miercuri, 30 august 2017
marți, 29 august 2017
luni, 28 august 2017
duminică, 27 august 2017
sâmbătă, 26 august 2017
vineri, 25 august 2017
joi, 24 august 2017
miercuri, 23 august 2017
marți, 22 august 2017
luni, 21 august 2017
duminică, 20 august 2017
sâmbătă, 19 august 2017
vineri, 18 august 2017
joi, 17 august 2017
miercuri, 16 august 2017
marți, 15 august 2017
United 93, written and directed by Paul Greengrass, 10 out of 10
United 93, written and directed by Paul
Greengrass
10 out of 10
Notes and
thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
United 93
is a gripping, tremendous drama.
The entire
world has been shocked, alas some have cheered, when the terrorist piloted
airplanes have crashed into the Twin Towers.
This film refers
to that, albeit not directly, and the phenomenal account of the men and women
aboard the United flight that crashed in Pennsylvania.
It is one
of the most astounding dramas that describes the heroism, bravery, strength,
spirit of sacrifice of a group of passengers.
Terrorists had
taken flying lessons and then went on board civilian airplanes to crash them
into important targets.
Tragically,
two have hit The World Trade Center and one the Pentagon, the latter with
fortunately fewer casualties.
The fourth
plane selected gives the name to this fantastic film that describes passengers,
relatives, communication with them and the accelerating pace towards the denouement,
which is known but no less impressive and horrendous.
Tension is
slowly building up, with people getting on the airplane together with their
would be kidnappers.
Part of the
plot involves the men and women on the ground, controlling the air traffic, who
learned about the situation on United 93.
On a side
note, air traffic controllers- and people in other jobs- are supposed to have a
negative attitude, because those with a positive mindset see the big picture
better, but miss on details and psychology research proves that negativity
helps with the small parts- in positions like those of lawyers, policemen
investigating crimes, etc.
At a chosen
moment, the terrorists use knives to highjack the plane and take control of the
cockpit, flying the plane.
After September
11th, a decision was taken to improve security on board airplanes
and make access to cockpits more difficult.
The passengers
have their mobile phones and some get in contact with the dear ones on the
ground and keep talking throughout.
This is in
fact one of the main sources from which we learn what happened on United 93,
the narrative and all the acts.
The relatives
or friends that communicate with people on the plane see the news and what
happens to the Twin Towers and The Pentagon.
And the
passengers on United 93 come to realize what the use of their aircraft would
be, if they do nothing about it.
It must
also be said that the United States government, learning about the three
attacks and the high jacking of United 93 made some plans…only they were not
put in practice
If they
watched the plane fly too close to Washington, where it became increasingly
clear that it would target Congress or another strategic institution, then they
would resort to a drastic, dreadful decision:
-
Take the plane down
In effect,
fighter planes were not given the order to shoot down a civilian air craft, for
fear of accidental shoot down.
Only the
people on the flight took action themselves, understanding full well the consequences,
risks and odds.
A group has
decided that the only option is to attack the terrorists, hoping to regain
control of the plane.
With grit,
courage and determination, these Superheroes, heroic men and women went to face
the enemy.
They did
not manage to avoid their own deaths, but with their sacrifice they have saved
the lives of others…
“Todd Beamer: [to Mark Bingham after Ziad
Jarrah on purpose causes the plane to lose attitude as it gets closer to
Washington D.C]. This is a suicide mission. They are not going to land this
plane. They are not going to take us back to the airport. We have to do
something. I don't think we have much of a choice.”
United 93
is an outstanding motion picture, about extraordinary, unique, courageous,
powerful, unforgettable heroes.
luni, 14 august 2017
Day for Night, written by Jean-Louis Richard, Suzanne Schiffman and François Truffaut, directed by the latter, 9 out of 10
Day for Night, written by Jean-Louis Richard,
Suzanne Schiffman and François Truffaut, directed by the latter
9 out of 10
Notes and
thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Day for
Night or La Nuit Américaine is one of the most acclaimed films.
It is
included on the All-TIME 100 Movies list:
The motion
picture was also nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Director and
Writing.
It won the
Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and the BAFTAs for Best Film, Best
Director and Supporting Actress.
The narrative
is perhaps as complex as possible, with the problems of making a film
intersecting with personal issues.
We learn
how difficult it could be to handle the crew, sometimes –or most of the time-
superfluous stars.
There are
scenes wherein not only humans have to be persuaded, cajoled but also cats,
which do not obey the script.
Many scenes
are funny, in the beginning, the younger and middle aged stars are asked about
the story of the film they making and the younger says “it is about a young man”,
while the mature: “it is about a middle aged man”.
La Nuit Américaine
is about the making of a film called Je Vous Presente Pamela and the effort
involved…logistics, stuntman, stars and their idiosyncrasies.
In fact, I
have learned from a stunning book called Adventures in the Screen Trade about
what real stars can be up to.
