After Nae Caranfil completed his second film, Asphalt Tango, in 1996, he received an invitation to make a production in Italy: an ambitious period biopic about a supposed meeting between Stendhal and Rossini. Dolce Far Niente, in 1998. Based on Frédéric Vitoux's novel La Comédie de Terracina, winner of the French Academy Prize, the film is a blend of comedy and drama about the condition of the artist confronted with worldly frivolity and the unconscious enthusiasm of revolution and conspiracy.
The film, which came out at the time with spectacularly bad timing, following Beaumarchais (1996), was not a great success in France or Italy, so it never had a theatrical release in Romania, going straight to pay TV, on HBO, where I had the honour of producing its on-air promotion in 1999. :) In the meantime, I've learned that it has also been broadcast on Cinemaraton TV.
— original poster —
A superb cast: François Cluzet is Stendhal, Isabella Ferrari is Joséphine, Margherita Buy is Countess Gabriella Nencini, Giancarlo Giannini is Count Nencini, Pierfrancesco Favino is Rossini. Caranfil had a lucky hand with the casting; the careers of the film's actors are still shining today.
The cinematography is by another Romanian, Cristian Comeagă, Nae Caranfil's collaborator on his first four films, up to Philanthropy, while the score is wonderful, composed by the renowned Nicola Piovani.
The 4K restored print premiered at TIFF in 2024, when I, too, saw it on the big screen for the first time. Now, however, it is in cinemas, remastered, like a brand-new film. And it has held up even better than it did at the time of its original release!
Do yourselves a favour and see it in the cinema now! It's worth it!
După ce Nae Caranfil a terminat al doilea lui film, Asfalt Tango, în 1996, a urmat o invitaţie, pentru
a face o producție în Italia, un biopic de epocă ambiţios, despre o presupusă întîlnire
între Stendhal şi Rossini.Dolce far
Niente, în 1998. Bazat pe romanul Comedia
de la Terracina de Frédéric Vitoux, premiat de Academia Franceză, filmul
este un melanj de comedie şi dramă, despre condiţia artistului faţă de
frivolitatea mondenă şi entuziasmul inconştient al revoluţiei şi conspiraţiei.
Filmul, care a ieșit în epocă într-un bad timing copios, după Beaumarcahis (1996), nu avut mare succes în Franța și Italia așa că nu a avut premiera în cinama în România ci direct pe pay tv, la HBO, unde am avut onoarea de a-i face promo-ul în 1999 :). Între timp am înțeles că s-a mai dat pe Cinemaraton TV.
- afișul original -
O distribuție superbă, François Cluzet e Stendhal, Isabella Ferrari e Josephine, Margherita Buy e contesa Gabriella Nencini, Giancarlo Giannini Contele Nencini, Pierfrancesco Favino e Rossini, Caranfil a avut mînă bună, carierele actorilor din film stralucesc și azi.
Imaginea e semnată de alt român, Cristian Comeagă, colaboratorul lui Nae Caranfil la primele 4 filme, pînă la Filantropica, iar muzică e minunată, compusă de renumitul Nicola Piovani.
Copia restaurată în 4K , premiera nouă la TIFF în 2024, atunci cînd l-am văzut și eu pentru prima dată pe marele ecran. Acum însă e în săli, remasterat, ca un film nou-nouț. Și se ține mai bine ca la vremea premierei !
Faceți-vă un serviciu și vedeți-l acum în cinema ! Merită !
The first time I saw Fargowas on VHS at Nae Caranfil's home. It was a memorable evening for all of us who were there. Some time had already passed since the premiere, the film had become famous (we're talking about the pre-download era, when films were still hard to get hold of), we were all devoted Coen Brothers fans, and we passionately debated the story and the mise-en-scène in a way that nowadays only happens in the excitement surrounding premieres or film festivals.
Oddly enough, Fargo was never released theatrically in Romania, so the TIFF.25 screening was a royal treat, giving you the chance to see it the way it should be seen.
