RIP Diane Keaton

I was about to write RIP Annie Hall...

Diane Keaton was 79. Except Woody Allen's muse, friend (and girlfriend) and confidante (eight films together, from 1972's Play It Again Sam, ending with Manhattan Murder Mystery in 1993), she was Al Pacino's Michael Corleone's wife Kay in the three Godfathers, from fiancee to divorcee (also his girlfriend in real life), and exceptionally radicalist Louise Bryant in Warren Beatty's 1981's Reds. A very smart, intellectual. witty woman, personified best in Annie Hall (1977), character that used Keaton's manierisms, also her true family name is Hall, film that brought her an Oscar for best actress. She was also a feminist and an avant garde personality. And a great protograper (book Reservations). She never married and had two adopted kids. 

I think the last time I saw her was in Something's Gotta Give, the 2003 Nicholson weaker comedy...  She was in a lot of romantic comedies (Father of the Bride), heartfelt films  (The First Wives Club), dramas (Marvin's Room). But for me she will always be The Little Drummer Girl, in the excellent George Roy Hill film from 1984, based on the John le Carré book (not the 2018 series), where she plays a wannabe groupie terrorist, ideologically brainwashed and used, in a film that is more actualt today than Woody Allen's NY fantasies or the politics of Reds.

She as also great in Richard Brooks’  audacious drama with a sex twist, Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977).

Diane Hall / Keaton was also a director, most famously for Be Unstrung Heroes (1995), she also directed Belinda Carlisle's hit video Heaven is a Place on Earth. She also produced Gus Van Sant's Elephant. She wrote memoirs thrice: “Then Again” (2011), “Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty” (2015) and “Brother and Sister” (2020).

 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award from the AFI/ American Film Institute. 

Obit in Variety here. 

Tribute by Woody Allen here.

“If Huckleberry Finn was a gorgeous young woman, he’d be Keaton,” Allen remembered thinking upon first seeing her.

One Battle After Another (2025)

"Snap Crackle Pop"

French 75 resurges for one last call...Do you remeber the code ? "What time is it?" / It's Time for REVOlution (again ?)

One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson's biggest film to date (you dpon't wanna know the budget, out of which a quarter is Leo's salary..). Most expected and already lauded as film of the year. Sean Penn is in for an Oscar nod surely-best supposting. Di Caprio does a OUIH bit imo. He's like Rick Dalton playing the fried brains revolutionary recluse Bob Ferguson aka Ghetto" Pat. Benicio Del Toro is also superfunny as the Sensei, shades of him in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas...but Sean Penn's performance as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw is surreal. One for the books !

Chase Infiniti's big screen debut as Bob and Perfidia's daughter Willa is intense. Special mention to Eric Schweig as Avanti. 

Plus the Christmas Adventurers Club, man, kudos for this one off ;)

I'd call this No Country For Any One...

It's a relentless ride, shot beautifully on 35 mm film in VistaVision (second film in this format in this century, after The Brutlalist), by Michael Bauman (his second film with PTA after Licorice Pizza), his first feature credit ! 

The film should be read through his soundtrack -I mean the overall score, again by Jonny Greenwood, his faithfull composer, this time a psychotronic overpulsating paroxistic one. I expect his Oscar next March.

The soundtrack includes great songs, from Steely Dan (Dirty Work), to Jackson Five (Ready Or Not Here I Come), Tom Petty's American Girl on the end credits (you will know why, "she was raised with Promises"), Ella Fitzgerald and The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, thge classic and still subversive Gil Scott-Heron proto-rap from 1970, which plays a role also in the plot. 

Thomas Pynchon's book Vineland (1990) was the inspiration of PTA, who did a crazy looney tones political bonanza. Reminde me a lot of Eddington. It's somehow PTA's funniest film to date. Some bits reminiscent of the weed haze of Inherent Vice, his adaptation of Pynchon's other counterculture book.

There is also a big connection (and inspiration) with Gillo Pontecorvo's revolutionary classic Batle of Algiers (1966). 

Epic duration, 2h41, but it goes fast, on this one I would've liked to be even longer, more Christmas Adventureres,  Billy Goat, Beegee, Comrade Josh and Talleyrand.

The film is dedicated to Adam Somner, the legendary second unit director (Gladiator, Phantom Thread) and producer of 5 of PTA's films from There Will Be Blood, The Master, Inherent Vice, Licorice Piza to this last, OBATA. Somner died last year in November after completing this film...

4 out of 5, 8 out of 10 !!!

*Defintely it's a film that you can revisit, plus very TODAY in the actual political climate. 

RIP Robert Redford

Robert Redford gone where a River / rivers run through...

The Man was 89. Once ”The Golden Boy” of Hollywood...No liftings, just traces of life...

One of my top childhood heroes, he was an absolute star in that times "commie" Romania, together with Paul Newman, John Wayne and Burt Reynolds, the stars of those early 70's. RR, as a Rolls Royce of acting and old Hollywood grace and elegance. 

From early prats in Barefoot in the Park and The Chase, to stardom: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, All the President's Men, Three Days of the Condor, to his activist years and Sundance, to the last parts in All is Lost (one of my favourite RR performances), The Old Man and the Gun and last in that Marvel film (2019)...

