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Tag Archives: What Happened Was
“I don’t think you go to a play to forget, or to a movie to be distracted. I think life generally is a distraction and that going to a movie is a way to get back, not go away.” — Tom Noonan
It’s Tom Noonan’s birthday. He just died last year, a huge loss. Most well-known for playing supernatural-style “heavies” in movies such as Manhunter and Robocop 2, he got his start in the 1960s experimental theatre scene in New York City, … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, On This Day, Theatre
Tagged Tom Noonan, What Happened Was
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R.I.P. Tom Noonan
“I don’t think you go to a play to forget, or to a movie to be distracted. I think life generally is a distraction and that going to a movie is a way to get back, not go away.” — … Continue reading
“If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” — Edward Hopper
It’s his birthday today. I wrote about Edward Hopper quite a bit in my Present Tense column at Film Comment, detailing the Hopper-y vibe of Tom Noonan’s great film about urban loneliness, What Happened Was… In fact, I have a … Continue reading
Posted in Art/Photography, On This Day
Tagged art, Edward Hopper, Terrence Malick, What Happened Was
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Turn on the goose
China Syndrome (1979) What Happened Was… (1994) I have no idea what it means – it means nothing, really – but I could make up a whole story, drawing out the connections. The scene shows a woman in her private … Continue reading
On Lili Horvát’s Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
I haven’t been able to shake this beautiful Hungarian film, Horvát’s second. It’s streaming on the Criterion Channel right now. The film inspires RIFFS – I mean the title alone! – and so I wrote about it on my Substack. … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged As You Like It, drama, Hungary, newsletter, Sylvia Plath, What Happened Was
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What Happened Was… released on DVD for the first time
I am so proud – and grateful – to have written the essay included in @oscopelabs ‘s restoration and release of Tom Noonan’s award-winning 1994 film WHAT HAPPENED WAS… , an unforgettable two-hander, starring Noonan and Karen Sillas. I saw … Continue reading
Film Forum QA: Tom Noonan’s What Happened Was…
This was such a thrill. Monday night, I moderated a conversation (via Zoom) with Tom Noonan and Karen Sillas about the 1994 film What Happened Was… (written and directed by Noonan – with Noonan and Sillas playing the two main … Continue reading
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2019
Thanks, everyone, who hangs out here, who likes what I do, whether you’re an Elvis fan, a Supernatural fan, a general cinephile, a book-lover, or just someone who’s been checking in periodically for 17 years – WHAT? – I appreciate … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, James Joyce, Movies, Television
Tagged Agnes Varda, animation, Anna Karina, backting, Badlands, Belfast, Bibi Andersson, Bob Dylan, Bong Joon-Ho, Canada, Charlotte Rampling, comedy, Dennis Hopper, documentary, Doris Day, drama, Dubliners, Elvis Presley, Emily Dickinson, Frank O'Hara, friends, Gaspar Noe, George Stevens, Gold Diggers of 1933, horror, Ireland, Jean Arthur, Joanna Hogg, Joe Berlinger, Joel McCrea, John Ford, Kristen Stewart, Leonardo DiCaprio, Linda Manz, Marlon Brando, Martin Scorsese, Mary Oliver, Matthias Schoenaerts, Myrna Loy, Nick Nolte, Nick Tosches, Nicolas Roeg, Out of the Blue, Paraguay, Paul Thomas Anderson, poetry, Poland, Present Tense, Robert Evans, Sandrine Bonnaire, sci-fi, Sophia Takal, Sucker Punch, Supernatural, Sylvia Plath, Terrence Malick, Tom Noonan, What Happened Was, William Powell, Willie Nelson, women directors, year in writing, Zac Efron
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July 2019 Viewing Diary
Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love (2019; d. Nick Broomfield) I reviewed this documentary – about the relationship between Marianne Ihlen and Leonard Cohen – for Rogerebert.com. Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (2005; d. Lian Lunson) I watched this beautiful … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged backting, Bette Davis, Christian Petzold, comedy, documentary, drama, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Germany, heist movies, Jack Black, James Gandolfini, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Kristen Wiig, Nicole Kidman, Quentin Tarantino, romantic drama, Russia, Supernatural, Tom Noonan, What Happened Was, Will Ferrell, William Wyler, women directors
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