Its premiere was at Cannes, in the Official Competition, where Joel Coen won the Best Director Award. Then came the Oscars (2 awards from 7 nominations). It was the Coens' Academy Award (everyone knows they direct together, although Ethan is officially credited as producer), the Best Picture of the year, and Frances McDormand's first Oscar (Best Actress—she has three now!). Who had ever seen a pregnant police heroine wearing a Siberian-style earflap hat?
Fargo- thirty years later: an absolute cult film and an ultra-influential one (#185 on the IMDb Top 250). Its biggest admirer: Noah Hawley, who in 2014 created the TV seriesFargo, whose first season is directly connected to the original while also retelling it. Five seasons inspired by the Fargo universe have been produced—an anthology unlike anything television had ever seen.
The poster is brilliant, embroided on a hoop, with the words "A homespun murder story" stitched in red. The title comes from the town of Fargo, North Dakota, on the border with Minnesota, where the events are supposed to take place, marketed as a true story—but of course that's another Coen Brothers gimmick, and everything is invented. It's winter, there's a blizzard, there's snow, and the South Dakota/Minnesota accents are absolutely wonderful. All the characters have Nordic names, just like the origins of the area's inhabitants (Gustafson, Gunderson, Lundegaard). William H. Macy is a sad and utterly pathetic figure, the car salesman who sets an absurd domino effect in motion.
Two of the Coens' longtime collaborators make a major contribution to this unique universe. Roger Deakins' cinematography condenses this immense white landscape, while Carter Burwell's score adds a sense of space and drama; it was later used as the theme for the television series.
But without the Steve Buscemi/Peter Stormare tandem, the film would be in vain...
"I'm going crazy down there at the lake." Ja.
Alin Ludu Dumbravă
This article was published in Aperitiff | June 12, 2026
Prima oară am
văzut Fargo pe casetă video la Nae Caranfil acasă, a fost o seară-eveniment
pentru noi toți cei prezenți. Trecuse deja ceva timp de la premieră, filmul era
celebru (vorbim de pre era download, cînd încă era greu să ai acces la filme),
eram cu toții fani dedicații ai fraților Coen, am dezbătut aprins povestea și
mizanscena așa cum azi nu mai faci decît în febra unor premiere sau
festivaluri.
În mod ciudat Fargo
n-a rulat niciodată la noi în cinema, deci proiecția de la TIFF.25 a fost un
Regal 😊 și a fost prilejul să-l vedeți așa cum trebuie.
Premiera a fost
la Cannes, în Competiția Oficială, unde Joel Coen a primit premiul pentru cel
mai bun regizor. Au urmat Oscarurile (2 premii din 7 nominalizări). A fost și
Oscarul Coen-ilor (se știe că ei regizează împreună, desi Ethan e trecut ca
producător), cel mai bun film al anului, și primul premiu Oscar pentru Frances
McDormand (cea mai bună actriță, acum are trei!), cine a mai văzut o eroină
polițistă gravidă cu căciulă cu urechiușe tip siberian?
Fargo după treizeci de ani: un film-cult
absolut și ultra influent (locul # 185 în topul 250 IMDb). Cel mai mare fan: Noah
Hawley, care în 2014 a creat serialul Fargo, al cărui prim sezon are legătură
directă cu originalul, dar este și e o repovestire. S-au produs 5 sezoane
inspirate de Universul Fargo, o antologie cum nu s-a mai văzut în TV.
Afișul/posterul e
genial, țesut pe gherghef, pe care scrie cusut cu roșu, ”A homespun murder
story”. Titlul vine de la orășelul Fargo din Dakota de nord/ la graniță cu Minnesota,acolo
unde se întîmplă evenimentele, marketate ca o poveste adevărată, dar normal, e
un gimmick al fraților Coen, și totul este inventat. E iarnă, e viscol, e
zăpadă și accentele de South Dakota/Minnesota sunt absolut superbe. Toate
personajele au nume nordice, la fel ca originea locuitorilor zonei (Gustafson,
Gunderson, Lundegaard). William H. Macy este o figură tristă și absolut
patetică, vînzătorul de mașini care pune în mișcare un absurd domino.
Doi colaboratori
fideli ai Coen-ilor contribuie major la acest univers unic. Imaginea lui Roger
Deakins condensează această imensitate albă, și muzica lui Carter Burwell
adăugă spațialitate, dramatism, ea a fost folosită și ca temă a serialului
ulterior.
