Ataraxia

  The Forgiven – note on the film based on the novel by Lawrence Osborne – another note on the motion picture is here  https://notesaboutfilms.blogspot.com/2022/10/one-of-my-favorites-in-past-years.html 10 out of 10     Spoiler alerts first – this note is Not about the novel, it is about the wondrous motion picture based on the work and normally there would not be a need to comment much about it, if at all, it is just that in the past, there have been a few scores of films that I loved, felt the need to express admiration and gratitude, without thinking that some, or anybody, might read and find it objectionable.   Only there have been maybe five, or ten comments in all, rejecting the notion that I could put my feelings down in connection with the novel, when all I know is about the movie and have not read the book, which is a pertinent condemnation, except I had mentioned the note is not about the opus, and when I find the script listed, I relate to that  ...

  Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner is one of my favorites, notwithstanding the fact that on The Greatest Books of All Time site, this sits as low as the 7720 th place, which means that I should perhaps reconsider the notion of checking with this list to see what to read next, it was not even the first time when I find something I admired out of the park – however, I have more than five thousand reviews of books from this place and notes on films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made at this address https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html if you care to check it     10 out of 10   I am ecstatic about this book, for it is the second time that I have read it and only set is aside a few hours ago, the first time I have listed to it in the https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/08/hotel-du-lac-by-anita-brookner.html 32x bus, it was something 300, but the thing that is important here is that it was so ...

  The Queen’s Necklace by Alexander Dumas TIME TRAVEL Amusement, Wisdom and Deceit   I was reading the other day in The Economist about The Queen’s Necklace and I was flabbergasted: -            What is this teenager, rather silly Dumas story doing here?! -            After all, the Economist is a serious, posh news magazine! -            It turns out, the plot is the same, but the interpretation is a new one. -            And the paper decided to have a review of the same old story, told by a new author I am not sure if a spoiler alert is in order here…I am interested to travel in time, with the help of this book, which might bring memories of my Ice Age, therefore I am not sure if this could be of any interest for you, in search of something on the Necklace and stumbling upon…Re...

  The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger Nine out of 10…or is it 7 out of 10     This is an extremely popular novel, with more than one million votes on what may be the most relevant reader’s site, goodreads, which compares more than favorably with classic, acclaimed opera, albeit the critics seem to have appreciated The Time Traveler’s Wife too, including it on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list.   https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/23/bestbooks-fiction   The author, Audrey Niffenegger appears to have been unhappy in her relationships, just like Rosamund Lehman before writing The Echoing Grove  http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-echoing-grove-by-rosamund-lehmann.html  and then both have been inspired by their experiences to create appreciate stories… Although yours truly has been engaged in the antics of the Time Traveler, his wife, her mother and father, his father, some friends and quite a number of other personages, impor...

  Shoplifters aka Manbiki Kazoku, written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda 10 out of 10 Given that Manbiki Kazoku has won the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and this is the most important cinematic prize, in terms of value confirmation for a motion picture, we could be talking about the best film of the year. It is also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, the Golden Globe, the BAFTA – all in the same category - and so many other prestigious prizes, at different festivals around the world. The fabulous motion picture looks at life on the edge of Japanese society, where destitute people live – this could be the tale of any family, in rich or poor countries, although the setting in one of the most advanced economies on the planet makes the plot even more heartbreaking. It must be said that for all the derived admiration that we have for Japan, there are quite a few aspects that are appalling – from the massacre of extremely intellig...

  The Farewell, written and directed by Lulu Wang Eight out of 10 The Farewell is not just critically acclaimed, with an astounding, if perhaps exaggerated average Metascore of 89, nominated for two Golden Globes, one for Best Motion Picture and the other for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Awkwafina – that’s right, she only uses one name, maybe because she is so amusing or she thinks she is on the same level with Madonna and the rest of one-name celebrities. However, although this film has also won the Movie of the Year at the American Film Institute Awards –and others to boot – for this cinephile, this was interesting, with merits, but in no way equal to say The Current War and furthermore, to put ever more emphasis on how flawed the undersigned is, the nominated, appreciated Awkwafina is, if not the main, at least one of the most important reasons why the comedy flopped for this viewer, with her exaggerated, artificial and inadequate ac...