joi, 29 iunie 2023

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, the inspiration for Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder and later on, the motion picture with the outré, controversial Johnny Depp http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/10/charlie-and-chocolate-factory-based-on.html - 8 out of 10

 

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, the inspiration for Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder and later on, the motion picture with the outré, controversial Johnny Depp http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/10/charlie-and-chocolate-factory-based-on.html

8 out of 10

 

 

The mesmerizing Memoirs http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/12/memoirs-by-kingsley-amis-author-of-take.html of the Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis are cathartic - the reader is enraptured by the magnum opera of this King of Comedy –and they offer insight into some very interesting personalities, men and women of letters, but not only, we read about John Cleese being the most insecure comedian (and Sir Kingsley Amis speculates that maybe there is good reason), the meeting with Peter Sellers, Groucho Marx being the least amusing comic, and so on, the episode with Margaret Thatcher is just one of the multitude of delights, the august Anthony Powell, Evelyn Waugh and other luminaries are in the pages

 

However, there are peculiar, awkward or even outright outrageous appearances, such as Francis Bacon (was he the protagonist, I wonder, and this should normally have to be edited out, deleted, but then who is reading it, so that we pay attention) who came to see the Magister Ludi in Wales, and then showed him some pornographic, gay material (unless, again, I am awfully mistaken, and the memory plays tricks, which is it does these days…what was I talking about anyway) intending to test the waters, maybe…

Speaking of which, there is another (oh, they are so many actually) passage, where the author meets with a foreigner (was he) and the latter is somehow disturbed, unhappy with the language used by some ‘poofters’, and when our Godhead tries to explain, or just indicate that this homophobe is wrong (the intentions are not clear to yours truly, but then the Godhead was such a sage fellow) the fool immediately (or belatedly) considered that Kingsley Amis was just one of them, and thus defending his own

 

Since I mentioned the Godhead and I am clearly not about to write something on the subject of the note (what was it, do you remember) not yet, if ever, let me tell you about another Absolute Giant, the Hermes of literature-(let us just go with that, and praise the ancient Greeks for their decision to enlist quite a number of celestials, so that we could assign in jest Hermes to Anthony Powell, maybe Athena to Flannery O’Connor http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/03/judgment-day-by-flannery-oconnor.html

'The Essence of the All is the Godhead of the True* Anthony Powell says in his glorious, divine A Dance to The Music of Time http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-kindly-ones-by-anthony-powell.html he may have mentioned to the Godhead of Literature that maybe ‘in vino veritas’, but clearly there is truth in writing, speaking of the idea that writers put the truth in their oeuvres, even if it is not an autobiography, we are dealing with fiction, the author is present on every page, with his experiences…

 

Let us see if we can dignify Roald Dahl with some words, for he has been in the ‘news’ lately –‘Words Including 'Fat,' 'Ugly,' 'Crazy,' Removed From Roald Dahl’s books, says one title, while one from The Guardian spells ‘Roald Dahl’s mean and nasty books don’t deserve all this attention’…Chris Townsend, Anthony Lawton and others weigh in on the decision to edit the author’s books to make them less offensive to a modern audience’ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/23/roald-dahl-mean-and-nasty-books-dont-deserve-all-this-attention

With the caveat that this is from memory (and let me just do some silly, preposterous mea cuipa, flavored with an attempt to be jestful – if I have read so many books, maybe around 3,000 by now, how could anyone expect me to remember much from one, or any in particular) what I recall is that The Godhead was at a party or event, where Roald Dahl comes in a…helicopter, the mean individual was quite, or very wealthy by now

 

And he tells our King of Comedy that he should write children’s books, because the buggers take them in no matter what, or words to that effect, implying a clear contempt for the readers and a character that was vile (if that is true, and this recollection is not just some made up concoction, misremembered and invented notions mixed together)…Contempt is incidentally one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work http://realini.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-seven-principles-of-making-marriage.html by John Gottman is a quintessential read, the author is the Ultimate Expert ion relationships, he has an accuracy rate of over ninety percent in his assessments, he is even able to tell what couples stay together and which ones will split when entering a restaurant and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are Contempt, Criticism, Stonewalling and Defensiveness…the latter is a form of criticism

 

To move from one notion to another, and evidently as far away from the loathsome (if this is true) Roald Dahl let us say here that the one some say is the most influential psychologist of our time, Malcolm Gladwell uses the fast and correct  verdict given by John Gottman as evidence in his monumental Blink The Power of Thinking Without Thinking http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/blink-power-of-thinking-without.html which argues that in seconds we take decisions, form opinions and experiments prove that the same take that participants in tests have on a two second video, without sound, belongs to students who attend the lectures of the man in the video for a semester – we could not say that two seconds equals some months, but hey, let us think of Albert Einstein “When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute…But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute — and it's longer than any hour…That's relativity…to conclude- is Dahl worth it, lo beseder, if you ask me

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

86 out of 100 for Ruby Sparks

83 out of 100 for Djam aka Journey From Greece

luni, 26 iunie 2023

La Strada by Federico Fellini http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/07/94-out-of-100-for-la-strada.html ‘La Strada has become "one of the most influential films ever made", according to the American Film Institute…It won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1957…It was placed fourth in the 1992 British Film Institute directors' list of cinema's Top 10 films…’ - 10 out of 10

 

La Strada by Federico Fellini http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/07/94-out-of-100-for-la-strada.html  ‘La Strada has become "one of the most influential films ever made", according to the American Film Institute…It won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1957…It was placed fourth in the 1992 British Film Institute directors' list of cinema's Top 10 films…’

10 out of 10

 

