Cinema · New York · Humour

Kay reads tabloid newspapers at a newsstand in central New York

They were standing beside the biggest newspaper stand in the city centre. Not only had Kay not got stuck in a single traffic jam on the way here, he had even parked the car right by the newsstands. Brothers, a man needs a pocket god of his very own to

NB! · Cinema

Paolo Sorrentino Has Said It All 🤍💙🤍💙

NB! · Art · Cinema · Observations · Humour

Many years have passed, yet I still cannot fathom how it came about that in François Boucher's painting two people emerged from the sea on the back of a single fellow, while on James Cameron's enormous wooden door there was no room for two?

Cinema · Books

And So She Entered

And so she entered. Throwing back her veil, She looked at me attentively. I say to her: "Was it you who dictated to Dante The pages of the Inferno?" She replies: "I did." Literal translation "The Muse", Anna Akhmatova, 1924 and Jennifer Coolidge, The

The East · Cinema · Humour

Orson Welles filmed the murder scene of “Othello” in Turkish baths for lack of costumes

Why are there naked men in Orson Welles's "Othello"? In the original text, the action of Act V, in which the murder contrived by Iago, the principal antagonist, is played out, unfolds in Cyprus, near the house of the courtesan Bianca. The filming was a great

NB! · The East · Cinema · Monarchies · Observations · Mores

The Netflix series “Blood, Sex and Kings” is rather good, only one would note that in 1523 the Tudors had no Oriental carpets on their floors, nor could they have had: such a treasure could be found only on a table

Art · Cinema · Observations

You do realise that the title sequence of the second season of "The White Lotus" is not just a set of frescoes, but scenes chosen and painted with care in the style of the Renaissance and antiquity, alluding to the fate of each character and forming…

If you, too, have been anxiously pondering what awaits the magnificent Tanya McQuoid, take a closer look at the chained monkey watched by a mysterious lady in a tower. Whom does Jennifer Coolidge play: the hapless captive or the heartless captor? Who will Jon Gries turn out to be, the

NB! · Interviews · Cinema · Books

François Truffaut's 1966 book on Hitchcock, made up of interviews with the director, became the model of its genre and has been reissued more than once, each time with a most striking cover

Cinema · London · Monarchies · Observations

The 1992 Windsor Castle fire and how it is depicted in the series “The Crown”

Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce as the royal couple in the drama "The Crown" are certainly splendid, but during the November 1992 fire at Windsor Castle Prince Philip was presiding over a World Wildlife Fund congress in Buenos Aires and, however much he might have wished it, could

Cinema · Society · People

Giuseppe Volpi, founder of the Venice Festival, and the Grand Council of Fascism

The Venice Film Festival was born under Mussolini's warm wing. Its founder, the rather successful Italian politician Giuseppe Volpi, sat on the Grand Council of Fascism until 1943. True, when he spoke out against the alliance with Hitler, he was not merely driven out of every post but

Aristocracy · Cinema · Books · Observations · Pop Culture

The English Bear Rupert and the Aristocratic Image of Stewie Griffin in Family Guy

Remember Rupert, Stewie Griffin's beloved teddy bear from the brilliant show Family Guy? In fact, the name Rupert was not chosen at random: the detail is meant to underline Stewie's aristocratic bearing and his special position within a plain American family. Rupert Bear is a famous

Cinema · Observations · Paris · Pop Culture

The 1992 film “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” with Angela Lansbury and its 2022 remake

One of my favourite films with Angela Lansbury is the 1992 "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris", which also stars Omar Sharif as the old lady's influential friend and Diana Rigg as one of the directresses of the House of Dior. The plot is simple: the