No Other Choice (2025)

1st film I saw on 2026 it's one of the best of 2025 and one of Park Chan-wook's best. No Other Choice aka Eojjeolsuga eobsda.  It's also the offical Korean Submission for Best International film at the Oscars and it's nominated for 3 Golden Globes Awards. No Other Choice premiered in the 2025 Venice Film Fest Competition. It won Best Director in Sitges FF. 

It's limited in Romanian Cinemas now, so try to see it on the big screen, it's worthy. Just peropeare for slower development, the film has 2h19 mins.

I follow the Korean director for 25 years, ever since he came to Bucharest with his 1st feature, JSA (Joint Security Area) at the 1st Festasia fest edition.  That was before Oldboy, Mr. and Mrs. Vengeance, Thirst, Handmaiden and Stoker. Saw most of his oeuvre, also the HBO series The Sympathiser, so I can say that this one it's one of his best. 

Lee Byung-hun who is South Korean leading man is here a Paper Man, formerly "Pulp Man of the Year 2019." He was also in PCWook's JSA, in A Bittersweet Life, Squid Game series, even in G.I. Joe. He gets back at working with PCW after 25 years. Here he is a plain family man, with a desperate will to get back to his job that was downsized.  Son Ye-jin is great too as his wife Miri, and so is the son Si-one and the daughter Ri-One- playing cello. And the two dogs (Si-Two and Ri-Two). And all the supporting characters. Great supporting characters !

It's a Korean Le Coupert / The Axe, based on Donald  E.Westlake 1997 novel. It was made before by Costa-Gavras in 2005 as The Ax, a great black comedy, merciless, starring José Garcia. But Wook-Chan goes even further in absurdity and satire. He co-wrote this with Don McKellar, they worked together before on The Sympathiser. The film is produced by Costa-Gavras family and it's dedicated to the Greek director, who kept the rights of the novel and gave them to Park Chan. The film was supposed to be in English first (starting 2009) but kept developing.

Via IMDB: During a live discussion with Costa-Gavras at the 2019 Busan International Film Festival, Park told audiences that he was still working on his adaptation of Westlake's novel. The film was described by Park as a "lifetime project" and that while he hadn't begun filming it yet, he wished "to make this film as my masterpiece." Gavras, who still held the rights to the book, had helped Park to develop the project. The film was set to be an English-language picture, with Don McKellar co-writing the script alongside Park.

The design is fabulous too, from the bonsai and the greenhouse to the seasons change, going from summer to winter (it was shot in a period of five months, from August 2024 to January 2025). The colors are very important for the transitions and the story. Impeccable widescreen (2.35 : 1) cinematography  (by Kim Woo-hyung who worked before with the director on The Little Drummer Girl series) and editing (Kim Sang-bum, Park's editor since JSA), adding to the plot points and directing. 

Great score too, and great idea of a cello subplot, by Chan-wook Park's collaborator, Cho Young-Wuk.  The score includes incidental classical music, Mozart piano concerto (no. 23!), Marin Marais and pop hits, Korean and American (Hold On I'm Coming by Sam and Dave -1966), edited and directed on camera (one set-piece might as well be the best Cinema scene of 2025!-and the funniest -with subtitles too ;).

4 out of 5 / 8 out of 10 !!!

“I've always been trying to follow the footsteps of the great masters of cinema, most of whom have passed away today. I've tried very hard to reach their level. And I think in certain scenes or certain films, I might have reached a similar level, but there's still a very long way to go. So, when I think about how many more films I can make for the rest of my life, I feel very rushed.”

Park Chan-wook 

*the screenplay of the film in English can be found here !!! 

Sinners (2025)

"Dance with the Devil"

Sinners is an unexpected mix of black Americana, Southern Gothic horror, vampire fare, legends and racial tale told on Blues rhythms and chords. With a twist of folk-lore, religion and superstition. And Blues. Did I say Blues ?

It's also an epic western (epic on scope and duration, 2hr. 17 min.), the deal with the devil, Robert Johnson's style, KKK and moonshine in 1932's Louisiana.

Shades of Walter Hill (stylistically lots of his films, his style -think Last Man Standing, and major plot point: Crossroads), Tarantino & Rodriguez (From Dusk' Til Dawn and Coogler says The Faculty was an inspiration), John Carpenter (The Thing, Vampires), Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark), 

Beautfully shot in Super 70 Panavision by Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Wakanda Forever) and presented in IMAX (shot on a ratio of 2.76 : 1), Sinners is acted with intensity and seriousness (Michael B. Jordan in a dual role, Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim,  Hailee Steinfeld as the white hottie, brit Jack O'Connell as Remmick) and scored magnificently by  Ludwig Göransson in his 4th collaboration with Ryan Coogler (after Black Panther, BP: Wakanda Forever and Creed).

Miles Caton mesmerizes as Sammie Moore, the made-up kid musician played in his old age by none other than Mr. Legend, Buddy Guy. Reason enuff for any blues aficionado to see the film !!! On the BIG Screen, brother, and if you live close to an IMAX environment, pls. go there !

Add to this a grand soundtrack companion.

