In Bruges (2008)

 Romanian version here. I was aked to to piece for the TIFF 25 retrospective in AperiTIFF and here it is. 

"They're Filming Midgets..."

Heaven, hell or purgatory? It's Bruges!

An extraordinary debut by Irish filmmaker Martin McDonagh (Seven Psychopats, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri), In Bruges is one of the very best films of 2008—and much more than that. A cult film par excellence, it becomes more valuable every time I revisit it. I am still astonished that, after premiering at Sundance, it failed to win any major awards there. It did go on to win Colin Farrell a Golden Globe and earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, a category it won at the BAFTAs.

I like to think, however, that it did for tourism in Bruges what Roman Holiday did for Rome!

I, for one, spent a day there in 2014, and my impressions matched Ray's point of view exactly, as opposed to Ken's.

The Colin Farrell/Ray – Brendan Gleeson/Ken pairing is fabulous, and McDonagh reunited them fourteen years later in another extraordinary film, The Banshees of Inisherin (2022).

And Ralph Fiennes as Harry is impeccable, ferocious—an irresistible character.

You can tell that McDonagh is also a playwright, and that his literary influences stem from the Theatre of the Absurd, yet the film remains intensely cinematic.

First and foremost, it owes a great deal to Harold Pinter's 1959 play The Dumb Waiter. In turn, Pinter's play was inspired by Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1953). Add a touch of British gangster cinema—Irish, in this case—a hint of Bruegel landscapes in Bruges, nihilism, a fatal trauma, an improbable love story, and black, absurd humour turned up to eleven.

Other clues: Touch of Evil, Don't Look Now, Carlito's Way, the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch.

Carter Burwell's score most likely came into McDonagh's world via the Coen Brothers (see Fargo in the same TIFF retrospective of black comedies), with whom McDonagh began a wonderful collaboration that continued throughout all of his subsequent films.

Like Fargo, In Bruges was never released theatrically in Romania at the time.

Alin Ludu Dumbravă

Cape Fear (2026)

Beware !!! (literally stay away from this Fake Fear)

Max Cady is Back ! And this time he is Javier Bardem with a goat-e and Udo Kier type of Blue Eyes -actually Green lenses!)

The new Cape Fear is here...on Apple Tv + (premiered June 5th) 

Episodes 1 and 2 were cool and atmospheric, but  will it have enough breath to do Ten ?

we'll see...

well, now it's over and what was originally published on June 8th overstayed its welcome -as expected !!! here are the August 1st conclusions of this bloated overbearing season !

Bardem, best thing about him, his Panama hat, does not get even close to his Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men or even the blonde eyed psycho Silva from Skyfall. No my faved, his best psycho and most fun is the one from Perdita Durango, Romeo !. Basically Bardem is ripping off De Niro's Max Cady at a nec plus ultra grand guignol style. Effieint but pastiche...

Very little from the original book John D. MacDonald's The Executioners (1957) stays on.

Also not much of the 1962 J. Lee Thompson original adaptation as Cape Fear in glorious Black and White.

cool tittle lettering, cool ideas from the Scorsese 1991 remake and homage (the shots on the negative, camera moves), and most of all the music stays the same. Bernard Herrmann's score, now redone by Jeff Russo. This is the only asset imo, I think I watched it for the score alone, this being one of the best I ever heard, and tops some of Herrmann's work with Hitchcock. 

Exec prod by Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and showrunner Nick Antosca.

Wasted Ted Levine and Ron Perlman in the obvious baddie daddy roles. 

***

1st episode, 'Fingers and Toes' directed by Norwegian Morten Tyldum (Headhunters, Passengers). 

Ep. 2 'Why Would I Want to Hurt You?' directed by  S.J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones, Madame Web), features a cameo by screenwiter Wesley Strick (who wrote the 1991 remake of CF).

Ep. no. 3 on June 12th:  Phantom Sensations

already feeling the nausea

Ep. 4 Pierced. June 19th.

some lgbtq happens before the two daughters. 

ep.5 Faith -June 26.

loss of breath, mambojambo and a sinister Juliette Lewis. 

