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Tag Archives: Romania
Films I Loved in 2017
… and if I’ve written about them, I’ll include links. My “Top 10′ is included over at Ebert but I’m honestly not into rankings. Silly to do with art. Here are some of the films I’ve loved. And I missed … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Agnes Varda, Angelina Jolie, animation, Aubrey Plaza, Ben Stiller, comedy, coming of age, Cristian Mungiu, documentary, drama, Dustin Hoffman, Emily Dickinson, England, France, Garrett Hedlund, Georgia, Greta Gerwig, Harry Dean Stanton, historical drama, Ireland, Kristen Stewart, Martin Scorsese, Matthias Schoenaerts, Meryl Streep, musicals, Paul Thomas Anderson, religious movies, Romania, sci-fi, Sofia Coppola, Star Wars, Steven Spielberg, Terrence Malick, Tiffany Haddish, Tom Hanks, Turkey, women directors
11 Comments
April 2017 Viewing Diary
I just dash these off. Superficial bullet-point analysis for the most part. It’s a good way to keep track of what I’ve seen, for year-end lists, of course, but also for future reference. I also always love the discussions on … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Angela Lansbury, Bette Davis, Cristian Mungiu, documentary, Dogfight, France, Hal Ashby, Humphrey Bogart, Isabelle Huppert, James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Joan Crawford, John Huston, Josephine Decker, July and Half of August, Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margaret Atwood, Nancy Savoca, Paul Verhoeven, Romania, Shirley MacLaine, Supernatural, Susan Sarandon, Vincente Minnelli, women directors
50 Comments
Interview with Corneliu Porumboiu: “In Romania the last 10 years there have been a lot of movies that have come out of here. I think it’s a great generation of directors.”
Corneliu Porumboiu is one of my favorite directors coming out of what is known as The Romanian New Wave. Anyone who has been watching knows that something is going ON in Romania right now, cinematically. Porumboiu’s first feature was the … Continue reading
April 2015 Viewing Diary
About Elly (2009; d. Asghar Farhadi). At long last. Wrote it up here. Misery Loves Comedy (2015; d. Kevin Pollak). Navel-gazing documentary about comedians and how they think about what they do. A cast of thousands. Lots of great anecdotes. … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Agnes Varda, Albert Maysles, Argentina, Asghar Farhadi, baseball, Chantal Akerman, Denmark, documentary, France, Iran, Iranian film, Italy, Jean-Luc Godard, John Wayne, Josef von Sternberg, Nicholas Ray, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Sandrine Bonnaire, Supernatural, Sweden, X-Files
32 Comments
Review: The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu (2010); directed by Andrei Ujică
Of all the Eastern Bloc countries that gained independence after the spectacular fall of the Soviet Union, only in Romania were the former Communist leaders yanked down off the throne and killed. All the other leaders slunk away, unharmed. But … Continue reading
When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism (2013); directed by Corneliu Porumboiu
Corneliu Porumboiu is my favorite Romanian director working today, although he’s got some stiff competition from Cristian Mungiu, Calin Peter Netzer, Cristi Puiu …. Porumboiu’s 12:08 East of Bucharest (I wrote about it here) is a slapstick re-enactment of a … Continue reading
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2014
I may write some magnum opus in the next two days, you never know, but here are links to some of the things I’ve written in 2014, here and elsewhere. I have worked hard to keep my site an eclectic … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Movies, Music, Personal
Tagged Alfred Wertheimer, Anna Magnani, Austria, Carroll Baker, Christopher Hitchens, Claude Rains, Eli Wallach, Elvis Presley, Eminem, France, friends, Gena Rowlands, Germany, Harry Potter, Howard Hawks, Inherent Vice, Iran, Iranian film, Israel, Italy, Jafar Panahi, Japan, Jim Jarmusch, Joan Crawford, John Cassavetes, Juliette Binoche, Kristen Wiig, Kwik Stop, Lars von Trier, Lauren Bacall, Lester Bangs, Liv Ullmann, Lon Chaney, Love Streams, Mark Twain, Martin Scorsese, Nicolas Cage, Orpheus Descending, Palestine, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Poland, Richard Linklater, Romania, Russia, Seth Rogen, Seymour Cassel, Sudden Fear, Supernatural, Sweden, Tennessee Williams, The Beatles, The Everly Brothers, Tommy Lee Jones, Trotsky, war, year in writing, Zac Efron
14 Comments
Review: A Farewell to Fools (2014)
A Farewell to Fools, shot in Romania, with a Romanian cast of actors, except for the two big stars, Harvey Keitel and Gerard Depardieu, wants to be a farce. It reaches farcical levels in one scene only. Other than that, … Continue reading
Review: Child’s Pose (2014): Romania’s Oscar Entry
I’ve been watching the films coming out of Romania over the last 10 years with growing excitement. There’s a “New Wave” going on there right now, amazing films, social, political, spiritual, sometimes harrowing (4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days), … Continue reading