And a pulsating original score by  Ludwig Göransson-who admires the blues since a kid in Sweden, did his homework seriously and this represents a tribute to his father. His credits are on banjo / music / musician: banjo / musician: resonator guitar / resonator guitar / score producer.

The Sinners Band:

Cedric Burnside -drums

Lester Snell-piano

Lars Ulrich-drums

Eric Gales-guitar

Alvin Youngblood Hart-guitar

Christophe "Kingfish" Ingram -guitar

Bobby Rush-harmonica

Buddy Guy-resonator guitar

Miles Caton-resonator guitar

Rave reviews, powerful BO, makes this a rare bird. Act one is slow, so give it time to warm up, it'll stay with ya afterwards. 

4 out of 5, 8 out of 10 !!!

Never Let Go (2024)

Never Let Go (2024):  I'm quite puzzled by the ratings, they're like for a mediocre film/ or were people's expectations too high ? It seems that is a "way too much thinking and speculation" film, that's why it flopped.

Halle Berry was before in horror in Gothika (a bad thriller, d. by Mathieu Kassovitz, 2003), this is the second time she works with a French director.

Alexandre Aja is a very stylish horrormeister, he shot two films in Romania, Haute Tension and Mirrors, then he made it to the big league in the US with creepy remke to The Hills Have Eyes, the fun fun Piranha 3D remake, the crocodile fare Crawl, the weird one Horns, He is the son of director Alexandre Arcady. His last film before NLG, Oxygene, shot during the pandemic, went on to stream on Netflix.

NLG is also a gimmicky film, sure you got that, and I'm not gonna spoil anything here but the gimmick it's in the style of mr. Twist and Shout M. Night Shayamalan, (The Village, Knock on Cabin), just that the drama and it's subtler and darker.  The writers, Ryan Grassby and KC Coughlin wrote  The King's Tide, which is still on my "to see" list. The film was then titled "Mother Land". Woud've loved that title much more.

A big plus of NLG is the superb acting of Halle Berry (again taking on a risquee part, it's her film after all, she produced it too) and the two kids, Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV). There is a twist on the Abel and Cain story here too. And on Hansel & Gretel, for all that matters. References to Grimm and Anderson's dark fairy tales are on the screen for you to see. And judge. 

Opening credits roll a la The Shining, the music score by ROB is dense and thrilling (his third score for Aja after Horns and Oxygene) and you'll never hear "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (the 1928 bluesy song by Harry McClintock, that was also in O Brother Where Art Tho ?), again the same way. 

Aja's old collaborators are there, Maxime Alexandre as DOP  (in widescreen 2.11.1 by Alexa digital), and Gregory Levasseur (his buddy screenwriter), now as the director of the Second Unit. NLG was shot in British Columbia, in the wilderness of the woods.

And the dog, Koda (Brass), is worth a Palme Dog ;)

To be seen in a theater (the soundscape is fantastic and the photography it's just beautiful).

7 out of 10 / 3 1/2 out of 5 

The Bikeriders (2023)

"They felt undesirable. They felt unwanted. And that's why they ended up together." 

(Jeff Nichols)

In cinemas now The Bikeriders, Jeff Nichols' sixth film. Was not a big fan, but saw them all, from Shotgun Stories in Bucharest BIFF to Mud even in Cannes in Bunuel, ,Take Shelter, Midnight Special to Loving (which somehow left me unloved)...

This was supposed to be released last summer but the studios had no faith in it. Went to Mill Valley Fest, won directing, sat a bit, now it's out. See it on the big screen, it's widescreen, (2.39.1) & the sound  is awesome (as is the soundtrack)!

Based on a photo-book that looks great, by Danny Lyon who documented the life and runs of a bike gang (the Chicago Outlaws MC, name changed in the film to "The Vandals"), first published in 1968 and republished tons ever since. 

It's like  Goodfellas on bikes. No Pesci character tho. Tom Hardy was great, found an inner space for the part. Jodie Comer's accent drove me nuts, Austin Butler (elvis) too young and rough for the part. Supporting wagon- but they could've handled more. Michael Shannon-Nichols doppleganger, in his every film, Damon Herriman-one of my faved aussies (Mr. Inbetween, Quarry, Justified, OUATIH, Mindhunter), Boyd Holbrook, Norman Reedus. And mind the "Benny Blanco from the Bronx" syndrome 

Anyway, for Nichols kudos for the atmosphere and reconstruction of that era, his best and most ambitious flick yet.

3 1/2 out of 5, 7 out of 10 !

With this heard about a new band (new for me that is), LUCERO, Nichols' brother, Ben Nichols' band and on the closing titles, his/their song from 20025, Bikeriders (from his band's album Nobody's Darlings) . Pretty punk, reminded me of Wayne Kramer, Dropkick Murphy's and Headstones.

