Rafaela Bassili
@sallyjaygorce
writer
If Nicole Kidman is in it, I'm watching it, I'm writing about it, I'm locking in, botched Russian accent notwithstanding
The first season of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ ended by redeeming Masha’s self-serving motivations, and now, as the second season opens, the main question is whether, and how, those motivations have changed. vulture.com/article/nine-p…
‘The Surfer’ mostly sputters and flails: defector.com/the-surfer-mos…
You've heard of Franzen Fever... now get ready for Krakauer Mania
I'm in a Franzen state of mind and there's nothing I can do about it
Explore themes of exile, #IngeborgBachmann's influence, and female despair in @stacestre's compelling essay, 'Notes of an Unknown Woman,' featured in Majuscule's Issue No. 16. majusculelit.com/notes-of-an-un…
Zero Day –– truly, what the fuck? Fun, auspicious premise and terrible execution. Great cast, CIA involvement, MKUltra-type conspiracies, De Niro running in sweats and a bball cap...and the worst finale imaginable:
The series fumbles at the finish line by ditching its most intriguing storylines in favor of a stupid conspiracy to save America’s fractured politics. vulture.com/article/zero-d…
majusculelit.com/notes-of-an-un… — I wrote an essay about reading Ingeborg Bachmann in Vienna and wearing beige
"By giving her clear goals, no matter how tangible—restoring her voice or capturing in song the entirety of human experience—[Pablo] Larraín puts more faith in Maria than he ever did in Jackie or Diana. He is finally interested not only in the surface of what she represents but…
After much consideration I have concluded that Maria is Pablo Larraín's best suffering diva biopic... my argument is on @mubinotebook mubi.com/en/notebook/po…
After much consideration I have concluded that Maria is Pablo Larraín's best suffering diva biopic... my argument is on @mubinotebook mubi.com/en/notebook/po…
"What separates [Maria] Callas from [Jackie] Kennedy, Princess Diana, and even Zelda Fitzgerald is that performance was not abstract for her... Performance was Maria’s life work—it sustained her both spiritually and materially." | @sallyjaygorce: mubi.com/en/notebook/po…
I spent the last couple of weeks knee-deep in Philip Marlowe, gimlets, blondes & guns, trying to figure out what Raymond Chandler's LA was all about...for @latimesbooks: latimes.com/entertainment-…
For the @LAReviewofBooks, I reviewed a new book about Brazil that doesn't have much to say about Brazil at all: lareviewofbooks.org/article/tropic…
My Brilliant Friend –– it's been real 💔 my thoughts on the finale:
After all these years, the relationship between Lenù and Lila is still a mystery: the yearslong rumination that became the Neapolitan quartet yielded no clear answers, no definitive ending. trib.al/p5JsDkb