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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
- “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
- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.” — Charlie Chaplin
- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
- “Even though I’m writing about very dark material, it still feels like an escape hatch.” — Olivia Laing
- “It’s just one of the mysteries of filmmaking that sometimes you do something that you don’t even think it’s important, then it turns out to be.” — Lili Horvát
- “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: Zac Efron
“Being known for musicals is a great thing.” — Zac Efron
“It’s weird, but I don’t feel like think I deserve any of the attention. There’s really nothing but one audition for a Disney Channel movie that separates me from 2,000 other brown-haired, blue-eyed guys in L.A., you know?” — Zac … 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
1 Comment
August 2019 Viewing Diary
While We’re Young (2014; d. Noah Baumbach) Part of my own Noah Baumbach retrospective in preparation for writing a piece for Film Comment about his filmography. On stands now. Or order here! I love this one. It’s so honest and … Continue reading
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
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Bette Davis, Bob Dylan, Bob Fosse, Canada, Emma Thompson, France, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Joanna Hogg, Joe Berlinger, John Ford, John Wayne, Juliette Binoche, Martin Scorsese, Sam Rockwell, Supernatural, Sylvia Plath, William Wyler, Zac Efron
97 Comments
Review: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
It’s so good. I was hoping it would be since my feelings about Zac Efron are well-known. And I love Joe Berlinger’s stuff. He’s a documentary guy so this is a change-up. It’s so good. I went pretty long in … Continue reading
April 2019 Viewing Diary
I have had an extremely challenging month. Things got slightly spooky. This looks INSANE when written out like this. And believe it or not, I was super busy this month. I wrote like 5 gigantic pieces, and somehow managed to … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Alain Delon, Bob Fosse, Charlotte Rampling, documentary, Emily Dickinson, England, Fritz Lang, Germany, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Jodie Foster, Joe Berlinger, Laura Dern, Martin Scorsese, Patricia Highsmith, Paul Schrader, Richard Gere, Robert De Niro, Sam Rockwell, Supernatural, Willie Nelson, women directors, Zac Efron
19 Comments
February 2018 Viewing Diary
Supernatural, Season 13, episode 12 “Various & Sundry Villains” (2018; d. Amanda Tapping) I was happy to see that the series showed at least passing interest in the inner life of one of its lead characters. Six Feet Under, season … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Abbas Kiarostami, Belgium, Bob Fosse, documentary, England, France, Ginger Rogers, Greta Gerwig, Iran, Iranian film, Joan Blondell, Kristen Stewart, Mervyn LeRoy, Olivia de Havilland, Robert Mitchum, South Korea, Stanley Kramer, Steven Spielberg, Supernatural, women directors, X-Files, Zac Efron
30 Comments
Review: The Greatest Showman (2017)
It’ll be pooh-poohed and probably for some pretty legitimate reasons. There’s definitely some cognitive dissonance here. But I loved it for what it was: a big splashy musical – featuring good songs with memorable hooks – performed by people who … Continue reading
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2016
I look at this and I wonder why I always feel like I haven’t done jack-squat. Or, at the very least, I could do more. Well, I always can do more. Regardless, here are links to some of the things … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books, Movies, On This Day, Personal, RIP
Tagged Abbas Kiarostami, Baz Luhrmann, Buddy Holly, Camille Paglia, Carrie Fisher, Carroll Baker, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Chantal Akerman, Compulsion, David Bowie, Dean Stockwell, Dolly Parton, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Elizabeth Bishop, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Eminem, friends, Gena Rowlands, George Stevens, Gilda, Isabelle Huppert, James Dean, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, July and Half of August, Katherine Dunn, Langston Hughes, Little Richard, Marion Cotillard, Marlon Brando, Matthias Schoenaerts, Merle Haggard, Mia Hansen-Løve, Miriam Hopkins, Patricia Highsmith, Rebecca Hall, Richard Linklater, Rocky, Sam Cooke, Something Wild, Stephen King, Sudden Fear, Supernatural, Sylvester Stallone, Tennessee Williams, The Great Gatsby, Wanda Jackson, William Shakespeare, women directors, year in writing, Zac Efron
6 Comments
March 2016 Viewing Diary
Supernatural, Season 2, Episode 20: “What Is and What Should Never Be” (2007; d. Eric Kripke) My 300-page re-cap here. At Any Price (2012; d. Ramin Bahrani) Inspired by the recent conversation Mitchell and I had about Zac Efron (Part … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Brad Pitt, Charles Beeson, David Lynch, England, Eric Kripke, France, Fritz Lang, Harriet Andersson, Ingmar Bergman, Ingrid Thulin, Ireland, Jensen Ackles, Jeremy Carver, Kim Manners, Liv Ullmann, Martin Scorsese, New Zealand, Ramin Bahrani, Richard Linklater, Ridley Scott, Robert Singer, Supernatural, Sweden, Thomas J. Wright, X-Files, Zac Efron
53 Comments

