RIP Kris Kristofferson

Again gone one of the great ones...Mr. Kris K. is one of my personal favourite heroes, just for his look, I fell in love at first sight. He didn't have to be tough, he was in his own right, One of the Only Ones !!!

Mr. Kris Kristofferson was 88

I think the first film I saw with him was The Sailor who Fell in Grace with the Sea (1976), or maybe it was Convoy (1978) ?

in the early Nineties they brought a film in the cinemas called Flashpoint (1984), a curio that I dug. Tangerine Dream scored it too. Also that dud, Millennium (1989-oi), and Welcome Home (1989), the last film from Franklin J. Schaffner. Triple Kris bill :)

His 1st film was Dennis Hopper's aptly titled ;) The Last Movie (1971). But even if there is Pat Garret & Billy the Kid (1973- forSerban Celea :(, the best is for me is now & for a long time that infamous and immortal Heaven's Gate .

Trivia: Kristofferson turned down Sorcerer, him and Steve Mc Queen, all respect for Roy Scheider, I would've seen both Steve and Kris in it...God of Movies said no :(

Yep, he was in Blade and Blade two. And Blade: Trinity, resurrected ;) And what about that Albert Pyun's Knights (1993)? With Mister Lance...

Also: Alice doesn't Live here Anymore, Cisko Pike (wow, the whole flick is on youtube!), A Star is Born (the 1976 version), Trouble in Mind, Lone Star (4 Andrei ;), Payback (not in the director's cut that we dig ;), & a fierce cameo on Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia... 

I got one record on vinyl like over 30 years ago -I guess it was Repossessed from 1986- and was kinda disappointed cos it wasn't rock enough for me then ;) Too young & dumb & ...

posted here a song with his super band The Highwaymen, Desperados Waiting on a Train...

...now Kris is on the TRAIN, on the way to Heaven's Gate, to meet his old buddies, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Sam the Man (Peckinpah), James Coburn, Michael Cimino too...Willie Nelson still Standing !!!

Kristofferson said that he would like the first three lines of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire" on his tombstone: 

Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free

Vincent doit mourir (2023)

 Try to catch Vincent doit mourir / Vincent must Die/ Sa moara Vincent ! (2023) in Romanian theaters. It runs now a very limited release.

It's a one-of-a-kind film you have not seen before.

Stephan Kastang's feature film debut, from Cannes in la Semaine de la Critique, to the genre fests, with awards in Sitges, Fantasia and Neucahtel.

It's funny 'til it hurts and the main character is so hurt literally, you feel hurt too. It's also crazy, absurd (it starts like a Kafka story  / surrealism fable/ Boris Vian novel)  and somehow in all this fantastic, it's getting real. It can happen, too....

Cuckoo (2024)

Cuckoo is really Cuckoo

an UFO of a movie

psychotronic

psychedelic

weird horror thriller coming-of-age in the vein of Argento's Phenomena IMO, also because of the scenic Alps location and the ornithologic element (there it was bees). Also because it's Shot on film, 35 mm and in Anamorphic 2.35.1.

also Deutsch.

great soundtrack, ecclectic.

forget Longlegs, this is different but Better, on top of the Horror films this year, along with Maxxine, Oddity & Late Night with the Devil (which is 2023 actually but I saw it this spring). Soft spot for Sting. 

It's Tilman Singer's second feature after LUZ (2018), which I plan to see now. At the beginning the cast was different. Comes from Neon in US. Premiered at the Berlinale 2024. It won Silver Raven in BIFFF. Toured all the genre festivals.

definitly has a Cult-ish flavour. Also the plot is, did I say, cuckoo? ;)

Anul Nou care n-a fost / The New Year That Never Came (2024)

 Anul Nou care n-a fost / The New Year That Never Came a intrat de azi în cinematografele românesti.

Uite, e la Cinema One Laserplex Brasov de la 18.15 mîine și poimîine în avanpremieră. Și la Cinema City AFI. Zic de Brașov, că vă plingeti ca nu aveti filme de vazut la cinema, mai ales românești !

Recomand in privat dar si in public :) Am recomandat în scris în Culturama de toamnă, apoi am facut si un interviu cu Bogdan in numarul de noiembrie (soon here). Am recomandat la HIT FM Brasov & Zona Metropolitana, si pe unde am mai fost.

