Joan E. Bauer: Lovers and Other Strangers
We’re all strangers. But after a while,
you get used to it. You become deeper
strangers. That’s a sort of love.
Barbara Hamby: Trigger Tries To Explain
Aw, Dale, he didn’t mean it when he said I was the
best thing that ever happened to him. If he even said it,
chalk it up to the RKO publicity machine.
Joan E. Bauer: 165 Maybery Road
Salka raises money, gathers affidavits
to bring Jews from Europe to safety, finds jobs
for the newcomers, drives them to Farmer’s Market
on Fairfax, a reminder of the Old World.
Joan E. Bauer: She Kept Her Own Company
Anna May memorably kills a Chinese warlord,
her rapist, with a dagger. On film, couldn’t kiss
or bed a white man. Off-screen, another matter.
Ernesto Cardenal: Prayer for Marilyn Monroe
Lord,
welcome this girl known throughout the world as Marilyn Monroe,
although that was not her real name
Joan E. Bauer: Remembering Sanora Babb
Ray Bradbury knew Babb from a longtime workshop: The author of a promising Dust Bowl novel that editor Bennet Cerf shelved in ‘39, saying— What rotten luck! claiming her work … Continue reading
Joan E. Bauer: The Poet of the Camera
By 1922, chief cameraman, eagerly
innovating: gauze over the lens to soften a face,
frame of black velvet to darken the eyes.
Katie Kapurch: Why ‘Barbie’ and ‘The Little Mermaid’ made 2023 the dead girl summer
These dead girls offer insights about living. Embracing death’s inevitability brings some freedom, as well as access to truths about time and the natural world.
Marilyn Monroe: Fragments
my beaded rays have the colors I’ve
seen in a painting—ah life they
have cheated you
Michael Simms: Orpheus in Hollywood
Michael Chabon hasn’t so much straddled genres as rejuvenated whatever he touches, making literary fiction more engaging and accessible and popular genres less cliched and formulaic.
Video: Chico Marx Plays Beer Barrel Polka (from A Night in Casablanca, 1946)
Leonard Joseph “Chico” Marx (1887 – 1961) was an American comedian, actor and pianist. He was the oldest brother in the Marx Brothers comedy troupe, alongside his familial brothers Adolph (“Harpo”), Julius (“Groucho”), Milton (“Gummo”) and Herbert (“Zeppo”). His persona in the act … Continue reading
Peter Van Buren: Hollywood War Porn from WWII to American Sniper
In the age of the all-volunteer military and an endless stream of war zone losses and ties, it can be hard to keep Homeland enthusiasm up for perpetual war. After … Continue reading →