 

This film is a classic sounds like a cliché, only this is the epitome, the paradigm – there could be a paradigm shift of course, and this could be dismissed and canceled by…Cancel Culture, because it depicts violence against women, and the central character Gelsomina aka superb Giulietta Masina, spouse of the resplendent director (who has had a nervous breakdown during the filming of La Strada) Federico Fellini, is humiliated, abused and to some extent, her tragic (spoiler alert) fate is determined by the vile Zampano aka legendary Anthony Quinn seen in other classics, one landmark is Zorba the Greek http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/10/note-on-zorba-greek-novelist-nikos.html where Quinn is the hero

 

When a paradigm is mentioned, the definition of paradigm shift comes to mind, just as it is explained in the Booker Prize Winner Vernon God Little http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/06/vernon-god-little-by-dbc-pierre-divine.html by DBC Pierre - a novel so exhilarating that I have made a shirt with the title on it, and this gave me the idea of having more, with Proust, Kingsley Amis, Malamud, O’Flannery and other such luminaries inscribed on it, just like crowds wear the infamous Che on their chests – where we get some hilarious fragments, one has Immanuel Kant transformed, because of ignorance, misapprehension and other into Manual Cunt…but one of the memorable segments is the one of the shift

One personage explains to Vernon God Little what paradigm shift is by telling him to think he comes into a room, where he finds a stranger with a finger up his grandmother’s us – ‘what do you say to that, and the answer is ‘bastard, I will teach you a lesson’, but then you find that the man had in fact learned that your granny is in great danger, and unless he does something drastic and disgusting, she will die, and this is why you saw him like that…what do you feel now…well, the fellow is a hero and I am grateful’ – you see, this is a paradigm shift, explains the figure, and we could say we remember the definition forever…

 

Gelsomina is a simple woman, innocent, charming, but ignorant of the ways of the world, when she is bought from her family by Zampano aka Anthony Quinn – let me insert here another motion picture in which the actor is glorious, Lawrence of Arabia http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/lawrence-of-arabia-written-by-robert.html if not the most magnificent ever made, clearly one of the top five, the sheik played by Quinn says a line that I use often ‘I am a river to my people’ – Zampano is a ‘strong man’, literally, his spiritual strength is questionable, to say the least, for if he is proud, ready to take revenge on anybody who laughs at him, he uses his power to vile ends, to abuse, harass, ultimately enslave Gelsomina, and then he can also kill…

 

To begin with, the association with Zampano may feel as a liberation, an escape, if he is not even one of the middle class, for he has to endure privations in his jalopy, with which he travels from one town to another, at least Gelsomina has the chance to see some of the world now, if left in her home, she would have suffered from destitution, hunger, other humiliations…still, it is debatable if she would not have had a ‘better’ fate, had she not aligned her road with the angry, domineering, selfish Zampano

He is showing his strength in public places, while she beats a drum, and then spectators are supposed to give some money for the performance…at one stage, they join a circus, where we see some of the familiar characters, present in most of the Fellini magnum opera http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/03/note-on-la-dolce-vita-written-and.html one of the most important, indeed, a sort of third piece in a loose ménage a trois of sorts, is Il Matto aka The Fool, we could see him as the clown

 

Il Matto could well be the jester we find in Shakespeare http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/03/king-lear-by-william-shakespeare.html ‘jesters do oft prove prophets’ he has a complex role, one of his functions is to expose Zampano, torment him, use irony and teasing, prompt Gelsomina to leave him, she does not have to be a servant, she could leave with The Fool, but she is loyal, and when her companion and abuser is in jail, she waits for him, instead of finding a better life with the circus or The Fool

Il Matto has something of The Joker http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/10/joker-based-on-work-by-bob-kane-bill.html because if Zampano really deserves more than just mockery, given that he inflicts pain on his travelling partner, humiliates, despises and torments her, the clown has a provocative stand, at one point, he throws a bucket of water over the angry performer and the latter takes a knife, ready to murder the Joker, which he may well do, if he has the chance, once out from prison, where the police take him

 

The suffering is almost general, it is not limited to the main character, however awful it particularly is for Gelsomina, Italy after World War II was in a bad shape (like most of Europe, Japan and the other realms affected by the great calamity) and poverty and destitution where omnipresent, sometimes alleviated by the performances of people like Zampano, Gelsomina, Il Matto and the traveling circus – our country will become like Italy in the 1970s, an article in The Economist argues, a country of immigrants, not emigrants, seeing as we have seen an influx of workers from Nepal, Bangladesh and other emerging lands…

Finally, this is a sad, if compelling and admirable saga, where we could feel compassion not just for innocent and enchanting Gelsomina, but even for Zampano, seen in the context of his generation, he was just one of a multitude of aggressive men, a time when this was the rule, not the exception – this is in no way a justification, a support for the fellow, it is just a way of saying he was stupid enough to know nothing else, he was also a product of lack of education, learning to act as he did from the rest of the men…

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

84 out of 100 for Hot Summer Nights

82 out of 100 for Moment of Victory, John

sâmbătă, 24 iunie 2023

Giant – based on the book by Edna Ferber - 9 out of 10

 

Giant – based on the book by Edna Ferber

9 out of 10

 

 

Giant is a remarkable motion picture, one of only three that James Dean acted in, the legendary actor that starred in Rebel Without a Cause and has started with East of Eden http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/05/east-of-eden-based-on-novel-by-john.html where the glorious Montgomery Clift, by his absence, allowed a new star to be born, just like he did for Paul Newman, who has had his first chance with Somebody Up There Loves Me, and then Marlon Brando, who would light up the screen in On the Waterfront, three major motion pictures and a trio of superstars, in the real sense of the word

 

We learn about this and much more from the fundamental Adventures in The Screen Trade http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/02/adventures-in-screen-trade-by-william.html written by William Goldman, who has won two Academy Awards, for the script for Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid and All The President’s Men, a wondrous author who explains in his quintessential work the movie business, from spicy details to why the ‘author film’ is a myth…we find about Burt Lancaster, one of the magicians, and how he said that his knees would tremble in the presence of Montgomery Clift, such a great power he had.

