#wim series

[wol-fica]

Look guys! I told you I had a chapter 4!

#wim series

[quattroneuville]

Susanne Kottulinsky (who you might know as mother of Extreme E driver Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky) and co-driver Christina Thörner in the #24 Volvo 240 Turbo, Lotto Haspengouwrally of 1986 West Euro Cup Rally.

She would go on to place 3rd in the overall championship ending results, only 4 points behind runner-up Guy Colsoul due to 2 retirements.

#one more week till this month ends and i have like a loads of exams dawg i have only a few days left to do this series #rally #cars #wim #women in motorsport #uhm i run out of tags

[half-doomed]

Bands simply just dont have DRAMA like they used to. I think dallon should namedrop br*ndon on the next album

#for legal purposes this is a joke #jaime posts #.txt #oh no this is actually getting notes lol #i want you all to know this is actually less about p*nic and more about the cozyrepresentative video series on the wim/issues beef

[geekcavepodcast]

The Full Monty Series Trailer

“The Full Monty gang is back after 25 years, swapping their stage costumes for dognapping, racing pigeons and one very unconventional hostage situation. Gaz might be older but he’s no wiser, and best mate Dave refuses to get sucked into any more of his antics. But when tragedy strikes, the whole Monty gang must pull together for a common purpose: to honor an old friend.” (FX Networks)

The Full Monty series stars Robert Carlyle (Gaz), Mark Addy (Dave), Lesley Sharp (Jean), Hugo Speer (Guy), Paul Barber (Horse), Steve Huison (Lomper), Wim Snape (Nathan), Tom Wilkinson (Gerald), and Talitha Wing (Destiny). The series is written by Simon Beaufoy and Alice Nutter.

The Full Monty hits Hulu on June 14, 2023.

#full monty #full monty series #robert carlyle #mark addy #lesley sharp #hugo speer #paul barber #steve huison #wim snape #tom wilkinson #talitha wing #simon beaufoy #alice nutter #hulu #fx networks #TGCLiz

[bighfantasy]

Ohhhh this reread is going to kill me actually

#this series is foundational to who i am as a person and i just got sucker punched wim the reminder that ares was everything to me #at like. 11pm on a Saturday #book club

[boombox-fuckboy]

May 3rd is Bandcamp Friday, which means artists on Bandcamp get more out of your purchases. Why not support some of your favourite fiction podcasters, and get some crisp audio in the process?

Fiction Podcasts

Anamnesis (Full Audio Drama + Soundtrack)

Awake

The Dungeon Economic Model (The Complete Series)

Folxlore (Part 1 • Part 2)

Inn Between (Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3)

Old Gods of Appalachia (Season 1 • Season 3)

Sidequesting (Season 1 • Season 2)

The Tower (Part I • Part II • Part III)

What Will Be Here

Podcast Specials

The Deca Tapes (Puzzle Box)

The Dungeon Economic Model (Halloween Special)

Leaving Corvat (TEMPLE OF SLEEP)

Welcome To Night Vale (Live Shows: Condos • The Debate • The Librarian • The Investigators • Ghost Stories • All Hail • A Spy in the Desert • The Haunting of Night Vale)

Where The Stars Fell (The Christmas Chronicle)

Music From Podcasts

The Adventure Zone

Aftershocks (Soundtrack)

Alice Isn't Dead (Music From)

All My Fantasy Children

Among The Stars and Bones (OST)

ars PARADOXICA (When I'm Not Here • Electric River (End Theme))

The Ballard of Anne & Mary (Soundtrack)

The Big Loop (OST: FML • The Fugue )

The Deca Tapes (OST)

The Department of Variance of Somewhere, Ohio (OST: Season One • Season Two)

Dreamboy (Silent Night, Holy Night)

The Dungeon Economic Model (Royal Musical Accompaniment • Chill Beats to Build Profitable Dungeons To)

Eeler's Choice (OST)

The Fall of the House of Sunshine

Folxlore (Music To Dance With Your Inner Demons To)

Friends At The Table

Gospels of the Flood (Soundtrack)

Greater Boston (Soundtrack, Seasons 1-3)

The Grotto (Soundtrack)

Hello From The Hallowoods (Starcrossed Gods OST)

It Makes A Sound (Wim Farros: The Attic Tape)

Kane and Feels (OST: Volume 1 • Volume 2)

Lake Clarity (OST)

Leaving Corvat (Re-mastered soundtrack)

Liars & Leeches

The Lost Cat Podcast (Musical Features)

Malevolent

Midnight Radio (OST)

