Top series 2025

Saw a horrible amonut of series/tv series, some new, some renewed, some cancelled, some I quit...

Mayor of Kingstown s04 -4 -toughest yet, Lennie James, Richard Brake, Eddie Falco, Laura Benanti.

The Iris Affair -miniseries- 8 eps  big fsss. Tom Hollander good. 

The Last Frontier -should've quit  

got back to Slow Horses s2 1/2 -5 -Gary Oldman getting more and more Legend !

Down Cemetery Gates -loses steam after ep. 4

The White Lotus s03 - -best yet-Walton Goggins, Scott Glenn, Parker Posey. 

It: Welcome to Derry -quit 

Task  sez. 1 not much

Duster 1 sez. cancelled , was kinda fun

Subteran 1 sez. oy vey

Landman s. 1 ep.7-10 / sez 2 ep. 1-5 (in Top Series 2024, contd. in 2026)

The Lowdown 8 eps - Tulsa noir on the songs of J.J.Cale, Ethan Hawke as jouranlist Lee Raybon gets beaten up all the time. Created by Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs). 

Pluribus s01 -Vince Gilligan is moving way to slow...

Peacemaker s02 -even better than season One. 

The Studio  1 season-10 eps., Seth Rodgen's satire is hit and miss but the episodes are short and Bryan Carnston as Griffin Mill is a blast !

Dept. Q  sez 1, 9 eps. (renewed) -the Sweedish series of thriller books  by Jussi Adler-Olsen get new (Scott Frank for Netflix)  and way too slow treatment with Matthew Goode as Carl Morck.  

The Last of Us -season 3. All gets weak after Pedro Pascal is no more. 

Monster The Ed Gein Story (sez 3 -8 eps) -see below

Walking Dead-New York -quit 

Alien: Earth s 1  -they did some good, and then they did some real bad. Continuing to mix the Weyland Yutanis with the Blad Runners, Prometheus, Timothy Olyphant's android Kirsch is a hoot !

Paradise season 1 (renewed) -cool idea of post apocalyptic city under a dome. 

Dope Thief  sez. 1  -Ridley Scott produced and directed the first episode. Based on a true story. 

Black Rabbit -miniseries 8 eps.  See review here. 

Your friends and Neighbours sez. 1. Jon Hamm steals. 

oh, and Moldova's Gangster and fiend, Plaha, 10 episode political thriller with Iulian Postelnicu as Plaha, written and directed by Igor Cobilianski

*****************

Revelation of the Year:

Monster The Ed Gein Story (Netflix). Ian Brennan writer, Max Wrinler director. 8 eps. miniseries.

Movies mix with the legacy of serial killers -from Psycho to Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Silence of the Lambs. Clever post-modern choices. Plus Ilsa Koch and the Nazis ! But a truly great performance form Charlie Hunnam. And Tom Hollander is Alfred Hitchcock. Even Mindhunter returns in ep. 8. Too much grand guignol as always but way way upper than the other 2 seasons (the 2nd I quit watching...)

Why is though Ed Gein made so sympathetic and a victim, "mother's boy" ? 

Top 5

Peacemaker s.2 -hbo max

Mayor of Kingstown s.4 -skyshowtime/paramount +

The Studio  -apple+

White Lotus s.3 -hbo max 

The Lowdown -fx / hulu 

RIP Brian Wilson

Just on my first day in Ireland, the evening of July 11th, while stopping on a gas station I got the X notice, from Keith Richards, "goodbye Brian Wilson"...Then the news and the social media were flooded, the next day's newspaper in Dublin had a one page obituary, all my facebook, even the radio played his songs...Took me 5 days to get to write this...(adapter/charger/chord problems plus 1 PIL & 1 NIN)

I saw Brian Wilson in Lyon in July 2017, at Théâtre Antique de Fourvière (Les Nuits de Fourvière Festival, avec Toubib Mishu). I cam all the way from Grossmann Fest in Slovenia, via Zagreb and Milan, and left afterwards to Geneva for Sardegna. It was a detour and a stop I wanted to do and I am so happy I did. It was a magical, wonderful evening, filled with uplifting songs. 

