Ataraxia

  The Magnificent Seven written by William Roberts, Walter Bernstein, Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa, Walter Newman and Hideo Oguni; directed by John Sturges and with a glorious cast is probably included on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list – maybe I should have checked this, but I feel it must be there – after showing this serious tendency to procrastinate, I have the gumption to invite you to check my more than five thousand notes on films from the aforementioned and other web pages, which are accompanied by reviews for magnum opera from The Greatest Books of All time and other sites on my blog and YouTube channel https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html     8 out of 10   This is a phenomenal motion picture, but I refer here to the 1960 adaptation of The Seven Samurai https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/10/seven-samurai-written-and-directed-by.html written and directed by one of the gods of cine...

  Continental Drift by Russell Banks Great book that almost made it into my all time favorites, but then it turned out to be less positive than this panglossian reader likes his reads to be There are two small chapters to this note. The first in order of conception is at the bottom and it was written when Ii have been through only a small part of the book, but still realized that I will enjoy it. And I did, albeit, I am confused and unsure if this book is to be included into my all time favorites, with Vernon God Little for instance. The ride is great, up to a point where the plot starts turning up some tragic events that, although worthwhile and meaningful, have put a dent into my joy of reading. Bob Dubois is fascinating and I identified with him until the sky becomes cloudy, a hurricane is about to hit (the shit hits the fan) and I will not mention more. In a way it is lucky that I have recorded my impression of the first chapters, because now when I know all that would happen n...

  The Current War by Michael Mitnick Nine out of 10 This motion picture has been at least as satisfying for the undersigned as the Golden Globes nominated Knives Out ( http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/12/knives-out-written-and-directed-by-rian.html ), even Pain and Glory ( http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/12/pain-and-glory-written-and-directed-by.html ) or the one that has most impressed the Hollywood Foreign Press and so many others, Marriage Story -  http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/12/marriage-story-written-and-directed-by.html . The plot of The Current War is captivating and instructive, educational and far superior to the ones guiding the films aforementioned, with three exceptional characters, not just one or two – actually five if we add J.P. Morgan in the mix and only one of the spouses, Mary Edison or Marguerite Westinghouse, or perhaps an assistant – towering over the rest of the people, one could arguably consider all three geniuses, unless we consider what one pers...

  The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend 11 out of 10 This magnum opus is Glorious, absolutely phenomenal, hilarious, fantastic, mirthful and we can go on – it has been a long time since this reader has been laughing for so long and intensely, while engaged with a book that could have been read maybe twenty or more years ago, considering that a version of it was in the hand and if memory does not play tricks, was there, in the bags, during a trip to Sofia, in Bulgaria, but given the outré title, it seemed at the time that this is not a serious work and it probably has a target made of children. Fortunately, you can find this transcendental comedy on The Guardian’s 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list -  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/23/bestbooks-fiction  - and it is also part of the BBC compilation of 100 Most Influential Novels, with maybe more than 2,000,000 copies sold to this day, a narrative that is both engaging, simple, modern, know...

  Paths of Glory, written by Stanley Kubrick, Calder Willingham, Jim Thompson, based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb 9 out of 10 Notes and thoughts on other books are available at: -               https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E  and    http://realini.blogspot.ro/ Paths of Glory is a…glorious film. The audiences have places it at number 58 on the list of top rated films, on IMDB and The New York Times has included it on its list of 1,000 Best Movies Ever Made: -            http://www.listchallenges.com/new-york-times-best-1000-movies-ever-made/checklist/17 Stanley Kubrick is one of the best five directors ever, with achievements such as: -            2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bo...

  Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley is included among The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, albeit on The Greatest Books of All Time you only meet it at 1296, it is nonetheless ranked 92 nd on the Mystery Writers Association’s Top 100 Best Crime Novels page- by the way, if you read this and then want some more, you have more than six thousand reviews of magnum opera from the GOAT and other sites, together with notes on films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made and other lists on my blog and YouTube channel https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html     8 out of 10   Perhaps the best advantage of reading this (actually, it was somebody else doing it and I just listened, and a good actor makes all the difference) was that I stayed with it, somehow, I lose interest, find that I think of something else, even with magnum opera like Walt Whitman and his Leaves of Grass, or the new hit Hamnet   Here ar...