Bruce Dickinson-Rain on the Graves (SOTD)

"Morte capti, non carcere". 

The second single and video from Bruce Dickinson's upcoming 7th album (Seventh Son..?), his uber-project and magnum opus The Mandrake Project is Blood on the Graves, a William Blake quoted (same as the 1st single, Afterglow of Ragnarok starts),a  B & W & color short film that is one the best video of his until now (I love the Tears of the Dragon flick).  

A cool Hammer / AIP homage with Dickinson himself as The Preacher (Vincent Price-like), complete with the Devil as in Hellboy, with cut horns, and the band live Tiger Lillies style.  It has a very Maidenesque sound, much more than Afterglow of Ragnarok, or earlier Dickinson works (Accident of Birth, The Chemical Wedding, Skunkworks, Tyranny of Souls). Balls to Picasso & Tattooed Millionaire excluded.

Directed by Ryan Mackfall (same as Ragnarok) and Produced by Myskatonic.co.

Here's some of Bruce's thoughts about the song and video. 

After Afterglow of Ragnarok (the first excerpt from the Upcoming album, The Mandrake Project, complete with its comic book high concept, 12 parts no less!!!), this is another incursion into the universe of this Myskatonic universe (H.P Lovecraft ;) . The album is out March 1st 2024.

Bruce Dickinson will present the album The Mandrake Project LIVE in Bucharest, Romania, at Arenele Romane, June 3d 2024.

tickets here.

https://www.themandrakeproject.com

#brucedickinson #rainonthegraves #themandrakeproject

To Be Continued...

Top Soundtracks 2023

-might be a first year without a Hans Z. score...oh no, he wasn't here last year too, last time for 007  No Time to Die... Last year I didn't even do a soundtracks top.

*****

Killers of the Flower Moon-Robbie Robertson & VA -oh, this would be great to win an Oscar, it's Robbie Robertson's first nomination and it's so posthumous :(

and the greatest and most touching song of the year on a soundtrack, "Still Standing" (this should've been nominated for Best Song but heck...barbisms :()

Indiana Jones 5  aka Indiana Jones and the Dial of the Destiny -ol' ol' John Williams with all of 'em referential Indy Themes 

Oppenheimer- Ludwig Goransson -Oscar's favorite.

The Holdovers-Mark Orton & VO 

The Boy and the Heron -Joe Hisaishi-Japan's John Williams returns with a beautiful elegiac score for Hiyao Miyazaki's comeback.

Next Goal Wins -Michael Giacchino

Wonka-the guys from Crowded House -Neil Hanon & Joby Talbot

Napoleon- Martin Phipps

Ferrari -Daniel Pemberton

VA (compliation) feel-good score of the year: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 

Mention:

The Killer - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross-  minus The Smiths songs, unfortunately the score can't be listened outside of the film

Oscar 2024 Nominations (96th Edition)

 here

no surprises here, 13 nods for Oppenheimer (14 at BAFTA's), 11 for Poor Things & 10 for Killers of the Flower Moon.

but

just obscene to have Barbie nominated for adapted screenplay...not to mention "best film".  It's not that I'm sexist, but also this is not That Feminist Movie  (TFM) that changed the world. Just the Box Office, as in "the most succesful film directed by a woman". Well, if Bigelow, Kathryn would've directed Avatar 2 or something, this would've been done b.fore..

my bets are on those I put on Bold and Italics.

Best picture

• "American Fiction"
• "Anatomy of a Fall"
• "Barbie"
• "The Holdovers"
• "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• "Maestro"
• "Oppenheimer"
• "Past Lives"
• "Poor Things"
• "The Zone of Interest"

Best actor

• Bradley Cooper, "Maestro"
• Colman Domingo, "Rustin"
• Paul Giamatti, "The Holdovers"
• Cillian Murphy, "Oppenheimer"
• Jeffrey Wright, "American Fiction"

Best actress

• Annette Bening, "Nyad"
• Lily Gladstone, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• Sandra Hüller, "Anatomy of a Fall"
• Carey Mulligan, "Maestro"
• Emma Stone, "Poor Things" (they tell me, again, I read that Emma will win, haven't seen the film yet, will get back to it *** saw it and yes, Emma Stone it is, my review here)

Best supporting actor

• Sterling K. Brown, "American Fiction"
• Robert De Niro, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• Robert Downey Jr., "Oppenheimer"
• Ryan Gosling, "Barbie"
• Mark Ruffalo, "Poor Things"

Best supporting actress

• Emily Blunt, "Oppenheimer"
• Danielle Brooks, "The Color Purple"
• America Ferrera, "Barbie"
• Jodie Foster, "Nyad"
• Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "The Holdovers"

Best director

• Jonathan Glazer, "The Zone of Interest"
• Yorgos Lanthimos, "Poor Things"
• Christopher Nolan, "Oppenheimer"
• Martin Scorsese, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• Justine Triet, "Anatomy of a Fall"

Great names for Directing...best ensemble from all noms... not a fan of Justine Trier film but it's absolutely spot on directed. Then Yorgos Lanthimos together with Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese (a record for the Oscars, his 10th nomination!!!) and wow, Jonathan Glazer, who's film, The Zone of Interest I'm still expecting to see. Out in limited (or very limited) Romanian release Feb. 16th. Saw it and WOW! one of the best of 2023, and much more than that. See my review here.

International feature film

• "Io Capitano," Italy
• "Perfect Days," Japan
• "Society of the Snow," Spain
• "The Teachers' Lounge," Germany
• "The Zone of Interest," United Kingdom

Animated feature film

• "The Boy and the Heron"
• "Elemental"
• "Nimona"
• "Robot Dreams"
• "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" (they tell me -I mean, I read ;) this is a sure bet...haven't seen it and wasn't planning on...)