Ben was the one who told his brother about the book and pushed him into doing this film. BTW, Jeff dropped out of the A Quiet Place prequel in order to get this done. Great idea ;)

*****

The soundtrack of Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders:

“Lonely Room” by Mickey Murray

“I Wanna Holler But the Town’s Too Small” by Gary U.S. Bonds

“Declaration of Independence” by Count Five

“Talkin Bout You” by The Animals

“Come and Get It” by Leroy Tooks

“Out in the Streets” written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, Performed by Adrienne Pedrotti, Michelle M. Kahan & Leila Louise Henley

“Out in the Streets” by The Shangri-Las

“My Babe” by Dale Hawkins”

“Get Up and Get Out” by Clint Stacey

“Chino” from “The Wild One” by Leith Stevens

“Raunchy” by Bill Justis

“That’s All I Need” by Magic Sam

“Mama Talk To Your Daughter” by Magic Sam

“Road Runner” by Bo Diddley

“Mannish Boy (Electric Mud Version)” by Muddy Waters

“I Feel Free” by Cream

“New Orleans” by Garry U.S. Bonds

“Hush Little Baby” by Deon Jackson

“Baby Please Don’t Go” by Them feat. Van Morrison

“Master of War” by The Staple Singers

“Bet You’re Surprized” by Aaron Neville

“I’m Going Home” by The Sonics

“I’ll Never Learn” by The Shangri-Las

“I Can See” by Liberty Bell

“Oh Love” by Brother T. and Family

“I Don’t Know Who to Blame” by Pugsley Munion

“Down On the Street” by The Stooges

“Treat Him Right” by Mickey Murray

“I Don’t Worry Myself” by Johnny Adams

“Vandalize” by Ben Nichols

“Come Softly To Me” by the Fleetwoods

“Bikeriders” by Lucero

Sugar (2024)

Sugar is described as "a genre-bending contemporary take on the private detective story set in Los Angeles".

Apple tv+ new noir series SUGAR by Mark Protosevich (The Cell) divided people because of its gimmick.  It's L.A. Noir with a Twist. And it's a show for cinephiles with a cinephile dick and lots of classic noir films quoted directly on the screen (Kiss Me Deadly, Double Indemnity, Night of the Hunter, The Big Heat, Sweet Smell of Success, Sunset Blvd. and many many more -see the whole list here.).  

Colin Farrell is great as John Sugar, a private eye roaming LA in his superb blue 1966 convertible Chevrolet Stingray Corvette, but there's more than meets the eye (sic) in this 8 parts neo-noir series (short episodes, 30 mins.) as opposed to Ripley or Fallout or The Sympathiser's 1 hour + durations-named here the series I enjoyed this year so far, plus The Gentlemen). And I was waiting for each epsidode, so I watched this every week, for a period of two months, having heard from before starting it that it had a twist, quoted by The Guardian as terrible. Well, it's quite the opposite, great and new and brave.

Well, I for one, enjoyed it very much. Maybe because I so much like Colin Farrell and his (sad) smile, and his gaze. Farrell is great whatever he's in, either being Alexander, The Way Back, In Bruges or its L.A. version,  Seven Psychopats, even a lesser London Boulevard.. arthouse: Lanthimos' The Lobster but better in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Ondine, Triage, The Beguiled, up to the grand summit- The Banshees of Inisherin,   

in True Detective season 2 -or unrecognizable (great too!)  in the new Batman (waiting to see his turn as The Penguin in his own series), even aa a cameo (in Gilliam's Parnassus).

And Amy Ryan  (which I recentley rediscovered in Gone Baby Gone), as an old rocker (Patti Smith, Blondie, Joan Jett style- who would believe her as that? ), was great, mature, warm.

Plus the dog is fabulous (and the cat).

And mr. James Cromwell, as an old Hollywood tycoon.

Series directed by Brazilian Fernando Meirelles (which went from his Cidade de Deus to great American TV)-5 eps. & Adam Arkin (Alan Arkin's son, an expert streaming series director- Succession, The Offer) -3 eps.

Great soundtrack too, with cool songs, some known, some obscure. Whole list here. Very nice use of Iggy's The Passenger.

“I believe movies are a conspiracy. They you set up from the time you are a little kid. They set you up to believe in everything, from ideals, and strength, and good guys.”

(Minnie in Minnie & Moskowitz by John Cassavettes-1971)* 

* I mean Gena Rowlands in the film Sugar goes to see in a cinema on ep. 2

Ripley (2024)

...after so many incarnations, starting with Plein Soleil/Purple Noon (1960), where Alain Delon was Tom Ripley, the Patricia Highsmith absolute spellbinding psycho-sociopath is back ! 

In black and white and extended duration ! Since y-day- 4.4.24- on Netflix  (they bought it from Showtime)!

Steven Zaillian, master screenwriter (from Schindler's List to The Irishman) and art-house director (Searching for Bobby Fisher), social activism ( A Civil  Action), unlucky remake (All the King's Men), great HBO mini-series (The Night Of, in my Top 2016), took the time (it feels and it looks) to write and direct RIPLEY, an ambitios, artsy adaptation of the NOVEL The Talented Mr. Ripley (published in 1955 and followed by 4 sequels!) set in Italy in 1960, in no less than 8 episodes, marked I to VIII (V Lucio, man, loved the pun! and the last shot, that was a genius finesse touch).  Another masterful touch and change from the novel can be found here.  Zaillian is slowly developing his painting on a vast canvas and takes his time to boil into the mind and psyche of Ripley, one of the most fascinating characters in literature and film history !  The novel has been also adapted in a highly successful film that I am not a big fan of (in 1999 by Anthony Minghella, with Matt Damon as Tom Ripley).