No tags here, ca ar fi prea multe.
Filmul de debut al lui Bogdan Muresanu, cel mai bun debut post-90-ist de la E Pericoloso Sporgersi al lui Nae Caranfil (1993), trecând prin A fost sau nu a fost al lui Corneliu Porumboiu (2006),
Bine, Boss. Acum la cîți mai mulți spectatori ! Și la EFA ! Și la Premiile Gopo !!! La Anul ;) Care(le) a fost, ESTE !!!

așa, din Culturama, citez:

Anulnou care nu a fost, debutul în lungmetraj al lui Bogdan Mureșanu

(premiat de EFA-Academia Europeană de film-cel mai bun scurtmetraj european pentru ”Cadoul de Crăciun” în 2019, filmul se poate vedea pe canalul Cinepub de pe youtube), 

șase vignete din Decembrie 1989, inclusiv cea din Cadoul de Crăciun. Premiera mondială în competiție la festivalul de la Veneția pe 1 septembrie, premii ca la Crăciun, pentru imagine, Boróka Biró (Gratulálok), scenariu, premiul FIPRESCI (juriul presei internaționale) și Premiul pentru cel mai bun film în secțiune Orizzonti !!!

Premiera în cinema la noi pe 27 septembrie . 2h18.

A lot more awards to come (TBC).

”Un film costă cam cît să faci un spital mai micuț. Așa că ar fi bine să și însemne ceva.”

(regizorul Bogdan Mureșanu dintr-un interviu în Variety)

Iron Maiden's 50th Anniversary Tour !

 Iron Maiden announces "Run for Your Lives"  50th Anniversary World Tour !

I'm game ! Are you ?

The Penguin (2024)

As people didn't recognize Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb (short for Oswald Cobblepot) in 2022's The Batman, now they only talk about the prostethics of the new HBO / Max series, The Penguin.  I was waiting for this and sure hope they won't f**k it up.

Under the hunchback there is a huge actor I always loved and still he does not get the reputation it deserves, Irishman Colin Farrell (just in before and after doing Banshees of Inisherin and Sugar). You can hardly notice his voice and manierisms, he looks more like Robert De Niro as Al Capone in The Untouchables than the previous Penguin incarnations, Burgess Meredith in the '60's and Danny De Vito in 1992's Batman Returns. Plus a soft spot for Robin Lord Taylor in the Gotham series. Farrell was the best thing in the 2022 Se7ven ripp-off with emo batmen & riddlers. Also John Turturo was cool but he's off.  Here Mark Strong replaces Turturro as Carmine Falcone and Clancy Brown is Sal Maroni.

Cristin Milioti (Fargo, season 2) is Sofia Falcone, the daughter of the dead Mafia Kingpin.

Oz has a tight relationship with his mother (Deirdre O'Connell), that bringing him closer to James Cagney in White Heat and Scarface, from Paul Muni to Pacino's Tony Montana. 

1st episode was good but not fantastic, and it clearly goes into the gangster noir-ish tale, no supernatural involved. Surely this being HBO, they'll talk Sopranos in connection with this. 

Music score by Nick Giacchino (Michael's son). Here's The Penguin Theme, "Scherzo for a Flightless Bird").

Ep. 1 "After Hours"- From 9 to 5 / Dolly Parton. Rita Hayworth when Oz dances with his mom. End credits song, When In Rome with "The Promise".  

Ep. 2 "Inside Man" -so/so, gangsters by the numbers. Flashback of the kid. End credits song, a cover of "Happy Together", The Turtles' 1967 song, by Floor Cry. 

Ep. 3 "Bliss", the new drug, some betrayals. "Broken Belief" by Bob Moss.  Gil Scott-Heron's bladting "Me and The Devil" on the end credits.

Ep. 4. "Cent'anni", finally Carmine Falcone flashbacks. And Sofia's Arkham story, The Hangman, & a great finale (on Sarah Vaughan's So Long, My Love-1964). The Stranglers 1981 song  "Strange Little Girl" on the end credits. 

Ep. 5. "Homecoming". By the numbers mafia biz & betrayals but an interesting finale if it follows up. The Cure -"A Forest" and St. Vincent-"Reckless". 

Ep. 6. "Gold Summit". Most boring episode, all set up and a good end shot. Credits roll on a Chris Isaak cool song, "Black Flowers" from 1998.

