vineri, 27 aprilie 2018

American Independent Film Festival 2.0.

de azi pina joi in Bucuresti=cinema Pro & MTR !
va recomand in special restropsectiva John Cassavetes la MTR (intrarea grautuita)
The Rider asta seara la MTR -20.30 si duminica la cinema pro la 18.00
Lucky -ultimul rol si recital Harry Dean Stanton
The Shooting (1966), anti-westernul lui Monte Hellman cu Jack Nicholson
Kuso la Control duminica seara (intrarea gratuita :)
Ice de Robert Kramer (1970) la MACAZ -1 mai (intrarea gratuita :) !
mai mult-toate proiectiiile de pe 1 mai vor fi cu intrarea gratuita :) !
cele trei proiectii cu I, Tonya si special guest star: Sebastian Stan
Programul complet al festivalului poate fi accesat aici:
http://filmedefestival.ro/american-independent- ff/program/
Iar biletele pot fi achiziționate aici:
https://eventbook.ro/program/american-independent- film-festival

luni, 16 aprilie 2018

R.Lee Ermey RIP

-This not even my desk-
this is the best line of R. Lee  (Ronald Lee , aka The Gunny) -from Seven (1996).
More than his rant in Full Metal Jacket (1987) which made him in-famous.
I put him in my Top Ten of Sargents. He spoofed his part in Peter Jackson¸s The Frighteners (1996) and in Toy Story. Former millitary man he began his film careeer in Apocalypse Now (1979) as a helicopter pilot. He served also as technical advisor. for F.F. Coppola
R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket (1987)-.....always three they are.:(..now this triangle is Milos Forman, Vittorio Taviani and R. Lee Ermey. He was 74.
--------------------------------------
obituary in Rolling Stone 


duminică, 15 aprilie 2018

Vittorio Taviani RIP

 There goes another maestro of European Cinema.
One flew to the east, one flew to the West...
Vittorio Taviani was 88. He is the oldest of the Taviani brothers. Together with his brother Paulo (b.1931), they directed Padre Padrone-1977-Palme dÓr in Cannes), Fiorile, KAOS, Good Morning Babylon (1987) Cesare dove morire (2012-Golden Bear in Berlinale) and Meraviglioso Boccacio (2015).
Vittorio Taviani
Variety obituary here



sâmbătă, 14 aprilie 2018

Milos Forman RIP

Friday 13th 2018. One of the greatests European directors, Master fireman chief Milos Forman taking off :( He has flown in another cuckoo's nest. He ws 86.
Last time I've seen him in the documentary on the making of the Man on the Moon, Jim and Andy, where he had maybe the toughest job of his career. Milos Forman Dead

one of my top films of my teenage age up to alltime best is One Flew Over The Cucoko's Nest. Then Amadeus. Then depends, his Czech films are great, funny, starirucal (Loves of a Blonde-1965, Fireman's Ball-1967). Same with his first American film -Taking Off-1971. One Flew was followed by Hair, Ragtime, Valmont, The People vs. Larry King, Goya's Ghosts-2006. Final film, back in the Czech rep. with his son, the musical comedy Dobre placená procházka/ A Walk Worthwhile, in 2009.
Goodnight, Milos....
Image may contain: 3 people, people standing and shoes
Variety piece here 
-will do a retrospective of his films in may at Cinemateca Patria , Brasov !

marți, 10 aprilie 2018

Cannes 71 poster

from Pierrot Le Fou, another kiss, just like the one between Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in 2013 (Cannes 66)...Belmondo (now 85) and Ana Karina and Godard with a new film on the Croisette !Image may contain: 1 person, sitting and text

luni, 2 aprilie 2018

Jesus Christ Superstar-Alice Cooper as King Herod !

Happy Easter !
Alice Cooper Superstar ? Alice as King Herod in the new version of Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert  that was broadcasted  in the USA on NBC last night ! 1300 people in the live audience, in an armory in Brooklyn, and  9.4 milion views on live TV !
the vaudeville song with Alice now reminds best of Last Man on Earth from his sequel album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare !

might be the rockiest and most interesting version yet ! of Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice's best musical -actually a still provocative rock opera- from 1970 ! Great production design, directing, cast and guitars...three :) !
John Legend is Jesus !!  So now he's Legend :)
And Brit actor Ben Daniels is a mean Pontius Pilate !
The whole thing is produced by Marc Platt (La La Land), which explains better the choice of John Legend !
interview about the project and character with Alice, here !
***
Variety tho didn't enjoy JCS and the duration of 2 h20 (40 minutes of commercials, saw the thing without at 1h40,  credits included). With one exception, of the Coop's performance, which at 5 minutes could be more of a cameo, though he's billed the third -and last- on the top billing -after Jesus and Mary Magdalene (Sara Bareilles)!

The musical was intensely earnest, often endearingly so. The entire cast, a multi-cultural tribe who looked as though they just left a loft party at 3 a.m. hungry for more adventure, was as energetically sincere as they could be almost all of the time. The exception was Alice Cooper, who stole the show when he emerged in an orange suit. But that adjective doesn’t begin to describe what he was wearing. Cooper’s threads looked like there were made out of flames — that’s how vivid and pleasingly eye-popping his tailored suit was — and yet the singer easily outshone his clothes. His rendition of “King Herod’s Song” was a star turn of the highest order, and a delightful amount of fun. If you can’t enjoy a dapper, devilish rock-god Herod surrounded by dancing ladies clad in outfits a Vegas showgirl would kill for, then perhaps live musicals on television are just not for you. (Your loss.)
*
Vulture judged it a  grand success ! while they didn't like the Coop so much they judged it like this:
NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Set a New Standard for Live Musicals (title)
Minute for minute, NBC’s Easter spectacle was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in the 20-plus years I’ve been writing about TV. (...) This Superstar was the closest that live television has come to creating a hybrid new form, combining elements of epic cinema, the stage musical, and the concert film. It’s a minor miracle.
*
New York Times loved the show and the Coop:
"...moments of startling clarity, including: Alice Cooper’s magnificently scenery-chewing performance of “King Herod’s Song”