An older Ripley has been portrayed by Dennis Hopper in Der Amerikanishe Freund (Wim Wenders, 1977), John Malkovich in Ripley's Game (Liliana Cavani, 2002) and Barry Pepper in Ripley Under Ground (2005, Roger Spotiswoode).

Irishman Andrew Scott who did a brilliant mastermind villain in the BBC Sherlock series, namely Moriarty and recently a grand acting job in All of Us Strangers, kills (metaphorically and practically ;) as the best Tom Ripley 2 date.

And Brit Johnny Flynn (The Outfit) is a brilliant Dickie Greenleaf,  putting on both the spleen and the class. Dakota Fanning is Marge Sherwood, good part for her, but she does not shine. Well, also the      character does not in the story.  Maurizio Lombardi as Inspector Ravini is wonderful, the accent, the manierisms, a cross between Lee Van Cleef and Buster Keaton. We got also lady Margherita Buy, which I saw last in Nani Moretti's Il sol dell'avvenire . Playwright Kenneth Lonergan is Dickie's father, Herbert Greenleaf. And Eliot Sumner as Freddy Miles (Sumner is Sting's non-binary child, I learned a new word with this, (non-binary, ok, got it.)

Robert Elswit's cinematography is an homage to all greatness of black and white cinema. He and Zaillian take the time to shoot a lot of inserts and details, architectural symmetries or mathematical constructed shots. Loved the Caravaggio puns. Elswit is PTA's collaborator, he won an Oscar for There Will Be Blood and worked with Zaillian before in The Night Of. The set design, the locations, lavish production on a "no problemo" budget, period reconstruction, and great Italian casting. Jeff Russo (Fargo) does a great job with the tense music. Also a poignant sound design all over. 

Here's a Vanity Fair article on the cinematography of the project. 

and two more words: Reeves Minot ;) TBC ?

Napoleon (2023)

 work in progress...or regress...

cos' so many asked me about this, and if i liked it, or is it good, and why this and that...

Well, as far as it goes, for me it was the biggest disappointment of 2023 (see my faved here).

Some expected this like the 2nd coming, I gave up on sir Rid some time ago (last cool one was The Counselor and that was 10 years ago...), I have huge reservations on Alien: Covenant which I appreciated then, as I did with the beginning of Raised by Wolves series, and tahn he killed it, he self-imploded his best films with adding crap to their coda-Blade Runner and Alien that is...I hope he won't f**k up the Gladiator thing too...well, which Gladiator, aha, aka The son of Maxxxximussss...

well, the main problem isn't dramaturgy as some say, or the timing (and I am very sure a 4 hour length won't improve it..) but the casting of  mr. Joaquin "joker" Phoenix as Nap B., in a cross between his Commodus (from 2000's Gladiator) and Joker (2019). An Emo Napoleon ? you got one....Napoleon is Afraid ;)

Ok, now 3 Oscar nods, for set, visual f/x and costumes...no biggie

I liked the music (by Martin Phipps, newcomer on Sir Rid's team) much better than on the last Ridley Scott films, and that was its best asset. 

No performances, no nothing. I started to write about it in Romanian and was kinda mean to it. made me see again WATERLOO (1970), which I saw as a kid on the big screen and was uber-impressed and I gotta acknowledge again that it's such a better film still. And Rod Steiger rulezzz, and he's the man.

also there's the Stanley Kubrick paradoxxx-because Waterloo was a flop Kubrick did not get to do his Napoleon. And that is a pity. Nap B. was to be played by Jack Nicholson. Yes. And they were supposed to shoot in Romania, 'cos we got em horses and costumes. Didn't happen. Kubrick did Brry Lyndon instead, giving Ryan O'Neal a life eternally. 

I have butto see the 5h30 restored cut to see of Abel Gance's Napoleon (1927).  They worked 30 years to redo that. And the original cut was 7 hours. So, even at 4 hours, a Scott Director's cut I guess it won't change the cue too much.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (& the Awesome Mix too;)

Finally Volume 3 is here! 

Saw it in 3D and it was a pretty good conversion and a pretty bright one.

For a running time of 2h30 I was afraid it will bore the hell out of me but i was uber pleasantly surprised. It is much more emotional than the first two volumes and more ambitious narratively (no spoilers here but follow the teaser poster;), and it makes me put James Gunn as the best director/creator of universes in the MCU (and DC?), and glad he was back at the helm as Disney fired him back in 2019 for some bullshit remarks and the whole cast of the GotG supported him, especially Dave Bautista. Also as Gunn went into being the boss of DC now and not only because of that a fourth GotG volume will not happen, at least with this original members (& cast). So, I can only say that for me it is the best series (trilogy) in the Marvel Universe, the warmest, funniest and surely oddest! And it Rocks;)

I am Groot! 