Paul Newman http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/05/sweet-bird-of-youth-by-tennessee.html and Clint Eastwood are the only two actors that Goldman knows to be above the need to hear hymns dedicated to them, actors are very needy, and they need to hear they are the best, the screenplay will only work if they are in the picture, in order to take on a project, their egos are so self-centered that we are astonished at what some can do (with the expectations mentioned) for instance, Dustin Hoffman on the set of Marathon Man, where the iconic Laurence Olivier had a supporting role, and Hoffman the leading one

 

The majestic Laurence Olivier had been very ill, and his health was precarious while participating in the production of Marathon Man http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-marathon-man-screenplay-by-william.html only this did not prevent Dustin Hoffman from taking the British legend around, trying to show he has the leading role and to overcome the intimating feelings he must have had, when facing the giant, one was frivolous and petty, the other professional, august, grandiose, illustrious…

Evidently, Dustin Hoffman has some memorable performances, one such is in the splendid The Graduate http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-graduate-adapted-from-novel-by.html a marvelous masterpiece that I need to watch again (and read the book, which is equally enchanting and captivating, superb) but with the Marathon Man, Hoffman had another annoying, rude behavior, as he was supposed to wake up in the night in his role, when his brother comes to his home, he would fuss over the scene, refusing to go along with the script that had him using a flashlight, and keeping the other actor and the crew waiting for a long time, because he would not want his fans to see him as less macho…in any case, a silly, senseless, preposterous attitude, one that is nonetheless common with stars.

 

From the same fabulous Adventures in the Screen Trade we find the flaws of the ‘author films’, there was a time (we are still there in some ways) when films by creators such as Alfred Hitchcock were worshipped, and William Goldman dismantles the notion, first of all, indicating that after Hitchcock had been sanctified for his magnum opera, he would start making lesser works, such as Birds http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/note-on-birds-directed-by-alfred.html and it takes a whole team to make a film, producers, writers, actors, and often other members of the crew are just as important…

Without the spectacular main theme by Vangelis, Chariots of Fire would not have been the tremendous success, just like Jaws, without the Special Effects would not have gained the box office fortune it had and the examples are man, in these times, special effects have gained so much weight that we could argue they make the motion pictures more substantial, especially the ones that I refuse to watch, the Marvel universe and the genre that invades screens, big and small, with notable exceptions, The Matrix would be one http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-matrix-by-wachowski-brothers-at.html

 

Giant, to say a few words about the supposed subject of this note, has not just a quartet of actors that impress, from Elizabeth Taylor – I think the part that overwhelmed this cinephile most  is that from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf-by-edward.html though she was also divine in Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, with Paul Newman as her partner – to Rock Hudson (who was gay and died of AIDS, in an age when his notoriety helped raise awareness of the deadly disease) James Dean and the upcoming Denis Hopper, who would become a phenomenal actor, but also a difficult fellow

Denis Hopper was instrumental, one of the creators of the landmark, historical Easy Rider http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/07/easy-rider-written-by-dennis-hopper.html made with Peter Fonda and launching the career of Jack Nicholson, notwithstanding the fact that Robert Evans claims to have been the one to discover the best actor in the world – this is what I believed, albeit I placed him on the same pedestal with our very own George Constantin, one that is unknown alas, but just as damn fantastic.

 

Robert Evans had started as an actor, then he would become a producer and head of Paramount Pictures, the one behind chefs d’oeuvre like The Godfather, Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby and the very successful (though I do not like it at all) Love Story, who wrote his own Adventures in the Screen Trade, in the autobiographical The Kid Stays in The Picture http://realini.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-kid-stays-in-picture-by-robert.html telling you about the making of the aforementioned pictures, and others, his going to see Vladimir Nabokov, connections with Nicholson, Kissinger, Ali McGraw, Ryan O’Neill (something of a scoundrel), Sharon Stone and so many, many more, in an extraordinary book, which contains many exaggerations, surely…

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

83 out of 100 for Narco Wars, Gotti

72 out of 100 for Hoot

joi, 22 iunie 2023

2001 – A Space Odyssey screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke, based on the story of the latter http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/2001-space-odyssey-by-arthur-c-clarke.html a classic of the genre - 10 out of 10

 

2001 – A Space Odyssey screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke, based on the story of the latter http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/2001-space-odyssey-by-arthur-c-clarke.html a classic of the genre

10 out of 10

 

 

There are many themes, ideas of this narrative and film that have caused puzzlement, challenges and books have been written about aspects, with sages wondering what is the significance of the monolith, awed by the creativity, accuracy of some predictions, the talent of both Arthur Clarke and Stanley Kubrick.

 

What made me take to the computer to scribble down was the fabulous manner in which we have Hal, the super computer act in the way that luminaries say that Artificial Intelligence could evolve in the next period, especially now that ChatGPT and some other models have proved how far the technology has advanced, and how unpredictable (hence a paradox, experts predict on something that is escaping constraints, it is difficult, if not impossible to see which path it will take) the AI will get and dangerous.

