Ataraxia

  4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days aka 4 Luni, 3 Saptamani si 2 Zile, written and directed by Cristian Mungiu A different version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at: -               https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E  and    http://realini.blogspot.ro/ This is the winner of what I consider as the most prestigious award that a film can win: -            The Palme d’Or in 2007 There are obviously a multitude of other prizes, even if the Academy Awards members have proved again that they often make mistakes: -            One of the best films ever has not been even nominated -            It was on the list of nominees for the Golden Globe for Foreign Film, but lost to The Bell and the Butterfl...

  Lady Bird by Greta Gerwig Lady Bird has been nominated for four Golden Globes, the 2018 ceremony, which is to take place in eleven days: ·           Best Motion Picture- musical or comedy ·           Best Screenplay – Greta Gerwig ·           Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role- Saoirse Ronan ·           Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Laurie Metcalf Greta Gerwig is an exceptional film maker, screenwriter, and actress. I have appreciated her performances in: -            Mistress America – for which she has been one of the two screenplay writers and one of the leading actresses -            Jackie -         ...

  Pain and Glory, written and directed by Pedro Almodovar 8.5 out of 10 For some strange reason, this cinephile is not overwhelmed by the selection for the 2020 Golden Globes, with the notable exception of Parasite – which is indeed surely the main reason why the other nominees are so unrewarding, because when compared with this magnum opus, they pale and seem to lack the power, originality, complexity, challenge of the South Korean masterpiece – from The joker, through Dolemite is My Name to Knives Out and finishing with Dolor y Gloria, the acclaimed Spanish production. Pain and glory has been nominated not only for two Golden Globes, for Best Motion Picture – foreign Language and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama – but more importantly, apart from nominations and prizes won among other places at the European Film Awards, this movie has been short listed for the most important cinematic award in the world, the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, where it...

  I, Tonya screenplay by Steven Rogers Dark humor, competition, obsession, failure I, Tonya is nominated for three Golden Globes, in the 2018 competition. Margot Robbie is nominated for her portrayal of the ice skater Tonya Harding, Allison Janey for the supporting role of Harding’s mother, LaVona Golden, and the motion picture for the category of best musical or comedy… This is an excellent comedy, with quite a lot of drama in it. Most of the characters are both obnoxious and competitive, if the latter in some sick, twisted manner. LaVona Golden is the one who wants her daughter to become a very good ice skater, in fact nothing less than a champion will do. She is pushing her daughter to extremes and what she does is more than child abuse, it amounts to torture. -            That childhood abuse could and probably does explain a lot of Tonya’s behavior In one early scene, LaVona takes her three or four year old daughter to get ice ...

  I loved both The Golden Calf and The Twelve Chairs, by Ilf and Petrov. I would say for both books, what Sinclair said about The Golden Calf: "....Upton Sinclair “assured us that he'd never laughed as hard ashe did while reading The Little Golden Calf. ... he announced thathe practically had it memorized.”— Letters of Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov (1935) There is a sadness and regret as I write this, since I had to live through all that: Yes, Ilf and Petrov make it all sound very funny, but the humor is black. When you have to put up with the stupidity, bureaucracy, cleptocracy and tiranny it gets depressing and the laughter sounds hollow. “A grand satirical novel... There is more of Russia in this book than in a dozen treatises written by foreigners.” — New York Times(1932) The problem with Russia is that under Putin some of the things in The Twelve Chairs and The Golden Calf are still true.

  Jojo Rabbit, written and directed by Taika Waititi, based on the novel by Christine Leunens Nine out of 10 This is a note on the film based on the book. Having seen the enchanting, original Hunt for the Wilderpeople -  http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/02/hunt-for-wilderpeople-based-on-book-by.html  - this viewer has had the occasion to appreciate the considerable talent of Taika Waititi, writer–director Oscar nominated for another, short film, the one who has been appreciated for this motion picture, nominated for two Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild and other awards, but also criticized by outlets such as Variety: “It’s like a Wes Anderson movie set during the Third Reich. ... And yet it’s not as if it’s a terrible movie; it’s actually a studiously conventional movie dressed up in the self-congratulatory “daring” of its look!-let’s-prank-the-Nazis cachet.” If you consider that this may be The Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, in which you have the Best Perform...

  The Golden Age The Lost beautiful world This tale starts with an interesting argument or description of a castle that made me think I am reading the wrong book. This could happen, for I am getting into a perhaps malicious habit of reading from a number of 6, 7 books throughout the day. The idea would be to have variety, first of all, since this is one of the keys of happiness as it is explained by Stefan Klein. In his amazing book on Happiness he offers some excellent advice on how to get happier and diversity comes on top of the list. The Golden Age, like other stories of John Cheever could serve as a small treatise on well being and is a joy to read. -            Learning about the castle, the martinis drank on embattlements, bathing in the fountain is awesome  We then watch a couple of Americans coming over and with detachment, the author talks about the ridiculousness of the traveler.  A father, wife and two boys wit...

  The Caballero’s Way by O’Henry Exquisite and funny, in spite of all the people that are killed in it- 10 out of 10   O’Henry is by now one of my favorite authors. His humor has reminded me of Larry McMurtry and his fabulous Lonesome Dove that deals with the same part of America. The other day, Kent Smith has told me that O’Henry used to live in Austin, Texas where his former abode is a museum now. If I ever travel to Austin, which I only give a chance in a thousand of happening, I will have to try and stop there. The most extraordinary thing about O’Henry from where I look is his Serenity and the capability to analyze with fantastic accuracy. He combines the outrageous with the funny, the killer becoming a clownish figure, only to become a Daredevil again. The Cisco Kid is the hero and a villainous one at that. He kills people and has no regard for human life and his adversaries, but abides by some weird code of honor. „The Cisco Kid had killed six men in more or less fair s...