Never won an Oscar as an actor, but as a director, in 1980 for Ordinary People. That film is now quite forgotten, but at the time it helped build an Indie genre later on. A raw model for Brad Pitt and tons of others he helped more in the capacity of director, producer and festival founder (Sundance). Even though he directed 9 feature films he will be remembered more as a Classic Movie Star. 

Downhill Racer, The Candidate, The Hot Rock, The Great Waldo Pepper, The Great Gatsby, The Electric Horseman, Jeremiah Johnson, Brubaker, The Natural.

Liked him in lesser films like Sneakers, Legal Eagles, Havana, The Last Castle, The Clearing. 

One of my favorite later parts parts of RR is Nathan Muir in Tony Scott's Spy Game (2001). His pairing with Brad Pitt as his mentor in CIA was a very touching one. 

He made serious topics like grief and political corruption resonate with the masses, in no small part because of his own star power. (The NY Times)

RIP Terence Stamp

Mouring one of the greatest British Icons, made big by Italian cinema and American popcorn (und more).  Terence Stamp was 87. He was Toby Dammitt in Fellini's sketch of Poe's omnibus Histoires Extrraordinaires/ Spirits of the Dead. He was in Pasolini's Teorema, as he was general Zod ;). 

He won best actor in Cannes in 1965 for The Collector.

From his film debut in Billy Budd (1962, where he received his onbly Oscar nomination) to his last bit in Last Night in Soho (2021) he was a cool, silent, sometimes very menacing presence. 

For me it was at most fun as the perverted host of the short-lived series The Hunger (1997-98).

Other highlights: Modesty Blaise, The Hit, The Limey (featuring Poor Cow).

1st ime I saw him as a kid as the badguy Wazir in the Clive Donner's Thief of Baghdad (1978,  actually a made for TV film).

Stand-out, Australian The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), which can be seen streaming now on HBO Max.

Far from the Madding Crowd indeed...

RIP Lalo Schifrin

waiting for this to happen for a while :(, I mean Lalo Schifrin was 93, he was retired for a while, after the The Hidden Dove (2018) his last score, not a notable one. He was one of the last great ones, only John Williams survives that Golden generation (Morricone, Jerry Goldsmith, etc).

The Argentinian Piano man is foremost responsible of the Mission; Impossible theme. Six times Oscar nominated, no win :(: Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Fox (1968), Voyage of the Damned (1976), The Amityville Horror (1979) and The Sting II (1983) and for the song “People Alone” from The Competition (1980). Honorary Oscar in 2018.

His signature is on Bullitt, Mannix, Enter the Dragon, The Eagle has Landed, Dirty Harry, and its sequels, from Magnum Force to The Enforcer, the three Rush Hour films. Close collaborator of Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood. Also did the music for Carlos Saura's Tango and many jazz collaboations, with Ray Charles in 1965's Norman Jewison's The Cincinnati Kid.

obit in the Hollywood Reporter 

The last film I saw with his music now (catch-up) is The Mean Season (1985), a thriller with Kurt Russell and Richard Jordan. 

I'm Still Here/ Ainda Estou Aqui (2024)

I've seen I'm Still Here/ Ainda Estou Aqui in the cinema, now after the Oscar win. A well deserved award ! Have forgoten all about Walter Salles (his last film was in 2012, On the Road, saw that in Cannes then), and I got that this was a very personal project for him. 

Ainda Estou Aqui was nominated for best picture and Fernanda Torres for best actress (she got the Golden Globe tho).  "I'm Still Here" (not to be confused with the Joaquin Phoenix/Cassey Affleck mockumentary with the same name ;) won also best screenplay in last year's Venice Film Festival. It's a powerful film, about family and predestination, and surviving against all odds in adverse situation. It's also a true story that in Brazil it's well known and publicized, now up to be seen and heard by the whole world. These events that happened in all the other dictatorrships, being right or left wing, it's told through the eyes of Eunice Paiva (Torres), the wife of Rubens Paiva, arrested and vanished during the Brazilian dictatorship of 1970's. Mother of 4, later on a strong advocate for Human rights. 

A bit overlong (2h17!-could've been at least 15 mins. shorter), but act 3 redeems the film and uppers its value. On imdb it went straight to "Top rated movie #133"! Ola for Brasil !

Stay for the end credits !

music by Warren Ellis (!), great soundtrack with Brazilian artists, Tom Ze, Caetano Veloso, etc. 

Oscars 2025 (#97): the Show

the Show -my notes:

23 awards to go til 6.10 am ;)

It starts with Somewhere over the Rainbow, it goes into the Wicked songs with the freakish Cynthia and Grande.

Conan O'Brian (hosting for the 1st time), is actually very good, natural with a good sense of pacing. With a little help of Adam Sandler and John Lithgow. Then surprise, he sings s a song, “I won't waste time”, featuring dancers, the sandworm from "Dune" on piano doing “chopsticks” and Deadpool.

Robert Downey jr. presents supporting actor and the least deserving guy gets it, Kieran, who is the same in life as in A Real Pain, as in Succession, kinda same part. Nice speech tho, talking to his wife.

He also looks like a young Kirk Douglas. Glowing eyes.

(commercial break #1)

Wow ! For Animation FLOW wins. Wonderful, Touching ! Lithuania enters the Oscars. Great film, now in Romanian cinemas, go and see it !!! Absolutely sensational, it beats Disney, Pixar and The Giant Robot.

