Ataraxia

  Journey Into Fear by Eric Ambler is one of The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read – the author has two other books there, I have reviewed Epitaph for a Spy and The Mask of Dimitrios and thousands of other magnum opera from the aforementioned list, The Greatest Books of All Time and other pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel, where my macaws are the main attraction     8 out of 10   I have read and enjoyed Epitaph for a Spy https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/11/epitaph-for-spy-by-eric-ambler-is.html by Eric Ambler, which is also included on the list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, indeed, with Journey Into Fear I have come to the end of the triathlon, no more Ambler among the 1,000 You Must Read left for me   This was a good novel, fortunately, the audiobook version has an excellent reader, and he kept me on board, I tend to miss when it comes into that form – my ma...

  Tropic Thunder by Justin Theroux, Ben Stiller, directed by the latter, it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, for Robert Downey Jr., at the Golden Globes, both Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise were nominated for the same thing, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role – there are thousands of notes on films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made and other lists waiting for you on my blog (and they will be waiting for ever, without success, I just realized) https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel   8 out of 10   This is a crazy, good, original comedy, a bit over the top at times (or for most of the duration) but in many parts, quite funny, even Tom Cruise https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/09/eyes-wide-shut-by-stanley-kubrick.html has abandoned Ethan Hunt and has an unusual performance, as a fat bold tycoon…   Incidentally, I...

  Casanova’s Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell is the fifth volume of the chef d’oeuvre A Dance To The Music of Time, one of The Modern Library’s Top 100 Novels, and part of the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read compilation, it sits at 339 th on The Greatest Books of All Time site, and more importantly for this obscure corner, it is one of my Top 50 Favorites – you have thousands of reviews of magnum opera from the aforementioned and other sites waiting for you on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel if you prefer   10 out of 10   A Dance to The Music of Time https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-acceptance-world-by-anthony-powell.html is spectacular when read for the second time, but I just realized it will be blissful when taken on for the third, sometime in the next few years, and since I prophesize here, why not speak of the fourth round…   One of the fabulous aspects is ho...

  Life With Father by Howard Lindsay was the 1948 Nominee for The Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for William Powell, he was nominated for another three Academy Awards and other trophies, it is also one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made – you find thousands of notes on films from The NYT 1,000 and other pages, together with reviews of magnum opera from The GOAT and other lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel   9 out of 10   Life With Father is a very good comedy, I am not sure if it would make it on my Top 1,000 Features, but then it might, one thousand productions seems like a big number – in those years, I have only seen 801 from The NYT 1,000, although there are more than 5k notes on films from other sites on my blogs and YouTube channel   A Voyage Round My Father https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-voyage-round-my-father-by-john.html comes to m...

  Erotic Tales by Alberto Moravia, the outstanding author of the chef d’oeuvre Contempt aka Disprezzo, translated as Ghost at Noon, which sits at 48 on Le Monde’s Top 100 books of The Century, it is also one of the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, The Greatest Books of All Time’s   algorithm has it lower than I even deign to put here…nevertheless, it is one of my Top 100 Favorites – you have thousands of reviews of magnum opera from the aforementioned and other sites on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel, where my macaws are of more interest   8 out of 10   Contempt https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/contempt-by-alberto-moravia.html is a magnum opus, and if we are to compare that with Erotic Tales, then the latter would be dismissed, indeed, it is conceivably wrong to come to it with too high expectations, because one would be disappointed, and then there is   Daniel Kahnem...

  La Cosa E Altri Racconti by Alberto Moravia is part of his Erotic Tales – I am a great fan of Alberto Moravia: his chef d’oeuvre Contempt is included on Le Monde’s Top 100 Books of The Century, while The Time of Indifference is one of The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read – I have tried to find their ranks on The Greatest Books of All Time site, only it is not working for now, you get no results, which is abominable, but then I checked with Montaigne, and he is also absent, which is anathema – you find thousands of reviews of books from the aforementioned and other pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel, depending on your choice   8 out of 10   I have been mesmerized by Contempt https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/contempt-by-alberto-moravia.html the adaptation has the late Brigite Bardot in one of the leading roles, and I also remember the interpretation of Ulysses that the glorious...

  At Lady Molly’s by Anthony Powell is the fourth volume of A Dance To The Music of Time which is 43 rd on The Modern Library’s Top 100 Novels list, also one of the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, ranked 339 th on The Greatest Books of All Time site, and more importantly for this space, it is one of my Top 50 Favorites – you find thousands of reviews of magnum opera from the aforementioned and other pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel   10 out of 10   At Lady Molly’s was enchanting the second time https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-acceptance-world-by-anthony-powell.html A Dance To The Music of Time will surely be mesmerizing when I get to it for the third time, in a few years’ time…the plan is to put in between Kingsley Amis’ magnum opera for the second time as well   One of the very interesting characters in this fourth volume is the butler- Smith moves between ...