Here's the setlist , he played Beach Boys songs and then Pet Sounds live, ending it with Love and Mercy, the title of his biopic picture from 2014 (as Love & Mercy), where he was played by Paul Dano (young) and John Cusack (old).  That film dealt with his recovering from psychosis and forced medication, a very dark long chapter in Brian Wilson's life. He was, as his song says, not a man on his times. The dark side of Genius. Cos' Wilson is one of the greatest genius in XXth century music, admired by his peers, McCartney, Lennon, Dylan, Neil Young, etc. If The Beach Boys wouldn't put out Pet Sounds in 1966 (and the lost 1967 Beach Boys unfinished album, updated and completed by BW in his master Opus, SMILE, in 2004), there wouldn't have been no Beatles' Revolver, then Sgt. Pepper, then no Their Satanic Majesties, and maybe no Tommy and no Dark Side of the Moon. God Only Knows ...

Good Bye Brian...it was an honor to see you live and I thank Uncut magazine for introducing me to your work, on Smile era.

Life, Death and Dennis Hopper by The Waterboys -Out now !!!

 Finally ! On April 4, the most expected album (in any sense, and for me in special) by Mike Scott's The Waterboys is out. I announced here on Jan. 8 2025.

What a Treat !!! 25 songs (you can find 'em all on Youtube here, spotify and other patforms), featuring an array of guests, from Steve Earle to Bruce Springsteen and Fiona Apple. 

Vignetes about Golf (Hooper's latter passion), The Last Movie (his doomed film), Andy (Warhol), Michelle (Phillips), Frank Booth (from Blue Velvet), Terry Southern (who wrote Easy Rider), etc. Including a fake trailer for a biker movie, "Freaks on Wheels", a la Tarantino's latest films. 

Post-modern, cool, eclectic, funky, groovy, mad -as Sir Dennis was ;) A wonderful heartfelt tribute, about the times and of Wild Pop Americana and one of True Legends of the Movieland (und more). 

Reviews here:

MOJO -4 stars

Uncut -4 stars

Under The Radar  -75 %

Rolling Stone 

Metacritics -78 %

**** 1/2 out of FIVE. 

Life, Death and Dennis Hopper Track List 

(where there are links you find the videos). 

1. Kansas (featuring Steve Earle)

2. Hollywood’55

3. Live In The Moment, Baby

4. Brooke / 1712 North Crescent Heights

5. Andy (A Guy Like You)

6. The Tourist (featuring Barny Fletcher)

7. Freaks On Wheels

8. Blues For Terry Southern

9. Memories Of Monterey

10. Riding Down To Mardi Gras

11. Hopper’s On Top (Genius)

12. Transcendental Peruvian Blues

13. Michelle (Always Stay)

14. Freakout At The Mud Palace

15. Daria

16. Ten Years Gone (featuring Bruce Springsteen)

17. Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend (featuring Fiona Apple)

18. Rock Bottom

19. I Don’t Know How I Made It (featuring Taylor Goldsmith)

20. Frank (Let’s Fu*k)

21. Katherine (featuring Anana Kaye)

22. Everybody Loves Dennis Hopper

23. Golf, They Say

24. Venice, California (Victoria)/The Passing Of Hopper

25. Aftermath

 

The Brutalist (2024)

"The American myth is something that is not frequently undressed, especially in this 'coming to America' fable that we have seen rehashed again and again"

 Brady Corbet

(best director Venice Film Festival 2024 for The Brutalist)

film nominated for 10 Oscars

Vulture: The Brutalist spans 33 years on screen and over three and a half hours of runtime, including a 15-minute intermission at its midpoint. It’s the first film in decades 9NN 61 years to be precise!) to be fully shot in VistaVision, and at the Venice Film Festival, where it had its premiere, it was projected on 70mm.

Real vs. fiction:

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250206-the-brutalist-brady-corbet-and-adrien-brody-on-ww2-jewish-experience-in-the-us

TBC

a great talk between Brady Corbet and Sean Baker (Anora), about cinema, budgets, choices, passion and compromises.

The Brutalist just won 4 BAFTA awards, best director, best actor, best cinematography and best score (Daniel Blumberg), which I think deserve also the Oscar for that category.

Marcello Mio (2024)

 First good film I've seen in a cinema this year. Also from last year, in the Cannes 77 film fest official selection. A very personal film, una affare di famiglia with everyone playing their own parts. 