The short animated category I didn't follow. “In the Shadow of the Cypress” won. The two Iranian directors are great ! They just landed in L.A. Three hours ago, they said.

(commercial break #2)

Costume design, no surprises there, Wicked, the first black person to win for costume design.

Another commercial break, # 3

Original script. Sean Baker wins his 1st Oscar for writing Anora. Adapted, Conclave. No surprises here. 

Surely The Brutalist and The Substance and September 5 were better choices but I'm happy for Baker. 

Commercial break, # 4, man, there's more breaks than show...

June Squibb and Scarlett Johansson present the makeup and hairstyling award to The obvious The Substance.

Then we get Halle Berry to let us know the Governer Ball's Awards (November 2024), from Quincy Jones (posthumous) to the Bond producers of EON, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson (who gave a way bond to the sharks from Amazon :() -Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.

and then we get a 007 tribute clip followed by a dance extravaganza with a superb Margaret Qualley (as I said before, on her way in becoming a A-lister, after OUATiH, Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness, The Substance, Drive-Away Dolls), in a red dress, then we get renditions of Live and Let Die with Lisa , Diamonds are Forever with Doja Cat, Skyfall with Raye, all in good taste, channeling the originals.

Commercial break, # 5

Nice joke of Cinemastreams, Conan featuring Marty Scorsese.

And a anniversary of Kill Bill puts Daryl Hannah on stage. She looks great, presents the award for best Editing. Again, Sean Baker rocks (2^nd award !), Anora for editing ! Deservingly.

Divine takes the stage for the supporting actress award presentation. Zoe Saldana wins. Emilia Perez was here, will she win for International film too ?

Commercial break, # 6

Ben Stiller on stage with a joke stolen from SNL Vincent Price skit (& Peter Sellers & more), present the Production Design Award. Wicked". May the Biggest budget film win. And a film about architecture, nem...

Then on the sound of Sympathy for the...who ?, Sir Mick Jagger shows up. Best Song award. Making Bob jokes. El Mal from Emilia Perez win. Sorry, I couldn't care less. The nominations this year for song were awful. 

Commercial break, # 7

Conan does the second Dune Sandworm joke, playing harp ! Sam Jackson (L.) and Selena Gomez (M.) present short documentary film. The Only Girl in the Orchestra wins. Feature: No Other Land. Political moment speech. 

Commercial break, # 8

Conan & the L.A. Firemen Dpt. Firemen jokes.

Miles Teller & Miley Cyrus (in Europe Kilometer & Kilometry). Sound. Dune 2.

Gal Gadot, herself a special FX, in a red dress present the Visual Effects Award. Dune part 2 it is. 

VO/announcer (in my heydays it was Peter Coyote ;) -Nick Offerman, who's voice is kinda off (booze?). 

Commercial break, # 9

Ana de Armas and Sterling K. Brown present the last short award.

Morgan Freeman presents an homage to Gene Hackman. He played together in Unforgiven and Under Suspicion. That introduces the In Memoriam montage I had no clue Fred Roos and Adam Somner. died ..).

Commercial break, # 10

An actor presenter from each film nominated for Cinematography: Joe Alwyn for the  Brutalist. Alba Rohrwacher salutes a Ed Lachman in a wheelchair for Maria. Willem Dafoe for Nosferatu, Zoe Saldana for Emilia Perez, Dave Bautista for Dune part 2. Lol Crawley wins for The Brutalist. Fair enuff. 

Penelope Cruz presents for Best International Film. I'm Still Here/ Ainda Estou Aqui wins (Walter Salles, Brazil). Another big loss for EP, due to bad PR mostly.

Commercial break, # 10

Conan makes another Russian Joke via Anora. Mark Hamill (!!!) presents the award for best Original SCORE. Daniel Blumberg for The Brutalist. Well deserved for a Grand, epic score !

Whoopy and Oprah introduce a Quincy Jones musical tribute. Queen Latifah sings a song from The Wiz. 

Commercial break, # 11

Conan: "If you still enjoying this show you have what it's called Stockholm Syndrome". 

Cillian Murphy takes the stage for best actor award. He won last year for Oppenheimer. And...Adrian Brody wins his 2nd Oscar (22 years after 2003's The Pianist) for the part of architect  László Tóth in The Brutalist !!! The most touching moment of the evening. Brody is entering a cool restricted club. Egészségedre !

Enter QT, Quentin iz in ze house ! Best director -ta-dam, Sean Baker for Anora ! His 3d Oscar, suddenly a small struggling indie director becomes a Monster Superstar in the biz. Phones will be ringing, snakes will be crawling, emails will be flowing, agents will be waltzing around & mirages will be presented to him but I have the feeling he won't sell out. Kudos !

Commercial break, # 12

Emma Stone (who won last year for Poor Things) presents Best Actress award. Aaaand surprise, Mikey Madison (Sadie in OUaTiH) wins !!! Anora's fourth Oscar ! Mikey is 25 !

Meg Ryan & Billy Crystal present Best Film. And Anora wins !!! Five Oscars out of Six ! Sean Baker is also co-producer so he gets his fifth award. Bravo !

And they even finished earlier this year ! Sorry for Demi, that was this edition surprise for me. 62 vs. 25. Baby Jane or All About Eve ? Again the SAG proof that no one guesses is perfect. The acting awards were again different from those of the guild. All in all it was a calm and cool edition with the most indie films in an Oscar race, two foreign directors, and wins for Anora 5, Brutalist 3. 

