Juan Hernandez

Happy Robert Hardy centennial! From The spy who came in from the cold, to Sense and sensibility, to the Harry Potter saga, he was a great character actor in the best British tradition.

Happy Geraldine Brooks centennial! Love her as Joan Crawford’s stepdaughter in Possessed and as the victim of extortion in Max Ophüls’ The reckless moment.

Actually LOL!

Love how beautifully Avelina Prat films the acts of kindness of everyday people in The Portuguese house (Una quinta portuguesa), very much a la Kaurismäki. Delicately mysterious, luminously cozy, it lifted my heart with its umpretentious portrayal of basic decency.

RIP Björn Andrésen. His stunning looks were ideal for his role as Tadzio in Death in Venice, leaving some indelible images of youthful beauty.

RIP June Lockhart. Love her as the kind, wholesome Lucille Ballard in Meet me in St. Louis (and as the Robinson matriarch in Lost in space). One of our last links to Hollywood Golden era, she celebrated her 100th birthday earlier this year.

RIP André Oumansky. From Henri-Georges Clouzot to Sofía Coppola, he worked with many interesting directors during his long career. He was electrifying as the hidden villain in René Clement’s Les félins.

RIP Martine Brochard. From Baisers volés to Une femme à sa fênetre, she was a sensous presence in French and Italian cinema.

The film that turned me into a Claude Sautet fan and French cinema lover.

Happy Phyllis Dalton centennial! One of my favorite moments in Lawrence of Arabia was Lawrence enjoying his majestic white costumes in the middle of the desert. From Our man in Havana to Doctor Zhivago to Voyage of the damned to Much ado about nothing, her work was always great.

Ageless grace was a fair description of Angela Lansbury. I mean, just look and listen to her singing Beauty and the Beast live at the Lincoln Center in her nineties. Brings happy tears to my eyes every time. One of my most beloved stars.

One of Angela Lansbury’s most distinctive, endearing qualities was her lovely voice. That’s why she was perfect as Mrs. Potts, a voice work that gained her a new generation of fans.

I bought the Murder she wrote DVD set for my mom in 2020 and we saw all the episodes together during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Miss Angela Lansbury’s innate gentleness and radiance brought us joy and comfort during those scary days. I’ll be forever thankful.

Among Angela Lansbury’s many inmortal screen moments, my favorite is her extraordinary “tango” in Death on the Nile. A delightful comedian, Salomé Otterbourne might be Lansbury’s most amusing performance.

My parents divorced when I was 2 years old, but one thing the three of us did together occasionally was going to the movies. I cherish the memory of seeing Bedknobs and broomsticks with both of them in the early 80s and have loved the film and Angela Lansbury ever since.

Another terrific bad mother in Angela Lansbury’s resume is Isabel Boyd in The world of Henry Orient. Glamorous, scheming, cold hearted, she was just fabulous.

I have rarely seen such a spine-chilling performance as Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian candidate. Her evilness, her creepiness, her unabashed lust for power… Her somber, ice-cold face expression in the film’s darkest moments has haunted me since I first saw it.

Classic Hollywood gave Angela Lansbury few opportunities tu display her impressive talents, but I’m delighted to see her even in a small role such as the snob Mabel Claremont in The reluctant debutante. She always enlightened the screen.

Angela Lansbury excelled at conveying authority, youthful ambition and cold efficiency in State of the Union. In spite of her young age, she was truly convincing as the woman pulling the strings of the Washington political scene.

She was yet to be discovered as a musical star by Broadway, but I loved Angela Lansbury’s “How’d you like to spoon with me?” number in Till the clouds roll by. And I was thrilled to see her singing it to Anthony Newley as cousin Emma MacGill in Murder she wrote many years later.

Happy Angela Lansbury centennial! I love not just as an actress, but as you love someone who has shown you warmth, kindness and grace. Her performance in Gaslight has to be one of the most electric film debuts ever. The aplomb! The cheekiness! I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Radiance was Diane Keaton’s most evident quality, so she was tailor-made for romantic comedies such as Something’s gotta give. I’d wach any film just to see her frank smile, her emotion-lit eyes, her contagious laughter. She will be missed.

It breaks my heart to think about Diane Keaton in Marvin’s Room today, but I think it’s one of her best performances. She was both devastating and luminous as a quietly courageous dying woman.

I fell in love with Diane Keaton when I first saw her in Manhattan Murder Mystery. It was my first Woody Allen film, and I was at awe at this delicious comedienne, whose effortless naturalness and perfect timing could rival Lombard or Loy. Flawless.

I’m still under the spell of Diane Keaton’s rendition of Cole Porter’s “You’d be so nice to come home to” in Radio days. A magical moment in an endearing film.

Love how Diane Keaton embodied fierce intellect, political commitment and passionate love in Reds. A tour de force performance that always feels organic. The train station scene is Keaton at her dramatic best.

Diane Keaton’s intellectual allure was at its peak in Manhattan. Her line delivery of “I was tired of submerging my identity to a very brilliant, dominating man. He's a genius.” is pure ‘70s NY.

One of my favorite Diane Keaton’s performances is Renata in Interiors. As one of the members of an impossibly snob NY family, she was as tortured and bleak as a Bergman heroine.

From passionate love, to bitter dissapointment, to mature resignation, Diane Keaton’s Kay had a wide dramatic arch throughout The Godfather saga. One of her several claims to immortality.

RIP Diane Keaton. Effortlessly charming, deliciously neurotic, elegantly witty, quintessentially New Yorker, she was my dream woman. An era-defining actress, she redifined romantic comedy heroines forever in Annie Hall. A beautiful legacy for a beautiful lady.