Carrie Courogen, Author at Bright Wall/Dark Room

The older I get, the more I find myself impressed by Audrey Hepburn as an actor who was great in spite of her packaging; by the evolution of her raw and untrained talent over the span of her relatively short career; and most of all, by the undeniably prickly undercurrent of her most iconic films.

The People We Used to Be: On Sneakers and Being Young and Dumb

Carrie Courogen·

Issue 122: Heists

Sneakers is a film about a lot of things: ever-advancing modern technology, personal privacy in the earliest days of the digital age, still-frosty international relations of the post-Cold War era, guys being dudes, and the ways in which the American government—to put it broadly—sucks.

Am I the Drama?: Notes on Fleetwood Mac on Film

Carrie Courogen·

Issue 107: Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll

Maybe I’m being hyperbolic here, but does anyone better exemplify sex, drugs, and rock and roll than Fleetwood Mac?

Jane Fonda in Klute (1971) | art by Tony Stella

The Best Actress in the World

Carrie Courogen·

Issue 95: 1971

If much of Fonda’s life both before and after Klute was marked by losses of her own identity as she attempted to mold herself into whatever the dominant man in her life wanted, Klute captures a rare and specific transitional moment.

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally, written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner

The Best Version of Itself: Nora Ephron’s New York in When Harry Met Sally…

Carrie Courogen·

Issue 90: Frames

When I watch Harry and Sally stroll through Central Park, I think to myself, If I could just find a way to crawl inside this movie, inside this version of New York, I could be okay.

Burn It Down

Carrie Courogen·

Issue 88: Justice

In allowing room for all the angles that motivate Amy, Enlightened asks us to consider the things that drive us, and ask ourselves: Do they make our fight any less valid if our hearts are in the right place?

there is a girl in new york city who calls herself the human trampoline

Carrie Courogen·

Extras

Where in previous summers Paul Simon’s Concert in the Park was a gleeful way to keep post-concert blues at bay between shows, now it’s a constant battle to try not to cry while listening to it.

We’re Playing Space Explorers

Carrie Courogen·

Issue 84: Hangout Movies

On Judy Berlin (1999) and Madeline Kahn's best, most nuanced, and final performance.

Working Girl (1988) | Art by Tony Stella

“Do I Look Like I Don’t Belong Here?”

Carrie Courogen·

Issue 83: Secrets and Confessions

Mike Nichols' Working Girl, at its heart, is a film that examines the nuances of the intersection of class and feminism, packaged slyly in the form of a light-hearted, girl power-flavored workplace comedy.

Trash, Art, and Book Club: A Toast to Our Aging Icons

Carrie Courogen·

Issue 80: A Fine Mess

Book Club plants itself firmly in a chaotic-good alignment chart position, full of well-meaning spirit that occasionally goes completely off the rails.

I’m Like History Passing By: An Interview With Lee Grant

Carrie Courogen·

Interviews

Actress and director Lee Grant reflects on her 70 year career in Hollywood.

Elaine May in 'A New Leaf' (1971) | Columbia Pictures

Elaine May Made Movies About Men, But Difficult Female Protagonists Dominate Her Stage

Carrie Courogen·

Issue 75: Elaine May

I love difficult women. I like ladies who talk back with abandon, the ones who don’t give in without a fight, the headstrong, selfish broads with hearts of gold.