Dustin Hoffman
and his shenanigans on the set of Marathon Man, Robert Redford and his bad behavior after Bud Cassidy
and The Sundance Kid and preparing for All The President’s Men, Al Pacino and
others.
In the film
within the film, a woman marries a young man only to find that she really
loves- or is just infatuated?-with the father.
The audience
learns about the problems that one actress has with remembering her lines and
the solution they resort to.
This happened
in another way with Marlon Brando, who, at a later stage in his career refused
to memorize any lines and asked to have them written, on the forehead of the other
actors if need be…the last story might be untrue though.
In Day For
Night the lines for the forgetful star are plastered around the set and she can
read them as she moves around.
Jacqueline Bisset
is beautiful, charismatic and at times ingénue as Julie Baker, an actress
married to a much older man.
Jean-Pierre
Aumont, fabulous at a tender age in Four Hundred Blows, is Aphonse, who has the
role of the young husband in the film within the motion picture, but on the
set, he falls in love with a woman who runs away.
So Julie
Baker tries to comfort the young man who, after his lover had departed with the
stunt man, falls into a depressive state.
Julie and
Alphonse end up spending the night together and the older husband, an Anglo-Saxon
doctor is called to solve the problem.
It is bizarre
and outré to see how difficult it could be to manage- finally, the director
looks like he has to be a good manager- a team in which one has a funeral and
he has to go away, another two have sex on the way to the set, where the crew
had been waiting for them to bring in props and whatever else was necessary…
François
Truffaut has the role of a…director, Ferrand, who has to show Julie Baker how
to keep her head or hand, but also to listen to various members of the crew and
their chagrins and pains, anxieties.
At one
point, there is a major problem with one of the leading actors, playing the
father and the director says that there is always this worry that the film
cannot be finished or is compromised by the inability to use the star to the
end.
Many references
are made to other classics: Citizen Kane, Godfather- which is in cinemas at the
time of production and is all that people want to see.
A jealous
wife is present on the set, as she needs to continuously supervise her husband
and she delivers a wild attack on those who make motion pictures.
duminică, 13 august 2017
A Short History of Film by Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, 10 out of 10
A Short History of Film by Wheeler Winston
Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster
10 out of 10
Notes and
thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
A History
of Film is fascinating, even when short.
And the
brevity of the work is relative.
At fifteen
hours in audiobook format, it is not exactly an afternoon read, even if it
would definitely be enjoyable at the beach.
It is not
light and the subject matter is colossal in magnitude and scope, so in this
sense it is appropriate to call it short.
It is a joy
ride that is also instructive, for it will familiarize the reader with names that
might have escaped him.
We hear
about the evolution of the Coen Brothers, from their first film noir Blood Simple,
moving to Raising Arizona, Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowsky and more
recent hits like No Country For Old Men.
Werner Herzog
is another of the many cineastes mentioned in this gem of a book, with his
first production that was made with an apparently stolen camera, his
collaboration with the edgy, haunted, magnetic, incandescent and
uncontrollable- because probably somewhat mad-Klaus Kinsky on magnificent works
like Aguirre- The Wrath of God, the adventurous Fitzcarraldo and what
extraordinary that entailed.
In fact, in
a documentary on his cooperation and frequent clashes with “His Dear Friend”
Klaus Kinski, Werner Herzog explains and shows the wild territories were they
filmed, the leading actor fought with colleagues, accidents and injuries, with
the incredible transportation of a whole ship across the mountain, which takes
place in Fitzcarraldo and was actually done in real life and not brought to
screen with any special effects.
The list of
important artists, directors, heads of studio, actors and finally various
financial and multinational companies involved in the film industry and
mentioned in this fantastic book is impressive.
The reader
finds about Charlie Chaplin and his on screen and real life events, with his
inclusion on the infamous black list, together with other celebrities- Trumbo,
Edgar G. Robinson and others, sometimes named by their colleagues.
Neorealism in
Italy and its influence on the so many other directors is emphasized with
masterpieces as The Bicycle Thief- one of the best ten movies ever made on
various lists- La Terra Trema, Paisan, with the latter mentioned by Martin
Scorsese in the documentary American Cinema as one of the productions that have
had a huge impact on him.
Some films
that have marked a landmark, like the aforementioned Bicycle Thief have their
story briefly narrated, with details once in a while, regarding the production,
backstage or technological achievement.
Film makers
from around the world are also mentioned with the homage they deserve- Ingmar
Bergman, Federico Fellini, Roberto Rossellini and his affair with Ingrid
Bergman, who had a child with the director, compromising their careers.
In more
recent times, the ascension of Spike Lee is mentioned, up to his later
achievements, like Malcolm X, which had serious financial problems, with
backers pulling out afraid that the subject and hero will inflame spirits and
cause riots, so that the director had to enlist Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby to
support the film
Kathryn Bigelow
is one of the women directors that have achieved great success, even if the
book was completed before her crowning achievement in 2008 with the Hurt Locker;
it touches on her success Point Break and K-19.