That's it, folks !

Oscar 2025 (#97) Tonite !!!

All nominations here, my notes on the show here:

My predictions:  guessed all except Demi and not I'm still here (which I noted tho as a possibility).

that does not mean I want all these films to win !!! 

Picture

“Anora” 

Director

Sean Baker, “Anora” 

Actor

Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist” 

Actress

Demi Moore, “The Substance”  WRONG, Mikey Madison wins for Anora !!!

Supporting Actor

Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain” 

Supporting Actress

Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”

Original Screenplay

“Anora”

Adapted Screenplay

“Conclave”

Animated Feature Film

“Flow” (even if Wild Robot is considered faved, Flow is a much better film)

International Feature Film

“Emilia Perez” (France) , could be overpassed by "I'm Still Here" ! Und it was !!!!

Documentary Feature Film

" No Other Land"

I would've gone with SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ETAT but it's too sophisticated, anti-american and with European sensibilities

Original Song

Honestly I dont give a F*** but

“El Mal”from “Emilia Pérez”

Original Score

“The Brutalist” 

Sound

“Dune: Part Two” 

Visual Effects

“Dune: Part Two” 

Film Editing

“Anora“ 

Costume Design

"Wicked"

Makeup and Hairstyling

“The Substance”

Cinematography

“The Brutalist“

Production Design

"Wicked"

RIP Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman, one of the greatest Actors there ever was, (it's said he could play Anyone and Antything), died on Tuesday Feb. 26th. He was 95. He died suddenly along his wife and their dog ! His wife (the 2nd, married in 1991), the pianist Betsy Arakawa, was 64 ! The Police of Santa Fe discovered all three of them....

During the last 3-4 years I re-saw /saw again some of his films with the fear he'll die any moment. So, there was him at his most funniest in Get Shorty, the neo-noir Heist, action mentoring channeling The Conversation part -Tony Scott's Enemy of the State (2 bad it had Will Smith as a lead, if could've been Denzel or Jamie Foxx it'll rock more today), more good action thriller-The Package and the comedy I caught up Heartbreakers. Forgot he had a cameo in The Mexican when I gave that film another shot (totally hated it when it came out), tried to see again The Royal Tenenbaums but remembered how he quarreled with Wes Anderson (which I find completely overrated) and paused it. It's a great part but not a lengthy on.  Also discovered some gems like The Hunting Party (1971), The Split (bit cop part) when Jim Brown died and recently, when Kris Kristofferson passed I saw Cisco Pike (1971). Brilliant wicked part for Gene Hackman, probably last seen by me. 

He was retired since 2004 after the lesser comedy Welcome to Moosesport. He was painting and writing thriller noir/ history fiction novels. 

Hackman received two Academy Awards (for William Friedkin's The French Connection & Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven), two British Academy Films Awards (BAFTA), and four Golden Globes.

My faves after the obvious characters of Popeye Doyle, Harry Caul, Little Bill Daggett and Lex Luthor are Crimson Tide, Prime Cut, The Scarecrow, French Connection II (he's better in Frankenheimer's sequel than in Friedkin's hit, it's harder bit too imo) , Bite the Bullet, Night Moves, Eureka, Under Fire, so on...

Most amusingly he played the blindman in Mel Brooks' parody Young Frankenstein, in 1974, uncredited. It's kind of a cameo but now every obit mentions it as an important part. Come on, you AI generation morons...

As a kid I saw him first in cinemas in Superman, The Poseidon Adventure, The Domino Principle, Marooned, Zandy's Bride, The Gypsy Moths (that on TV). Then later his breakthrough part in Bonnie & Clyde. 

He was a superb villain always, suave and smiling. Also he could play men in uniform, military authority at best. And grand in westerns. But his secret gift was comedy. He Is, was and will be one of my favorite Actors. And as far as I checked everyone says he  was the Best Actor that ever IS !

 "If you look at yourself as a star, you've already lost something in the portrayal of any human being."

                                                             Gene Hackman (1930-2025)

Anora wins PGA/DGA !

Anora might win best pic and best director at this year's Oscars. 

The Producers Guild of America named Anora the best picture of the year at the 2025 PGA Awards. The surprise win came just an hour after director Sean Baker took home the DGA’s top prize — establishing the Neon film as the official Oscars frontrunner for Best Picture. Anora also won Best Picture at last night’s Critics Choice Awards.

The Brutalist (2024)

"The American myth is something that is not frequently undressed, especially in this 'coming to America' fable that we have seen rehashed again and again"

 Brady Corbet

(best director Venice Film Festival 2024 for The Brutalist)

film nominated for 10 Oscars

Vulture: The Brutalist spans 33 years on screen and over three and a half hours of runtime, including a 15-minute intermission at its midpoint. It’s the first film in decades 9NN 61 years to be precise!) to be fully shot in VistaVision, and at the Venice Film Festival, where it had its premiere, it was projected on 70mm.

Real vs. fiction:

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250206-the-brutalist-brady-corbet-and-adrien-brody-on-ww2-jewish-experience-in-the-us

TBC

a great talk between Brady Corbet and Sean Baker (Anora), about cinema, budgets, choices, passion and compromises.