Ep. 7 "Top Hat". The groove is back as we flashback to Oswald's childhood and his two brothers. Cue to Top Hat, the 1935 Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musical which winks also in Joker: Folie a deux (Fred Astaire again, in 1953's Band Wagon  Cut to: "Islands on a Stream" (Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton) and Yazoo's Only You. It ends badly for The Penguin. "How did you called  me?". End credits on Swans-"Lunacy". Great song. 

Ep. 8: La Grand finale. Glimpses of Selina Kyle on an envelope and Oz puts on a tux to dance. One unexpected scene (not spoiling it here but it's about Victor Aguilar). Promises of season # 2 ensure. See if Colin Farrell wants to put athe makeup again. Golden Globe/Emmy should be guaranteed.

Complete songs list here. 

Already The Peng is  #92 on IMDb TV top shows (NA: Now, 6 weeks later, it's # 70 !) . Penguin beats the Joker, mostly now with Folie a Deux being the "hate it movie of 2024"...

So, in the end The Peng is for me a 3 out of 5, 6 out of 10. 

While he mentioned that he did watch DeVito as The Penguin and “was a fan of Burgess Meredith” in the Adam West-starring 1960s “Batman” TV show, Farrell said the inspiration for his take on the character ultimately drew from darker and less comic book-infused sources, including Dustin Hoffman’s Ratso Rizzo in “Midnight Cowboy,” Robert De Niro as Al Capone in “The Untouchables” and “The Sopranos’” James Gandolfini. “All of them are in there,” Farrell said. “Like, I’ve seen ‘Untouchables’ twice, I’ve seen ‘Midnight Cowboy’ four times. Anything, as an actor, anything you ever see, any piece of music you ever hear, it all kind of meets you inside in a place that gets used, gets filtered through every single character you do in lesser or greater ways.”

(from CNN piece here)

Kinds of Kindness (2024)

“Some of them want to abuse you / Some of them want to be abused” 

(Eurythmics-Sweet Dreams -Are Made of These-1983), the song that starts the film and was used on the promotion (trailer, etc, very misleading or?)

                                                  (Brand New B*tch)

The new film by Yorgos Lanthimos (after the Awards darling Poor Things), the leader of the Greek "Weird Wave", Kinds of Kindness, premiered in Cannes this year in the Official Competition.

It's his longest film 2date, at 2h44 mins. A tryptich played by the same actors in different parts (Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau, Mamodou Athie ), except the mysterious R.M.F. (Yorgos Stefanakos). It's bleak, it's surreal and it's almost sadistic -especially on the characters, but on the viewers too. Black comedy in the vein of Roy Andersson, with nods to Bunuel and Kubrick (esp. Eyes Wide Shut, from where Jerskin Fendrix takes his music cues-a discordant piano, a tragedic chorus). On the end credits he has a vocal song, "King Lear", ('cause he had three daughters???;), where he reminded me of Nick Cage and Leonard Cohen. 

Closer to Lanhimos' debut, Kynodontas (Dogtooth)-"the dogs treat us good", Alps, and to the mood and atmosphere of  Killing of a Sacred Deer. The director says he was inspired by Albert Camus' Caligula and the relations of power-Trust, Love & Death. 

Jesse Plemons (Fargo, Killers of the Flower Moon) won Best Actor in Cannes. 

Shot again (after The Favourite and Poor Things, another Three;) by Irishman Robbie Ryan in color and black & white in anamorphic widescreen (2.29:1).

Also, wtf is Ronnie James Dio song Rainbow in the Dark doing in here?

RIP Chad McQueen

Chad McQueen was Steve McQueen's son, a motorcycle rider -motocross-and racer (Baja 1000), actor, known best from The Karate Kid film (1984) and its sequel and the B action movie Firepower (1993). He was a champion at the World Mini Grand Prix when he was  12. 

He was 63...

Obit here.

Also Steve McQueen, who died in 1980 at 50 !!! would've been, if alive, 94 this year....Just recently I re-watched The Getaway and The Thomas Crown Affair (which streams now on Max).  Soon need to see again Papillon...McQueen though lives Forever you see his films, and every moment someone does!

Steve and son during the shooting of Le Mans (1971).

When his father was filming the 1971 racing film "Le Mans," Chad would famously sit perched on his father's lap behind the wheel of a Porsche 917 reaching speeds of over 100 mph at just 10 years old.

RIP James Earl Jones

 The voice of CNN, Darth Vader, Lion King (Mufasa) & a great actor in so many films is gone...James Earl Jones was 93.