The computer in 2001 starts doing the wrong things, Hal does not listen to human commands from one point on and becomes not just a danger, but a real enemy of the men that are on board the space ship and it becomes a struggle to see who gets the upper hand, will the earthling win, or the superior intelligence (of the ‘prosaic’ IQ kind, for we have another species, which is more important, The Emotional EQ type, of which the machines have none, at least not yet) of the adversary will prevail…

 

Yuval Harari is the author of a few extremely successful and majestic books, one of them is Homo Deus – A Brief History of Tomorrow http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/homo-deus-brief-history-of-tomorrow-by.html a magnum opus in which the author looks at the future, with an optimistic perspective, evident from the title, Deus refers to the belief that humans will live ever longer (indeed, life expectancy has increased dramatically in the last century, albeit it has been affected by the covid pandemic, obesity and other factors lately) and that advances in science and technology will bring wondrous improvements

Nonetheless, Yuval Harari has written an article in The Economist and has lectures on the subject of Artificial Intelligence and the threat to the future that it represents, he has mentioned in his books that we have traded so much data, and in exchange we have free videos with cats on the internet, and we are so dependent on technology, that we can get into serious trouble – the example of the Japanese tourists that have followed in their car the instructions of the navigation system, only to drive into the ocean is given.

 

ChatGPT aka the New Hal has proved that it has reached a very advanced stage, and AI has been used to create art (the latest issue of The Economist looks in the Books and Arts section at the trends it follows, how it is apt to produce vintage, art that belongs to another period, seeing as it uses a lot of archive material for its deep learning) photography – as in the Pope wearing an extravagant Balenciaga outfit, which is a fake created by AI – texts, music and so much more, the potential is unlimited.

 

Unless, of course, legislators intervene and curb the enthusiasm of the advocates, there is a backlash, many calls have been heard, Elon Musk among others – only the latter is a brilliant inventor and entrepreneur (except for his Tweeter venture) but as a thinker in other domains, he leaves much to be desired, take the latest endorsement of a mini Trump, aka De Sanctimonious, who is probably better than the orange fool (with the caveat that a more intelligent scoundrel could do more damage than an idiotic one)

What kind of a judgment is that, will it encourage others to avoid the calamity of another mad four years, or just one of those arrogant, silly attitudes of the once richest human, and now on second or third place, making one think of Intellectuals http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/intellectuals-by-paul-johnson.html by Paul Johnson, a book that details the ugly, often horrible side of great thinkers, writers, such as Leo Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Henrik Ibsen, Jean- Jacques Rousseau…the latter left his children at the door of an orphanage, at a time when nine out of ten died in the circumstances, albeit death rates were high anyway…

 

There is the chance that Artificial Intelligence would bring about some extraordinary, crucial discoveries, such as a cure for cancer, or, more vital still, a solution for the catastrophe of Climate Change, keeping animal species alive, and why not, improve things for them, speed the arrival of meat grown from cells, which then would spare the billions of animals that are tortured and killed – something that is condemned in Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind http://realini.blogspot.com/2021/02/sapiens-brief-history-of-humankind-by.html by the same outstanding Yuval Harari

We have already fallen for our computers, in the form of the smart phones that we keep permanently in our faces, Artificial Intelligence appears to have won the fight on that score already, we are addicted to these machines and spend a lot (is it most) of time looking at them, staying away from ‘reality’…I would fall in love with an OS or AI that has the voice and allure of Scarlet Johansson http://notesaboutfilms.blogspot.com/2017/08/note-on-her-spike-jonze-joaquin-phoenix.html and if they make robots that use the future advancements in biotechnology, with tissues that replicate skin, and so on, then it is easy to see a trend there

 

We may have a better solution, if the future imagined in Limitless http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/04/limitless-leslie-dixon-screenplay-and.html is viable, the discovery of potent, accessible drugs that increase our thinking capacity to the point where we learn a foreign language, play the piano and so much more in hours, instead of years (Limitless is a well-chosen title) and then we do not need AI to be damn smart, the alternative is inserting accessories that will help the brains rival supercomputers or just be a mix of the two, AI and Human Intelligence, merged in one…

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

85 out of 100 for Secrets d'Histoire, Alexander The Great

82 out of 100 for The Wave

marți, 20 iunie 2023

The Big Short based on the book The Big Short – Inside The Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis, one of the best films of this century - 10 out of 10

 

The Big Short based on the book The Big Short – Inside The Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis, one of the best films of this century

10 out of 10

 

 

The memory of the financial crisis, turned into a Doomsday for the world economy is still haunting many of us, indeed, when I first saw The Big Short, I was not overwhelmed, albeit I have enjoyed it https://notesaboutfilms.blogspot.com/2017/09/note-on-big-short-with-christian-bale.html due to the reluctance to look back at one of the worst periods we have had to pass through, with six dogs, five of a giant breed – borzois

 

From the quintessential The Paradox of Choice http://realini.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-paradox-of-choice-by-barry-schartz.html by Barry Schwartz we could extract a lot of wisdom, and one of the most important insights would be that humans are divided into Maximizers and Satisfizers, the former search with fervor for the perfect choice, and hence are always disappointed, while the latter category is the one we want to join, for notwithstanding the fact that they want the best possible option, they are happier

One of the aspects that strike me in The Big Short is that people still act irrationally, and here we see that on the financial, economic front just as for the past seven or eight years we have seen madness in political terms, even if I see the Trump phenomenon indicative of a more general decadence, he is not just an election choice, for me it is a litmus test, if you support him, then you choose a whole set of different ‘values’…

 