Ep. 6 Possum -July 3rd.

that's when I feel like quiting, don't really wanna see how they're gonna mangle this beyond belief. 

Ep. 7: Mongrel -July 10th

by episode seven it's becoming such a grand guignol caricature with storytelling of a bad telenovela,  I switched it of. They take a road trip and ouch, and the soundtracks goes from BOC's Don't Fear the Reaper to Alice Cooper's Eighteen. 

Ep. 8 ∙ Los tiempos de Dios son Perfectos -July 17. Telenovellas quickens. 

Ep. 9- The Scar -July 24. More mambojambo, rednecks and swamps. We don't need a bigger boat ;)

Ep. 10: The Executioners. July 31th. Hurricane arrives. Leaving open season two ? C'mon !!!

2 out of 5, 4 out of 10 !

Her Private Hell (2026)

NWR originals -Refn 's comeback ? more like Refn's goodbye...or His Private Hell instead of Her Private Hell !

10 years ago he divided the cinema world last time with The Neon Demon, then he antagonised execs with his streaming fares, Copenhagen Cowboy for Netflix, which of course never got renewed..

Now he was in Cannes (out of competition with the worst reviews of his career) and is in Romanian theaters (very Limited, brave Bad Unicorn release), even with his new UFO, Her Private Hell.

Now, I wished I liked this, but no... fell asleep almost. 

Well the film is a dream, a dream within a dream, with dream logic and nightmares. It's supposedly concieved after Refn had a clinical death of 25 minutes in 2023...

Mist, The Letherman, Metropolis and crystals, models who can't act, yakuza and choreographed empty fights, disco inferno, lesbianism, incest. A Refn original ;) 

mixing giallo, B Sf & japanese action/yakuza films (Seijun Suzuki?).

Again the Hans Christian Andersen trauma, the girl with the matches...

visuals of Barbarella, Diabolik and Flash Gordon ?  Terrore nello spazio / aka Planet of the Vampires ?Tron meets Suspiria and other Argento fares (defenestration) ? Technicolor by Bava ?

He's trying Lynch's tricks, from Lost Highway and Mullholand Drive, but he's getting zilch. 

acting level is subzero...Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, gorgeously photographed but used as cardboard models. 

the letragic pacing goes lethal, the film comes alive on the neon visuals only when there's music.

So, the only redeeeming quality of the film is the score by Pino Donnagio, an eerie, elegiac beautiful (Herrmannesque, there is some Vertigo in it) score that stands out and it's one of his best, together with the ones for De Palma. It would be ironic if Donaggio reworked some of his rejected score for De Palma's Snake Eyes (1999).

The disco synth pop is not by Donnagio but by Refn's collaborator Julian Winding (Dolce mio).

https://fictionhorizon.com/her-private-hell-budget-breakdown-how-nicolas-winding-refns-costly-gamble-struggled-at-the-box-office/

2 out of 5 / 4 out of 10 !

Buddy Guy @90 !!! LMA !!!

Buddy Guy is 90 today !!!! Most Legendary bluesman alive and recently with a great part in the film Sinners !!!

his most recent NPR concert: featuring Miles Caton from the film Sinners

                                                     Damn Right I've Got the Blues !!!

Dolce Far Niente (1998) now in cinemas !

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!

In Brașov, it is playing at Cinema One until Thursday inclusive, at 1:15 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.

Alin Ludu Dumbravă

Dolce Far Niente (1998) acum în cinema !

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 ! 

La Brașov rulează la Cinema One până joi inclusiv, de la 13.15 și 18.15.

RIP Chuck Russell

 Chuck Russell, the cult director of The Blob, A nightmare on Elm Street 3, The Mask and Ahnuld's Eraser, or if you will The Rock's The Scopion King is gone at 74. 

He worked his way up in the LA film industry, from assistant directing and production managing independent films while writing screenplays (Dreamscape). Russell made his directorial debut in 1987 with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, which relaunched the franchise. 

