Ataraxia

  Note on Stalag 17, writer, director Billy Wilder, with William Holden, D... | realini

  Syriana, based on the book by Robert Baer 9.4 out of 10 Syriana is an outstanding political drama, winner of the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and a Golden Globe for the same category, for the brilliant George Clooney…the film was also nominated for the Oscar and other trophies, for Best Writing. This is an intricate, complex thriller, that exposes corruption in high stake games, unfair treatment of various international players, the abuses of some of the Arab regimes, the dirty manner in which the oil industry used to operate – perhaps they do not do this anymore – how CIA tries to work with multiple sides in middle Eastern conflicts, the way in which they abandon their own agents when they feel exposed and much more. It is a fascinating, mesmerizing narrative that errs by being somewhat to the left and giving perhaps too much credit to conspiracy theories that would have all the tyrants of the Middle East in bed with the American administra...

  Sunday Bloody Sunday written by Penelope Gilliatt, John Schlesinger, and directed by the latter had four major Academy Nominations in 1972, for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Peter Finch, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Glenda Jackson, Best Director for John Schlesinger and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced for Penelope Gilliatt, this is also one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made…you find a multitude of notes on films from the NYT 1,000 and other pages, plus reviews on books from the GOAT and other sites on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html see there soon, I hope   8 out of 10   John Schlesinger is the ‘auteur’ of one of the best films ever made – if we take the notion of director as auteur seriously, and apart from Sunday Bloody Sunday – Midnight Cowboy https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/07/midnight-cowboy.html...

  State Fair by Oscar Hammerstein II, Philip Stong, Sonya Levien, Paul Green   is The 1946 Winner of The Oscar for Best Music, Original Song, and one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, although I do not see why, I did not like it…nonetheless, there are thousands of notes on films from The NYT 1,000 and other lists, plus reviews of magnum opera from The GOAT and other sites on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html here is the link, albeit few click on it   7 out of 10   State Fair is one of those motion pictures that may have (it clearly does) have merit, but they are not ‘my cup of tea.   -           Sure, there is this pig, taking part in the competition   The animal is supposed to be one of the best – nay, number one – in the state, but somehow, when he reaches the State Fair, he is aloof, sits on the side, and there is speculation t...

  Swept Away written and directed by Lina Wetmuller is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made – you have notes on films from The NYT 1,000 list and reviews of books from The GOAT site on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   8 out of 10   Swept Away reminds me of Robinson Crusoe, Vendredi ou La Vie Sauvage https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/07/vendredi-ou-la-vie-sauvage-by-michel.html and other stories, or motion pictures where the character, or personages are isolated on an island…Cast Away is another   Indeed, the idea of an island has been very appealing, many, perhaps most imagine that they would be so happy, if only they were to move on a place in the Caribbean, Pacific, with the palm trees, white sands…the problem is Hedonic Adaptation, once settled in such paradises, people adapt to the good and see the high prices, and other challenges Harvard Professor Daniel Gilbert has stud...

  To Have and Have Not written by William Faulkner, Jules Furthman, based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway, directed by Howard Hawks and with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in the leading roles is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made – you have notes on films from The NYT 1,000 list and reviews on books from The GOAT site on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   8 out of 10   I am not a great fan of Ernest Hemingway, ever since I have read Intellectuals by Paul Johnson https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/01/intellectuals-by-paul-johnson.html and learned about how bad he can be, along with Leo Tolstoy, Henrik Ibsen, Jean Jacques Rousseau and many others, I know, take the work, not the man   The Sun Also Rises https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-sun-also-rises-by-ernest-hemingway.html was an excellent read, only I made the mistake of taking it for a second time, and that sp...