Lisa-Marie...

Gone at 54, two days after Ausgin Butler won the Golden Globe for best actor and she and her mom Priscilla were in the (ball)room 

RIP Jeff Beck

 This is too close to home...:(((((((((

I saw Jeff last time in south of France in July 2022, he was great, in great shape, touring with Johnny Depp, which he supported in his ugly trial days...everyone was an awe...most of the audience came to see the pirate of Carrrab...what? no worries

...we had a lot of wonderful Pastis before...it was such a Pefect Day (Mishu? Lou?,Marseilles;)

Jeff was in super shape, playing his greatest, his Bolero included, Stratus too...all those french sweet girls came to se Jack Sparrow tho...but we knew the drill...and the roze... (accent on e;)

Jeff Beck is my favourite (and emphasise this, never WAS) guitarist (I guess / on a tie with Eddie Van Halen -and he was one of Eddie's faved  too:)

but at least I got to see him (JB) twice... (in Bratislava about ten or 11 years ago, remember Mircea, Relu, Ursu?)

-maan,mind typos, i'm shattered and half-drunk watching Jeff on Ronnie Scott's on youtube  now...few years back it was only the rare DVD...andigotthat concert as aXmas gift from a dear friend (Cristi Exo), wirt Vinnie Colaiuta on drums and Tal Wikenfeld on bass... Stratus at 5.50¬ (Billy Cobham, how I saw him playing this, I gotta write that story someday too;, Vlad ?) As u know my dream for Transilvania Blues was to bring Jeff Beck to Romania:(((( Too far, gone.....

I loved Jeff from The Faces on (can't say Yardbirds),  and one of my faved clip of the 80's with Rod Stewart, black and white/sepia cover of  People Get Ready, an anthem for friendship, if ever was one (or none;),  the train et all...yep, that train is gone for sure:(((( (mr.T.)

I loved him for all the refusals/ denials of greatness in super-bands  and his love of vintage cars, and gone mad in  fusion, Jazz, Jams  and yes, the Jan Hammer records..

.first record by Jeff Beck Group is entitled TRUTH ! which he BEHOLD !!!!

JB was an honest guy in a crooked business...He stood tall, or better said, he didn't give (a) shit about fame and brands...he cared about his custom cars...

I wish'd I had a drink with him...(but I did, and somehow I'm having one as I type this...)

I feel very sorry for Johnny (Depp) and Ronnie (Wood) and Rod (Stewart), whom I feel are carrying this load more than the rest...

**********It was an honor, sir !!!  And what a pleasure! I lived years of my life with theee...

You surely made this a better word !!!(and rock world, and jazz, and music whatsoever)..

Kudos! Love forever..(i can't get the emoticons, fuck off haters)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us8NH7AEvMg&t=641s

This is Jeff Beck's inducer's Jimmy Page in HALL OF FAMEin 1999 (and playing with Metallica)... bonus: Jimmy Page ( I knew him since we were 13).

...check out Ronnie Wood being happy !!!

Copenhagen Cowboy (2022-2023)

 “Four hundred years ago, they would have burned you at the stake” 

Let's start the year with a blast!!! 

A #NWR (Nicolas Winding Refn) UFO comissioned by Norsk Netflix ! Streaming from Jan. 5 2023!

For film lovers (and fans of the polarizing NWR) a must-see, for others proceed with caution!

Neo(n)-noir, surrealism, synth electronic score, sexual deviance, existentialism, nihilism, violence & pigs, all in Copenhagen Cowboy, a six-part mini-series (well, more like a pilot) from the Danish provocateur Nicolas Winding Refn. It's also a comeback of sorts to motherland Danmark, where Refn hasn't made a film since Pusher III back in 2005.

Plot? Who cares? Or, what plot? This is a NWR trip, a visual, audio feast, existential, experimental mind f*uck.  Neon Punk again.

Miu (Angela Bundalovic) is a spirit, or a lucky charm, or what? She looks androgynous, short hair and a blue jumpsuit that she wears in every scene. She is bought by the Serbian/Albanian Danish mob dealing in sex traffic and other evil deeds. Very Evil, very dark, strong accents (I think the Dansk and Serbain and Mandarin are the forte of the show). Later on we get to the Chinese mob -or Danish Yakuza? and the bigger deal Serbian mob. A gang war ensures. Plus a degenerate ubermench (but not somench)serial killer (Nikolas) living in a castle. Some Hannibal (Thomas Harris)inspired plot? Should we mention his sister  (sister?) Rakel (played by Refn's daughter Lola Corfixen) ?  And what about those pigs? 

We get some answers in episode 4 from Miroslav- Zladko Burik (best European actor in Triangle of Sadness), a regular of Refn's Danish films,  The Pusher trilogy and Bleeder. 

And what's that cameo in the end (ep.6) from Hideo Kojima, world's most famous video game designer? Suffice to say NWR and HK are good buddies but he's a prelude for something more. ALSO Refn cameos in the series, as a shady businessman (or?pig?) in a suit. 

I am very curious if this will be renowed for season 2, I kinda guess not but who knows? There's nothing even remotely similar to this produced by Netflix or any other streamer!

But it happened before. Too Old To Die Young, NWR's first fare into streaming game in 2019, with the 10 episodes/13 hours of cinematic mayhem left comissioner Amazon Prime jawless, and that was a show slower than CC and more violent, decadent and sexually deviant. And well, it was better than CC out of which I liked best the first two episodes, for ambiguity, elipse and setting. 