Casualties of War (1989)

Casualties of War (1989) is one of the best war (anti-war) films and still does not have the recognition it deserves.  I wrote the dvd review in 2006, twenty years ago, updated it now and in English...

the Romanian version is here !

1966. An incident in Vietnam... the story of a repeated rape and a murder that could have been prevented, but which no one even wishes to punish—only to ignore. Casualties of War, a war regarded in America as synonymous with the loss of innocence, in which the heroes of the two World Wars became the villains and the executioners.

1987. After his first incredible mainstream success with The Untouchables, Brian De Palma, propelled onto the list of directors most coveted by the studios, could make whatever film he wanted. And he chose a controversial, repugnant, revolting subject, one that was later vehemently denied by almost everyone, especially Vietnam veterans. A real, infamous case that he had dreamed of bringing to the screen since 1969, when he saw at the Berlin Film Festival a film on the same subject, inspired by Daniel Lang's New York Times article. At the same time, one of his favourite films is The Bridge on the River Kwai, and De Palma decides to become David Lean for a little while (hence the key sequence on the bridge).

Filmed in Thailand under extremely harsh conditions, with an A-list cast of young actors on the rise (Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, John Leguizamo, John C. Reilly), Casualties of War was released in 1989, only to be torn apart by critics, who found it exploitative and visceral, and almost completely ignored by audiences who had grown weary of Vietnam. Constructed as one vast flashback (and nightmare at the same time), it contains De Palma's overwhelming visual style and his recurring obsessions: guilt, the betrayal of comradeship, impossible love, impotence, passive voyeurism. But this time, instead of Brian De Palma's much-discussed Hitchcockian thriller fantasies, the events unfolding on screen are based on a true story. The viewer becomes complicit in the carnage, and the unsettling feeling of guilt gradually, methodically, almost paroxysmally takes hold. Ennio Morricone's score (following his previous collaboration on The Untouchables), punctuated by Gheorghe Zamfir's pan flute, is the film's principal source of emotion—elegiac, mournful, evocative of ghosts from the past and shattered dreams.

2006. The film America could not bear to watch, one of the most anti-war films ever made, is today being reassessed and regarded as equal to, or even greater than, its predecessors: The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket. And the victim of the war behind the screen continued to develop his recurring themes, concealed within his much-discussed Hitchcockian thriller fantasies, without ever again disturbing his fellow citizens' civic conscience with stories based on real events.

---

Extra: the extended edition (also the first one to reach Romania) includes six additional minutes of footage (material previously available only as deleted scenes—Eriksson's interrogation, an additional scene with Dale Dye, and an unexpected Greg Henry cameo), an emotional interview with Michael J. Fox, and a half-hour Making Of in which De Palma is far warmer and more talkative than usual—and if you're wondering why, it simply means you haven't seen the film.

4 Stars out of 5 - 8 out of 10 !

Alin Ludu Dumbravă

Victime de război / Casualties of War (1989)

Victime de război / Casualties of War (1989) e unul din cele mai bine filme de război (anti-război), rămas pînă azi nedescoperit  de publicul larg. Nicio nominalizare la Oscar, eșe cde public și considerat anti-american (!) la vreame premierei. Ăn 2006 am scris o cronică la apariția Dvd ului pe piața românească. 20 de ani ami tîrziu o veți aici. Cine nu l-a văzut, să îl vadă, și cine l-a văzut să îl re-vadă !

cronica în engleză aici

1966. Un incident în Vietnam... povestea unui viol repetat și al unei crime care putea fi împiedicată, dar care nici măcar nu se dorește a fi pedepsită, ci doar ignorată. Pierderi în vreme de război, un război considerat în America sinonimul pierderii inocenței, în care eroii din cele două războaie mondiale au devenit personajul negativ și torționar.
1967. După primul său incredibil succes mainstream cu Incoruptibilii, Brian De Palma, propulsat pe lista de regizori preferați de studiouri, putea să facă ce film vroia. Și a ales un subiect controversat, repugnant, revoltător, ulterior negat cu vehemență de către toată lumea, mai ales de veteranii din Vietnam. Un caz real, infam, pe care visa să-l pună pe ecran din 1969, atunci când a văzut la Festivalul de la Berlin un film cu același subiect, inspirat din articolul din New York Times al lui Daniel Lang. Totodată, unul din filmele preferate ale sale este Podul de pe râul Kwai și De Palma se hotărăște să devină pentru puțin timp David Lean (de unde și secvența-cheie de pe pod).