Dar filmul fără
tandemul Steve Buscemi/ Peter Stormere e pustiu…”I’m going crazy down there
at the lake”. Ja.
Maiorul si moartea (The Major and Death, 1967) is a forgotten gem, and a one of a kind / one-off UFO Romanian thiller written by the great Ion Baiesu (Balanta/The Oak), based on his eponymous 1965 short story. It was made later on into a radio play with Enil Hossu as the major.
Directed by the Documentarian Alexandru Boiangiu in his feature film debut, it's a Black and white black and bleak comedy, film noir -policier, shot by maestro DOP Nicu Stan (Rascoala, Diminetile unui baiat cuminte -see references below, Toate Pinzele sus !). The film made a BO of 1.352.078 in Romanian cinemas in 1967.
It is also Gheorghe Dinica's 1st major leading part. (as the major, sic!) Great part too.
The other jewel of the cast is veteran theatre actor Ion Stanescu as retired safe cracker Solomonica, his only part on the big screen except a bit in O noapte furtunoasa (1943).
Supporting: Vasilica Tastaman, Marin Moraru, Mircea Crisan, Jean Constantin, Stefan Mihailescu-Braila (artist emerit;), Peter Paulhoffer, Constantin Rautchi, Ion Anghel, Florin Scarlatescu, Draga Olteanu (before she was Matei ;) and a very young Carmen Galin in her second film part after Diminetile unui baiat cuminte (see last paragraph).
Atmospheric music by Mircea Istrate (Strainul, Haiducii series), played by the Symphonic Cinema Orchestra (Orchestra simfonica a cinematografie- oh, what dayz, when musicians were employed just to score Romanian films...) and conducted by Silviu Panțiru and a cool and absolutely weird song, sung onscreen by Marina Voica, Criminal Tango, by P. Trombetta (actually Kriminal Tango by Piero Trombetta, originally released in 1959 and the title song of a German film of 1960). Another song sang by Voica, is an uncanyAve Maria Lola in bossanova rhythm (min. 66 in the film, just before Crimanl Tango -a request ;). Maria Voica, a superstar of Romanian Pop music of the Communist age, might be the only one left alive from this film. She is 89 now.
Another gem are the opening credits, Saul Bass 60's funky style. Very cool, have no idea who did them, it's not credited (sic).
They include a caption of the Militia consultant (MAI/Ministerul Afecerilor Interne) of the film, as all films of the time needed one. This one is a Lt. Col. (Lieutenat Colonel) called Alexandru Manuși, meaning Gloves !
The film starts surreally with a pre-credits scene in which an Insurance salesman trying to sell a Life policy to the Major. I won't spoil more about the plot, suffice to say it deals with a hidden treasure, a murder and surreal threats signed Death !
There's a scene where Major Tache plays Checkers with ¬Death¬, it can be interpreted as a Pun to Bergman's chess with death in The Seventh Seal. Or not, one can only fabulise ;)
I's say it's sort of Romanian Ladykillers maybe ? Style-wise and humour. It's a bit of a satire of the system too. Scenes in achurch, at a Religious procession, not likely to be seen in the Regime directory.
Great poster above ! Love also this Czech poster with a nod to Vertigo, saying Major & DEATH / Major A Smrt !
Napinave meaning suspensful !!
It seems M & M travelled a bit in the Socialist haven cinema distribution .)
Deutsche version:
The film can be seen in its entirety in multiple youtube versions, mostly taken from a TVR2HD broadcast.
As a fun note, a 'sopirla' / polticial subversive innunedo, one of the characters (Peter Paulhoffer, a German Romanian actor, nicknamed 'the Romanian Paul Newman', that left for BDR- West Germany-later in the '70's), is reading a newspaper in Gara de Nord/ Bucharest railway station. The paper says: The modern profile of a Director's calification !!! On the left is seen a review of another Romanian film from that year: Diminetile unui baiat cuminte/The mornings of a nice boy, by Andrei Blaier, a sort of New Wave manifesto, not a very socialist film as intended to be. The film can be found on youtube from Cinepub.ro here. I am not sure the newspaper existed or if it waas made up for the film as an inside joke.