Martin Seligman http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/11/flourish-by-martin-seligman-i-ii.html is the co-founder of Positive Psychology, author of important books like Authentic Happiness, and the one that has identified a list of Character Strengths, among them, under wisdom, you have love of learning, curiosity (not for gossip and innuendo, we could envisage) creativity, perspective, open-mindedness, and if one is embracing Putin, Trump, MBS, Erdogan, the fellow from South Africa, who is now with Putin, and all the others that stand with this and other despots, Modi too, then we do not share the same ethics

Another luminary of our times is Yuval Harari http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/homo-deus-brief-history-of-tomorrow-by.html who argues in his extremely influential books, Homo Deus, Sapiens, Twenty One Lessons, that we have reached a golden age, where we live so much longer, have access to technology that has improved lives so much, in A Brief History of Tomorrow he even suggests that we will become the Gods from the title, living ever longer, progress in medicine taking life expectancy to new limits.

 

The same thinker though has written some days ago an article in The Economist, and has lectures on the subject, one of them available on YouTube, about Artificial Intelligence and the danger it presents, how it has become so skillful at making up stories, which are essential in religion, propaganda, and how this could eventually lead to the creation of new faiths, and just like Qannon pushes absurd theories, yet embraced by tens of millions (mostly, if not all trumpers, MAGA ‘deplorables’, to quote Hilary Clinton, who was on the spot with the use of the term, if it was not clever to use it in the campaign…wait a second, if she did not use that, fans of the monster would have chosen her over their idiotic idol, no, no way, so she was right on all fronts) AI could push terrible ideas online…

 

The Big Short demonstrates that the ‘wisdom of the crowds’ has limitations, the main characters of the story had tried to alert investors and the world, telling them that a crash is coming, there is fraud and the fact that financial institutions, banks, investment banks and real estate outfits pressed for bigger risks will eventually bring the whole structure down, as presented by Jared Vennett of Deutche Bank aka Ryan Gosling in the film with his towers that had triple A assets at the top and B properties at the bottom

When a distance has been in place between 2008 and the time of seeing the movie (again) one can laugh, for this is both tragic and hilarious…take the trip that the Mark Baum aka Steve Carrell takes to Florida, to assess the situation that they had been warned about, and the visit to the…stripers club, where Baum is interested in the credit worthiness, the perspective of the property bought by the woman, not the show, and he asks her to move less, for he will still pay, only he cannot follow the answers.

 

The stripper has invested in…five houses and a condominium, because the packing of subprime mortgages has reached such an insane level that realtors would sell to anyone, without caring if they will be able to pay, furthermore, they will convince clients that had no means that they can do it, they have property and it can be theirs, pushing gullible, insolvent individuals into bankruptcy, eventually sending them to live on the streets, when the financial crisis would hit, millions of jobs will be lost, the world economy would tumble, debt will be accumulated…we still have debts to pay from that time

I remember how crazy it was, after a period of indulgence - “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six , result happiness…Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery” as Charles dickens has said, we had had years of Wine and Roses http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/days-of-wine-and-roses-written-by-jp.html

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

85 out of 100 for History by Numbers, The Amazon

81 out of 100 for BlackBerry

sâmbătă, 17 iunie 2023

The Secret of Santa Vittoria based on the book by Robert Crichton - 9 out of 10

 

The Secret of Santa Vittoria based on the book by Robert Crichton

9 out of 10

 

 

This film has been included in the program of a television channel the other day and seeing it has brought back memories of some decades ago – I would say at least three, but less than four – when watching Anthony Quinn was so exhilarating…he was the titan in Zorba the Greek http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/05/zorba-greek-by-nikos-kazantzakis-zorba.html based on the book by Nikos Kazantzakis, which was included on the list of 100 Greatest Books of All Time, compiled by the luminaries of our age

 

Anthony Quinn was also instrumental, one of the key artists in what could be the best motion picture of all time, Lawrence of Arabia http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/lawrence-of-arabia-written-by-robert.html - it is clearly one of the top five or ten for this cinephile – and one of his lines stays with me ‘I am a river to my people’ something his character says when challenged by Lawrence, before the siege of Aqaba, I think it was, and this sheik insists that he is not doing it for the money, plunder, since he is so generous, and I found that inspiring, I often used the quote, especially since it has this self-deprecating ability, double meaning in fact, not having much to be a river with, then there are few that expect much, if anything from me, and thus boasting about it does not imply any costs

The Secret of Santa Vittoria takes place near the end of World War II, at the time when Mussolini falls and the Nazis start withdrawing, pressed by the allies that would win, with victory Day celebrated on May 9 for the war in Europe and then later, after the atomic bombs are dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for the conflagration in the Pacific, and Santa Vittoria is a small town, of a little over one thousand inhabitants, somewhat unfazed by the conflict, spared the intense calamity, because it is so unimportant in strategic terms, tiny and away from the route of the great war…

 

That had been the situation before we enter the plot, for though they had been spared so far, things will get complicated and the Nazis will be coming to town…but first, Fabio, a young, brave, intrepid, passionate man comes to his town to announce that Mussolini is gone, only to see that the locals have no reaction to this news, indeed, the former dictator had been quite popular with his compatriots, including the main character of the narrative, Bombolini aka Anthony Quinn, who had written on the big water tower ‘Mussolini is always right’ – something that in my youth, after seeing this film that I had enjoyed so much, I would paraphrase and placed in my room, at my parents’ house, stating ‘Realini is always right’ in larger letters, and then adding, in respect to democracy, in small print ‘here’, as if to admit that my opinion, preferences may not prevail in general, but hey, in my room at least, it is what counts