Filmat în Thailanda în condiții extrem de dure, cu o echipă de actori de A, tineri și în ascensiune (Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, John Leguizamo, John C. Reilly), Casualties of War a ieșit pe ecrane în 1989, fiind desființat de criticii care l-au găsit exploatativ și visceral și ignorat total de spectatorii care se săturaseră de Vietnam. Construit ca un imens flashback (și coșmar deopotrivă), conține stilul vizual copleșitor al lui De Palma și temele sale fetiș: vinovăția, trădarea camaraderiei, idila imposibilă, impotența, voyerismul pasiv. Dar de data asta, în loc de mult comentatele fantasme de tip thriller hitchcockian ale lui BDP, evenimentele de pe ecran sunt bazate pe o poveste reală. Spectatorul are cotă de participare la carnagiu și sentimentul de neplăcut, de culpabilitate se instaurează treptat, gradat, paroxistic. Muzica lui Ennio Morricone (după colaborarea anterioară la Incoruptibilii), punctată de naiul lui Gheorghe Zamfir, este sursa principală a emoției, elegiacă, tristă, evocatoare de prezențe de fantome trecute și vise năruite.

2006. Filmul pe care America n-a suportat să-l vadă, unul din cele mai anti-războinice din câte s-au făcut, e reconsiderat astăzi și considerat mai bun sau egal cu predecesoarele sale, Vânătorul de cerbi, Apocalypse Now, Plutonul, Full Metal Jacket. Iar victima războiului din spatele ecranului a continuat să-și dezvolte temele recurente, disimulate în mult comentatele fantasme de tip thriller hitchcockian, fără a mai deranja conștiința civică a conaționalilor cu povești bazate pe fapte reale.

---

Extras: ediția extinsă (și prima, de altfel, care ajunge la noi) are incluse 6 minute în plus de film (ceea ce anterior apăruse ca scene tăiate – anchetarea lui Eriksson, o scenă în plus cu Dale Dye și un cameo inedit Greg Henry), un interviu emoționant cu Michael J. Fox și un Making Of de jumătate de oră în care De Palma e mult mai cald și volubil decât de obicei și, dacă vă întrebați de ce, înseamnă că nu ați văzut filmul.

Alin Ludu Dumbravă

4 stele din 5, 8 din 10 !!!

Sleeping Dogs (1977)

Sleeping Dogs is Sam Neill's 1st leading part and the first New Zeeland film (!), even though it was directed by an Australian, Roger Donaldson. Both went to Hollywood and had great careers-Donaldson still works. These might be reasons why this film is known today, and it shalll  get even more attention because it's maybe more relevant today than it was 39  years ago. It was a huge hit in new Zeeland ehen it came out,  thier first film shot on 35 mm. Donaldson also produced and edited, and Ian Mune who plays Bullen also co-wrote it. It's based on the book, Smith's Dream by Karl Stead, a dystopian thriller that mixes 1984 with a sort of First Blood like man on the run.

The finale improves the film much, it has a slow development, weird pace, sheer brutality and violence, constructed not like a regular action drama, with that weird style of all Australian New Wave films.

Sam Neill is great a Smith, a cluless man that just wants to be left alone and it's mistaken for a guerilla leader. 

Warren Oates shows up for a brief subplot, playing the American soldier, it his classic Warren Oates way. 

 3 1/2 out of 5, 7 out of 10 !