The Brutalist just won 4 BAFTA awards, best director, best actor, best cinematography and best score (Daniel Blumberg), which I think deserve also the Oscar for that category.

Oscar 2025 (#97) nominations !!!

I have seen now  The Brutalist (wow!) and A Complete Unknown (bof...), 

those films I wrote about will have links on their titles, very happy for Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice !!! And for the 5 nominations for The Substance !  Even tho Emilia Perez will win big ( incl. best foreign film, UPDATE , that was then, after that EP fell bigtime off the US charts), I stand by Demi Moore ! And may Flow go home to Latvia with the best animation award ! Anora rocks too !!!

(some of these films are on my Top 2024 films list here). 

Talk back on March 2nd (3d in Ro.) ;)

Oscars 2025 (#97): full list of nominees

Picture

"Anora" 

"The Brutalist" 

"A Complete Unknown" 

"Conclave" 

"Dune: Part Two" 

"Emilia Perez" 

"I'm Still Here" 

"Nickel Boys" 

"The Substance" 

"Wicked" 

Director

Sean Baker, "Anora" 

Brady Corbet, "The Brutalist" 

James Mangold, "A Complete Unknown" 

Jacques Audiard, "Emilia Perez" 

Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance" 

Actor

Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist" 

Timothee Chalamet, "A Complete Unknown" 

Colman Domingo, "Sing Sing" 

Ralph Fiennes, "Conclave" 

Sebastian Stan, "The Apprentice" 

Actress

Cynthia Erivo, "Wicked" 

Karla Sofia Gascon, "Emilia Perez" 

Mikey Madison, "Anora" 

Demi Moore, "The Substance" 

Fernanda Torres, "I'm Still Here" 

Supporting Actor

Yura Borisov, "Anora" 

Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain" 

Edward Norton, "A Complete Unknown" 

Guy Pearce, "The Brutalist" 

Jeremy Strong, "The Apprentice"

Supporting Actress

Monica Barbaro, "A Complete Unknown" 

Ariana Grande, "Wicked" 

Felicity Jones, "The Brutalist" 

Isabella Rosellini, "Conclave" 

Zoe Saldana, "Emilia Perez" 

Original Screenplay

"Anora" 

"The Brutalist" 

"A Real Pain" 

"September 5" 

"The Substance"

Adapted Screenplay

"A Complete Unknown" 

"Conclave" 

"Emilia Perez" 

"Nickel Boys" 

"Sing Sing" 

Animated Feature Film

"Flow" 

"Inside Out 2" 

"Memoir of a Snail" 

"Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl" 

"The Wild Robot" 

International Feature Film

"I'm Still Here" (Brazil)

"The Girl With the Needle" (Denmark) 

"Emilia Perez" (France) 

"The Seed of the Sacred Fig" (Germany) 

"Flow" (Latvia) 

Documentary Feature Film

"Black Box Diaries" 

"No Other Land"

"Porcelain War" 

"Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat" 

"Sugar King" 

Documentary Short Film 

"Death By Numbers" 

"I Am Ready, Warden" 

"Incident" 

"Instruments of a Beating Heart" 

"The Only Girl in the Orchestra" 

Animated Short Film

"Beautiful Men" 

"In the Shadow of the Cypress" 

"Magic Candies" 

"Wander to Wonder" 

"Yuck!" 

Live-Action Short Film

"A Lien" 

"Anuja" 

"I'm Not a Robot" 

"The Last Ranger" 

"The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent" 

Original Song

"El Mal" from "Emilia Perez" 

"The Journey" from "The Six Triple Eight" 

"Like a Bird" from "Sing Sing" 

"Mi Camino" from "Emilia Perez" 

"Never Too Late" from "Elton John: Never Too Late" 

Original Score

"The Brutalist" 

"Conclave" 

"Emilia Perez" 

"Wicked" 

"The Wild Robot" 

Sound

"A Complete Unknown" 

"Dune: Part Two" 

"Emilia Perez" 

"Wicked" 

"The Wild Robot" 

Visual Effects

"Alien: Romulus" 

"Better Man" 

"Dune: Part Two" 

"Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" 

"Wicked" 

Film Editing

"Anora"

"The Brutalist"

"Conclave" 

"Emilia Perez" 

"Wicked" 

Costume Design

"A Complete Unknown" 

"Conclave" 

"Gladiator II" 

"Nosferatu" 

"Wicked" 

Makeup and Hairstyling

"A Different Man"

"Emilia Perez" 

"Nosferatu"

"The Substance" 

"Wicked" 

Cinematography

"The Brutalist"

"Dune: Part Two 

"Emilia Perez" 

"Maria"  (Ed Lachman, great ! best thing in the film! he also has 4 noms. but no win...)

"Nosferatu" 

Production Design

"The Brutalist" 

"Conclave" 

"Dune: Part Two" 

"Nosferatu" 

"Wicked" 

The Substance (2024)

Coraline Fargeat's second feature The Substance (after her thriller Revenge in 2017), won best screenplay in last year's Cannes Film Festival. Should've won best actress for Demi Moore but they gave that for ensemble to Emilia Perez. No comments. But now Demi has won the Golden Globe, will be nominated for an Oscar and I hope she wins, she deserves that totally and More than that.

Note on Jan. 23d: Nominated for 5 Oscars, Coraline Fargeat for Directing and original screenplay, Demi Moore for best actress, make up and hair stilling and Best Picture ! My predictions,  Demi and maybe best screenplay !