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Now the soundtrack, which was the one of the best things about the series, and the innovative way to get it on the incidental side with Quill's walkman and then its improvements. Wrote about them at the time. The first one was the cheesiest, but made it on my top soundtracks of 2014!

https://aldmovieland.blogspot.com/2014/08/guardians-of-galaxy-soundtrack-awesome.html

the second one rocked more for me, and was way more inventive to fill in the film and the narrative -the titles on Mr. Blue Sky (ELO), the analysis of Brandi (Looking Glass), the use of Fleetwood Mac's The Chain and especially Cat Stevens' Father and Son, so yep it went into the top soundtracks of 2017!

https://aldmovieland.blogspot.com/2017/05/guardians-of-galaxy-awesome-mix-vol-2.html

Vol. 3 Awesome Mix is:  way more darker than Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, actually for me with the best selections of songs yet. Very ecclectic but more interesting bands and less cheasier songs.

Creep (acoustic version) - Radiohead

Crazy on You - Heart

Since You Been Gone - Rainbow (grand Rainbow song from 1979's Down to Earth, on a par with Led Zep and Deep Purple's greatest, and a cover ! of an 1976 song by Russ Ballard, as far as I know this is the first appearance of the song in a film!)

In the Meantime - Spacehog (from 1994, I knwe the song but didn't know the band!, the vocal sounds a bit like GnR)

Reasons - Earth, Wind & Fire

Do You Realize?? - The Flaming Lips

We Care A Lot - Faith No More (yes!!!)

Koinu No Carnival - EHAMIC

I'm Always Chasing Rainbows - Alice Cooper  ( I looove the inclusion of the Coop in the soundtrack, with a song from Alice Cooper Goes to Hell-1976, and as coincidences happen, just before going to see the movie I was listening to the Coop From the Inside 1978 album, which I haven't heard since 2019 to be precise !!!) And I'm Always Chasing Rainbows is one of my faved AC songs!

San Francisco - The Mowgli's

Poor Girl - X

This Is the Day - The The

No Sleep Till Brooklyn - Beastie Boys

Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine

Badlands - Bruce Springsteen  (1978, this one I don't get, it plays over the closing credits, nice but a bit pointless, and also it's sort of a dark song, would've loved the Boss doing a new tune for this, yes the idea of the soundtracks of GotG was to be old ones, but on the credits of Vol.2 we got a Hasselhoff and cast remix, so new one)

I Will Dare - The Replacements  (from 1984's Let it Be)

Come and Get Your Love - Redbone (reprise from the 1st GotG movie)

James Gunn says: 

“I snuck my friends The Replacements (‘I Will Dare’) in there. I snuck Alice Cooper (‘I’m Always Chasing Rainbows’), my hero in there, (and it) actually has a pretty big sequence in the movie.”

The music comes with the words with the script, I write it in, but sometimes I change it − some things on this, it was very difficult choosing the music for this movie because in the first two movies, they were all AM, ’70s pop hits.”

Technology introduced at the end of “Vol. 2,” courtesy of Yondu’s gift of a Microsoft Zune digital music player to Quill, expanded that character’s music knowledge and, thus, the song possibilities.

“It's music from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, 2000s, and I could choose from anything,” he said. “It's at the end of ‘Hurt Locker’ with him looking at all the stuff on the shelves and not knowing how to make this choice, so it was very difficult because of that.

Gunn keeps a list of hundreds of songs that could potentially go in one of his films (see the Peacemaker series which made me discover the excellent and irresistible cheesy  Wig Wam-Do You Wanna Taste it?, which put the Norwegian band back on the map) .

 Needless to say, with something that extensive, not every tune will make the cut because it’s a matter of how the song fits into a scene.

“‘Cruel To Be Kind’ by Nick Lowe has been on every list that I've had for the movies, and I've just never found a place to work it in,” he said.

https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a43782322/guardians-galaxy-3-songs-soundtrack/

Top films of 2022 (& doc and series)

I saw more films this year than in the last 2 pandemic years (2020 here and 2021 here),  unfortunately not so many in a cinema, and mostly not so good there, a lot more streaming, my count of 427 films (including those rewatched (always a pleasure:) & catch-up's, shorts, documentaries and series (=one count per season or series)

I have nor seen yet some films they talk/write about or could be contenders, Aftersun (saw it meanwhile, not for me), Babylon (which would've made the top but saw in Jan 23 on the big screen), The Whale, EO (that could be a color Au hasard Balthasar), so on and so far.

***-where there are links there are my reviews or opinions. 

Top 5 Feature Films:

1. The Banshees of Inisherin -Martin McDonagh

2. Triangle of Sadness-Ruben Ostlund

3. Nope -Jordan Peele

4. The Fabelmans-Steven Spielberg

5. Elvis -Baz Luhrmann

6. (mention) El Buen Patron (Fernando Leon de Aranoa, from 2021, saw it on this year's TIFF with a magnificent Javier Bardem) and Kiril Serrebrennikov's Petrov's Flu (from last year's Cannes, saw it in cinema this spring)

-also in our cinemas Nightmare Alley,  that tops my 2021 top ;) And also from last year, The Forgiven, from  Martin McDonagh's brother John Michael (McDonagh), reminiscent of Under the Vulcano, with a brilliant performance by Ralph Fiennes.