The Boys from Brazil (1978)

The Boys from Brazil was first a book by Ira Levin (The Stepford Wives, Rosemary's Baby), published in 1976. Great page-turner thriller, very risque, mixing real characters with preposterous fiction !

1978, ITC-producer Sir Lew Grade makes the movie adaptation.

The great Franklin J. Schaffner directs. And he gets an 11 Mill. $ budget and a Grade (sic) A cast.

Gregory Peck is Joseph Mengele, playing totally against type, his only Villain in his filmography. His take on Mengele is fierce, mean spirited and dead serious. He man is evil, the Doctor is mad. But Peck plays it straight and dresses sharply, in white suits, with a stilleto moustache. It's definitely one of the top performances of his amazing career.

Peck said afterwards, "I felt, Laurence Olivier felt, friends of mine like Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon felt, that I was good in this part. Some critics seem unwilling to accept actors when they break what they think is the mold or the image.”

A frail Laurence Olivier (who just had his kidney stones removed!) is Ezra Liberman, the nazi hunter modelled after Simon Wiesenthal.  Olivier's physicality helps him tremendously fot the part, you can feel his pain and suffering. Both Peck and Olivier deliver really copious accents. Olivier was nominated for an Oscar for best actor, one of the film's three Oscar nods (editing and music too).

James Mason supports as colonel Seibert, as do a bunch of great actors known from war and spy films, 

Walter Gottel (general Gogol in the Moore Bond films), Wolfgang Preiss, Michael Gough, Bruno Ganz, Denholm Elliott, most interesting is young Steve Guttenberg playing a Jewish young journalist who discovers the Praguayan Nazi plot. Lily Palmer, Uta Hagen and Anne Meara have small but important parts and the young boy, Jeremy Black as the uncanny blue-eyed adolescent with multiple incarnations. 

The plot itself it's so far out, it's great. And it's played so serious and grave, also it's very avant garde re Cloning, the Macguffin of the film.

Jerry Goldsmith  delivers another great score for Schaffner, they colllaborated on seven films. This one is based half on an Austrian waltz, half on Martial menacing music.

Cinematography in 1.85.1 by Henri Decae, legendary & over versatile French DOP (Bob le flammbeur, Les 400 coups, Le Clan des siciliens, Le Cercle Rouge, Day for Night, Le Professionel), in one of the few English language films he ever did (together with The Light at the Edge of the World, Bobby Deerfield, Two People, Operation Daybreak,  The Island and Exposed).  

Locations are Brazil, Paraguay, London, Austria (Vienna), Germany, Sweden and the US. The production went to Portugal instead and the principal unit never set foot in the USA. 

The opening is great, mysterious, after the majestic music turns into menacing sounds, and the opening credits are on black, there is no dialogue for the first 16 minutes.

I must've seen this film every decade of my life, 1st time in 1981-82 on Communist Romanian television when I was in the 6th or &th grade, impromptu and incognito, on a Sunday night, presented as "film artistic", on the the QT. We were so impressed the next day in school, the ones who saw it, by a sheer mistake, as the film was totally smuggled that night, one of those -push it in films-mainly when comrade Ceausescu was visiting abroad. Thanks again whoever put that on that night. A few years later, in high school I got upon the book, in French ! Started to clumsily translate it, I think I got done the 1st chapter, then of course gave up. The book might've been transalted in Romanian after 1990, I don't know.

One big find was the ITC DVD I got in the early 2000's, wasn't a great copy but still...And last time I watched it in 2020, in the pandemic, catching up with Schaffner's Lionheart and Sphynx. 

There were many different versions, the film was cut over 20 minutes for TV from the original 2h05 running time and many cuts didn't have the original ending with Jeremy Black in the photo dark room, which adds value to the concept. It also empathies the role of the braclet of animal claws that Mengele brought with him from Brazil, a small detail and metaphor addes to the subtext.

Now they are reamaking the book (and film) into a 5 episodes miniseries for Netflix that will probably stream next year. Peter Morgan is the showrunenr and Jeremy Strong is the nazi hunter. August Diehl plays Mengele but it shall be no longer Mengele, they renamed him, after his exceptional turn of the charcter in thw recent The Dissapaerence of Joseph Mengele, in which the Ira Levin novel and the film are mentioned !