In the
past, the studios have had a tremendous power over stars and staff who had been
under contracts, up to the Olivia de Havilland ruling, in which the actress
won, a victory that had eluded Bette Davis when she had tried years before.
It may be
an exaggeration in the other direction today, when a few celebrities have an
astonishing power to launch or sink projects, their name on the short list
could send the film beyond the sixty million dollar budget, before any scene is
even shot, for some stars have passed the twenty million dollar benchmark a
long time ago.
Alas, many
if not most are in a category that I have no desire to watch- Avengers,
Transformers and stars that I personally do not like in any case, like Dwayne
Johnson “The Rock”, fantastically nominated as the best actor of 2016, or 2015
and Melissa McCarthy, in the same spot for actresses.
It is
exhilarating to read about a genius like Elia Kazan and his involvement in
masterpieces like A Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront, with the latter
now seen as a condemnation of trade unions.
At the same
time, the director, John Wayne, Ronald Regan and others seemed to have been
involved in fighting the communist influence in Hollywood and therefore Elia
Kazan was cheered by some in audience and disapproved of by many who attended
the Academy Awards ceremony at which an honorary prize was given to the latter.
On both
sides of the barricades we could find Ayn Rand, Robert Taylor- as one of the
first friendly witnesses- Walt Disney, Gary Cooper and opposing them Humphrey Bogart,
John Huston, Gene Kelly and others who had to abandon their “committee for the
first amendment”
vineri, 11 august 2017
Paths of Glory, written by Stanley Kubrick, Calder Willingham, Jim Thompson, based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb, 9 out of 10
Paths of Glory, written by Stanley Kubrick,
Calder Willingham, Jim Thompson, based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb
9 out of 10
Notes and
thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Paths of
Glory is a…glorious film.
The audiences
have places it at number 58 on the list of top rated films, on IMDB and The New
York Times has included it on its list of 1,000 Best Movies Ever Made:
Stanley Kubrick
is one of the best five directors ever, with achievements such as:
-
2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork
Orange, Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,
Lolita, Barry Lyndon
And in the
leading role we have the phenomenal Kirk Douglas- Spartacus, The Bad and The
Beautiful, Lust for Life being just some of his memorable performances, after we
include his role as Colonel Dax in this masterpiece.
From the
introduction to this chef d’oeuvre the audience learns about the World War I
and the situation on the front, where the battle lines have stayed in the same
place for about two years, moving with only few hundred yards.
The cost of
any maneuver, for any centimeter of advancement towards the enemy lines was
measured in hundreds of thousands of lives lost.
General George
Broulard is talking with another general, Paul Mireau about an operation that
the commanders have in mind, which would be dangerous- actually will mean the
death of many- but would gain a promotion for the latter officer.
In the
first place, Gen. Paul Mireau talks about the eight thousand men that he is
responsible for and that he would rather not let them down than gain honors,
decorations, but pretty soon changes his speech and talks about artillery support.
On a visit
in the trenches, this general meets with the effects of war, talking with a
soldier who is evidently absent and unaware of what is going on and his
comrades explain that he is shell shocked, an explanation refuted by Paul
Mireau.
He has a
conversation with Colonel Dax, who is the officer responsible for the planned
attack that will result in more than half of his men being killed, according to
ruthless estimations made in advance of the reckless manoeuver.
The Colonel
appears to be the only superior officer that really cares for his men and does everything
he can to protect them, throughout the battle and then in the court martial
trial, quoting Samuel Jackson to his superior: “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”.
Lieutenant
Roget is on a reconnaissance mission when he gets too scared to continue and
abandons one man and is responsible for the death of another, sending the
surviving soldier to be executed in the aftermath of the ill-fated attack.
The plan to
attack the enemy was destined to be a catastrophe right from the start, the
only reason for launching such a mass suicidal mission being the vainglory,
desire for fame, power and applause that generals had.
When the
vicious, murderous general sees that the some of the soldiers cannot even go
out of their trenches, faced with a terrible barrage of artillery, he orders
repeatedly that his own guns fire upon their own troops.
In a
vicious manner, after the failed attack, instead of having the superior
officers that designed the catastrophic “advance” taken to task and trialed,
innocent soldiers are selected, most at random, to face a court martial.
Some of
these “accused” have had to draw a ticket at a “death lottery”, since there was
no way to distinguish between combatants, they had all acted with bravery in
previous battles and now they all had to wait when faced with imminent death
from a curtain of enemy fire that made it impossible to take a step ahead.
The inhuman
general, when faced with the result of his orders wants ten men from each
company to be executed for the fiasco that was his and his superiors
responsibility and he talks about insubordination and their refusal to attack
which his contradicted by Colonel Dax who says that they obeyed orders but
could not make any headway.