Mockery Manor (The Music Of: Season One • Season Two • Season Three • A Midwinter Night's Dream)

Neoscum

Nowhere, On Air

Old Gods of Appalachia (What is Sung Under The Mountain Vol. 1 • The Land Unknown (Theme) • The Bride • Familiar & Beloved)

Our Fair City

The Pasithea Powder (Theme • Mary Ann • Odysseus)

The Penumbra Podcast

The Polybius Conspiracy (OST)

Re: Dracula (Concept Album)

ROGUEMAKER (Soundtrack)

Rogue Runners (OST)

Skyjacks (Call of the Sky)

Station Blue (OST)

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

This Planet Needs a Name (Albums: The Nameless Songs - Landing - Growing - Shifting)

The Tower (Original Score: Part I • Part II • Part III)

Unplaced (Soundtrack)

Unseen (Soundtrack)

Where The Stars Fell

WOE.BEGONE

Wolf 359 (OST: Volume One • Volume Two • Volume Three)

Zero Hours

2024 Bandcamp Friday Dates

May 3rd

September 6th

October 4th

December 6th

#audio fiction #audio drama #fiction podcast #Putting this out ahead of time for people to add anything I've missed and/or get any schemes in order.

[justletmeramble1701]

Has anyone talked about how each of the three specials represents the three eras if NuWho (as in the three showrunners)?

The Star Beast felt like a classic Russel T Davis era introduction. The doctor disrupts the companion's boring domestic life, introducing them to a new, exciting, and very dangerous life. While, yes, this is the story of most NuWho companions, but Russell's version focused on how boring mundanity is (his companions are thrill seekers, especially Rose and Donna) and the companion's familiar life, which this episode does with the reintroduction of the Noble's.

It also has a "Davis-ex-machina", but all three episodes have that, so I'm not gonna mention it.

Wild Blue Yonder felt like a Moffat idea box (a dark fairy tale/cosmic horror). High concept scares or ideas that force the Doctor to drop his mask and confront truths about himself. I'm specifically thinking of series 6, where The Doctor relearns responsibility by the strange and usually terrifying situations he falls into, dragging his companions along for the ride. In this story, the Doctor is reminded how beaten down they are, setting us up for the conclusion in the finally. It's basically this Doctor's "The God Complex"! While this is how the franchise does character development, it feels uniquely Moffat because of its horror influence (its "Alien" and "The Thing") and the level at which it explains itself (it explains as much as it needs to have a monster with a gimmick, but not too much that they stop being scary - and also in a way that confuses most people).

It also has seemingly innocuous lines that are actually horrifying in context. "My arms are too long..." feels so much like "Are you my mummy," "Don't blink," and "Who turned out the lights," but it lacks the ability to be repeated more than once, so it can't become the quote for the creature. Instead of a singular quote, the episode goes for a series of chilling one-liners ("Oh, we get hungry, don't we..." being a great example).

The Giggle had that late Chibnall charm. Bringing back past elements in highly action-packed finales or specials to attempt to excite or "wow" the audience. While it pulls things out of nowhere to keep the plot going, you don't care because of how much fun you are having! I was specifically thinking about "The Power of the Doctor" while watching it. Half a "Flux" worth of ideas crammed into an episode, but with just enough fun, character, and heart that you allow it to do whatever. Let the episode drive you in whichever direction it needs to go to reach the destination, trusting that it won't get lost or crash. While this is, basically, the concept of the show (remember, we are watching a walking deus ex machina in their magic plot generating box, waiving their magic wand around until it is time for them to solve the problem), it feels like Chibnall because of how compact it is. Like I said, this has enough ideas that it could have been all three specials.

The thing that sets these three specials apart from the last three eras is the power dynamic between the Doctor and their companion. 14 and Donna are equals. While Donna is being reintroduced to the extraordinary, 14 is being reintroduced to the mundane. While Donna is trying to escape from the lovecraftian creature they've encountered, the Doctor is right beside her, scared of what they shouldn't comprehend (the episode even punishing them for their comprehension). While Donna is being toyed with by a dark god, the laws of reality failing her, the Doctor is facing the same, at the wim of an entity that operates by a different set of rules. The Doctor and their companion, their friend, is finally operating on the same playing field as them, which means that, by extension, so are we.

Donna, like all companions, represents the audience, but, in these stories, she specifically represents the fans of the last 20 of Doctor Who. The ones that grew up watching NuWho. We are older now, still as loud and snarky as ever, but we are adults now. Just like Donna, we have lives, responsibilities. We can't experience the world (or the program) the way we once did. Even though the adventures never truly end, it is our turn to join the previous generation (reprented by Mel) watch the next batch of whovians discover this exciting universe for the first time, our Doctor by our side.