  

4 out of 5 / 8 out of 10 !

Maligned on his opening time, criticised and satirised as the "nazi revival" genre was tiring (The Odessa Filre, Marathon Man, later on The Formula) the film stands tall the test of time, anchored in the two key performances, the clash between two old men, obsessed, a lot of psychology that was brought by Peck and Olivier, happy to work together for one time only, the markings of the a great director, the music and atmosphere. 

****

Best review I found about the making of and the motivations of Scahaffner, Peck taking part in it, the choice of the filming format and locations here.

The Bride ! (2026)

as stated on Sept. 23, 2025 when the trailer premiered.

Movie or at least Curio of next year ?

The Bride, Maggie Gyllenhaal's second film after The Lost Daughter (2021) is a revisonist retelling of Bride of Frankenstein (1935, James Whale), with Jessie Buckley (Fargo sez, IV) as The Bride, Christian Bale as Frankenstein's Monster, and Jake Gyllenhaal, Penelope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening.

The Bride is a mix of Poor Things and Joker (Folie a deux), with elements of Public Enemies (Bale again..), Bonnie and Clyde and other goodies of the 30's era. 

Just fyi, there was another The Bride, starring Sting, Clancy Brown as the Monster aka Viktor and Jennifer Beals as "Eve", directed by Franc Roddam, in 1985.

-Update-saw the film in cinema March 9th 2026 and posted my "review" on Letterboxed here.

It says:

All over the place big budget mess of a personal (I'd say Vanity) star project (Maggie Gyllenhal's 2nd film) with an incoherent agenda: meta-cinema, pretentious literary references (Mary Shelley, Herman Melville, Shakespeare), grand feminist message, cult genre films homage, from Bonnie and Clyde to Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, over-the-top performances -Bale can go for a Razzie, gratuitous violence, #metoo engagement, anachronisms galore, chaotic choregraphy and revisionist musical score. I didn't feel involved at all, Zlatko Buric as Italian capo Lupino ! (another Ida Lupino reference !) is the weirdest casting choice. 

Folie a Deux meets (Un) Natural Born Killers, It surely deserves the exclamation sign from the title !!!

2 1/2 out of 5 / 5 out of 10 !

Fargo (1996)– 30 Years Later

 Romanian version here. 

The first time I saw Fargo was 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 series Fargo, 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 

Fargo - 30 de ani mai târziu

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.

Alin Ludu Dumbravă

Articol publicat în Aperitiff | 12 iunie 2026 

 

Spider-Noir (2026)

"With No Power Comes No Resposibility"

The Nicolas Cage is back with something cool in black and white (and color) but I'd rather see it Noir as in the title, Spider-Noir. Premieres May 27th on Amazon Prime as in in collaboration with Sony, who's only Marvel character they got rights too...

I published this in February 2026 but since I can't go back to the post to-date I republished it today !

From the looks it's more of a Sin City / Frank Miller, The Spirit / Will Eisner. And The Shadow. 

Breendan Gleeson is the villain.

Hopefully this will rock, as game based Fallout TV series did, or DC / HBO recently two interesting spinoffs, The Penguin and The Peacemaker and Marvel/ Disney did mega meta Wonder Man.

July 15th Updates:

Well, I saw it all 8 episodes and gotta say I switched from B & W to color, gorgeous colors that is. Advertised as "Authentic Black and White,” or “True Hue Full Color.”  ! It's a pity to see this as simplistic as Black and White when the costumes, sets and cinematography are doing their best in Color. Cues to Edward Hopper and Lily Furedi, as well to Roy Lichenstein.

The whole thing happens in 1933's New York city and it develops slowly. I mean I was about to give up as a pastische of private dicks and some fanatstic elements underveloped until episode Four !