A flash
court martial is organized to demonstrate that the accused did not advance but
retreated when fighting the enemy, which was the only possible thing to do,
short of committing suicide and walking straight into exploding projectiles.
Colonel Dax
is the only honorable, just, compassionate, positive, brave, decent,
responsible officer and he is right when he expresses his disgust in court, as
he defends the accused, a task that he had asked for:
“Gentlemen of the court, there are times that
I'm ashamed to be a member of the human race and this is one such occasion…The
attack yesterday morning was no stain on the honour of France, and certainly no
disgrace to the fighting men of this nation. But this Court Martial is such a
stain, and such a disgrace. The case made against these men is a mockery of all
human justice. Gentlemen of the court, to find these men guilty would be a
crime, to haunt each of you till the day you die. I can't believe that the
noblest impulse for man - his compassion for another - can be completely dead
here. Therefore, I humbly beg you... show mercy to these men.”
Too Big to Fail, written by Peter Gould, based on the book by Andrew Ross Sorkin, directed by Curtis Hanson, 9 out of 10
Too Big to Fail, written by Peter Gould, based
on the book by Andrew Ross Sorkin, directed by Curtis Hanson, 9 out of 10
Notes and
thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Too Big to
Fail is one of the best films I know.
It is about
the most dramatic events in recent history- and if The Donald and the other
lunatic, the Korean leader will not decide to blow millions of people away it
will stay at number one for decades- the financial meltdown of 2008.
I have
noted a few days ago on an exceptional documentary about the same subject,
Inside Job, here: http://realini.blogspot.ro/2017/08/note-on-inside-job-written-and-directed.html
This motion
picture has an all-star cast and furthermore, the protagonists of the film had
been the most powerful men in finance, on Wall Street, at the Treasury and
hence some of the Rulers of the World…
Big egos,
narcissistic personalities- much like the egotistic man in the White House
today-macho men, alpha males are walking around in this film.
From the
failed Chairman and CEO of The Lehman Brothers, Richard “Dick” Fuld, portrayed
by James Woods to Ben Bernanke played by the outstanding Paul Giamatti, all
these personages are fascinating, if most are outrageous.
Henry Paulson
aka the great William Hurt has been criticized for his activity and richness accumulated
prior to his role as Secretary of the Treasury, but the image we get from the
film is that of a man doing the right thing under pressure.
Timothy Geithner
played by a talented Billy Crudup was president of the New York Fed and part of
the team that was trying to persuade the head of the major banks to take the
official offer, together with Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson.
In the
first part of the this incandescent drama, frantic efforts are made to convince
a British or Chinese bank to salvage one of the Too Big to Fail, but this
attempt fails and it looks like a possible domino effect.
Jamie Dimon,
chairman, president and CEO of JPMorgan Chase aka Bill Pullman, John Mack, at
the time chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, John Thain, the last chairman and
CEO of Merrill Lynch, played by Matthew Modine, Vikram Pandit, the then CEO of
Citigroup, Jeffrey Immelt, leader of GE, Lloyd Blankfein, CEO and chairman of
Goldman Sachs, Christine Lagarde, the then finance minister in the French government
and today head of the IMF, Warren Buffett all have a presence in this End of
the (financial) World epic.
Some are
trying to hide the extent to which their banks are exposed or outright
bankrupt, while others are reluctant or totally opposed to getting involved
since their operations are running smoothly…
“Ben Bernanke: I don't really understand why
there needs to be so much tension about this. The country is facing the worst
economy since the Great Depression. If the financial system collapses, it will
take every one of you down.”
Still, some
saw this intervention as a helping hand for their competitors, while John Thain
for instance was hoping that Bank of America would offer the best terms and he
will get ahead of Dick Fuld who was also in the race to save Lehman.
Richard Fuld: [on the housing crisis] You know,
people act like we're crack dealers. Nobody put a gun to anybody's head and
said, "Hey, nimrod, buy a house you can't afford, and you know what? While
you're at it, put a line of credit on that baby and buy yourself a boat."
Some felt
the need for pause and approval from Congress, while others saw the emergency,
there were critics who said- why save AIG when Lehman Brothers was allowed to
sink, invoking the “Moral Hazard”
“If we do not act, boldly and immediately, we
will replay the depression of the 1930s, only this time it will be far, far
worse. We don't do this now, we won't have an economy on Monday”
And the
dialogue is brilliant throughout, with some involuntary, absurd or dark humor
included and possibly the best explanation for the whole collapse that has
affected almost everyone, including the undersigned, who has never gone out of
the city ever since and still has not recovered financially, albeit in the
meantime, with the help of positive psychology I understood that other aspects
are much more important than material things, which anyway are offering only
brief periods of satisfaction, after which the hedonic adaptation phenomenon
takes place and we get used with whatever object we bought:
-
Jim Wilkinson: Okay, here's how you
explain it. Wall Street started bundling home loans together - mortgage-backed
securities - and selling slices of those bundles to investors, and they were
making big money. So they started pushing the lenders saying, come on, we need
more loans.