Mel is one of the few EGOTs, an acronym for the few who won the big Four: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony
Now, Mel is still working, he's releasing Spaceballs 2 soon...it's called Spaceballs: The New One, ;)
and it shall be released after 40 years after the original, in 2027 !
May the Schwarz be with you, Mel !!!
As a tribute we just saw (re-saw) his 1976's Silent Movie, the first Mel Brooks film I ever saw, in cinemas, weirdly called Comedie Mută 1977, as it played in Romania in 1977 !!!
Psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, therapists. Group therapy or one-on-one. Mentalist, alienist, psychoanalyst, shrink.
Speaking of the original HBO series In Treatment, which itself comes from the Israeli BeTipul, I thought of no better way to wrap up this series of rankings, especially since I had my share of shrinks in my time. :-)
The number one “psychiatric” film would be One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975, Milos Forman), but the psychiatrist there is merely window dressing; Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) is the one who embodies the oppressive system. And then there’s virtually any Woody Allen film, especially the Gene Wilder episode from *Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972), featuring the doctor who falls in love with Daisy the sheep, which I previously discussed in my ranking of performances in Woody Allen films.
K-PAX (2001, Iain Softley), in which Jeff Bridges plays Dr. Mark Powell, treating an alien—or merely a psychotic patient? (Kevin Spacey)—and the Argentine counterpart Hombre mirando al sudeste (1986, Eliseo Subiela), are really about the patients, much like Nash (Russell Crowe) in A Beautiful Mind (2001, Ron Howard).
There’s also Dr. Marc Chabot (Yves Montand) in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970, Vincente Minnelli), who hypnotizes Barbra Streisand and discovers she has lived previous lives. Barbra herself tried being a doctor in The Prince of Tides (1991), attempting to cure Nick Nolte.
But my personal favorite is Klaus Kinski as Dr. Hugo Zuckerbrot in Buddy Buddy (1981), Billy Wilder’s remake (and final film) of L’Emmerdeur (1973, Édouard Molinaro), unfortunately only a supporting role, complete with a fondness for nudist therapy.
And then there’s Dr. Elliot (Michael Caine) from Brian De Palma’s thriller Dressed to Kill (1980), whom I would call the “cross-dressing” variation.
Still, I decided to give the place to the illustrious Dr. Caligari. To paraphrase Siegfried Kracauer’s From Caligari to Hitler, this ranking goes from Caligari to Freud...
10. Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, Robert Wiene)
Variation: creepy
Dr. Caligari runs an asylum and uses the somnambulist Cesare for various dirty jobs. Similar to Edgar Allan Poe’s The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether and its idea that the inmates have taken over the asylum.
Its descendants include Asylum (1972, Roy Ward Baker), as well as the opening and cover art of In the Mouth of Madness (1995, John Carpenter).
Successors: Fritz Lang’s Dr. Mabuse, Dr. M, the mega-villains of the James Bond franchise beginning with Dr. No, etc.
Caligari controls Cesare, in a scene set to music by Lacrimosa.
(The full film can be found on YouTube.)
9. Dr. Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) in Spellbound (1945, directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
Variation: mysterious
A thriller populated by psychiatrists, fascinated with psychoanalysis—a fairly new concept in Hollywood at the time—partly inspired by producer David O. Selznick’s own experiences in therapy.
Psychiatrist Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) treats the amnesiac John Ballantine (Gregory Peck), accused of murder.
Based on the novel The House of Dr. Edwardes by Francis Beeding, the pseudonym of John Palmer and Hilary St. George Sanders, screenplay by Ben Hecht.
Memorable above all for its dream sequence designed by Salvador Dalí, and for a recurring skiing sequence.
Successor:Gothika (2003, Mathieu Kassovitz), with Halle Berry as an amnesiac psychiatrist committed to an asylum for a murder she cannot remember committing.
Trailer! (The full film can be found on YouTube.)
8. Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in Anger Management (2003, directed by Peter Segal)
Variation: out-of-control!