Debut of the year: 

John Patton Fotd -Emily the Criminal. Also a superb performance by Aubrey Plaza (could win Independent Spirit Awards).

Top 3 Made in Romania

1. Miracol-Bogdan George Apetri

2. R.M.N.-Cristian Mungiu

3. Metronom-Alexandru Belc

Comedy of the year:

CoupeZ! (Final Cut) -Michel Hazanavicius

-also could've been The Menu if they emphasised more on the comedy/satire. 

Top deleted scene of the Year: or The Nicolas Cage Award 2022

Nicolas Cage vs. Nic Cage in the deleted Caligari dream sequence from The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent! (unfortunately a wasted film :()

Top 3 Horror

Pearl (Ti West) (tied as it should with) X (Ti West)

Barbarian (Zach Cregger)

Bones And All (Luca Guagadino-a sort of neo Near Dark meets Cat People in Nomadlands:)

Animation (& curio) of the year: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio  

*

As for performances, Tár can get Cate Blanchett's tour-de-force can get her a third Oscar. But deservingly would be Vicky Krieps for Corsage (which could win for best foreign film also). Ana De Armas' bravura performance in Blonde  is the stunt of the year ! And she got nominated too...

I root for Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in The Banshees of Inisherin, And Kerry Condon as supporting actress.

and we can see Mark Rylance to get another Oscar (also supporting) for Bones and All. (UPDATE: oups, he didn't even get nominated...)

***

Now, also about the worst, Disney/Zemeckis' Pinocchio surely wins the cup, with Amsterdam close and Blonde being the most disappointing film of the year (for me).  Too bad George Miller's much expected Three Thousand Years of Longing didn't do all the distance....

Series (& mini-series)

1. The Offer (Michael Tolkien, Leslie Greif, Paramount+)

2. Irma Vep (Olivier Assayas, HBO)

   
   
   

3. Better Call Saul (Vince Gilligan, final season, Netflix)

4. White Lotus season 2 (Mike White, HBO)

5. The English (Hugo Blick, Prime, HBO)

6. Tokyo Vice (Michael Mann, J.T. Rogers-HBO max)

7. Peacemaker (James Gunn, DC,HBO max) also best super-hero film/series

8. 1883 (Taylor Sheridan, Paramount+)

9. Slow Horses (season 1, apple tv, based on Mick Herron's books, great theme song (Strange Game) by Mick Jagger!)

10. Barry -season 3 (Bill Hader, Alec Berg, HBO)                                                                                   +Australian hitman show Mr. Inbetween would've been in the top up, cos' I saw all three seasons and loved it, but it ran from 2018 to 2022, on FX. Scott Ryan, the protagonist Ray Shoesmith, the director and the creator of the show is a name that Hollywood should notice. 

Documentary

Ennio -Giuseppe Tornatore (premiered Venezia 2021,  saw it this year,was released super-limited in Romanian cinemas)

The Last Movie Stars (Ethan Hawke, TNT, HBO)

RIP Yaphet Kotto

 Mr. Big is no more ! Or should I say Kananga ? Alonzo Mosely from FBI ? Or Parker from Alien ?

Yaphet Kotto was a versatile actor and one of the proeminent black actors in movies in the 70's, like James Earl Jones and Louis Gossett jr. He was also a star in the Tv series Homicide. He died at 81. 

His breathrough came after his part in Across 110th Street when he was offered the part of the villain of the 1st Roger Moore  James Bond movie, Live and Let Die (1973), Kananga alias Mr. Big. He was also a part of th ensemble of the space crew of Alien (1979) together with brits like Ian Holm and John Hurt.  

For some of us, Alonzo Mosely from FBI, his character from the film Midnight Run(1988) was the closest to the heart.

Article and obituary in The New York Times

“One day, when I was about 16, I walked into this theater showing ‘On the Waterfront’ and I saw Marlon Brando for the first time, I couldn’t speak. It was like somebody had punched me in the stomach. It was like someone had crashed cymbals in both ears. I was blasted out of the theater. I knew from that moment that I wanted to be an actor.”

Yaphet Kotto (1939-2021)

Richie Kotzen live at HRC !

One of the top news for me in concertele anului 2018 !

communique:

În data de 3 iulie 2018, cunoscutul chitarist RICHIE KOTZEN ajunge în România și va susține un concert în Hard Rock Cafe din București, alături de trupa sa.

O simplă privire aruncată discografiei și biografiei lui Richie Kotzen este suficientă… ca să amețești. Se poate spune despre acest muzician de nici 50 de ani că s-a născut cu chitara în mână. Printre numeroase albume solo, de o diversitate impresionantă, americanul și-a lăsat amprenta și asupra creației unora dintre trupele cu care a colaborat mai degrabă pe fugă. Conflictul cu membrii Poison – trupă care l-a făcut, conform propriilor declarații, să „uite că este muzician” – nu schimbă cu nimic faptul că influența sa în calitate de compozitor este determinantă pe albumul „Native Tongue”.