Marcello Mio is of course about Marcello Mastroianni, and Chiara Mastroianni, and her mom, Catherine Deneuve. And the buddies, from Fabrice Luchini to Nicole Garcia, Benjamin Biolay (Chira's ex), Melvin Poupaud (un autre Chira's ex ;), all playing themselves. Also Stefania Sandrelli and Marcello MM himself in an excerpt from Pietro Germi's 1961 Divorzio all'italiana/Divorce Italian Style. And Francesca Fialdini, a hot TV host from Rai.  

written and directed by Christophe Honoré (les Chansons d'amour), 

super self referential (meta-meta) and for true cinephiles, including plot points from MM's films, a dog, a soldier, a bridge, a white kitten, and family memoires, this film is not for everyone. But maybe those who see it (of course I was alone in the theater, Monday at 16.45 !!!) should dig further. from the easy clues, 8 1/2  & La Dolce Vita, to the more obscure family references (including Maria Callas, a specific restaurant in Paris, Ginger & Fred, a song about how Marcello makes you laugh, etc.)

Beautiful soundtrack, including Isao Tomita's version of Clair de Lune. 

American Gangster (2007)

 O poveste adevărată - American Gangster

Alin Ludu Dumbravă / Şapte Seri / decembrie 2007

O poveste adevărată despre America, American Gangster este biografia lui Frank Lucas, regele heroinei din Harlem, temut şi apreciat de mafia italiană din New York, subtextul fiind despre capitalismul american la fel de mult cât era The Godfather despre familie. Organizaţia lui Lucas era familia sa, în întregime neagră, iar Lucas avea un creier admirabil, de mare afacerist, care s-a manifestat în acest domeniu infam, al distribuţiei de droguri. Dar este şi povestea poliţistului incoruptibil şi instopabil, Richie Roberts, care l-a prins pe Lucas şi a creat istorie. Denzel Washington este impecabil şi irezistibil în rolul lui Lucas, aşa cum ştie să o facă chiar şi cînd joacă bad guys. Este primul film pe care-l face Denzel cu Ridley Scott, după cele 4 care le-a făcut cu fratele său Tony. De cealaltă parte a legii, Russell Crowe este Richie Roberts, din nou un rol de tip Method, pentru care s-a îngrăşat, şi a căpătat accent, à la Serpico. Crowe este al treilea film cu sir Ridley (după Gladiator şi A Good Year, vor urma Body of Lies si Robn Hood ca sa faca un cvintet-NA 2024) şi mai au două pe ţeavă. Amuzant, Denzel şi Russell Crowe au mai jucat împreună în thrillerul s.f. debil Virtuosity (1995) şi tot de părţi opuse. Partiturile secunde sunt asigurate de actori excelenţi; Ted Levine, Armand Assante, John Hawkes, Ruby Dee, RZA, Cuba Gooding jr., dar revelaţia filmului este Josh Brolin, sosia brunetă a lui Nick Nolte (cu al doilea rol major de anul acesta, după No Country for Old Men). 

Este cel mai american film pe care l-a făcut Ridley Scott până acum. Respiră aerul locaţiilor sale, filmat în New York, New Jersey şi Tailanda, de Harris Savides (colaboratorul lui Gus van Sant şi al lui David Fincher). Este o reconstituire minuţioasă şi scrupuloasă a epocii (de către scenograful ataşat al lui Scott, Arthur Max), din 1968 pînă în 1976, perioadă în care New York-ul era cel mai murdar şi corupt oraş din lume. Ambiţiosul proiect, numit anterior True Blue, a trecut pe la Brian De Palma, Terry George şi Antoine Fuqua, dar Ridley Scott a reuşit să-l aducă pe ecran într-o formă perfectă. La o durată epică de 2 ore şi jumătate, nu plictiseşte şi nu are scene în plus de virtuozitate stilistică, nici urmăriri, nici shoot-out-uri tipice genului. Plusuri sunt muzica excelentă a lui Marc Streitenfeld, şi piesele din epocă, care adaugă atmosferă. Ridley Scott se află aici pe teritoriul lui Michel Mann, regizat în maniera lui Martin Scorsese şi Sidney Lumet. Nu se pot anula comparaţiile cu Scarface al lui Brian de Palma, dar sunt mai aproape Carlito's Way al aceluiaşi regizor, Prince of the City sau Serpico ale lui Lumet, The French Connection al lui Friedkin, The Godfather al lui Coppola, Goodfellas şi The Departed de Scorsese, Heat de Mann şi Year of the Dragon al lui Michael Cimino. O companie selectă, ceea ce încearcă filmul lui James Gray, We Own the Night, dar nu reuşeşte. American Gangster e un clasic, unul din cel mai bune filme ale anului şi intră direct în categoria celor mai bune filme cu gangsteri făcute pînă acum. Sper să-i aducă lui Ridley Scott mult aşteptatul şi binemeritatul Oscar de regie.

