet
- dres on Supernatural: Season 2, Episode 13: “Houses of the Holy”
- JAMES DAVID BAIN on The Books: “Collected Plays of Anton Chekhov” – ‘Swan Song’ (Anton Chekhov)
-
Tag Archives: Turkey
Solidarity
Walking through the West Village on an Arctic blast of a morning … … there were more, but it was too cold to stop and take pics of all of the visible manifestations of solidarity. Speaking of solidarity, the NY … Continue reading
Films I Loved in 2017
… and if I’ve written about them, I’ll include links. My “Top 10′ is included over at Ebert but I’m honestly not into rankings. Silly to do with art. Here are some of the films I’ve loved. And I missed … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Agnes Varda, Angelina Jolie, animation, Aubrey Plaza, Ben Stiller, comedy, coming of age, Cristian Mungiu, documentary, drama, Dustin Hoffman, Emily Dickinson, England, France, Garrett Hedlund, Georgia, Greta Gerwig, Harry Dean Stanton, historical drama, Ireland, Kristen Stewart, Martin Scorsese, Matthias Schoenaerts, Meryl Streep, musicals, Paul Thomas Anderson, religious movies, Romania, sci-fi, Sofia Coppola, Star Wars, Steven Spielberg, Terrence Malick, Tiffany Haddish, Tom Hanks, Turkey, women directors
11 Comments
The Individual Top Tens of 2017: Roger Ebert
Granted, this list is enormous: everyone who writes for Rogerebert.com submitted their own personal Top 10s. They’re all listed here. Some have commentary (mine does), others don’t. To those who feel baffled as to what to see, what to look … Continue reading
Review: Kedi (2017)
I can’t say enough good things about Kedi. It’s a must-see. It won’t be playing multiplexes probably. For any of you out of reach of arthouses, keep an eye out for this one on VOD. Very special. My review of … Continue reading
January 2017 Viewing Diary
Conspiracy (2001; d. Frank Pierson) The definition of “the room where it happens”. The awful room where something vile was decided. The TV movie starring Kenneth Branagh (so excellent) about the Wannsee Conference. It’s superb. Based on the one surviving … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Akira Kurosawa, Asghar Farhadi, Carrie Fisher, dance, documentary, Elia Kazan, Iran, Iranian film, Japan, Supernatural, Taraneh Alidoosti, Turkey, women directors
18 Comments
December 2015 Viewing Diary
Christmas, Again (2015; d. Charles Poekel) So good. I reviewed for Rogerebert.com. Back Street (1932; John M. Stahl) Back Street is the story of a woman who allows herself to be a “back street” woman: a long-time mistress to a … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Belfast, dance, England, Greta Gerwig, Hal Ashby, Howard Hawks, Hungary, Ingmar Bergman, Iran, Iranian film, Ireland, Irene Dunne, Jennifer Lawrence, Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Kentucker Audley, Poland, Rocky, Star Wars, Supernatural, Sweden, Truffaut, Turkey
63 Comments
Review: Mustang (2015)
Mustang is the third breathtakingly confident directorial debut I’ve seen this week. Is there something in the water? First there was Christmas, Again. Then there was Night Owls, and now Mustang, from first-time Turkish director Deniz Gamze Ergüven. The three … Continue reading
The Slow Burn of Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Taking place over one long 24-hour period, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, tells the story of a police unit driving endlessly through the monotonous grandeur of the … Continue reading
The Books: “Black Dog of Fate: An American Son Uncovers His Armenian Past” (Peter Balakian)
My history bookshelf. Onward. Next book on this shelf is a memoir called Black Dog of Fate: A Memoir by Peter Balakian. FanTAStic book if you haven’t read it. He came out with a new book last year – not … Continue reading