Drunk Bombolini climbs up on the water tower, to paint over his stupid slogan, only to find that he is too tired, and inebriated probably, or most likely, to do the job, and furthermore, he is in danger of falling to his death, when Fabio comes to his rescue, with a rope and they have a discussion on top of the town, with the population gathered to see the catastrophe taking place…this where the clown – as they sometimes call him – explains that Mussolini had promised roads, schools and it had seemed so beautiful

 

The clown becomes the mayor – ‘jesters do oft prove prophets’ said Shakespeare, but then he has also created the most reviled villain, Richard III, who in reality has been nothing of the kind…The Daughter of Time http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-daughter-of-time-by-josephine-fey.html by Josephine Fey has been voted the best Mystery Novel by the Crime Writers Association CWA and it has inside the incredible investigation into the alleged murders committed because Richard III had ordered them, with the revelation that the infamous king had been innocent and thus we have here one of the myths of history and one of the greatest injustices, since most of humanity has not read the Daughter of Time, alas, and considers Richard III one of the most loathsome humans in history, against the evidence

It may look like the wrong move, after all, the image of Trump comes up, whenever I mention idiot, stupid, calamity I tend to think of the most extraordinary degradation I have seen, it is not just that the man is an absolute disaster, but to think that tens of millions in the USA (and he had fans all around the globe, I have to argue with the ones that pop up at the sauna Downtown on a regular basis) have voted and are ready to do so again, next year – he has a chance in three at this stage, according to an article in The Economist, to be the next leader of the world – is mind boggling and destroys another myth

 

When the Nazis are announced, the locals panic, because they have over one million bottles of wine – and Bombolini says that without the wine, they are nothing’ – and they are worried that the Germans will take their treasure away, in revenge against the former ally, that is now ready to fight against them, and the mayor is unable to think of a way out, until it is suggested to them, the countess I think it was who came with the idea, the people start moving the cases of wine, with mules, carts and all.

However, traffic comes to a stop, cases fall and the wine is spilled, because there is a frenzy and the chaos creates roadblocks, until another clever tactic is envisaged and all the locals are lined up, at a sign, they pass bottles from one to the other, starting from the initial storage, ending where thy have to hide them from the invaders, a timetable is set, then they establish a figure to play the game with the occupiers

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world  – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

96 out of 100 for Cést Magnifique, which is Magnificent because of Pol

86 out of 100 for Miracle Workers, Pretty Good Show

joi, 15 iunie 2023

Shanghai Express by Josef von Sternberg - 10 out of 10

 

Shanghai Express by Josef von Sternberg

10 out of 10

 

 

I have mentioned to my daughter, Hannah, that I was watching Shanghai Express when she called, and asked her if she knows who Marlene Dietrich was and she did not know – in a few decades, names like Marlon Brando – the titan that helped make The Godfather http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-godfather-written-by-francis-ford.html one of the best movies ever made – for many cinephiles, the number one film above Lawrence of Arabia, Citizen Kane and others of the same caliber.

 

Have I read somewhere that Marlene Dietrich was special in her sexual orientation, alongside her special charisma on the screen, albeit, as we find from reading the co-winner of The Booker Prize for 2019, Girl, Woman, Other http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/06/girl-woman-other-by-bernardine-evaristo.html by Bernardine Evaristo ‘gender is one of the big lies of civilization’, and we need to see sexuality in terms of ‘Two Spirits’, non-gender, gender fluidity as in something that changes from one minute to the next

Shanghai Express brings to mind Murder on The Orient Express http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/10/murder-on-orient-express-based-on-novel.html by the Queen of misery writing, Agatha Christie, with the similarity that we have a train ride in both narratives, and one or a few mysteries to analyze and solve, eventually, in the Shanghai story, we have political and historical aspects that are leading us to tense moments, when the rebels may kill one or a few passengers.

 

The Shanghai Express travels in China, before the calamity of Mao and communism, although the situation was not infinitely better, a civil war was ravaging the country and foreign powers dictated terms, something that the communist leaders of our time keep repeating, it was true, but nevertheless, they us that fact to advance their malign propaganda, the West has exploited the country, they are determined to use their advance to try and keep China down, which is not true, it helps keep the commies in power.

We read in Why The West Rules for Now  http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/10/why-west-rules-for-now-by-ian-morris.html by brilliant Ian Morris about the background, how the colonizers of South and Central America could have met the Chinese, instead of the Native populations, since the Chinese had had a massive advance, they had ships that looked like the Titanic compared with a canoe, set near the Columbus vessels, but they had just decided to rule that sailing to foreign lands would be forbidden…

 

Alas, now it is the opposite, they are clearly showing an aggressive, bullying strategy, trying to make the South China Sea some sort of an internal lake, grabbing territory that does not belong to them, it is at least disputed, building airstrips on islands where they have no right to do that, and most of all, they keep pushing the idea that Taiwan must be incorporated into the ‘mother nation’, against the will of the islanders

 

A tyranny does not take that will into account, it is what the despot wants, and we have seen this here – I juts remembered that this is supposed to be about Shanghai Express, but I have abandoned the subject, and only say on it that yes, there are some classic moments, one of which has Marlene Dietrich smoking a cigarette and looking distant, meditative, outré, the quintessential superstar and mysterious woman (or other) but I did not find the film, compelling, because of too high expectations…

Whenever China is mentioned these days, I think of communism and the pride of my life, the fact that I took part in the 1989 Revolution http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html when I went to the Roman Square to protest, we had been lucky to have a marvelous leader, Andrei Finti, but one that does not have any recognition, not only he is without a statue, which he would deserve, but I have never heard him mentioned, while so many crooks and liars – actually, it is tens of thousands of them – went to claim the benefits, without having any contribution

