Ataraxia

  King of the Belgians by Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth   King of the Belgians is a very entertaining comedy. And not only that, but it deals with themes that are relevant for politics, mass media, the Balkans and Turkey. -            Not to mention Belgium itself The premise is that his Majesty, Nicolas III, Le Roi des Belges is visiting Turkey at the beginning of this very good film. Turkey is a problem for the European Union- in fact, not just one, but a few: -            It has a ruler with tyrannical tendencies and Erdogan is already trampling on human rights and sending thousands behind bars -            On the other hand, The European Union needs Turkey to try and stop the flow of refugees coming from Syria, Iraq and other places As the king is waiting for this new era sultan that is not named in the motion picture...

  Bounce, written and directed by Don Roos 7.8 out of 10 Despite the fact that it stars Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow – or is it because of that, given the rather unsavory reputation that the latter seems to have nowadays – this motion picture is forgettable. The premise could be conceived as peculiar, or for those who are more tolerant, they could think it is original, to some extent. Ben Affleck is not spectacular, but still decent in the role of Buddy Amaral, an advertising executive, junior partner, with 20%, in a company mostly owned and led by Jim Willer. As he is waiting for a flight to Los Angeles, he meets with beautiful Mimi Prager aka Natasha Henstridge and Greg Janello, a writer that has had a play performed, something with a Bat on the Doorstep, which had not enjoyed enthusiastic reviews, but he is also writing material for television. Buddy is a womanizer and this would make the idea that he would suddenly, or gradually for that matter, get so thrilled to be with a ...

  Becket, based on play by Jean Anouilh and translated by Lucienne Hill Becket is a spectacular, effervescent, triumphant, delightful, ecstatic, masterful motion picture. It was nominated for a formidable Twelve Academy Awards and that includes the most prestigious ones: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role…Twice: for both Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole, with solid performances The list continues with Best Actor in a Supporting Role for John Gielgud as the King of France, Louis VII, Best Director and it won for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. The plot has at its center the unusual love between King Henry II and his friend Thomas Becket. The former is portrayed by the outstanding, classic Peter O’Toole and the latter by the equally glorious Richard Burton. It is written that Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton have enjoyed the set of this masterpiece, perhaps too much: "Me, Burton, Richard Harris – we did in public what everyone else did in priv...

  Le Rendez- Vous de Senlis by Jean Anouilh Let me see if I got this right-   George is a young married man, no longer capable to live with his wife. He has more than an affair; he falls in love with Isabelle. In order to seduce her, and perhaps for other psychoanalyzeable reasons, George tells Isabelle quite a few stories about: -            His friend Robert, who is very worthy in George’s  fiction, but rather despicable in reality -            The parents that would come for a dinner In fact, the introduction that I heard today is rather intriguing. The version of the play that I listened to was adapted for the Romanian Radio. I am not sure how much has been changed from the original, if anything. George is making the arrangements with a landlady, from whom he is renting a place for which he has to sign an inventory. The play has quite a few humorous moments- the wo...

  Medee by Jean Anouilh   Spoiler alert: I will not let you in on the intrigue- on the contrary. I disliked the play so much that I will write about anything, but the work in question. So there will be nothing on this Medee and much talk about other things. A spoiler alert is here to warn you that I disclose an ending or something, but I felt one is in order just the same. Since I did not enjoy all that much the original Medee, I am not sure what I was expecting from a modern version. Sometimes, there is a completely new perspective, indeed, so fresh that you do not even recognize the original material Well, maybe you do. I don’t. I went to see a modern adaptation of Richard III, which was centered on the 3 rd  Reich and the Nazis. Interesting, but very different from what I had known. Last night, on Romanian TV, there was a new vision of Hedda Gabler, which seemed to sin in a way that has become habit: -            Shouti...

  Blackmail by Lyudmila Razumovskaya A little horror story that was quite good- 8 out of 10   It all starts with innocent students paying a visit to their teacher- Elena Sergheievna, who is celebrating her birthday. But that is how movies like Friday the 13 th  or Texas Chainsaw Massacre and vampire tales start, sedating the public. These students wish their teacher all the best and congratulate and influence her, trying to appear the kindest guys on earth. They talk about their plans to attend various universities and then about the exam which just took place. It was a disaster, because they did not know a thing and this in spite of the fact that the teacher has tried to help. This is about the only bad thing that Elena Sergheievna does throughout this adaptation, where she is the good heroine. Among the students Volodea is the leader and most corrupt of them all, a villain that at times puts Rasputin to shame. After the initial amiabilities and offers of help with the t...

  Religion and The History of Violence by Karen Armstrong – this is one of my favorite authors, so I will end 2025 on a high note, or as optimistic as possible, considering the state of the world – I will continue as if you are interested in the more than five thousand reviews on magnum opera from The Greatest Books of All Time and other pages, together with another 5k or so notes on films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made and other sites on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html     10 out of 10   Karen Armstrong https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/01/islam-short-history-by-karen-armstrong.html is not just one of my favorite authors, she may have also changed my life, reading quite a few of her marvelous books I could grasp that religion is not about having the existence of God demonstrated This mesmerizing luminary explains the apparent discrepancies, falsities in the Bible and other ho...