29 Monday Dec 2014
Posted in Marilyn Monroe
This is a revised version of my 2008 article, and can also be read at Immortal Marilyn.
Marilyn and Pat Newcomb
“At the core of her, [Marilyn] was really strong… and that was something we tended to forget, because she seemed so vulnerable, and one always felt it necessary to watch out for her.” – Pat Newcomb Continue reading
25 Thursday Dec 2014
Posted in Film
≈ Comments Off on 2014: A Year On Film
My favourite film of 2014 was James Gray’s The Immigrant. Despite its stellar cast, it was woefully under-promoted and wasn’t even released in Britain. Marion Cotillard is luminous – almost Garboesque – as a young Polish woman who lands on Ellis Island in 1921. Almost a century later, Eva’s struggle is lived every day by millions like her.
And my favourite television show this year was True Detective.
23 Tuesday Dec 2014
Posted in Books, Fiction, History, Marilyn Monroe, Non-Fiction
≈ Comments Off on Best Books of 2014
Tags
A Commonplace Killing, A Hoxton Childhood, A Year in Books, A.S. Jasper, Amy Greene, Betty May, Branwell Bronte, Brewster, Carl Rollyson, Colm Toibin, Elena Ferrante, Fallout, James Scott, Lila, Long Man, Marilyn Monroe, Marilynne Robinson, Mark Slouka, Nora Webster, Robert Edric, Sadie Jones, Sanctuary, Sian Busby, The Kept, Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay, Tiger Woman
This year has been all about Elena Ferrante and her Neapolitan novels for me. Autumn reaped a rich harvest in fiction, and there have also been some fine reissues. Continue reading
20 Saturday Dec 2014
Tags
A Year in Music, Angel Olsen, First Aid Kit, Hurray for the Riff Raff, I Never Learn, Lana Del Rey, Living for Love, Lykke Li, Madonna, Rebel Heart, Samantha Crain, Ultraviolence, West Coast
My favourite album this year was Lana Del Rey’s dark, brooding Ultraviolence, and my song of the summer was ‘West Coast’.
A close second was Lykke Li’s epic tearjerker, I Never Learn. You can watch her incredible Glastonbury performance here.
I also enjoyed Samantha Crain’s Kid Face; Angel Olsen’s Burn Your Fire for No Witness; Small Town Heroes, by Hurray for the Riff Raff; and First Aid Kit’s Stay Gold.
Looking forward to 2015 – the reigning Queen of Pop, Madonna, will launch her new album, Rebel Heart, in March. A six-track EP, including lead single ‘Living for Love’, was released on i-Tunes this morning.
19 Friday Dec 2014
Posted in Profumo Affair
Photo by Bryan Wharton, 1986. (National Portrait Gallery, London)
My life has been one long descent into respectability.
I woke up this morning to the news that Marilyn Foreman – better known as Mandy Rice-Davies, whose very name still conjures bittersweet memories of the Profumo Affair, more than half a century later – died last night after a short battle with cancer. I am shocked and sad – she was so full of energy and wit that I thought nothing would stop her. I never knew her personally but she was a huge part of my creative life. And as a woman, her refusal to be cowed by sexual hypocrisy was incredibly inspiring.
Peter Stanford has written an excellent obituary for The Guardian, and you can read some of my own Mandy-related posts here.
Tara Hanks 
You must be logged in to post a comment.