NA 2024: și nu i-a adus nimica. A fost nominalizat la 2 Oscaruri, Ruby Dee pentru rol secundar si scenografie....la Globurile de aur au fost nominlizati Ridley, Denzel si best film. 

****patru stele din cinci / 8 din 10

# Revazut in varianta EXTENDED (de ziua lui Ridley, 30 noiembrie 2024!), si se tine exceptional filmul, acum dupa 3 sezoane de Godfather of Harlem (in care Forrest Whitaker e mentorul lui Frnak Lucas, Bumpy Johnson, acum se face sezonul patru in care va aparea Lucas ca personaj). Scenele extinse sunt bine montate in intreg, la 175 de minute e la fel de alert si poate chiar mai intens!)

RIP Nicu Covaci

Cei ce ne-au dat nume ...se duc acum cu totii...

Nicu Covaci a fost Phoenix, "insa eu"...

19 aprilie 1947-2 august 2024. 

RIP....End of an Era...

Fotografie de Cristian Radu Nema de la premiera filmului lui, Phoenix: Povestea, pe 16 octombrie 2022, cu Nicu in forma festiva, alaturi de Laura Baron.

more later...

i-am vazut, ca o intreaga generatie care i-a asteptat cu infrigurare dupa fuga lor din 1978, in Parcul copiilor, in toamna tirzie aului 1990. 

Lucero-Bikeriders (SOTD)

Now in the film The Bikeriders (my thoughts here)

Lucero is Ben Nichols' band and the song is from 2005's Nobody's Darlings album. Based on photojournalist's Danny Lyon book The Bikeriders (1968).  See the photos in the video below.

Kathy met a girlfriend at a place around Grant,

Swore if she got out alive she'd not go back again,
Fellas didn't know her and they scared her half to death,
Hand prints on her jeans, she would have just got up and left,
That's when she saw Benny standing over by the bar,
Sat back down, and waited 'til he came over to talk,
Later on that night as she was walking out the door,
Benny started up his bike, and the boys came out for more

Ooooh...

They picked her up and put her on the back of Benny's bike,
Now Kathy's been with Benny Bauer ever since that night,
She's tried to leave him many times, can't quite get away,
Seen more jails and courts and laywers than she'd like to say,
Benny's always been a fighter, that'll never change,
Kathy takes him home and heals him up, it's all the same
He made it from the club room all the way out to the street,
They beat him with the barstools but he made it on his feet

Ooooh...

Kathy's runnin' to her boy, picks him up and takes him home,
And Benny's crying "Kathy please, I'm sorry don't you know?"
I'm sorry don't you know, I'm sorry don't you know?
At a bar they call Stop Light the fellas drink their beer,
Women with their hair done up, they make it very clear,
Which one of the fellas is all theirs and can't be touched,
They're tellin' me that motorcycle rider just give up,
They're talkin' to the pretty ladies, everyone they can,
I never seen the trouble caused all by just one dance,
If Benny don't get himself shot tonight I wish he did,
When he gets home

Ooooh...

Now Kathy's datin' Benny and he keeps her by his side,
Kathy's still the cutest girl these boys will ever find,
Riders line up BSA's out on the scrambler's tracks,
Levis jeans and a leather jacket numbers on their backs,
Benny's bike is too big to race up 250 class,
They make him start way up the hill, up by the railroad tracks,
Tomorrow they'll all ride across the Illinois state line,
Motorcycle Blessing at the St. Christopher Shrine

Ooooh...

Kathy's walking out the door leavin' Benny all alone,
And Benny's crying "Kathy please, baby don't you go"
Baby don't you go, baby don't you go
Kathy you mean it this time, just leave in the middle of the night,
His wallet's on your table, boots on your floor,
The car is parked right outside your back door,
So leave him asleep in your bed and,
You're halfway to Chicago before good-bye is said

Ooooh...

Nasty (2024) & cronica audio

De vazut in cinema !!!

sure, o sa intre si pe HBO si HBO Max dar merita in sala de cinema !