-
Henry Paulson: The lenders had
already given loans to borrowers with good credit, so they go bottom feeding,
they lower their criteria.
-
Neel Kashkari: Before, you needed a
credit score of 620 and a down payment of 20%; now they'll settle for 500, no
money down.
-
Jim Wilkinson: And the buyer, the
regular guy on the street assumes that the experts know what they're doing.
He's saying to himself, if the bank's willing to loan me money, I must be able
to afford it. So he reaches for the American Dream, he buys that house.
-
Neel Kashkari: The banks knew
securities based on shitbag mortgages were risky...so to control their
downside, the banks started buying a kind of insurance. If mortgages default,
insurance company pays. Default swap. The banks insure their potential losses
to move the risk off their books, so they can invest more, make more money.
-
Henry Paulson: And while a lot of
companies insured their stuff, one was dumb enough to take on an almost
unbelievable amount of risk…Michele Davis: AIG.
-
Michele Davis: And when they ask me
why they did that?...Jim Wilkinson: Fees!
-
Neel Kashkari: Hundreds of millions
in fees.
-
Henry Paulson: AIG figures the
housing market would just keep going up. But then the unexpected happens…Jim
Wilkinson: Housing prices go down.
-
Neel Kashkari: Poor bastard who
bought his dream house? The teaser rate on his mortgage runs out, his payments
go up, he defaults.
-
Henry Paulson: Mortgage-backed
securities tank. AIG has to pay off the swaps. All of them. All over the world.
At the same time.
-
Neel Kashkari: AIG can't pay. AIG
goes under. Every bank they insure books massive losses on the same day. And
then they all go under. It all comes down.
-
Michele Davis: [horrified] The
*whole* financial system? And what do I say when they ask me why it wasn't
regulated?
-
Henry Paulson: No one wanted to. We
were making too much money.
joi, 10 august 2017
City of God, written by Braulio Mantovani, based on the novel by Paulo Lins, directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund, 9 out of 10
City of God, written by Braulio Mantovani,
based on the novel by Paulo Lins, directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund
9 out of 10
Notes and
thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Critics and
audiences agree on Cidade de Deus.
The public
has rated this violent, extraordinary film at number 21: http://www.imdb.com/chart/top?ref_=tt_awd
And TIME
magazine has included this motion picture on its All-TIME 100 Movies list:
And City of
God was nominated for four Academy Awards, in the year when Lord of the Rings
took so many prizes.
In my book,
Cidade de Deus is better than the winner of the Oscar for best motion picture
and the director prize for that year.
Having said
that, it must be added that this film is quite difficult to watch in many if
not most of its scenes.
From the
start, I think we are shown how they kill a live chicken on camera and if not
all the blood and death dance, at the very least, the images of the seemingly
still warm body and the plucking of feathers are gruesome.
Veganism is
the way out.
One bird
gets away and a whole band of children mostly runs after the animal, which
escapes miraculously.
“What should have been swift revenge turned
into an all-out war. The City of God was divided. You couldn't go from one
section the other, not even to visit a relative. The cops considered anyone
living in the slum a hoodlum. People got used to living in Vietnam, and more
and more volunteers signed up to die.”
It all
happens in the poor slums of Rio de Janeiro, where rival gangs fight with no
mercy and apparently no mercy.
In one
scene, Li’l Ze, perhaps the cruelest, most despicable of the killers involved,
catches a few children.
True, there
appears to be no lower limit to adhere to a gang or just start with a few
buddies to rob stores.
Li’l Ze is
the leader of most of the City of God, at least for a period, having killed
rivals and leaders of various territories.
When he has
the two kids in front of him, he is asking them to choose- leg or hand, for he
will shoot them where they choose.
And not
just that, after the children, who are no more than six years old, are shot in
the foot, in spite of choosing the hand this Godfather has other ideas.
He picks
one of his upcoming underlings, another child, aged twelve maybe, who wants to
be part of the gang and says to him
-
Now it’s your moment
-
You choose and kill one of them
Being raised
in this extremely violent environment, little boys become killers at a very
tender age and they steal and fight.
“Filé-com-Fritas
- Steak and Fries: A kid? I smoke, I snort. I've killed and robbed. I'm a man.”
And most of the other characters have the same point of view.
Peaceful bystanders
cannot stay of this all out, continuous war, for they get trapped and killed
without any remorse.
In one instance,
Li’l Ze and his band attack a young man and his girlfriend- the narrator
explains that this is the only way the gang leader knows to get close to a girl
and the general attitude is one of sexist, macho chauvinist males.
After he
abuses and rapes the girl, beats the young man, the crazy mobster stops away
from the scene of his crime and thinks- “why didn’t I kill that dude?!”