Importantă este și contribuția sa în Mr. Big, unde a avut sarcina deloc ușoară de a-l înlocui pe marele Paul Gilbert. Iar cel mai recent proiect, The Winery Dogs, alături de Mike Portnoy și Billy Sheehan, și-a demonstrat cu prisosință viabilitatea pe scena marilor festivaluri rock.

Chitarist, solist vocal și compozitor versatil, Richie Kotzen este una dintre cele mai importante figuri ale rock-ului contemporan, pe care l-a îmbinat în chip firesc cu jazz, blues și elemente de pop sau punk, în funcție de proiect. Lista partenerilor săi muzicali, care merge de la Gene Simmons la Guthrie Govan și Glenn Hughes, este o mărturie în plus a capacității sale de a integra în propria interpretare cam tot ce a dat important acest gen muzical, de la începuturi până în prezent. Iar în concert, Richie Kotzen se dovedește făcut pentru scenă, un copil teribil rock and roll și o desfătare pentru urechi și suflete rebele.

Eveniment organizat de Promusic Events & Maximum Rock, recomandat de Rock FM.

Biletele pot fi achiziționate la următoarele categorii de prețuri:
– VIP: 89 de lei, cu loc la masă în fața scenei (doar 80 de locuri)
– Acces General: 69 de lei, cu loc la masă în sală
– Fără loc: 59 de lei
– La intrate (in limita locurilor disponibile): 75 de lei
Important: Numar limitat de bilete!

eveniment facebook aici !

                                             check this out for proof !!! it goes to Eleven !

Top Soundtracks 2017

Acest articol a aparut in revista Cinemap de iarna mai extins si in Sunete, ca si recenziile anterioare.
(topul de seriale aici)
& topul de filme -conex cu soundtracks -aici
& cel cu albumele anului !

Am încercat să fac un top al celor mai playabile Soundtrack-uri ale anului, dar cu siguranţă (pentru mine) soundtrackul anului este albumul lui John Carpenter, Anthology: : Movie Themes 1974-1998 cu piesele din filmele sale, reeditate şi reorchestrate alături de fiul său Cody şi finul său Daniel Davies. Mult mai rock decât originalele, sunt, 13 piese din 13 filme, pe disc în ordine de la In the Mouth of Madness la Christine, piesă la care Carpenter (acum în rock star mode care tocmai şi-a încheiat propriul turneu american, v. cronica mea la concertul său londonez în revista Sunete de iarna trecută) a făcut un videoclip  nou, straşnic. De pe Big Trouble in Little China, (v. Thor: Ragnarok) faimosul antemic Porkchop Express. Deci pe locul unu, mr. J.C. !!!

2.    King Arthur: Legend of the Sword–Daniel Pemberton

–cel mai prost sau printre cel mai proaste filme ale anului (regia Guy Ritchie),  dar best soundtrack, inclusiv piesa popish The Devil and The Huntsman de Sam Lee (cântăreţ englez de folk), compusă cu Daniel Pemberton. Mi-a plăcut şi muzica lui la Gold (alt film cam praf, cu piesa-titlu excelentă a lui Iggy Pop), dar ea este din 2016, deci l-am scos de pe listă. Pemberton a apărut pe lista mea de best soundtrackuri în 2015 cu The Man from U.N.C.L.E. pe locul 1, alt film prost al lui Ritchie, dar parfum faţă de hipsterismul din Regele Arthur şi legenda sabiei lui. Şi cu 2 ani înainte cuThe Counsellor al lui Ridley Scott.

3.    Brawl in Cell Block 99 - Jeff Herriott &  S. Craig Zahler

Albumul este o compilaţie de piese originale din film, care apar şi incidental şi pe generic, compuse de Jeff Herriott alături de regizorul S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk, unde şi acolo şi-a făcut muzica) interpretate de Butch Tavares, Adi Armour şiThe O’Jays. Sunt 7 piese, originale care sună ca unele vechi, din filme de blaxploitation, dar asta e şi ideea, cheesy, mai ales textele: God Bless My Mama ???

Brawl in Cell Block 99 tracklisting:

1. Give Her a Ride – Butch Tavares

2. The Letter That Won’t Ever Be Sent – Butch Tavares

3. You Are Yesterday – Butch Tavares

4. Trumpets of Heaven – Adi Armour

5. This Lovely Park – Adi Armour

6. God Bless My Mama – The O’Jays

7. Buddy’s Business – The O’Jays

-The V.A. (various artists, dar toate soundtrack-uri super-creative)- locurile 4-6.