La Brasov joi 25 aprilie featuring the man himself, Ilie Nastase aka Nasty ;) 

trailer aici.

and this just in (22.04.24), Nasty e in selectia festivalului de la Cannes, proiectie speciala !!!! 

He did it His Way !!!

cronica mea radio la HitFM. 

***

(din Culturama )

Evenimentul lunii aprilie 2024 În cinematografe este un documentar autohton despre un personaj iubit dar și controversat (I'd call it The Joker of Tennis ;, the Globe Trotter Lover ;)- Nasty -un film depre Ilie Nastase, super tennis man, primul număr 1 din istoria clasamentului ATP, proiect de suflet pentru Tudor Giurgiu (v. Libertate), Cristian Pascariu și Tudor D. Popescu. Filmat și în SUA, cu participarea legendarilor tennismani John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Rafael Nadal, Björn Borg, Boris Becker. 

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"

Top 5 series of 2023 (+2)

 Top films of 2023 here.

Top 5 SERIES/2023:

Fargo season 5 -fx -amazingly how this can be so good...though there is on more episode, it will end on Jan. 16 2024 ! Funf**k*ng fantastik Finale ! See the Biskuik post here...

Fargo series have been my favorite year by year (season 1 back in 2014 wow, ten years now !!!, season 2 in 2015, and also I watched again season 2 & 3 during the pandemic on prime (where they ain't anymore). My favourite it's still season Two. Season 3 was on #7 in 2017, and season 4 on #1 in 2020. Season 5 is an absolute rewatchable jewel, with Jon Hamm's career's best as sheriff Roy, "he's Gary Cooper", a freaky Tiger-Juno Temple and a mesmerizing Sam Spruell as Ole Munch.

"When i was a child freedom was a potato" (Munch), that reminded me of The Tin Drum. 

Succession (I saw it all this year) HBO max, greatness (see my thoughts here)

Justified: Primeval City -on A. Prime , a spin-off mostly but made me recoup the Justified series too.

Copenhagen Cowboy -miniseries, Netflix, I guess it wont be a series 2;) -NWR (see my thoughts here)

Barry -season 4 (final season) HBO Max -weirder than all before, but just to to put a coda on Bill Hader's odyssey. Barry was on my top 2022 too. 

*****

also saw older fares, but great stuff !!!

LOUDERMILK -3 seasons (2017-2020), with a great Ron Livingston (thanx, Doc ;) 

and 

Documentary Now! (2015-2019, 4 seasons x 6 eps.), the spoof by Bill Hader, Seth Meyers & Fred Armisen, hilarious mockumentary stuff. Loved especially the takes on Robert Evans (Mr. Runner Up), Herzog/Kinski (Soldier of Illusion) , Nanuk the Esqimo (Kanuk), The Talking Heads (Final Transmission), The Eagles (the Blue Jean Commitee). I guess it was too smart and sophisticated but I had a blast !!! Highly recommended. You just got to know the originals...it helps ;)

Rolling Stone named it:  Documentary Now!' Is Pure, 100-Percent Film-Nerd Catnip !!!

Michael Mann's Ferrari (2023)

(This was 1st a post on Aug. 30 2023)- Now in Venice Film Festival ! In Competition !!!

Adam Driver eats more spaghetti and chews again uno accente italiano after being in Ridley Scott's House of Gucci ;).

Now he is Enzo Ferrari in Michael Mann's long in the works biopic. Mann, who is now 80 !!! wanted to make this film from the early Nineties, first with Robert De Niro as Ferrari, then in 2016 he was about to shoot it with Christian Bale. Bale did get to play in Le Mans/Ford v Ferrari a Formula One English pilot Ken Miles. Michael Mann was the executive producer on Mangold's 2019 film, where Enzo Ferrari was played by cult actor Remo Girone (Tano Cariddi in La Piovra series, now on The Equaliser 3). Mann then cast Hugh Jackman as Ferrari but he finally shot the film last year with the properly named Driver, Adam ;)

US Release date: Dec. 25 2023. 

Romanian release Jan. 5 2024

*

Just saw the film in the theatre, needs a biiig screen to be enjoyed properly. Plus the sound...