So he goes
to his house, shouts that he wants the boy out, his brother comes and tries to
reason with the gang of maybe 30 killers.
Unsatisfied,
they kill the brother and start a shooting spree, covering the poor house in a
rain of bullets, killing an uncle too.
The police are
not just corrupt and involved in the drug trade and taking sides according to
the pay off, but itself involved in killings.
miercuri, 9 august 2017
Chinatown, written by Robert Towne, directed by Roman Polanski, 10 out of 10
Chinatown, written by Robert Towne, directed by
Roman Polanski
10 out of 10
Notes and
thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Chinatown is
one of the masterpieces that will remain in history and I have it included in
my top twenty favorites.
It is also
on All-TIME 100 Movies list:
Robert Evans,
the producer of this film and the man responsible for other major motion
pictures, one of which might be the very best of them all, The Godfather,
writes about Chinatown in his book about movies:
-
The Kid Stays in the Picture
We learn
from there how Robert Evans was involved in getting roman Polanski to Hollywood
and how they worked on Rosemary’s Baby.
There is
the funny aspect of Frank Sinatra, his request to have his wife, Mia Farrow,
back soon and how she wanted to pay back.
Roman Polansky
is the magician directing Chinatown, after the immense success and Oscar
nomination for Knife in the Water…
And of
course, the aforementioned Rosemary’s Baby, for which the director wrote the screenplay,
nominated for both Oscars and Golden Globes.
Chinatown was
nominated for all the major Academy Awards and had to compete with Godfather
II, but won for Best Writing, Original Screenplay.
The magnificent
Jack Nicholson was discovered by Robert Evans and that story is included in the
aforementioned book.
He is a
private detective called Jake Gittes and he is asked to work on what seems to
be a usual case, the wife suspecting her husband of infidelity.
Jake and
his associates follow Mr. Mulwray and they think they have found the very young
woman with who he is involved.
The story
gets in the newspaper and Jake is visited by Evelyn Mulwray, who informs him
that he is being sued…
The woman
who had hired the detective was doing so on false pretenses…the real wife is
Faye Dunaway.
Chinatown is
about human relationships, love and betrayal, greed and power, money and fame,
but also about…Water.
It is
notable that a long time after the time of the story, California and Los Angeles
have a huge problem with water.
So severe
that over the past few years, draconic measures have been taken in places where
taking a bath instead of a shower was forbidden, watering the lawn- indeed many
lawns had been painted green.
Hollis Mulwray
is found dead, with salt water in his lungs and it becomes increasingly obvious
that the water is the key to this murder and that the dead man found out that
water had been dumped at night, in the middle of a…drought.
Enter the
stage Noah Cross portrayed with outstanding talent by an actor better known as
director- John Huston.
He is the
rich former owner of the water supply, in partnership with his late son-in-law
and he has concocted a plan to become even richer.
Noah Cross
wants to hire Jake Gittes to find “the girl „who is actually the key of the
investigation and the motion picture.
The hero is
attacked and beaten in various circumstances, his nose is cut- by a hoodlum
played by Roman Polansky.
The detective
is doing an outstanding job, proving to be a real superhero, for he follows the
trace of corruption into the orange groves, in the offices where the registers
are, in an asylum for old people, supposedly owners of huge areas of land that
would make them incredibly rich, onto to the salty pond at the Mulwray house.
This where
he becomes too violent and the aura of superman is disintegrating for he is
very aggressive with the woman he had an affair with and he suspects is
responsible for murder, having the wrong evidence.
The glasses
he holds as irrefutable proof had not belonged to the victim and therefore even
the best of detectives can be wrong.
This is an
exceptional film.
marți, 8 august 2017
Some Like It Hot, written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond suggested by stories by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan,10 out of 10
Some Like It Hot, written by Billy Wilder and
I.A.L. Diamond suggested by stories by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan
10 out of 10
Notes and
thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Some Like
It Hot is one of the best films ever made, included on various prestigious
lists, including my favorite top 50.
It is on
the All-TIME 100 Movies list:
the writer
and director Billy Wilder is also one of the best in the “Screen Trade”, winner
of Six Academy Awards and responsible for masterpieces like:
-
Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard,
The Seven Years Itch, The Apartment and perhaps his best: Some Like It Hot
Leading the
cast is the incredible Marilyn Monroe, also in one of her best, if not their
top performance in this fantastic comedy.
Jack Lemmon
as Jerry and then Daphne and Tony Curtis as Joe aka Josephine aka Shell Oil
Junior have written pages of cinema history here.
Joe and
Jerry are two musicians that are accidental witnesses of a bloody attack by
mobsters led by Spats Colombo.
They are
desperate to get out of town and remain alive, for they know what the mafia
does to those who see their murders.
Alas, the
only way out of town, in a band of musicians is to join a band of…women performers
and they take the ticket.