Jack Nicholson, usually the patient :-) (with the exception of “The Specialist” in the musical Tommy (1975), Ken Russell’s adaptation of The Who), plays an anger-management therapist—or whatever the proper term may be; the closest translation I found was “treatment for controlling one’s temper”—in a mediocre film that deserved a much better director.
A vehicle for Adam Sandler, who, when placed face to face with Jack’s explosive personality, is completely eclipsed.
Best scene: Adam, backed up by Jack, singing I Feel Pretty from West Side Story on the bridge!
7. Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) in the Halloween series
Created by John Carpenter for the landmark 1978 film.
The name was borrowed from Psycho, from the character played by John Gavin, Sam Loomis.
Dr. Loomis is Michael Myers’ nemesis. He treated him at the institution from which Myers escaped. He is also the commentator, the voice of reason, and the only character besides Michael Myers himself to appear throughout the series: five films, including Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, released shortly before Pleasence’s death in 1995.
Played by Malcolm McDowell in Rob Zombie’s remake.
On the nature of evil!
6. Dr. Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) in Analyze This (1999, directed by Harold Ramis)
Variation: sleeps with the fishes!
Mob boss Vitti (Robert De Niro) has problems and decides to see a psychiatrist. But nobody must find out. Otherwise Vitti might end up sleeping with the fishes too, Luca Brasi style.
Nemesis: Chazz Palminteri, to whom the meaning of the word “closure” has to be explained.
The dramatic TV version:The Sopranos, released the very same year. Which came first? Only they know who inspired whom, but Analyze This is the parody version, a kind of sitcom blown up to feature-film proportions.
Sequel:Analyze That (2002), also directed by Harold Ramis.
Explaining the Oedipus complex! “Fuckin’ Greeks!”
5. Dr. Bill Capa (Bruce Willis) in Color of Night (1994, directed by Richard Rush)
Variation: it’s so bad, it’s good!
The most improbable psychiatrist ever.
Color-blind, traumatized by the color red, trapped in a Hitchcockian thriller inspired in part by Vertigo. Someone starts killing off his patients.
The patient roster is practically a compendium of cult actors: Lance Henriksen, Brad Dourif, Lesley Ann Warren, Kevin J. O'Connor.
Steamy sex scenes with the then-young Jane March (The Lover).
Bruce also played a psychiatrist, Dr. Crowe, in The Sixth Sense (1999, M. Night Shyamalan), but I left him off the list for objective reasons: he belongs to the spirit world. :-)
A fan-made video clip for the title song (super-cheesy), performed by Lauren Christy!
4. Dr. Martin Dysart (Richard Burton) in Equus (1977, directed by Sidney Lumet)
Variation: equestrian
A drama written by Peter Shaffer, adapted from his own play, in which Harry Potter himself (a.k.a. Daniel Radcliffe) is currently appearing nude on Broadway.
Burton delivers a magnificent performance as a doctor determined to cure an extremely disturbed young man obsessed with horses (Peter Firth).
Nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay) and winner of two Golden Globes, for Best Dramatic Actor (Burton) and Best Supporting Actor (Firth).
In the original Broadway production (1974–75), Anthony Hopkins played Dysart.
Trailer!
3. Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss) in What About Bob? (1991, directed by Frank Oz)
Variation: funny
Bill Murray is Bob, the patient who relentlessly torments Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss).
The Romanian title used on television (since it never received a theatrical release) was The Psychiatrist on Vacation.
Similar: the Burt Reynolds / Dom DeLuise pairing in The End (1978, directed by Burt Reynolds).
The “Gimme Gimme, I Need I Need...” scene. (The full film can be found on YouTube.)
2. Col. Vincent Kane (Stacy Keach) in The Ninth Configuration (1980, directed by William Peter Blatty)
Variation: red herrings!
Based on William Peter Blatty’s novel Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane (The Exorcist).
How Do You Fight A War Called Madness?
A new commander arrives at a castle where he applies shock therapy to former soldiers suffering from mental illness.
An entirely male cast: Jason Miller, Stuart Wilson, Neville Brand, Robert Loggia, Joe Spinell.