Also Margaret Qualley is great in it (and stunning). You've seen her in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Lanthimos' Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness and Drive-Away Dolls. Her future is Bright !

Dennis Quaid plays cartoonlike a caricature of a manager, Ray Liotta was supposed to play this part but he died before the film production. I think Quaid is better, 'cos he played a lot of straight characters, while Liotta was lampooning himself in a lot of his films.

Fargeat's film I found more digerable than Julia Ducournau's exploits, Grave /Raw and Titane, which are overdone and overbearing. Keep in mind, if a male director would've done this film in 2024, no festival would've touch it and he would've been "luggered" (or lapidated).  Anyway, I don't think a man could've done the same kind of approach and message, it's a woman's film about women's condition in the showbiz industry, and not only, about aging and about the compromises you make in order to be noticed. It's a very superficial world and it fades out quickly, but the subject is treated with acidity, irony and black humor. And great body horror gore practical effects. The whole thing could've been summarized in the opening and closing of the film, with the story star on the Hollywood Boulevard (a great short imo). 

The music is by British artist Raffertie (Benjamin but it's more like a sound design, pounding and very effective. Can't be listened separately tho. 

See it in a cinema, for the sound design,  set design, bright costumes (that yellow coat, that pink bodysuit), the cinematography (by Benjamin Kracun)  and the visceral effect. 

Also warning, not for the faint at/of heart, and sensible stomachs !!!

There are many posters for the film, all good, from the B&W to this kaleidoscope puzzle. 

References galore: from Lynch's LA (shot in Cannes and Antibes no less), to David Cronenberg (The Fly is quoted tooth and nail ;), Brian De Palma (Carrie's blood shower),  Kubrick's The Shining, The Elephant Man, Frankenheimer's Seconds, All about Eve, Sunset Blvd., even Zemeckis' Death Becomes Her. 

As Demi Moore described the film: " a blend of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Death Becomes Her (1992), and a Jane Fonda workout video."

A great and extended making of from Mubi (the worldwide distributor of the film buying it Cannes cos the original backer, Working Title, a division of Universal backed away ):

Update-24 feb. Demi Moore wins SAG award, The "Actor", which is the best barometer for the acting Oscars !

Gladiator (2000)

 INTO THE ARENA*

Alin Ludu Dumbrava / Art & Roll, 2000.  Pus acum aici pentru comparatie cu Gladiator II. 

Filme de acest gen nu se mai fac de 35 de ani incoace. Costul unor asemenea superproductii (numite de italieni Peplum si de americani Toga and Sandals movies) era imens -figuranti, costume, decoruri, staruri, cai, pirotehnie. Lovitura de gratie a dat-o Cleopatra (1963), un urias esec de public, cel mai scump film al vremii sale, cel care si-a falimentat producatorii in asa hal incit Hollyood-ul a pus definitiv sub cheie genul. Cele mai bune mostre ale acestui gen de spectacol cinematografic sunt Ben-Hur (William Wyler, 1959), Caderea imperiului roman (Anthony Mann, 1964)si Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick, 1960). Asta pina la Gladiator. Pentru ca filmul lui Ridley Scott este mai mult decit un simplu peplum si se ridica net peste ele.

"Are you not entertained? "

Scott este un regizor baroc, acuzat mereu de detractorii sai pentru simtul sau acut vizual in detrimentul actorilor si al naratiunii. Dupa o cariera furtunoasa, plina de esecuri de public si certuri cu producatori lipsiti de viziune, Scott revine in forta cu un film care incheie mileniul in ideea ca de doua mii de ani incoace nu s-a schimbat mai nimic pe pamint. Colosseum-ul lui Scott este arena eterna, cea in care publicul spectator vrea senzatii tari, adrenalina, piine si circ. Este si ceea ce a ajuns cinematograful azi, o disfunctie intre arta si industrie, menita sa recupereze cu orice pret banii investiti si sa scoata din amorteala si rutina zilnica rontaitorii de popcorn. Lectia lui Scott din 2000 A.D. este ca se poate face un film pe care sa-l aclame publicul mic si mijlociu dar si criticii si cinefilii impatimiti. Pentru ca Gladiator este spectacolul pur, epic, maiestuos, cinema 100 %. Si mai mult, o sarja mascata a artistului impotriva unui sistem de mercenariat, in care intri in arena, te umpli de glorie si apoi multimea te uita imediat. La fel ca in Hollywood, unde esti vedeta pina la urmatorul film. Daca acesta e un esec, esti deja o glorie trecuta. Intreaga cariera a lui Scott a stat sub acest semn, fara premii, fara elogii, fara libertatea de a crea liber. Ridley Scott este Russell Crowe, gladiatorul care sta in arena si urla multimii insetate de singe, “acum sunteti multumiti?”. In arena realizezi ca poftele umane sunt mereu aceleasi de la prima caverna la primul pas in cosmos, sex si violenta, cit mai mult sex si cit mai multa violenta. Lumea in care traim a uitat definitiv maximele lui Marcus Aurelius (un Richard Harris in amurg), visele, nobletea. “Ce e Roma? -Un vis…” Replicile din film l-ar face invidios si pe Shakespeare. “Ceea ce facem in aceasta viata dainuie in eternitate”. Asta e si menirea artistului, a creatorului de cinema adevarat, ce va rezista mai mult decit o vara in box-office-uri. Oliver Reed primeste un ultim rol extraordinar, simbolic- Proximo, simbolul actorului care stie care e pretul gloriei. El stie cum poti sa-ti cumperi libertatea-trebuie sa cistigi multimea. In arena. Orice fel de arena, fie ea o scena de concert rock, un miting electoral, un ecran de cinema. Gladiator este o meditatie asupra a ceea ce se numeste showbusiness, punind accent pe mirajul pe care il exercita orice scena luminata asupra multimii.