They arrive
at the train station and watch with infinite desire the passing Marilyn Monroe
in a scene that is also included in cinema history.
Joe and
Jerry have now become Josephine and Daphne respectively, but they both long for
the beautiful Sugar Kane Kowalczyk aka Marilyn Monroe.
When they
reach Florida, another historical moment is staged, where a line of men, all
sitting on chairs, look after the all-girl band, moving at the same time- legs,
necks and all…
Joe has an
idea about how to seduce Sugar, who told him/her about her dreams of meeting a
young, rich playboy.
So Joe is
no longer Josephine, at least for a while, as he dresses again as a man, Shell
Oil Junior to be more precise.
This rich
contraption has a yacht and more importantly, a cunning plan to conquer the
heart of any woman- maybe.
One could
think of the greatest writer ever- Marcel Proust, who says in Remembrance of
Things Past that we want what we do not have.
And Shell
Oil- what a wondrous name- is not interested in women, although he has tried to
see an analyst about that…
Meanwhile,
Jerry stays in the shoes and clothes of Daphne and a real millionaire, Osgood
Fielding III becomes infatuated with him/her.
The result
is hilarious and the writers have been using comedy for what may be subversive
themes for the time.
Behind all
the laughter, there may be a message of tolerance and acceptance, in a period
when homosexuality was illegal.
This is not
a gay themed film, but the idea that a man can be attracted by another male,
albeit dressed as a woman could be seen as advanced for 1959.
-
“Jerry: Have I got things to tell
you!
-
Joe: What happened?
-
Jerry: I'm engaged.
-
Joe: Congratulations. Who's the
lucky girl?
-
Jerry: I am!”
Well, how
much funnier or subversive the dialogue can get? The answer is in the next
quote form this magnificent, glorious comedy:
-
“Jerry: Oh no you don't! Osgood, I'm
gonna level with you. We can't get married at all.
-
Osgood: Why not?
-
Jerry: Well, in the first place, I'm
not a natural blonde.
-
Osgood: Doesn't matter.
-
Jerry: I smoke! I smoke all the
time!
-
Osgood: I don't care.
-
Jerry: Well, I have a terrible past.
For three years now, I've been living with a saxophone player.
-
Osgood: I forgive you.
-
Jerry: [tragically] I can never have
children!
-
Osgood: We can adopt some.
-
Jerry: But you don't understand,
Osgood! Ohh...[Jerry finally gives up and pulls off his wig]
-
Jerry: [normal voice] I'm a man!
-
Osgood: [shrugs] Well, nobody's
perfect! [Jerry looks on with disbelief as Osgood continues smiling with
indifference…”
luni, 7 august 2017
Catch Me If You Can, written by Jeff Nathanson based on the books by Frank Abagnale and Stan Redding, 9 out of 10
Catch Me If You Can, written by Jeff Nathanson
based on the books by Frank Abagnale and Stan Redding
9 out of 10
Notes and
thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
This is one
of the best films ever made.
It is
included on various lists with the greatest motion pictures and on my own best
100 films, maybe 150.
The
director is also one of the best in cinema history, the one who offered
audiences unforgettable memories with:
-
Schindler’s List, E. T., Saving
Private Ryan, Munchen, Lincoln, Bridge of Spies, The Color Purple
Even if the
story sounds incredible and obviously some scenes have been created for the
screen and dramatic effect, this is based on a true story.
With the
credits, we also learn about what happens next with the protagonists and even
if I will not disclose it, it adds to the feeling of exhilaration.
Frank
Abagnale Jr. is a fantastic hero, otherwise an avid reader of comic books, from
which he takes one of his aliases.
Leonardo di
Caprio is fascinating in this role, together with the other mesmerizing members
of the cast:
-
Tom Hanks aka Carl Hanratty,
Cristopher Walken aka Frank Abagnale, Martin Sheen as Roger Strong, and
splendid Amy Adams in the role of Brenda Strong
Even he
never finished high school, The Talented Mr. Abagnale is so skilled at making false
documents that he spends millions of dollars.
Because he
is still so young and he has some psychological issues, he poses as a doctor, airline
pilot and lawyer.
He is
chased through most of his criminal life by Carl Hanratty, an FBI agent who
becomes attached to his nemesis.
There are
funny scenes, one of which has Carl entering Frank’s room to arrest him, only
to stumble upon a Secret Service agent.
The latter
explains and boasts that they have been ahead and the FBI was not the only ones
chasing for Abagnale.
When Carl
is asking for an ID, this Secret Service man gives him the wallet and distracts
him by showing his partner who escorts the criminal to the car…
Only
looking at the wallet, after being alone in the room for some time, Carl sees
that he has been fooled- that was Frank and the wallet has nothing but useless
newspaper cuts.