This was the best conclusion to NuWho that we could've hoped for!

#doctor who #whovian #14th doctor #donna noble #the doctor #russel t davies #rtd #rtd2 #nuwho #steven moffat #chris chibnall #the star beast #the 2023 specials #wild blue yonder #the giggle #analysis #i liked these three stories #wild blue yonder being my favorite #i feel like I should say more about the first one but i don't know what #rtd feels like rtd just older #crap #now i need to turn this into proper essay #dont i

[simplicius-simplicissimus]

Perfect Days by Wim Wenders

„You're going to reap just what you sow.“

-Lou Reed in the song „Perfect Day“

Comment: Hirayama seems completely content with his very simple life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo and devotes his free time to literature, music and photography. However, a series of unexpected encounters gradually reveal his own past. He begins to understand the reasons why the simplicity of his daily life gives him the happiness he longs for.

You sit in the cinema and watch this man's daily, almost boring routine. A day is almost like any other - and suddenly you realize: in the end, our lives are often just a series of days or weeks that are structured in a similar way. Every now and then there are unexpected encounters or events that interrupt this routine. But overall we live a routine. And what I also discovered for myself: I am content and happy too. You watch a film - and you actually look into a mirror. Wow!

My wife has a little panic about Tokyo - and the supposed crowds there. I don't know if the film calmed her down a little bit. In 8 weeks we will be in Japan. I am thankful for the opportunity to make this experience.

-Simplicius Simplicissimus

#movies #filme #perfect days #wim wenders #japan #daily routine #happiness #tägliche routine #glück #music #musik #lou reed #perfect day #quotes #zitate #simplicius simplicissimus #Youtube

[denimbex1986]

'Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) was the author largely of books ubiquitously described as psychological thrillers, but the adjective is doing much more work than it usually does in such descriptions. The psychological depths tend to be far deeper than just a worry about being caught for assorted misdeeds. It’s no surprise that her works have proven appealing to all sorts of directors. When your first novel is adapted a year after publication by Alfred Hitchcock, you know you’re doing something right. Strangers on a Train is about much more than just a macabre plan. Wim Wenders’s The American Friend, Claude Chabrol’s The Cry of the Owl, and Todd Haynes’s Carol are all very good.

Tom Ripley is Highsmith’s best-known creation. Turning a Henry James plot into pulp fiction is not the sort of thing that’s usually advisable, but she did it extraordinarily well. The plot of The Ambassadors, an industrialist hiring a man to seek to induce her son to return to America from expat indolence, is cribbed here as a foundation. The James protagonist finds Europe much to his liking, as does Highsmith’s Ripley. When the European idyll is threatened, Ripley has a novel thought: Why not bump the young scion off and take his place?

This sounds like a preposterous plan to execute. And it is! That’s why it’s entirely engrossing. Her aim was, she wrote, “showing the unequivocal triumph of evil over good, and rejoicing in it. I shall make my readers rejoice in it, too.” Netflix‘s new series, Ripley, succeeds in replicating exactly this feat.

The trouble with prior screen adaptations of Highsmith’s Ripley stories has been that he’s always been made far too pleasant. If René Clément’s French language 1960 Purple Noon and Anthony Minghella’s star-studded 1999 The Talented Mr. Ripley are both credible adaptations in their own way, there’s something askew about both matinee idol Alain Delon or effortless everyman Matt Damon as Tom Ripley. Dennis Hopper and John Malkovich both had elements of the Ripley persona down in adaptations of later novels (Barry Pepper did not), but there still seemed to be elements of the portrait missing.

I’m sure I’m not the only reader to find the versatile con man who appears across five Highsmith novels initially repellent. He is not enthusiastic, loathing nearly all of the effort involved in his cons. And he is not loquacious or charismatic as we might expect from a grifter. In almost his very first deception at the start of The Talented Mr. Ripley (the subject of this adaptation), he himself notices the cracks in his crocodile grin: “When he looked into the mirror, he found that his face had turned down at the corners.” Most frauds will say nearly anything to wheedle their way into favor. Talk is normally very cheap when you have no regard for truth. Ripley can’t bring himself to muster more than the mildest of faint praise for execrable paintings by his main mark. Almost every decent person has told white lies with less hesitation.