The best assets of CopenhagenCowboy are the neon noir cinematography by Magnus Nordenhof Jonk, on his first fare with Refn, the editing (where I gotta congratulate an old schoolmate, Olivier Bugge Coutteon his 1st NWR  flick), and of course the score, pulsating synthpop 80's electronica by old collaborators Peter Peter, Peter Kyed, of course Cliff Martinez and Julian Winding, Refn's nephew whose Neon Dance he used in The Neon Demon. IMO Winding's piece "Pigs- A Slight Return" takes its cue from Krzysztof Pendercki/Wendy Carlos' piece, used in opening titles for The Shining. One of the best cues of CC is also Winding's trance dance Undead is the New Red. Indeed;)

CC premiered in Venice (bits) and here's a review:

https://theplaylist.net/copenhagen-cowboy-review-nicolas-winding-refns-take-on-the-superhero-genre-is-drenched-in-neon-lit-despair-venice-20220914/

”I looked at Copenhagen Cowboy more like a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, with Denmark as a multiethnic, multi-language place that, to certain people, is supposed to be heaven because it’s the country of Bernie Sanders.” (#NWR)

from his interview in Vulture here

one of my favorite shots,reminescent of The Keep!

Top films of 2022 (& doc and series)

I saw more films this year than in the last 2 pandemic years (2020 here and 2021 here),  unfortunately not so many in a cinema, and mostly not so good there, a lot more streaming, my count of 427 films (including those rewatched (always a pleasure:) & catch-up's, shorts, documentaries and series (=one count per season or series)

I have nor seen yet some films they talk/write about or could be contenders, Aftersun (saw it meanwhile, not for me), Babylon (which would've made the top but saw in Jan 23 on the big screen), The Whale, EO (that could be a color Au hasard Balthasar), so on and so far.

***-where there are links there are my reviews or opinions. 

Top 5 Feature Films:

1. The Banshees of Inisherin -Martin McDonagh

2. Triangle of Sadness-Ruben Ostlund

3. Nope -Jordan Peele

4. The Fabelmans-Steven Spielberg

5. Elvis -Baz Luhrmann

6. (mention) El Buen Patron (Fernando Leon de Aranoa, from 2021, saw it on this year's TIFF with a magnificent Javier Bardem) and Kiril Serrebrennikov's Petrov's Flu (from last year's Cannes, saw it in cinema this spring)

-also in our cinemas Nightmare Alley,  that tops my 2021 top ;) And also from last year, The Forgiven, from  Martin McDonagh's brother John Michael (McDonagh), reminiscent of Under the Vulcano, with a brilliant performance by Ralph Fiennes.

Debut of the year: 

John Patton Fotd -Emily the Criminal. Also a superb performance by Aubrey Plaza (could win Independent Spirit Awards).

Top 3 Made in Romania

1. Miracol-Bogdan George Apetri

2. R.M.N.-Cristian Mungiu

3. Metronom-Alexandru Belc

Comedy of the year:

CoupeZ! (Final Cut) -Michel Hazanavicius

-also could've been The Menu if they emphasised more on the comedy/satire. 

Top deleted scene of the Year: or The Nicolas Cage Award 2022

Nicolas Cage vs. Nic Cage in the deleted Caligari dream sequence from The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent! (unfortunately a wasted film :()

Top 3 Horror

Pearl (Ti West) (tied as it should with) X (Ti West)

Barbarian (Zach Cregger)

Bones And All (Luca Guagadino-a sort of neo Near Dark meets Cat People in Nomadlands:)

Animation (& curio) of the year: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio  

*

As for performances, Tár can get Cate Blanchett's tour-de-force can get her a third Oscar. But deservingly would be Vicky Krieps for Corsage (which could win for best foreign film also). Ana De Armas' bravura performance in Blonde  is the stunt of the year ! And she got nominated too...

I root for Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in The Banshees of Inisherin, And Kerry Condon as supporting actress.

and we can see Mark Rylance to get another Oscar (also supporting) for Bones and All. (UPDATE: oups, he didn't even get nominated...)

***

Now, also about the worst, Disney/Zemeckis' Pinocchio surely wins the cup, with Amsterdam close and Blonde being the most disappointing film of the year (for me).  Too bad George Miller's much expected Three Thousand Years of Longing didn't do all the distance....

Series (& mini-series)

1. The Offer (Michael Tolkien, Leslie Greif, Paramount+)

2. Irma Vep (Olivier Assayas, HBO)

   
   
   

3. Better Call Saul (Vince Gilligan, final season, Netflix)

4. White Lotus season 2 (Mike White, HBO)

5. The English (Hugo Blick, Prime, HBO)

6. Tokyo Vice (Michael Mann, J.T. Rogers-HBO max)

7. Peacemaker (James Gunn, DC,HBO max) also best super-hero film/series

8. 1883 (Taylor Sheridan, Paramount+)

9. Slow Horses (season 1, apple tv, based on Mick Herron's books, great theme song (Strange Game) by Mick Jagger!)

10. Barry -season 3 (Bill Hader, Alec Berg, HBO)                                                                                   +Australian hitman show Mr. Inbetween would've been in the top up, cos' I saw all three seasons and loved it, but it ran from 2018 to 2022, on FX. Scott Ryan, the protagonist Ray Shoesmith, the director and the creator of the show is a name that Hollywood should notice. 

Documentary

Ennio -Giuseppe Tornatore (premiered Venezia 2021,  saw it this year,was released super-limited in Romanian cinemas)

The Last Movie Stars (Ethan Hawke, TNT, HBO)