A film about post-war trauma—in this case Vietnam—one of the greatest unknown films ever made, although it enjoys a loyal cult following. Now available in its longer director’s cut.
Packed with references to The Exorcist, also written and produced by Blatty.
Filmed in Hungary. The castle is Burg Eltz in Germany.
Successor:Shutter Island (2010, Martin Scorsese).
Part One: the opening sequence set to “St. Antone” by Denny Brooks. (The full film can be found on YouTube.)
1. Dr. Freud (Alan Arkin) in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976, directed by Herbert Ross)
Variation: Freudian :-)
The film in which Dr. Freud (Alan Arkin) treats Sherlock Holmes (Nicol Williamson), brought to him by Dr. Watson (Robert Duvall) for cocaine addiction—hence the film’s title.
Based on the novel by Nicholas Meyer.
Laurence Olivier plays Professor Moriarty and Vanessa Redgrave is the romantic interest, Lola Deveraux.
A special, one-of-a-kind film that clearly influenced Alan Moore’s graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Predecessor: Freud had appeared on screen before, from John Huston’s 1962 biopic Freud, starring Montgomery Clift, to the less likely incarnation played by Jamie Elman (his co-star from California Dreaming!) in the film where Armand Assante portrays Nietzsche, When Nietzsche Wept (2007, Pinchas Perry).
The Fortune was then back in 1975 at the time not so fortunate...a good time to revisit now on Jack's 89th BB (Birthday Bash-I hope so...)
For Jack and Warren one of their most obscure films and the only one they did together except Beatty's own REDS...This was Beatty's film trying to greenlit Shampoo (1975) and the studio, Columbia Pictures, made that film in order to get this made and guess which film flopped bigtime...
Directed by Mike Nichols, (shot in summer 1974), it was a huge flop at the time of the relase, the guyz had a lot of fun tho but not also Nichols (!) and the film has way more fun values today !
Plot synopsis: Two bumbling hustlers in the 1920s attempt to gain the fortune of an heiress. Nothing will stop them, not even murder.
In The Fortune /Averea in Romanian/1975, Jack joins his buddiest friend Warren Beatty. What they thought they would reissue Some Like it Hot, became Beavis and Butt-head avant la lettre. Or Stan and Bran dadaists. Abbot and Costello meet the Stooges. Without Iggy. With Stockard Channing (nominated for a Golden Globe as a newcomer), who did not become the new Marilyn Monroe. Compared to something like Wedding Crashers, B & B (i.e. Nicholson and Beatty), are rocket scientists. Jack as Oscar plays as madcap as it gets, Beatty as Nicky keeps it dandy,. It's an all-mus-go cynical farce, tango featured, bonus the moustaches. Plus the sexiest movie star chick since Chicken Little the cartoon. Director Mike Nichols had previously made, in 1970, with Jack and Art Garfunkel, Carnal Knowledge and would direct Jack again in Heartburn and Wolf. Nichols had such a bad experience that he didn't make another film for 8 years...:(
Written by Carole Eastman, Jack's buddy (wrote 4 films for him and Jerry Schatzberg's Puzzle of a Downfall Child), under the pen name Adrien Joyce.
Shot by master John A. Alonzo (working with Jack after Chinatown, Black Sunday, Scarface). Widescreen 2.35.1, ANAMORPHIC.
Exceptional production design by Richard Sylbert in his last film with Nichols, and with Jack via Chinatown. The villa apartment is the same as in Day of the Locust , 'cos it's the same set, Schlesinger's film is also 1975).
Merry period music and adaptations by David Shire. I Must Be Dreaming is sung by Stockard Channing.
Jack's buddy, Scatman Crothers has a cameo as a fisherman, one of his many in Jack's films (The King of Marvin Gardens, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining).
Another Nicholson great buddy, Harry Dean Stanton has a silent and uncredited cameo at 1h21.
Because the start of principal photography on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was delayed, Jack Nicholson, who had worked with Nichols on Carnal Knowledge, was available for the role of Oscar Sullivan. During filming, the actor was forced to deal with two events that impacted his personal life. First, a fact checker working on a biographical piece for Time discovered that the woman Nicholson believed was his sister was actually his mother, and the woman who raised him was his grandmother. Then his close friend Cass Elliot (mama Cass!) died in her sleep, and rumors about the cause of her death circulated in the media. These two events, linked with the film's eventual failure, made The Fortune a subject that Nicholson never discussed in interviews and biographies.