Things are different in Ripley, the best adaptation of the novel to date, thanks in considerable part to the casting of Andrew Scott (familiar from a variety of things but most germane to this particular role as Moriarty in the BBC Sherlock series) as Ripley. Scott telegraphs unease and strain with great facility. Sometimes, he’s vaguely normally personable. At many other points, his strained effort seems entirely transparent. This sort of calibration captures in excellent fashion the frank distaste that Ripley feels for almost everyone in the source material, a difficult thing to pull off in a book largely composed of his own train of thought. He is terrifically bored by most of his targets and doesn’t work all that hard to conceal the fact. He succeeds somehow with most people. It’s reliably a surprise that only a few see through him.

If the promise of streaming television has been tarnished by countless long-winded series that have no idea how to pace themselves or end, this one makes excellent use of an eight-episode frame to tell the tale of the novel basically in full. Prior adaptations simply couldn’t do that within a feature film length. Purple Noon opens in media res. The Talented Mr. Ripley condenses a number of things. There are some minor emendations, most of which are actively good and almost all at least forgivable.

The book dedicates an enormous amount of time to Ripley’s scheming and improvising. His plans are usually not airtight. Much of the riveting character of the book is how easily he might be caught at almost any moment. A number of sequences whose dramatic tension is contained in their great length are presented in white knuckle effulgence here. Two very lengthy corpse disposals are engrossing. Conversations are lengthy, full of pregnant pauses. There’s even high drama wrought out of multiple bank scenes in which we find Tom feloniously drawing funds.

Steven Zaillian, who wrote the screenplays for Schindler’s List, The Gangs of New York, and The Irishman, provides an excellent script and credible direction. The work of cinematographer Robert Elswit (whose credits include There Will Be Blood) is great. Ripley’s early miserable life in New York is presented well. The tenements are squalid and subways sweltering. La Dolce Vita-era Italy looks all the more rapturous afterward, with shadows and light in various palazzi motivating almost anyone to murder. Locations across south Italy, Capri, and Venice are excellent.

Casting beyond Ripley himself is very strong. Johnny Flynn’s Dickie Greenleaf is a perfect, vaguely dim, but charismatic offspring of privilege. Maurizio Lombardi, perhaps familiar as a cardinal in The Young Pope, is a very strong inspector on the case. Playwright Kenneth Lonergan (who also co-wrote The Gangs of New York) is an ideal Herbert Greenleaf. The casting of Freddie Miles is one substantial deviation, here not the churlish porker of the novel (Philip Seymour Hoffman was about ideal) but rather an androgynous proto-Eurotrash wisp. Dakota Fanning’s Marge Sherwood, Dickie Greenleaf’s tedious paramour, is rendered more truly than any prior. She’s no stunning beauty but a rather average girl in “naive clothes” with “windblown hair and her general air of a Girl Scout.”

Now, Ripley is not exactly a fan of any women if Marge is particularly low on the list. Ripley is very deliberately rendered as sort of gay in the novel. He finds Dickie handsome and Marge repulsive. At a key juncture, he notes he “could have hit Dickie, sprung on him, or kissed him, or thrown him overboard.” This is not the range of options most people consider in a social dilemma, no matter their sexual orientation. Purple Noon basically omitted this element, while The Talented Mr. Ripley camped it up. Ripley replicates the novel’s deliberate ambiguity. He seems devoid of almost any active sexuality and likes almost no one, with exceptions for a handful of men.

What Ripley does like are the finer things in life. He thrills to travel, fine clothing, beautiful objects, and art. These things receive all sorts of close cinematic attention. There is a Hitchcockian cinematic focus on pens, an ashtray, and other talismans of the good life (that also might be used to kill).

Ripley contains a cameo from Malkovich (who portrayed Ripley in another earlier adaptation, Ripley’s Game) as a character from the next novel, and Zaillian optioned all five Ripley novels. Let’s hope that the viewers stream in, as it would be nice to see more of this Ripley.'

#Patricia Highsmith #The Talented Mr Ripley #Steven Zaillian #Ripley #Netflix #Andrew Scott #John Malkovich #Ripley's Game #Anthony Minghella #Purple Noon #Matt Damon #Dennis Hopper #Alain Delon #Sherlock #Moriarty #Freddie Miles #Eliot Sumner #Dickie Greenleaf #Johnny Flynn #Dakota Fanning #Marge Sherwood #Robert Elswit #Kenneth Lonergan #Maurizio Lombardi #Inspector Ravini #Philip Seymour Hoffman

[wol-fica]

how do we feel about this so far? 🧐

#wolfi random #wim series

[vg-soundtrack-showdown]