Daca in martie 2001 Gladiator va lua sau nu cel putin cinci Oscaruri, (NA: si a luat exact 5, dar Scott nu, si asta eramarea lui sansa, da, as always, some movies direct themselves..) aceasta se va datora nu mesajului filmului si nici calitatilor sale cinematografice, ci faptului ca a fost un succes extraordinar, de public si apreciere generala. That’s showbiz, and there’s no business like showbusiness. Odata in viata Ridley Scott a iesit cistigator. In arena. Pe acordurile cele mai simfonice pe care le-a compus vreodata Hans Zimmer. Lights, camera, action: Give’em Hell! Pina la urmatoarea lupta: Cut!

ALD

*titlul vine de la o piesa de Michael Shenker, which I love(d).

5 stele din 5 !  (azi, NA, 2024 m-as duce la 9, pentru tot mambojambo-ul cu acel complot debil)

DVD director's cut, nu merita pentru ce in plus. More like deleted scenes. 171 mins vs. originalul la 155. L-am dat la Cinemateca Patria in 2014. 

American Gangster (2007)

 O poveste adevărată - American Gangster

Alin Ludu Dumbravă / Şapte Seri / decembrie 2007

O poveste adevărată despre America, American Gangster este biografia lui Frank Lucas, regele heroinei din Harlem, temut şi apreciat de mafia italiană din New York, subtextul fiind despre capitalismul american la fel de mult cât era The Godfather despre familie. Organizaţia lui Lucas era familia sa, în întregime neagră, iar Lucas avea un creier admirabil, de mare afacerist, care s-a manifestat în acest domeniu infam, al distribuţiei de droguri. Dar este şi povestea poliţistului incoruptibil şi instopabil, Richie Roberts, care l-a prins pe Lucas şi a creat istorie. Denzel Washington este impecabil şi irezistibil în rolul lui Lucas, aşa cum ştie să o facă chiar şi cînd joacă bad guys. Este primul film pe care-l face Denzel cu Ridley Scott, după cele 4 care le-a făcut cu fratele său Tony. De cealaltă parte a legii, Russell Crowe este Richie Roberts, din nou un rol de tip Method, pentru care s-a îngrăşat, şi a căpătat accent, à la Serpico. Crowe este al treilea film cu sir Ridley (după Gladiator şi A Good Year, vor urma Body of Lies si Robn Hood ca sa faca un cvintet-NA 2024) şi mai au două pe ţeavă. Amuzant, Denzel şi Russell Crowe au mai jucat împreună în thrillerul s.f. debil Virtuosity (1995) şi tot de părţi opuse. Partiturile secunde sunt asigurate de actori excelenţi; Ted Levine, Armand Assante, John Hawkes, Ruby Dee, RZA, Cuba Gooding jr., dar revelaţia filmului este Josh Brolin, sosia brunetă a lui Nick Nolte (cu al doilea rol major de anul acesta, după No Country for Old Men). 

Este cel mai american film pe care l-a făcut Ridley Scott până acum. Respiră aerul locaţiilor sale, filmat în New York, New Jersey şi Tailanda, de Harris Savides (colaboratorul lui Gus van Sant şi al lui David Fincher). Este o reconstituire minuţioasă şi scrupuloasă a epocii (de către scenograful ataşat al lui Scott, Arthur Max), din 1968 pînă în 1976, perioadă în care New York-ul era cel mai murdar şi corupt oraş din lume. Ambiţiosul proiect, numit anterior True Blue, a trecut pe la Brian De Palma, Terry George şi Antoine Fuqua, dar Ridley Scott a reuşit să-l aducă pe ecran într-o formă perfectă. La o durată epică de 2 ore şi jumătate, nu plictiseşte şi nu are scene în plus de virtuozitate stilistică, nici urmăriri, nici shoot-out-uri tipice genului. Plusuri sunt muzica excelentă a lui Marc Streitenfeld, şi piesele din epocă, care adaugă atmosferă. Ridley Scott se află aici pe teritoriul lui Michel Mann, regizat în maniera lui Martin Scorsese şi Sidney Lumet. Nu se pot anula comparaţiile cu Scarface al lui Brian de Palma, dar sunt mai aproape Carlito's Way al aceluiaşi regizor, Prince of the City sau Serpico ale lui Lumet, The French Connection al lui Friedkin, The Godfather al lui Coppola, Goodfellas şi The Departed de Scorsese, Heat de Mann şi Year of the Dragon al lui Michael Cimino. O companie selectă, ceea ce încearcă filmul lui James Gray, We Own the Night, dar nu reuşeşte. American Gangster e un clasic, unul din cel mai bune filme ale anului şi intră direct în categoria celor mai bune filme cu gangsteri făcute pînă acum. Sper să-i aducă lui Ridley Scott mult aşteptatul şi binemeritatul Oscar de regie.