 

In those fighting days – there was heavy shooting, in spite of the later discovery that there had been no terrorists brought in by Ceausescu to keep him in power, soldiers were shooting at other army corps, civilians targeting shadows and mirages – I have met Michael Meyers from Newsweek and he asked me about what I have seen and this is how I have ended up in his article on the violent end of tyranny here

Sometimes I regret the fact that I did not go to claim the ‘revolutionary certificate’, an official document that certifies that one has been a contributor to the change, somehow an oxymoron, for most of those who took one, did so on false claims, and because of that, I felt so disgusted and associated that paper with an insult that I passed the honor, only it had quite a few privileges attached to it, and even if I was a true ‘fighter against communism’, and maybe my daughter could get the medal in my name

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world  – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

87 out of 100 for Miracle Workers, Miracle Actors

84 out of 100 for Rose

duminică, 11 iunie 2023

East of Eden by John Steinbeck, winner of The Nobel Prize for Literature, author of The Grapes of Wrath http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-grapes-of-wrath-by-john-steinbeck.html, according to The Modern Library, one of the Top Ten Best Novels in English, not all that exhilarating for this reader nonetheless - 9 out of 10

 

East of Eden by John Steinbeck, winner of The Nobel Prize for Literature, author of The Grapes of Wrath http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-grapes-of-wrath-by-john-steinbeck.html, according to The Modern Library, one of the Top Ten Best Novels in English, not all that exhilarating for this reader nonetheless

9 out of 10

 

 

This reader has been enchanted by The Grapes of Wrath – read twice, the above is a link to one note, but here is another send off, to another impression, on the same book http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-grapes-of-wrath-by-john-steinbeck.html - and the performance of Henry Fonda in the leading role has remained somehow inscribed on the cortex (or wherever such memories can find a place) but that was on the first encounter, a second reading was not similarly overwhelming

 

Indeed, John Steinbeck has lost a lot of his clout, if not all, ever since I had learned that he was a communist, or at the very least he had entertained such affiliations as a young man – yes, there was a joke that went ‘who is not a communist when young has no heart, who is still a commie when old has no brains’ – and seeing that I have lived through communism (furthermore, I even took part in the 1989 Revolution http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html that has taken Ceausescu down) I reject all such ideology and refuse to come close to those who embrace the dogma.

Paul Johnson has a marvelous book http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/intellectuals-by-paul-johnson.html called Intellectuals, in which he looks at the crème de la crème, Leo Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Henrik Ibsen, Jean Jacques- Rousseau…the latter has left the children at the door of the orphanage, at a time when nine out of ten died in situations like that – the conclusion is that great minds have a side that is very dark, vicious, it could even be said that in order to shine in one way, one needs to have a stigma in another…

 

John Steinbeck should be absolved of the sin of sympathizing with the communists, for he has given us some unequal masterpieces – another is Of Mice and Men http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/of-mice-and-men-by-john-steinbeck-meet.html a compelling, emotional, brilliant account of what happens with a man with challenges, who is placed in a circumstance where he is tempted by the wife of the employer (hey, I better be careful ere, for I could get some Cancel Culture activists on my back, if only I have some traction, which I do not, so I am free, Alhamdulillah)

The gentle giant (he is generally as sweet and nice as it is possible, it is demanding situations that make him unable to see what to do, and with his super power and pressure, tragedy ensues) is not ‘tempted’ as in this is the poor victim’s fault, and those lines yet another stupid, malign, vile take of the male chauvinist pig against females, stating that they are responsible when they are attacked, and it is not the male criminal.

 

I just read yesterday that Johnny Depp is back on the horse, he will have the release of the film where he plays Louis XVI (or is it another one, quatorze maybe, it can be checked easily, but why bother, who cares, who gives a damn) directed by the ex-wife of Luc Besson (the latter had been investigated for severe accusations) a woman who has just told the press that she had spit on a journalist…apparently, she had also pulled his hair, in a restaurant, and she is somehow an opponent of MeToo…

Johnny Depp has signed the biggest advertising contract, worth some twenty million dollars or euros, to promote Sauvage, the Dior Fragrance, perfume, just as we had had the Horror show of the trial, where he won compensation, but my personal take is that they both came out with a lousy image…I mean, alright, it is Sauvage he is promoting and savages do wild things, but still, it is very strange for me…

 

Furthermore, I am not happy with the way he has acted in the last few years – yes, we have had Donnie Brasco http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/donnie-brasco-written-by-paul-attanasio.html Edward Scissorhands, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/note-on-whats-eating-gilbert-grape.html, Blow and a good number of other excellent motion pictures, but like with Pacino and others, a stage is reached when routine can destroy the performances, there is grandiosity and emphatic exaggeration, pompous grandstanding, instead of minimalism…Less is more in the words of Mies van der Rohe, one of the greatest architects of humanity, and a wondrous thinker

These days, the saga of the resurrection of Johnny Depp continues, for there is backlash, especially given that Jeanne du Barry will open the most important film festival in the world, Cannes, where we have this story of a courtesan trying to get power, enticing Louis XV aka Johnny Depp, in what will be a very closely watched feature, seeing the controversy and buzz surrounding the actor, but also the outré director

 

Maiwenn, as she calls herself now, has been the wife of another figure that had been involved in accusations of abuse, and seeing that she had been very violent recently, this has attracted attention, albeit it is not for artistic reasons that cinephiles talk about this, the innuendo and gossip will do a lot to make the public curious…who said ‘there is no such thing as bad publicity’, we have had Benetton and the search for outrage