Obit detailed in People magazine.

Film debut in 1964's Dr. Strangelove. He was the evil bad guy Thulsa Doom  in Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Admiral Greer, Jack Ryan's boss from The Hunt for the Red October to the two Harrison Ford movies as Ryan: Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. Last part in Coming 2 America (2021), where he reprised his part of  King Jaffa of Zamunda from the 1988 John Landis' classic.

Nominated for an Oscar for leading role in 1971 for The Great White Hope and Honorary Award in 2012.

Longlegs (2024)

 Longlegs does not have such looong legs, falls short in some aspects.

Or the advertising has been so huge, "the best since this and that", serial , it's not even about serial so much.

Takes elements of not only The Silence of the Lambs but a combo of Lambs with Manhunter/Red Dragon, Zodiac, Se7en, X Files, Carrie< Carrie's mom, Rosemary's and Omen, too much Satan and Satanism for me, I'd rather go with Late Night with the Devil or Oddity or Maxxine (that being a fun film as opposed to this one, bleak, dark and all tense), of recent horror fare.

No one mentions David Lynch and the Twin Peaks vibe, or a Lost Highway kind of creepiness.

It's set in the mid 90's in Oregon and it follows a female FBI agent (Maika Monroe, who gives everything to the screen), investigating a 30 years old odd killing spree of a mysterious character known as Longlegs (Nicolas Cage in one of his career high), with which she seems to have a strange connection.

Inspired by the Satanist craze of US in the Nineties, and a real creepy case (see here). 

It's a heavy film, filled to the max, volume of scares and movie tricks to do that amped to the max. 

It's Osgood Perkins' fourth feature film, and all of them are horror films. I've seen them all in time, Gretel and Hansel (2000) is espcially a retelling of that creepy (this is the main word of this review ;) fairy tale, more like a nightmare, very stylish and scary. Did I say creepy ? Osgood is the son of Anthony Perkins, the legendary star of Psycho, but he seems to live and dream in that (creepy creepy) House up the Hill. 

The music is by Osgood's brother, Elvis, under the pseudonym of Zilgi ! Creepy music ? Yes ;)

But music plays a greater part on the plot, from T. Rex (Bang a Drum, from which the film quotes directly & two more Bolan songs), to Lou Reed, Bowie and even a weird connection to Duran Duran's Rio. Plus Longlegs himself seems to be a failed rock musician. He also kinda sings in it !

Definetly the Nicolas Cage Award of 2024 !!!

6 out of 10 / 3 out of 10 

-for A splendid Nic Cage (some would say Creepiest-a cross of Marilyn Manson and Mickey Rourke's worst lifting), great costumes too, absolutely fantastic sound design, photography gimmicks.

I didn't go for the subliminal s**t, too many tricks of the trade. Absolutely fantastic 'cos such a low budget and indie film has such universal success (budget 10 mill. $, BO 'til now Ten times more!!!) , bravo Oz and Good ;) 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

There's been 36 years til Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice 2 aka Beetlejuice Beetlejuice does not feel like a cash-in but a really feel-good movie.

They had the most fun doing it, I had most fun watching it.

In short, It Rocks !

Also Tim Burton's back. With a Bang. He seemed to have got his Juice back. C'mon, from Dumbo (2019) he didn't do any film for the big screen, he directed some episodes of Wednesday in Romania (4 actually!). Also Dumbo? Why? His last great film for me was Sleepy Hollow in 1999, Big Fish being too pretentious (they thought is Oscar material, like a more fantastic Forrest Gump...), I have a soft spot for Dark Shadows (2012), which I saw again 2 years ago and accepted it as it was. Sweeney Todd is grand guignol but Burton didn't fulfill his early promises that became with the shorts animated (Vincent & Frankenweenie) went into Beetlejuice, his 1st "Burtonesque" film. Pee-Wee was just an essay ;). That's what made us (me and some buddy) say in the mid 2000's that Burton is the most overrated director. Well, make room, there's plenty who took that place ever since. So, take it as you please, BB is Tim Burton's comeback film, a fun to watch, fun to make, roller-coaster of sandworms and a true Burton-o-rama.

Warning, this is for the fans of the original, it got all the ties so if you haven't seen the 1988 original, pls. do. Now it's streaming on Max, they were smart enough to put it in today. 