NA 2024: și nu i-a adus nimica. A fost nominalizat la 2 Oscaruri, Ruby Dee pentru rol secundar si scenografie....la Globurile de aur au fost nominlizati Ridley, Denzel si best film. 

****patru stele din cinci / 8 din 10

# Revazut in varianta EXTENDED (de ziua lui Ridley, 30 noiembrie 2024!), si se tine exceptional filmul, acum dupa 3 sezoane de Godfather of Harlem (in care Forrest Whitaker e mentorul lui Frnak Lucas, Bumpy Johnson, acum se face sezonul patru in care va aparea Lucas ca personaj). Scenele extinse sunt bine montate in intreg, la 175 de minute e la fel de alert si poate chiar mai intens!)

Anora (2024)

Anora is in Romanian Cinemas starting Today. So, run to the theaters, 'til it's there...

Absolutely Fabulous ! One of the year's best if not The One (haven't seen yet all the Cannes fares). Fresh, raw, relentless (act one just sets up the film, so bare for the first thirty minutes). 

The stripper Ani aka Anora (Mikey Madison) meets Ivan, the half-baked young son of a Russsian Oligargh and thinks she struck gold. Cos' he wants to marry her. Und they did ! But then the family finds out about this....trouble ensures.

Palme d'Or -the first American film to win this since 2011's The Tree of Life ! 

And certainly one of the top favorites for the Awards Season. Mikey Madison deserves an Oscar !

Note on Jan 23d 2025: Anora is nominated for 6 Oscars, including Best Picture, best director, best (original screenplay), Actress and supporting actor: Yura Borisov !

I was thinking all the time where did I see her before, and yes, Mikey was Sadie in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.

Yura Borisov as Igor is a blast ! Also Karren Karagulian (who's been in every Sean Baker film, and that's his eight !) is extraordinary as Toros. I am following Baker since The Florida Project which was OK, wasn't impressed by his previous, Tangerine (2015), but Red Rocket was one of my top films of 2021 (I think it streams on Netflix these days/& nights;). Anyway, this is Baker in Major League now, bigger, better, more ambitious in scope and story. Up to now Baker's characters are misfits, low-lifes, prostitutes, strippers, pimps, white-trash and junkies, destitute people who in his view get a warm personality and a glow. A peripheral Americana micro-cosm of its own.

For me it was like Cassavetes and some early Jarmusch (but in vivid colors and widescreen), directed and shot a la Safdie bros. (Good Time, Uncut Gems). And a bit of After Hours (Scorsese, 1984). 

And the Billy Wider Touch. I felt so much starting act two, from all the losers getting 2nd hand shots (The Apartment, Kiss Me Stupid, Irma la Douce-she 's a prostitute, see -oups, a sex worker, etc.)

Though Sean Baker dedicates his film to Jess Franco & Soledad Miranda (his actress that died in an accident at 27) !!? He also mentions Fellini's Notte di Cabiria as an inspiration for Ani/Anora. 

Only Incidental music in the soundtrack (songs that is...)

9 out of 10/ 4.5 out of Five 

('cos it's too long like 99 % of the films 2day, 2h18 min. !!!), but totally Tuș ;)

-but all in all, could be the most Fun Palme d'Or (also Triangle of Sadness is close as fun factor ;)

I predict it will be nominated for a lot of Oscars (editing & cinematography too), Mickey Madison & Karren Karagulian. I sure hope it wins also, maybe too Indie to its core and not very mainstream.

*Great interview with Sean Baker on his favourite films on Video Konbini. You'll be surprised what kinds of films the guy likes ;) like, it's the first time I heard about Miami Connection (1987) !!! A alot in common with Tarantino too. 

RIP Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones gone...91 years old. A Legend's Legend and a whole world gone. Described as a Titan, and yep, it's a good word to describe his whole work.

Just talked about him re Eddie van Halen's Involvement on Michael Jackson's Beat It from Thriller (#1 selling album of all time still, that he concieved and produced), that is a controversial story.

Seminal Jazz album and song: Soul Bossa Nova -1964. Re-made popular by Austin Powers. Same year Quincy Jones became the first Black vice-president of a record label (mercury). He did humongous things for his community and his people. 

There is a fabulous documentary on him, QUINCY, made by Netflix in 2018. Still streaming. Do yourself a favor and see it. Then listen to the Man's music.

Also on Netflix there is a doc about how Quincy put together USA for Africa's 1984 "We Are the World"  (brilliant stuff, esp. some of the backstories). 

His music scores are brilliant, from his debut in Sidney Lumet' s The Pawnbroker (1965), to Joahn and Mary, Norman Jewison's In the Heat of the Night, to the original The Italian Job, Peckinpah's The Getaway (all great Jazz there), The Hot Rock, The Wiz  (1978) !!! Lumet directed, Quincy arranged the score, even plays an Emerald City musician, Michael acted as The Scarecrow and the film flopped (big time), to Roots on TV, to Spielberg's The Color Purple (that he also produced), 7 times Oscar nominated and no award :( 

well, he had 28 Grammys out of 80 nominations, more than any other musician in history :)

        "With the power of music, I reach the hearts and minds of millions of people."

                                       (Quincy Jones -1933-2024)