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world  – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

81 out of 100 for Garden of Allah

62 out of 100 for The Idol 1.1

luni, 5 iunie 2023

The Goodbye Girl by Neil Simon, author of The Heartbreak Kid http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-heartbreak-kid-screenplay-by-neil.html - 9 out of 10

 

The Goodbye Girl by Neil Simon, author of The Heartbreak Kid http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-heartbreak-kid-screenplay-by-neil.html

9 out of 10

 

 

The Goodbye Girl has been a smash hit in 1977 when it was launched, the first romantic comedy to break the one hundred million dollars at the box office ceiling, winning for Richard Dreyfuss the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (though he is probably better known for his part in the landmark Jaws, of which he talks in the excellent Easy Riders Ragging Bulls, with the delays, the eccentricity of Steven Spielberg, who convinced the executives with his…being normal, non-drinking, staying away from drugs, which was the plague of most other talent at the time, maybe even now) the youngest at thirty to be honored thus

 

More importantly, it has enthused and exhilarated me, a young man when I first saw it, and now, that I am at what Cicero (or some other sage from antiquity says, through the lectures of the majestic Andrei Plesu http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/05/obscenitatea-publica-by-andrei-plesu.html who has a splendid conference with Dilema Veche, in which he takes on old age, advantages and shortcomings) called the maturity stage, I find that the first encounter with The Goodbye Girl seems a bit too enthusiastic

Richard Dreyfuss does shine in the part (he is excellent in Whose Life Is It Anyway http://realini.blogspot.com/2015/02/whose-life-is-it-anyway-by-brian-clark.html aside from Jaws) but he does not provoke the same exuberance, perhaps in part because I have read about King Richard III (‘now is the winter of our discontent turned into glorious summer by this Son of York and all the clouds that loured upon our skies in the deep bosom of the ocean buried’ does come a few times in the play, and these are among the most resplendent lines in literature, or at least until Chat GPT or some other concoction will come up with something even more sublime, if that is conceivable)

 

Elliot Garfield aka Richard Dreyfuss is to play Richard III and he has an artistic dispute with the director, the actor wants the king to have the hunchback, just like Laurence Olivier had played it, and some other deformities, while the outré director insists on the idea that Shakespeare was gay – there is the argument, sustained among others by the lines from the sonnet ‘a woman’s face with nature’s own hand painted, hast thou the master/mistress of my passion…’ and the result is indecision…

It is obviously meant to be amusing, and it is (or better said, it had been, when I was twenty or so, and found this new approach hilarious and enticing, while seen again yesterday, it appeared somewhat, or very gauche, maladroit) innovative for 1977, after all, it not only gained the Oscar for Dreyfuss, but it has also been nominated for Best Picture, Screenplay, Actress in a Leading and Supporting Roles…

 

The image of Richard III has been changed with the publication of the marvelous The Daughter of Time http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-daughter-of-time-by-josephine-fey.html by Josephine Fey, in which the central character is investigating…the crimes committed by the infamous, monstrous king centuries before, only to find that the suspect was in fact condemned by posterity on false evidence, or none at all, hence we have here a myth and the creation of a character that is loathed because of Shakespeare, principally…

Ergo, seeing Richard Dreyfuss aka Elliot Garfield mocking the poor Richard III appears to be less enchanting than on the first take, when I had been ignorant of the discovery detailed in The Daughter of Time – incidentally, this fundamental mystery novel sits at Number one https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Top_100_Crime_Novels_of_All_Time on the list of top 100 Crime Novels, as compiled by the writers in the genre – and the panache is lacking, the acting of the role of the king as if he was ‘an interior decorator gone wild’, with bizarre eccentricities has some appeal, but not that much

 

In fact, it could be construed differently, and if Elliot says at some point that the ‘gay community will crucify him’ or something like that, the film would not be produced today, or maybe it would, we have the example of Tar https://notesaboutfilms.blogspot.com/2023/01/one-of-best-in-2022-and-golden-globe.html the film with many nominations, wherein Cate Blanchet portrays a lesbian director who is complex, but has a very loathsome side, something we might have thought would be censored, for activists for minorities rights  might reject the depiction of one who is a negative character and homosexual at the same time

As it is, there are various interpretations, and we could praise The Goodbye Girl for envisaging a William Shakespeare that was gay, at a time when that was more than frowned upon, and furthermore, exploring the notion that Richard III could be of the same orientation, have him grab others by their private parts, and overall, act as a drama queen, perhaps a bit over the top and finally antagonizing critics.

 

In the interpretation of this age, Shakespeare and Richard III would be ‘gender fluid’ – the co-winner of the Booker Prize for 2019 Girl, Woman, Other http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/06/girl-woman-other-by-bernardine-evaristo.html by Bernardine Evaristo argues that gender is the biggest lie of civilization, or something to that effect, and we are introduced, at least those of us unaware, to concepts like ‘non gender, two spirits’ – however that would work, the performance in this 1977 film is exuberant, remarkable

Only it does not have the effect it had some decades back, when it all seemed so exciting and breaking barriers, which it probably did, only somehow, with the passing of time, it now looks dated, not archaic, or ancient, but still, it does not have the same impact…I looked back at the list of nominees, and Richard Dreyfuss was competing with Marcello Mastroianni, Richard Burton for the Oscar (there are Woody Allen and John Travolta, both controversial, the former for his relationships with much younger women, the latter for the role in Scientology) so I would rather have Mastroianni or/and Burton get the trophy…

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html