BB opened the Venice film festival and opened worldwide on 6.9.24 or the American way -9.6.24, all reversed adds up to 6.6.6 but that is another story.  

Michael Keaton (who just got 73!!!) is even wackier than in Beetlejuice, and he looks exactly the same!

Winona Ryder looks great as grown-up (& still haunted) Lydia Deedz.

Ctaherine O'Hara is back as Delia Dee.

And Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) is in as Astrid, Lydia's daughter /less troubled teenager than Winona was in the original.

They got rid of Jeremy Jones -Charles Deetz-(who's now a known sex offender :( in a very classy and smart way (the stop motion animation sequence is a blast!) 

Monica Bellucci is an addition to the cast as Delores (a sort of Corpse's Bride), with nods to Mario Bava in an insane Italian B & W sequence, she is now Burton's partner (lucky Tim ;)

Justin Theroux is Rory, Lydia's producer & manager.

Also Burn Gorman (The Offer) is Father Damien (!).

Willem Defoe is here in his 1st part on a Burton film, as Wolf Jackson, he's great ("Keep it real") but I can't think of how it would have been if Christopher Walken would have accepted this part as he was offered it initially (at least that is what I read). 

Oh, and that excellent Danny de Vito cameo...

Groovy soundtrack (Songs by Donna Summer, Richard Harris-yes, that Richard Harris !, The Bee Gees, Scott Weiland, Sigur Ros, Richard Marx-!-), fantastic musical scenes (MacArthur Park, Tragedy, Day-O choir), and a great score by Danny Elfman (& Steve Bartek), with all the riffs of the old one. 

There's also a riff on a classic Brian De Palma film that I won't spoil here ;) , i spotted the Monty Python fattest man in the world riff (from Meaning of Life), but hey...

Probably the most fun film about Death and the Underworld !

7 out of 10/ 3 1/2 out of 5.  

It's a seven for me because it's too light in its darkness, and some character scenes are really just expository and you don't feel the suspense or the weight of death upon life or life upon death. But then again, you have Bob in it...

Kaos (2024)

 Fullfill thy prophecy

or

ther will be KAOS

It might as well be the best thing on TV this year (so far...), except Ripley... 

(streaming on netflix)

brush up your Greek and drink up your Meander water, I mean yr Olympus yoghurts..

TBC...

Blink Twice (2024)

Worth a trip to the theaters !

and Blink Twice

Blink Twice is a term used for people who are in danger. 

It's stylish, it's widescreen, it's evil under the sun (plus champagne and strawberries), wild soundscape and it's pretty creepy (add some black humor too) !

a bit of woke (...2024?!), but also some R rated weird cutting and ambiguity.

I really enjoyed this in a theater, I'd somehow make it a double bill with Rose Glass 's film Love Lies Bleeding.

Blink Twice is Zoe Kravitz's directorial debut at 35, I guess ya all know who Zoe is (from Hollywoodland royalty -Lenny K. and Lisa Bonet). 

She co-produced and co-wrote the film, which she started in 2017 as "Pussy Island" ! Rewroted as the #metoo movemement moved on. Of course MGM blinked 'til the title was changed. See here why. & how.

Channing Tatum (Zoe's fiancee) plays his 1st mature and risque part on the screen (ok, he was in Foxcatcher 10 years ago...), Slater, a cross of Jeffrey Epstein  (for power) and Arnie Hammer (for charisma) as a rich Tech CEO who has his own island where he brings selected people to party...

Cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie from the Whitney Huston biopic) is all spellbound by this and on board for the ride, this is her story and her POV.

A new entry in the "evil rich people" doing bad s**t on an island (that started with The Most Dangerous Game in 1932 and recently goes into The Hunt, The Menu, Ready or Not, The Invitation, even Old) . Just that BT is better, way more stylish, poignant and...fun.

More value to the screen:

-Cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra's first main credit, vivid colors & panache. 2.39: 1. Shot in Yucatan, Mexico.

-A very effective soundtrack by Chanda Dancy 

-and songs (James Brown, Chaka Khan -Ain't Nobody, one Yoko One song-Don't Be Scared. Really ;)? 

-Strong supporting cast, including the likes of Haley Joel Osment, Christian Slater, Kyle MacLachan and Geena Davis. Slater in particular seems to have a groovy time. He's the one with the Polaroid camera.

...So what you need to do, is to Follow the Red Rabbit ;)

7 out of 10/ 3.5 out of 5 !!!