  Woman in A Black Cloak by Alberto Moravia is one of The Erotic Tales that seem so different from his magnum opera: Contempt aka Ghost at Noon is 48 th on Le Monde’s Top 100 books of The Century, also part of my Top 100 Favorites, while The Time of Indifference is one of the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read – you have thousands of reviews of masterpieces from the aforementioned and other sites on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and/ or YouTube channel   8 out of 10   Contempt, or Disprezzo, which was called Ghost at Noon in English, is one of my favorite books https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/contempt-by-alberto-moravia.html and I was mesmerized by The Time of Indifference too – Contempt even has a outré theory on The Odyssey and its main protagonist   Alberto Moravia explains the long journey in a different way: Ulysses or Odysseus did not want to return to Ithaca, Penelope mainly, and that ...

  The Man With The Golden Arm by Nelson Algren was the 1956 Nominee for three Oscars, including for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Frank Sinatra, it is also one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, having seen this one, I am now at 801 features checked on this NYT 1,000 site, and you find thousands of notes on films from this an other pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel, if you prefer it that way   7 out of 10   I have not been impressed by The Man With The Golden Arm, The Tender Trap https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-tender-trap-by-max-shulman-and.html is another Sinatra vehicle I have seen recently and neither finds a place on my list of Top 500, not even The Best 2,000 or more   ‘to be honest’ – we have learned in some AT&T training that one should not use something like that, because it makes it look as if in the other situations you are not...

  An Evening With Groucho Marx by Groucho Marx – he was the leader of one of the best comedy teams of all time: their Night at The Opera and Duck Soup are the among the greatest comedies of all time (again) – you find thousands of 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 and YouTube channel   8 out of 10   Groucho Marx was one of the best comedians ever https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/04/a-night-at-opera-with-marx-brothers.html with his brothers he blessed audiences with some masterpieces, and he has also left some memorable quotes – ‘I will not belong to a club that would have me as a member’ is just one of them   An Evening With Groucho was something like the stand up acts we see today, maybe he invented the genre, at the start, we hear a new anecdote, at least it was new for me: he has lunch with the presenter – als...

  Black Sunday by Thomas Harris is one of The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, although it is ranked only 5375 th on the Greatest Books of All Time, the author has two other books that are acclaimed: Red Dragon, and the better known Silence of The Lambs – The Orange American Psycho keeps talking about the ‘great Hannibal Lecter’, but then he is so much off his rocker that this only confirms the diagnosis – you find thousands of notes on magnum opera from the aforementioned and other sites on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and my well hidden YouTube channel   7 out of 10   Everyone knows about Silence of The Lambs https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2023/12/silence-of-lambs-based-on-novel-by.html even the American Orange Psycho who keeps talking about the ‘great Hannibal Lecter’, either because he has no idea who that is, or he fancies himself as another serial killer, and he likes those monsters   We d...

  The Acceptance World by Anthony Powell is the third book in the roman fleuve A Dance To The Music of All Time, which is included on The Modern Library’s Top 100 Novels, among the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, it is ranked 339 th on The Greatest Books of All Time site, and more importantly for this space, it is among my Top 20 – you find thousands of reviews -not necessarily crème de la crème – on magnum opera from the aforementioned and other lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel, in case I am not on Goodreads anymore   10 out of 10   I have been thrilled by A Dance To The Music of Time https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/04/a-buyers-market-is-second-novel-in.html the first time I had the chance to read it, and now I am blessed again, The Acceptance World is the third volume, part of this repeated joy ride, seeing as I still have the Kingsley Amis oeuvre…   I am set for ...

  Stormy Monday written and directed by Mike Figgis is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made…with this, I have reached the 800 seen mark from this list, which is relative, in that there are some that I will not be able to find, others might not – or definitely – be of interest, so in this space, there may be just another one hundred posts on features from The NYT 1,000, nevertheless, you have thousands of notes on films from there and other sites on my blog   https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and/or YouTube channel, if you are curious   7, maybe 6 out of 10   I was not exhilarated, indeed, I even wonder why Stormy Monday made it on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list, for it clearly will not be included on my own, not even if I manage to put together 5,000 titles…or well, maybe then, being left out of names, it has to do with a few elements to consider   Leaving Las Vegas htt...

  Three Colors – Red written and directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski was nominated for three Oscars in 1995, including for Best Director and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, it was also nominated for The Palme d’Or, BAFTAs and other prizes, it is also one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies of All Time – you find thousands of notes on films from The NYT 1,000 and other sites, plus other thousands of reviews on magnum opera from The Greatest Books of All Time and other lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel, if you prefer this medium   8 out of 10   Krzysztof Kieslowski is celebrated as one of the greatest film makers of all time, his Dekalog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/10/dekalog-episode-8-by-krzysztof.html is included on The TIME 100 Best Movies list, and his trilogy has also made it into the most prestigious compilations, though I do not know about m...