Concertele anului 2024

Just 2 b clear, these are gigs and events I am interested in. Or some that we do with Transilvania Blues.

Copeland & Wragg-The Last Sundown -20 ianuarie, Rockstadt -Transilvania Blues Nights

Bombino -3 februarie, Control

Help, a tribute to The Beatles (UK) -10 feb Rockstadt

Kofi Baker's Cream Faith -1 martie, Rockstadt -Transilvania Blues Nights 

The Tiger Lillies-10 martie, Hard Rock Cafe (chiar asa, HRC? cu burgeri si beri? cabaret arthouse rock? :( )

Fred Sunwalk -The Brazilian Guitar Hurricane Returns to Transilvania-23 martie, Rockstadt, Transilvania Blues Nights- POSPONED TO 17 NOVEMBER 2024 !!!

U.D.O. -Touchdown European Tour-30 martie , club Quantic. Bilete aici.

Luke Winslow King Band (feat. Roberto Luti) -26 aprilie, Rockstadt -Transilvania Blues Nights  

Bill Frisell Trio -Jazz Nouveau, Control Club, 20 mai 2024  ANULAT !!!!!

Corey Taylor-Arenele Romane, 31 mai

Vieux Farka Toure -Control Club, 1 iunie

Al Di Meola Acoustic Trio -Sala Palatului 3 iunie 

Bruce Dickinson-The Mandrake Project -Arenele Romane 3 iunie.  ANULAT !!!!

Bilete aici.

1st songs and video, from the album here: Afterglow of Raganrok 

Second extract: Rain on the Graves

Megadeth- 10 iunie Arenele Romane, bilete aici.

The Smile -17 iunie Arenele Romane

Judas Priest -17 iulie 2024 (@metalhead meeting ), Romexpo

Lance Lopez @Transilvania Blues -Brasov, Rockstadt, 25 octombrie 2024

Teho Teardo & Blixa Bargeld -Club Control, 29 & 30 noiembrie

New Model Army -Control Club -2 decembrie AMINAT pt. 2025

Rob Tognoni @TransilvaniaBluesNights -13 decembrie 2024, Rockstadt, Brasov 

******Festivals & Special Events*****

European Blues Challenge -4-6 aprilie Portugal -Marian  Petrescu Band participa din partea Romaniei

Urban Blues Festival V -12-14 aprilie , Trocadero Pub, Bucuresti (feat. David Arcari-Scotland)

& 16 aprilie Hard Rock cafe-George Baicea Band

Insula de Blues -21-23 iunie. Bacau.  BB & The Blueshaks, Innes Sibun Band, Rob Tognoni, Boney Fields, etc.              ANULAT !!!!

Bluesferatu Live at Bran Dracula's Castle -6.07.24

Festivalul de Jazz Garina 11-14 iulie - XXVIII edition

Brezoi Blues Festival VI-16-21 iulie

Rockstadt Extreme Festival editia 10-a, 31 iulie-4 august, Risnov

Brasov Jazz & Blues Festival editia XII (15-18 august 2024)

Transilvania Blues Festival editia VI -28-29 septembrie

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"