Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare – The Comedies, Histories and Tragedies are ranked 128th on The Greatest Books of All time site, although he was once celebrated as the nec plus ultra, things have changed apparently, I was stupefied to read in The Economist that people know about Dan Brown – less than mediocre, when set against the luminaries – while Nineteen Eighty Four, Jane Eyre are lower than eighty, in the works hoi polloi have heard of, and The Da Vinci Code is somewhere near ten in this survey, ou sont les neiges d’antan, as Francois Villon said – nevertheless, you find more than five thousand reviews of magnum opera from the GOAT and other lists, together with notes on films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made compilation and others on my blog and YouTube channel https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html maybe you even have feedback

 

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare – The Comedies, Histories and Tragedies are ranked 128^th on The Greatest Books of All time site, although he was once celebrated as the nec plus ultra, things have changed apparently, I was stupefied to read in The Economist that people know about Dan Brown – less than mediocre, when set against the luminaries – while Nineteen Eighty Four, Jane Eyre are lower than eighty, in the works hoi polloi have heard of, and The Da Vinci Code is somewhere near ten in this survey, ou sont les neiges d’antan, as Francois Villon said – nevertheless, you find more than five thousand reviews of magnum opera from the GOAT and other lists, together with notes on films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made compilation and others on my blog and YouTube channel https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html maybe you even have feedback

 

 

9 out of 10

 

This note refers to the adaptation for the big screen directed by Kenneth Branagh, who wrote the screenplay and stars in the film, with an incredible cast, the crème de la crème, Denzel Washington, Emma Thompson, Keanu Revees, Michael Keaton, Imelda Staunton, Kate Beckinsale, Brain Blessed and many others

 

Shakespeare has been an inspiration for me ever since I was a teenager https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/07/hamlet-by-william-shakespeare.html although not in the sophisticated manner specific to erudite folks, more on the animal level, I saw, heard the characters and felt they were noble

 

These knights, kings seemed worth emulating, they stood up with pride, were riding horses and looked imposing, it felt as if this is what men act and look like, the speech was impressive, they suggested strength – there was that small matter of ‘frailty thy name is woman’ from Hamlet, but these were different times

There is humor in Much Ado About Nothing and in the…sonnets: ‘Past cure I am, now reason is past care…For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright, Who art as black as hell, as dark as night’ https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-sonnets-by-shakespeare-is-supposed.html but at the center there is romance and drama

 

Indeed, I was reminded of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, the splendid play by Edward Albee, especially the version in which Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton fight each other, and the result is tumultuous, mesmerizing, some of the best acting I have seen, meanwhile, Kenneth Brannagh must have been married to Emma Thomspon when filming Much Ado About Nothing, and I wonder what the impact has been

https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/06/whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf-by-edward.html come to think of it, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor separated, there is also the example of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman doing Eyes Wide Shut with another god of cinema, Stanley Kubrick, his last master work, and as they clash on screen, they would also separate in real life, just like Emma Thomspon and Kenneth Brannagh would

 

ergo the conclusion that thespians should avoid such features, or maybe there is correlation not causation, furthermore, the rate of divorce in this environment might be among the highest – I used to know that lawyers are the most depressed, suicidal, and with highest rates of divorce, some years back, and in America

to be an actor is dangerous, especially when they embrace method acting, as say Daniel Day Lewis – Brian Cox criticized this style and underlined that Day Lweis has burned out at fifty, only he is back now in a film directed by his son, Lewis, not Cox- and I had some proof recently, as Jim Caviezel came to…our club

 

he was in the gym, then in the sauna, and I said I know him from some films – could not place him with the Passion of The Christ, rather gruesome suffering there – and then he introduced himself to the men there and started on a series of conspiracy theories, explained how convinced he is Trump is excellent, even Putin is a good guy in his telling, by this point I had enough and left the enclosure, saying Jesus Christ almighty!

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence

Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the benefits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’