Tag Archives: William Wyler

“I’m going to break that marriage up!” Teresa Wright in The Best Years of Our Lives

Today is the wonderful Teresa Wright’s birthday. The Best Years of Our Lives was the magnificent William Wyler film that swept the Oscars for 1946. It won 7! Best Picture. Best Actor (Fredric March). Best Director. Best Screenplay (Robert Sherwood). … Continue reading

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January 2023 Viewing Diary

Friday Night Lights No time like the present. I binged this entire series in a couple weeks. This took commitment, and a couple days of sick leave, while trapped in my hotel room in Memphis, too sick to move. I … Continue reading

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Mirrors #13

Another striking mirror moment from Little Foxes (the first being this one), involving the father-son morning-shaving ritual, spiced with pitiless criminal plotting. Nasty bunch of work, this family.

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Backting, the continuing story

William Wyler knew Bette Davis could say more with her back than most actresses can say with their faces. This is why Davis plays the majority (literally, it’s got to be about 75-80%) of The Letter with her back to … Continue reading

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Mirrors #11

Bette Davis giving one of her greatest performances (and one of the greatest movie performances of all time) in Little Foxes. She basically avoids looking herself in the eyes. For obvious reasons. You can click on the “mirrors” tab to … Continue reading

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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

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Present Tense: On that thing we call “back-ting”

For my latest “Present Tense” column at Film Comment, I wrote about something that’s been percolating for decades. In college, my friend Mitchell coined the phrase “back-ting” – moments where actors perform scenes with their backs to the camera (or … Continue reading

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May 2019 Viewing Diary

Again, just like my April viewing diary, this will be a pretty tough read for anyone not into Supernatural. It may be a tough read for those who DO watch Supernatural (especially if you loved the last 3 seasons. If … Continue reading

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September 2016 Viewing Diary

Kicks (2016; d. Justin Tipping) Absolutely loved it. There have been so many excellent first-time directors making features this year. My review for Rogerebert.com. Kiss Me Deadly (1955; d. Robert Aldrich) I love this bizarre paranoid insanely phantasmagorical … film … Continue reading

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January 2015 Viewing Diary

I’m going to start listing everything I saw each month. It’ll be a good way for me to keep track, and also a good record for my end-of-year lists. So here’s everything I watched in January, 2015. Inherent Vice (2014; … Continue reading

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