Alos took me a while to settle with Nic Cage's style here. He is channelling all sorts of Noir heroes, from Humphrey Bogart to Edward J. Robinson and James Cagney, in his voice and manierisms. His Ben Reilly alchy PI is funny, dark, and bitter sweet all at once, swinging from cynical and satirical tones to looney tunes overtones.

Interview with Cage in Esquire.  

It is his 1st foray into TV, or TV series, which he said he'll never do. Glad he did. After voicing the character Noir (Spider, not the Noir from The Boys ;), in the Spider-verse animated film in 2018 he was asked to do this and the whole project changed completely with Cage on board (also budgetwise!). 

Great title sequence and opening song, Saving Grace sung by Kirby, Bond like tune. Plus swingin' songs of the period (Dream a Little Dream of Me), Lil Jun Li as Cat Hardy, the singer femme fatale from the Alcove Club. 

The series ends with Amy Winhouse's You're No Good, which, these days is covered by The Rolling Stones on their new Foreign Tongues album. 

Spider-Nor is nominated for 11 Emmy Awards but none for Cage's acting chops. Liked best his de-aging acting in the WW1 flashbacks and Spider transformations.

Jack Huston is as always good as Flint Marko (aka The Sandman) and Andy Robinson (Scorpiooo?!!!) shows up, I kept asking myself why does that guy look so familliar. Gleeson's Mr. Silvermane is used more as a McGuffin, and there is a smart black journalist named Robbie Robertson (a cool Lamorne Morrison) who works at that age's Daily Buggle. There's also references of the films and the shows of that day and age. 

RIP Sam Neill

New Zeelander hero (but born in Northen Ireland)  Sam Neill has gome away at 78.

Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park series for most, but great in Possession (1981), his 1st major European part, his 1st American important part in 1990's The Hunt for the Red October. That came after his intense performance in  Oz director's Phillip Noyce's excellent triangle thriller, Dead Calm (1989). 

He could've been James Bond but he skipped it...

One of his carrers best: John Trent in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness (1994). 

Also great villain for another John Carpenter flick, Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992).

Great villainy also in Event Horizon, The Piano. 

TV best: season 2 of Peaky Blinders.

Also great parts in Oz and NZ films as  Taika Waikiki's Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) and The Hunter (2011). 

 "I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world."

-Steven Spielberg-

Sam Neill had his own vineyard and wine, Two Paddocks. 

https://www.twopaddocks.com/

His last interview in The Guardian here.

And in the Australian Guardian, a top of his best 20 roles, Top 3 mentioned also here. 

The Rolling Stones - Foreign Tongues (2026)

"Some people seek their fortune on the turn of a card 

Or throwing some bones in a whiskey glass   

'Cause if you wanna seek your fortune, need a lot of luck 

I was standing there when the lightning struck."

(In the Stars)

------------------------------------------------

Oh, What a day ! What a Lovely day :)

Who ever expected (and btw needed. another RS record?) after the last one (Hackney Dimonds, 2023) took 18 years to happen?

and it seems it's not only here, but it's great. Did I say Great ? :)

I love the songs that did not get video promotion /airplay:

Mr. Charm, Some of Us (Keef), Covered in You, and imo the hit of the album, Never Wanna Lose you.

 35 year old producer Andrew Watt (Hackney Diamonds) returned for the RS's 25th studio album. 

14 new and 12 original songs, a grotesque (most would say ugly, but catchy) cover -a composite of the three RSurvivor's faces -Ronnie (79), Keith Richards (82), and Mick Jagger (who will be 83 on July 26th).  and a weird and abstract title, Foreign Tongues !

the band is completed by the regular collaborators, Steve Jordan (69) on the drums -he keeps a great Charlie Watts time, and  most reliable Darryl Jones (64) on bass -Jones played with the Stones since 1996!

The record (total running time 62 mins.)