Adapted screenplay

• "American Fiction"
• "Barbie"  (they say this will win but I hope someone in the WGA would have some sense...and sensibility ;)
• "Oppenheimer"
• "Poor Things"
• "The Zone of Interest"

Original screenplay

• "Anatomy of a Fall"
• "The Holdovers"  (hopefully!, but Anatomy will win probably)
• "Maestro"
• "May December"
• "Past Lives"

Visual effects

• "The Creator"
• "Godzilla Minus One"
• "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" (tough, I'll go with this one as I haven't seen Godzilla Minus One)
• "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One"
• "Napoleon"

Original score

• "American Fiction"
• "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"
• "Killers of the Flower Moon" (I would've loved for 'em to give this to Robbie Robertson...it's his fisrt nomination too, tho posthumously...)
• "Oppenheimer"   (this might be Ludwig Goransson's second Oscar)
• "Poor Things"

Original song

• "It Never Went Away" from "American Symphony"
• "I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie"
• "What Was I Made For?" from "Barbie"  (one of the Barbie's will win..)
• "The Fire Inside" from "Flamin' Hot"
• "Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)" from "Killers of the Flower Moon"

Documentary feature film

• "20 Days in Mariupol"   
• "Bobi Wine: The People's President"
• "The Eternal Memory"
• "Four Daughters"
• "To Kill a Tiger"

Cinematography

• "El Conde"  (Ed Lachman surely deserves one for this uber-curio but...)
• "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• "Maestro"
• "Oppenheimer"   (Hoyte Van Hoytema, already twice nominated for Tenet & Dunkirk) 
• "Poor Things"

Costume design

• "Barbie"
• "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• "Napoleon"
• "Oppenheimer"
• "Poor Things"

Animated short film  

• "Letter to a Pig"
• "Ninety-Five Senses"
• "Our Uniform"
• "Pachyderme"
• "War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko"

Live action short film   

• "The After"
• "Invincible"
• "Knight of Fortune"
• "Red, White and Blue"
• "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" (Wes Anderson, can be seen on Netflix)

Documentary short film    (unknown by me)

• "The ABCs of Book Banning"
• "The Barber of Little Rock"
• "Island in Between"
• "The Last Repair Shop"
• "Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó"

Film editing

• "Anatomy of a Fall"
• "The Holdovers"
• "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• "Oppenheimer"
• "Poor Things"

Sound

• "The Creator"
• "Maestro"
• "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One"
• "Oppenheimer"
• "The Zone of Interest"

Production design

• "Barbie"
• "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• "Napoleon"
• "Oppenheimer"
• "Poor Things"

Makeup and hairstyling

• "Golda"
• "Maestro"
• "Oppenheimer"
• "Poor Things"
• "Society of the Snow"

RIP Norman Jewison

Norman Jewison was one of the most serious & eclectic directors that ever were. We was versatile in all genres but he cared for social and political issues and made important films, like his peers, Sidney Lumet, Mike Nichols, Sydney Pollack, his contemporaries. Like all of them he started his career in Television, in the Fifties. He survived his era and was retired long ago now, his last film being 21 years ago (The Statement, 2003). He died at 97 years of age without winning a single Oscar -he was but nominated Seven Times...

Jewison could've done just three films and he would've made history, and film history. In the Heat of the Night, Jesus Christ Superstar and Fiddler on the Roof. Others can say The Cincinnati Kid or The Thomas Crown Affair, the two films he did with Steve McQueen, his friend but also his most difficult actor (as he said). I'd say also Rollerball, with a brilliant James Caan. Amazing film even today ! Weird that John McTiernan remade two of his films that didn't need any remake at all.

1st film of his saw -in Romanian Theaters- was And Justice for All (Dreptate pentru toti)-1979, with a hectic Al Pacino. We call this movie now, And Justice for Al ;)  Also In the Heat of The Night (In arsita noptii, 1967), I saw on the cinema but on a re-run, a film about Racial prejudice that made Sidney Poitier famous as detective Tibbs and a brilliant Rod Steiger as chief Gillespie, he won an Oscar for best lead-these days that would've been supporting part (while Poitier wasn't even nominated :( ), great score by Quincy Jones, title track by Ray Charles, and it's another one of those films who directed itself-no director win, but won 5 Oscars: for best film, best script, and gave Hal Ashby his only Oscar-for editing, 5 awards in total !!!

In the 80's he made less interesting and engaging films, except Moonstruck (1987) which had a fabulous showcase for a young Nicolas Cage and 3 Oscar wins-one for Cher, also the pic got awarded the Silver Bear in Berlinale.  In 1999 he did The Hurricane, about the boxer Rubin Carter, wrongfully accused for murder and imprisoned hard, another story of Race and social injustice, with a grand Denzel Washington (that he kinda discovered and pushed into A Soldier's Tale -1984), film that introduced me to that brilliant Bob Dylan "Hurricane" song. Denzel was nominated for an Oscar for this and won best actor in Berlinale.

Last film of his I saw was The Russians are Coming The Russians are Coming (1966), a re-watch last year due to the death of Alan Arkin which is fabulous in this underrated and forgotten comedy cold war classic (close to Billy Wilder's best). 

I was a big fan of Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), which was a big hit for us on video and I saw very late Fiddler on the Roof (1971), on a private screening and a night to remember with it's biggest fan, in his flat, a certain director which I love very much ;)

All in all, Norman Jewison was one of the Greats. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Too bad...but grateful for all the films he did and I loved. RIP...

Variety Obit here.