For Women Writers Week, Jen Johans writes about Joan Cusack, and how she’s "crackling, high-voltage live wire who commits to scenes with an intensely funny mischievous ferocity."
It's so great and clarifying on so many levels--thank you for writing it.
"A movie like Blue Velvet and a performance like Rossellini’s have to make us feel uncomfortable in order for it to be honorable. They hold true to her experiences by showing us that Vallens is a woman with no protection from her emotions and her exposed vulnerability."
Superb essay.
I was invited to participate in Women Writers Week at the Ebert website, and I wrote about Isabella Rossellini's performance in BLUE VELVET, and how she helped guide the film into its dark and mysteries places.
www.rogerebert.com/women-writer...
Yeah I watched the State of the Union
It's amazing how close to each other most of them are. Really reinforces the small-town feel.
13. The kid who lived here had the longest tongue in the world ...
12. Party House
11. Ben's (This Is It)
10. The Warehouse
9. The Slow Club
8. Arlene's
7. Beaumont's Hardware
6. Sandy's house
5. There's trouble till the robins come ...
4. Sandy's School
3. The Deep River Apartments ...
2. Where he finds the ear ...
Got to visit Lumberton today ...
1. Jeffrey's House
2026: LaBeouf Gras
He didn't have to do any of these things for me or anyone else, but he did. I know I didn't give him nearly as much as he gave me, but I have to keep paying it forward in his memory.
Rest in peace, Michael. We'll keep the reading lights on here in your honor.
We kept up on the phone after I moved back to New Orleans, and he let me watch him tape a Bookworm episode and reprint his BW interviews with Steve Erickson for a collection I edited. All the while, he encouraged me to keep teaching, keep writing, and stay committed to championing the written word.
Watching a group of teenagers browse through his books for an hour with jaws agape in awe is one of my favorite days I've spent as a teacher, topped only by the day he bragged about us to Dave Eggers on an episode of Bookworm. All of it was the epitome of generosity.
He met me and my students for lunch and, after the plates had been cleared, invited us down the street to hang out in his library. (I still have to remind myself this actually happened.)
When he called me for the 1st of many 2+hour chats we'd have over the years, the first thing he said was, "I can't talk about David without crying." He didn't have to do it, but he welcomed me into his life & shared his insights & enthusiasm with me, even when I couldn't give him as much in return.
When I was teaching Infinite Jest to high school seniors in 2012, we listened to his first interview with David Foster Wallace. After it was over, one kid said, "we should get him as a guest speaker."
He was kind of kidding, but I took him seriously and got in touch with Michael.
Finding Michael Silverblatt's show on KCRW was one of the things that made me the reader I am today. Listening to it made me feel like a citizen of L.A., that literary city in disguise. I never thought he'd also befriend me and support my work.
A thread for Michael Silverblatt ...
Michael was a lot of things to a lot of people, but for me he remains one of the greatest, most inspiring teachers & mentors I have ever had. I know many may not consider him a teacher, but I can think of few people who are better educators.
He didn’t have to give us the time of day, but he gave us so much more. My story is just a drop in the ocean of his contributions to cinema. RIP to one of the best to ever do it.
What you can’t see is the kindness and generosity Duvall showed two goofy kids who got to live out their dream of being on a film set and watch one of the all-time greats climb to even greater heights in the director’s chair.