The Drama (loved the title) has Bergmanesque, Woody Allenesque-through his Bergman love), Nouvelle Vague vibes too- and i must confess I enjoyed it more than the whole Sentimental Value thing. Or overbloated Baumbach's Marriage Story, all due to Bergman's tropes (ther is even a poster for The Passion of Anna, which the writer/director showed his actors in preparation for the shoot). Don't foreget Borgli is a Swede too.
Liked the energy, the humor, the storytelling, the editing, Daniel Pemberton's score, the acting of the two leads-Robert Pattison and Zendaya in her best part yet- imo-they had chemistry.
Dram Scenario was ok, Sick of You was intense, looking forward for more Kristoffer Borgli.
Project Hail Mary is the Feel Good science fiction film of the year, decade, and more, a hopeful unlikely buddy film well done, with winks to 2001, Intersellar, ET, Close Encounters of 3d kind and of course Rocky ;). Ryan Gosling is at his most charismatic and Rocky is a hoot ! Import Deutch Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall, Zone of Interest), does a good job, and also karaoke ;) Nice songs on the soundtrack (Kris Kristofferson, The Beatles, Dennis Wilson, Ike and Tina Turner) and effective score by Daniel Pemberton. It does what Mission 2 Mars and The Martian (also based on an Andy Weir book) did not manage to do, meanwhile touching the Grace ;)
See it on IMAX if you can, all the space sequences are shot in the format.
This is Film Noir, dark comedy, thriller, and most of all an homage of Kind Hearts and Coronets (1959), the classic Ealing comedy with Alce Guiness es ;), based on the novel , it says on the credits. "Insiperd by" those two.
Also has an 80's air, it's cynical and politically incorrect, stylish and crisp.
Finally a good part for Glen Powell as Becket Redfellow (cool names in this family !), after the huge misfire of new Running Man-Liked the guy in his SNL episode, I think he has more comedic potential than action chops, definetly romantic too.
Jessica Henwick is the romantic interest, Ruth. Bill Camp has a nice part as Warren Redfellow, also Topher Grace as one of the Redfellows (Steven) and Zach Woods (from Sillicon Valley) another one (Noah). Also Ed Harris' part as the patriarch Whitelaw Redfellow is more like a cameo, but he's effective as ever.
Amazingly enough this was shot in South Africa instead of New York and New Jersey !!!
Great score by Emile Mosserri and effective soundtrack-The Clapping Song (Shirley Ellis) , the Brazilian classic Take Me Back to Piaui by Juca Chaves, No Fear by Inflo, etc.
Tough cookie, lost count of how many films I've seen. Less than probably any year. Over 200, less than 300 ? More ? I started to put them on Letterboxed starting late October but still didn't catch up with the rest.
***
Top of the series is here and films from 2024 are again a problem, The Brutalist and The Substance should've make the 2025 list, as there still are some of 2025 which I haven't seen yet (Hamnet,-saw it,. did not like at all- Resurrection, Sound of Falling ?). Marty Supreme would make Top 5 but I've seen it in Januaray 2026.
Just caught up with Park Chan-Wook's No Other Choice that makes the list. It's limited in Romanian Cinemas now, so try to see it on the big screen, it's worthy.
Kinda disappointed with Romanian Cinema this year too. I liked Kontinental '25 and that's it. Could 've been also Jude's Dracula but he made it such an intentional mess and duration wise a whole calvary...
Finalmente l'alba - Saverio Costanzo -2023, on which I wrote:
Rome and Cinecitta 1953. More like a drreamlike story, a false thriller, homage to Fellini and La Dolce Vita, Notti di Cabiria, and linked to a real muder cold case known as the Italian Black Dahlia. Interesting slow film, in the Venice Competition in 2023. Modern beat score, strange and eerie. Song Last Nite by The Stokes (2011) on the end credits.
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.”
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.
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" ?
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