4.    Baby Driver – V.A.

-Am scris dspre el în numărul de toamnă al Cinemap & Sunete-

5.    Atomic Blonde –Tyler Bates & V.A.

Cel de-al treilea film și cel mai bun film al lui David Leitch (John Wick) este  o poveste de spionaj pe fundalul războiului rece și căderii Zidului din Berlin în 1989, Bazat pe romanul grafic The Coldest City /Cel mai rece oraș (2012). Charlize Theron este uimitoare și irezistibilă, o letală blondă Debbie Harry care îl interpretează pe David Bowie ca un Bond bisexual in lumini decadente și violente de Neon. Blonda platinată aduce și cu Michelle Pfeiffer în Scarface, combinată cu Anita Pallenberg și Nico. Legătura Bowie merge și mai departe de Berlin, orașul unde a compus Low and Heroes, în Cat People, piesă folosită și de Tarantino în Inglorious Basterds, dar făcută celebră de filmul lui Paul Schrader din 1982. Producția a vorbit cu Bowie cu puțin timp înainte de moartea lui și i-a oferit un rol în film, care din păcate nu a apucat să îl facă. Coloana sonoră include Under Pressure, hitul Bowie / Mercury și un cântec Peter Schilling intitulat Major Tom. Şi tot germane, Der Komissar, piesa lui Falco, dar în varianta trupei engleze After the Fire, care au avut un hit cu ea în America în 1983 şi piesa Nena, 99 Luftballons, cu ea şi în super-interpretarea Kaleida. Score de Tyler Bates (John Wick, Watchmen, Guardians of the Galaxy), ale cărui trei piese apar pe soundtrack, plus una cu Marilyn Manson, cover la Stigmata, piesa Ministry. Şi hituri optzeciste la greu, I Ran (So Far Away) cu A Flock Of Seagulls (pe care o cînta Ryan Gosling la party open air în La La Land, Blue Monday cu HEALTH, Cities in Dust cu Siouxsie And The Banshees şi The Politics of Dancing cu Re-Flex. Father Figure cu George Michael, Voices Carry cu 'Til Tuesday, London Calling cu The Clash (în film mai apar Fight The Power cu Public Enemy, Behind the Wheel cu Depeche Mode, dar nu şi pe soundtrack).

6.    Guardiansof the Galaxy vol. 2 - V.A.

-Am scris dspre el în numărul de vară al Cinemap & Sunete

 ------------------------------------------------

7. Thor: Ragnarok Mark Mothersbaugh.

Fostul lider al trupei-cult DEVO a devenit în ultima vreme un compozitor de filme de A în Hollywood, de la Wes Anderson la desene animate (Hotel Transylvania, The Lego Movie). Dar umorul său atipic continuă să infuzeze conţinutul muzical. Aici e disco-electro-popul cu sound de anii 80, Preia teme din John Carenter electro, chiar şi clapa tematică din Escape from New York (pe piesa Flashback). Regizorul Taika Waitiki spune că inspiraţia sa de bază este Big Trouble in Little China, filmul-cult al lui John Carpenter din 1986, aşa că lucrurile sunt clare. Mothersbaugh integrează temele anterioare din Thor şi Avengers, compuse de Patrick Doyle şi Brian Tyler. La piece de resistence pe ecran în 2 secvenţe (nu apare pe soundtrack), Led Zeppelin- Immigrant Song, fundalul sonor pe care eroii Marvel se bat cu monştrii din Valhala şi nu numai. Ragnarok rocks !

8. Good Time - Oneohtrix Point Never

În competiţia oficială la festivalul de la Cannes de anul acesta am descoperit un film interesant, curajos, aproape experimental. Good Time: film independent american care aduce cu ce se făcea în anii ´70, cele ale lui John Cassavetes, sau Mean Streets al lui Martin Scorsese. Robert Pattison e excelent în rolul unui delicvent cu un frate autist, interpretat de Benny Safdie, unul din regizori (fratii Benny si Josha Safdie, aflaţi acum la al treilea lungmetraj). Muzica ultra cool de compozitorul experimental Oneohtrix Point Never (brooklynezul Daniel Lopatin)  a luat si premiul Cannes Soundtrack de anul acesta,. Piesa de pe genericul final, The Pure and the Damned  este cu aportul lui Iggy Pop la voce şi versuri (a doua piesă de generic a lui Iggy de anul ăsta, după Gold, v. poziţia #1 din top). Pe net găsiţi şi videoclipul, regizat de fraţii Safdie, cu Iggy animat ca rocă, Robert Pattinson, o sabie şi ceea ce pare a fi o marmotă moartă care rânjeşte.

9./10. Dunkirk & Blade Runner 2049 -Hans  Zimmer

Ambele sunt de fapt soundscape-uri, de ascultat acasă ca muzică trebuie să fii mazochist, de aceea le pun pe 9 şi 10. Aportul lui Benjamin Wallfisch este esenţial. La Dunkirk muzica, compusă de Hans Zimmer (cu ajutorul lui Benjamin Wallfisch-Variația 15) a creat un sound design ultra-special, care fac atmosfera filmului, după cum spunea un prieten: ar trebui creditat pe generic astfel: –”un film de Christopher Nolan și Hans Zimmer”. La Blade Runner 2049, unde l-au înlocuit pe compozitorul original, islandezul Jóhann Jóhannsson (Arrival), au reușit cu brio să meargă pe urmele scoundscape-ului inventat de Vangelis.