If an
analyst would try to explain the personality of the young impersonator, perhaps
he would say that Frank was dissatisfied with his life, the divorce of his
parents and would desperately seek a new ego…
He used the
false checks to get money, costumes like the ones James Bond was wearing, a car
of the same type and used the name Fleming to travel around, meeting a woman
who asked for an offer to spend the night…
Frank is
facing a beauty (Jennifer Garner) and when they come to the price of $ 1,000
for the whole night, he cannot help but use a scam, yet again, pretending to go
to the reception to cash a check and then taking $ 400 from the woman, because
he fooled her with a useless piece of paper that had $ 1,400 written on it.
In a
hospital, he meets Brenda Strong- irresistible Amy Adams, especially without
the braces-and seduces her, pretending to be a doctor and vomiting when called
to work on a bleeding patient, his credentials being obviously all false.
Frank
decides to marry the girl, meet her family and Roger Strong aka Martin Sheen
who has a law degree and therefore the would be son in law decides to use his
law degree (yeah, right!) to work as a… lawyer.
When asked
about his degree, it turns out he went to the same school as the father-
Berkeley- and there is an awkward moment when Roger Strong asks about a mean
professor and his dog…what was the name?...after a long pause in which he kept
his cool, Frank says that the dog is dead now, alas.
Then he is
invited to say the prayer at table, before they would proceed to eat and the
young man does not hesitate:
-
Two mice fell in a bucket of
water…one of them fell and drowned and the other kept moving until it became
butter…
Even if
this is the most outré, fanciful prayer that I have heard- but then I am not a
believer, so I do not hear many- the mother was thrilled with it.
After this,
Frank has passed the bar exam and his follower Carl keeps asking about how did
he pass it…did he cheat?
duminică, 6 august 2017
Barney’s Version, written by Michael Konyves, based on the novel by Mordecai Richler, directed by Richard J. Lewis, 9 out of 10
Barney’s Version, written by Michael Konyves,
based on the novel by Mordecai Richler, directed by Richard J. Lewis
9 out of 10
Notes and
thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Barney’s
Version is a very peculiar narrative of a strange man- Barney Panofsky.
He is
portrayed by the always superlative Paul Giamatti.
The rest of
the cast is splendid, with cameo appearances from four Canadian directors,
including Atom Egoyan.
-
Dustin Hoffman is the heavyweight,
but he is far from the days of The Graduate, Rainman or Kramer vs. Kramer
On the
other hand, the actresses playing the wives of this producer who had charm, but
was not so attractive are doing a good job:
-
Minnie Driver and Rosamund Pike especially
Barney
Panofsky has a first infatuation that ends up in a marriage in Italy, where the
humor is involuntary.
In front of
the authority that makes the marriage legal, the future husband is surprised by
his bride-to-be:
-
First, he finds out that he does not
really know her real name, for she had been married and did not change the
passport…
-
Then, when a rather unhappy man is
asking about further secrets, things he should know…like are there any
children?
-
The answer is…yes…two
Very
disturbed by all this, the otherwise mild and pleasant Barney keeps away from
his first wife for a while.
When he
asks his friend about any mail, he discovers a message from his spouse, inviting
him to a specially cooked meal, for the evening of…a few days ago.
Realizing
that he had missed this and it could be serious, Barney is off to her place,
where, alas, he finds her dead.
There is no
spoiler alert needed here, since this is a story told by an older man and we
know from the start most of what had happened.
The death
of his first wife comes up again at a later stage, when there is another
incident and the detective investigating the missing friend believes that is a
case of murder and he cites this past suicide as supporting his case.
Anyway,
after a while, Barney meets with Minnie Driver aka the second wife of the hero,
their marriage being marked by odd events.
First of
all, Barney’s father, Izzy Panofsky- a rather tired and not phenomenal Dustin
Hoffman-has a special wedding gift: a gun
But most
important, at this special ceremony, Barney falls in love…and not with his wife
to be, but with a guest…
Miriam
Grant-later Panofsky- is there and the groom is fascinated and infatuated with
her at first sight, confirming in a way the theory of “thin slicing” explained
in the masterpiece Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by the genius
Malcolm Gladwell.
In a few
minutes, the groom suggests going to Rome, but Miriam aka Rosamund Pike refuses
the invitation.
Notwithstanding
this rejection, the groom abandons the ceremonies and guests and goes to the
railway station.
The two do
not run away with the train, but a dissatisfied husband, right from day one is
a rare occurrence and this one is just bored and annoyed throughout his
honeymoon and subsequent period.
His wife
does cheat on him with his friend and there is a kerfuffle and the two friends
have an argument near the lake.
Boogie, a
good friend so far, falls in the lake and then disappears, in what the police believe
to be a revenge killing.
Barney
marries, after some ridiculous scenes in which he gets drunk and instead of
seducing Miriam, he forces her to support him to bathroom, where he vomits, is
then helped to the bed and pampered by the woman.
Paul
Giamatti is outstanding in a complex, challenging role for which he received
the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor.
Abonați-vă la:
Postări (Atom)