Rough And Twisted - “All I drank was Muddy Waters”

Originally released on a limited-run vinyl under the alias "The Cockroaches". The band then made the track the opening song—and the lead visualizer video, now all the songs who don't have a video have an official visualiser

 In The Stars  -second video using deepfake -de-aging, directed by Francois Rousselot

https://aldmovieland.blogspot.com/2026/05/in-stars-rolling-stones-sotd.html

originally called Starf**ker, about the Groupie 'culture'. 

Jealous Lover -visualiser shot in Sydney

- third video with Anya Taylor-Joy & Charles Melton. Directors: Chris Barrett & Luke Taylor 

Directors: Chris Barrett & Luke Taylor

Steve Winwood on the piano. He appears and plays keys on the whole record.

Mr Charm (also a pun on mad mogul Mr. Musk)

says Mick: 

 "Life's too short for just making money 

Ain't no fool, ain't nobody's monkey 

Life's too short to waste it living on your own, oh! 

Life's too short, nothing lasts forever 

Can't be bought, help me bring you pleasure 

Life's too short to waste it living on your own, yeah"

Divine Intervention -shot in Buenos Aires

Ringing Hollow  - “Lady Liberty don’t look so good when there’s a tear in her gown,”

Never Wanna Lose You   featuring Robert Smith from The Cure.

Hit Me In The Head  featuring Charlie Watts on drums, his track recorded in 2019. 

You Know I'm No Good -shot in Mumbai  -cover of the Amy Winehouse song. 

Some Of Us  -Keef's song, visualiser shot in Berlin

 "Some of us are on our knees"

Covered In You  featuring Paul McCartney (who also has a marevelous album out, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, also produced by Andrew Watt !!!)

Side Effects 

Back In Your Life -great ballad with an even greater Ronnie Wood guitar solo. 

"I hate that I'm losing a friend

 I tried making you laugh 

I tried making you cry 

Is this how our story will end?"

Beautiful Delilah featuring Robert Smith from The Cure and Chad Smith on drums. 

A Chuck Berry cover.

****

Uncut review here -four stars !

Spin Magazine here 

Euronews here. 

Rolling Stone here.Four stars !

Record Collector -Five stars !

The Guardian-Four Stars !

L.A. Times here.

****

Very cool extensive Mick Jagger interview at Conan O'Brien here.

Maiorul si moartea / The Major and Death (1967)

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.

A very unusual film that is worth rediscovering.

all in all for quirkuiness and singularity:

3 1/2 / 7 out of 10 !

Captain Volkonogov Escaped (2021)

Captain Volkonogov Escaped, and so did this film. 

Premiered at Venice film Festival, in Competition and was awared in many International Film fests, including Socchi, but neve released in its own country, Russia. 

see it and you'll get why !!!

The film is written and directed by Natalya Merkulova and Alexey Chupov. 

Volkonovov is played brilliantly by Yura Borisov who was nominated for a supporting actor Oscar in Sean Baker's  Anora  and was the lead in Kirill Serebrennikov’s Cannes entry “Petrov’s Flu.” He is an NKVD captain in Stalin's USSR of 1938, when the Great Purge emerged. Timofey Tribuntsev is also great as his pursuer and former boss, major Golovnya. 

The title is soehow ironic, don't expect a traditional escape. The film has surreal qualities, non-linear narrative, great colors, widescreeen cinematography (2.35.1),  great production design (shot in St. Petersburg), and black humor galore. It's a sort of thriller, dark comedy, historical drama, fable, and it shows a side of Russia's history at its most darkest (that is, until Today :( Ok, not only that but all Totalitarian Poli cde Ste.

The musical theme, recurrent and also sometimes ironical, is the legendary Soviet song  Polyushko-pole (Song of the Pains), see the interpretation by the avant-garde St. Petersburg band  Shortparis below: 

4 out of 5 / 8 out of 10 !!! 

-a bit too long and confusing, or switches hard to follow...

LMA Mel Brooks @100 !!!

Mel Brooks, Mel the man, aka Mel Funn aka Comicus is 100 years today.

Just saw him recently in the HBO documentary Mel Brooks: The 99th Years old Man. Which was done when he was 99. .) By Judd Apatow. 

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 !!!