Of course as it was shot in the 2.39: 1 ratio, shot masterfully by Erik Messerschmidt (Fincher's The Killler, Mank), proof that Mann took him in to shot the Italian vistas and incredible car racing. Some new angles and virtuoso craftmann-ship, but in the service of the story. 

Which is twisted between the man, the machines, the women, the drivers, the competition. Based on the Brock Yates biography, Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races, The Machines.

Adam Driver is great, restrained, standing tall and playing someone who is 20 years his senior, Enzo Ferrari was 60 at the time the film is set, 1957. He is the film's biggest asset and Mann chose him rightfully so. The film focuses primarily on the relationship with his wife, Laura (a strong make-upped Penelope Cruz channeling Anna Magnani), and his mistress Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley).  Also it focuses on the relationship of Ferrari with his drivers, the new entry Antonio De Portago in paricullar. Written by the late Troy Kennedy Martin (The Italian Job, The Edge of Darkness), the film is shot all over Italy (the Mille Milla Race) and displayed on a professional budget ($110 mill.), with a pulsating score by Daniel Pemberton, that incudes a sample of Lisa Gerrard 's score of The Insider (Sacrifice). Editing choices were made so the film ends at 130 mins, I would've wanted it go go on more, as it takes a long time to start on, and develop a relationship with its viewers.

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

Trailer out Today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yezwLp2isbY

Oppenheimer (2023)

”How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy?”

Sting -Russians (1985)

Oppenheimer rocks I said, after seeing it last night...

(My Romanian chronicle here.)

Christopher Nolan's first film for Universal after the debacle with Warner Bros. over TENET,  it's a very ambitious one. Based on the American Prometheus book it's written for the screen by Nolan in sole credit. Biopic, thriller, political film, historical, meta-phorical, all in one person POV, tough ride clocking at 3 hours and a career best for Cillian Murphy as Robert J. Oppenheimer. I guarantee Oscars next year for Murphy, supporting Robert Downey Jr. and Nolan might win as well. It has a brilliant cast with so many great actors, I'm not gonna mention them here, but it's been the best ensemble cast in a looong time. Still, Tom Conti, man....

Interesting score by Swede Ludwig Goransson (second film for Nolan after Tenet), wall to wall music and a grand sound design and editing, shot in IMAX by Dutch Hoyte Van Hoytema, his fourth flick for Nolan after Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet) and a last year great photography on Nope.

No, I haven't seen it in IMAX  as I didn't go to Bucharest for this but I strongly advice anyone who has that opportunity to do it, it's worthy as he shot it on 70 mm film and IMAX even printed a black and white stock for the 1st time ever!

Anyway you take it, in these hard times at the Movies (the year of (klaus)-Barbie ;() it's a brave film and I am amazed the audiences are rooting for it, full houses no less, in Romania and all over the world, and on imdb it went straight to #3 in theirs Top 25, where Nolan has three films in Top 25 positions now. Metascore of 89, I guess it will also be a good commercial success as opposed to Tenet or this summer's Indy V and M:I 7 (Part One) which failed to connect with moviegoers :(

4 out of FIVE, 8 out of TEN (I'll go for a 9 but I gotta see the film again and then conclude:)

I tried to watch again Fat Man and Little Boy (1989), about the same subject, with Paul Newman as general Groves and Dwight Schultz as Oppenheimer, but it's almost unwatchable now, after this new and definitive endeavor on the Manhattan project and R.J. Oppenheimer's life. Even with music by Ennio Morricone, photographed by Vilmos Zsigmond and directed by Roland Joffe (who right now directs a mini-series in Romania!!!)

*Paul Schrader described the film as the "best, most important film of this century" after he attended the New York premiere of the film.

RIP Tina Turner

The Acid Queen, Dame of Rock'n Roll is gone... Tina Turner was 83, living in Swizerland and retired a long time now...

There's an  doc on her on hbomax, Tina (2021), her life in 5 acts.

From Ike & Tina, the Phil Spector years, to The Rolling Stones-she was the one who taught Mick Jagger how to dance-, to Tommy and Private Dancer (composed by Mark Knopfler, 1984) to doing one of my top James Bond songs is GoldenEye (1995), sang by her, composed by Bono and The Edge.

She was also Aunty Entity in the third Mad Max film from 1985, Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome.

Biopic What's Love Got To Do With It in 1993 with Angela Bassett.

obit in The Guardian here

Mick Jagger

@MickJagger

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3h

I’m so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner. She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer. She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.