Initial Kingdom Hearts song recs here

Initial Sonic song recs here

Additional songs below

Kingdom Hearts: Destati, Dark Impetus, The Tumbling, Wim and Vigor, Desire for All That Is Lost, Dance to the Death, Chiaki (Don't Think Twice remix)

Sonic: His World, Break Through It All, Vandalize, Mirage Saloon act 2, Escape From the City, Can You Feel The Sunshine?, Super Sonic Racing, Open Your Heart

#kingdom hearts #sonic #video game soundtrack showdown #soundtrack showdown #tournament poll #round 1 do-overs

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Hello again M🕵🏻‍♀️,

I just read your answer to the 1950s film anon with the MUBI screenshots and got so very excited! 📽️😻🎞️

Your suggestions are in oh-so-excellent tastes! I had to come here to share my favs (okay some might be from the 60s…😳🫢)

🚬”Breathless” (Jean Seberg & Jan Paul Belmondo, need I say more?!)

🥲”Bonjour Tristesse” (again, Jean Seberg, and the novel by Françoise Sagan was an absolute banger too!)

📸 “Rear Window” (My fav Hitchcock. James Stewart is actually not annoying in this one.)

🌂”Mon Oncle” (Jacques Tati might be an acquired taste, esp. in America…but I love the minute details he obsess over in all his films that create the whole quirky-kitsh-odd, sometimes bizarre atmosphere)

💎”Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (🙄I know, cliche…but I just love Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard in this one, even with the despicable depiction of quasi Japonesque character Mr. Yunioshi played by Mickey Rooney. Funny how Peppard also went on to act in action films/shows later, just like Belmondo)

👑”Roman Holiday” (I’m partial to Gregory Peck in this one.)

⛵️”Plein Soleil” (Alain Delon is breathtaking in this one…)

Ohgosh~🫣there already are too many! Sorry! I’m just so excited for the transformation of your space where I can now find and talk about two of my odd varieties of obsessions (Bangtan & films)!

P.S. Much newer, but do you happen to like Wim Wenders films by any chance? What about Jim Jarmusch?

Your excitement is contagious, anon! This list takes me back to high school, each film has a different memory attached to it.

If you like Jean Seberg, I recommend listening to a series from the You Must Remember This podcast. Her career and life was discussed in detail in parallel with Jane Fonda. Look it up and you'll find it easily. The shooting for Bonjour Tristesse was a bit of a hell for Jean.

Your comment about James Stewart took me out because I understand the feeling. I'm not a fan, there's something about him that annoys me (maybe the way he talks?), but I can see that he was a good actor. I don't have anything serious to criticize.

Yes, Tati is an acquired taste. It never got to me to the point of wanting to watch a lot of his filmography, but he is one of a kind and an influence to those that came after him (Greta mentions him for the inspiration behind Barbie as well)

With Breakfast at Tiffany's, a cliche or not, does it matter? It's too iconic. Yes, it has a reputation and good material for specific tumblr/pinterest aesthetics, but for good reason. If we take all that aside, we're still left with something of value, given that it's also an adaption of a Capote novel.

There's so much to talk about Audrey Hepburn that it requires a separate post. I don't think Hollywood had another actress like her or even coming close to that kind of presence. She was a movie star in her own category. Anyway, I never became a fan of Gregory Peck (I didn't go and search his films) but damn the guy was hot. Can I have a Roman Holiday too? Just like that? 😄

Alain Delon in Plein Soleil is a sin. And a perfect summer film. With this guy, I have to manage to separate the actual person and his political beliefs from the star he was in the 60s. Same with Brigitte Bardot. Ignore and store that in the back of my head so I can enjoy the films.

As to your questions, I could never get into the Jarmusch vibe, although I did watch a few of his films. I don't have anything against him he's good and a true artist, but it doesn't match with my taste. With Wim Wenders, I know Wings of Desire, Paris, Texas, The American Friend, Pina. Again, it's the type of director that has his place in film history, but I never focused particularly on him.

#m thoughts #movie recs

[lilithisrunningwithscissors]

current things tag!

thanks @emlovessid :)

3 ships: Wolfstar ofc, currently starting to really like Jegulus, and Wallace & Scott from Scott Pilgrim :)

last song: How you remind me by Nickelback

currently reading: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

last movie: Perfect Days by Wim Wenders

currently watching: Batman, the animated series

currently craving: vegan hot chocolate¡¡

currently consuming: water. only water

tagging @spookymoonie, @my-castles-crumbling and @ashes-to-ashesxx only if you want to :)

[dumpsterfireofsubtext]

top 5 pieces of media ever? can be books, movies, games, comics, tv or podcasts. preferably not just the exclusively or mostly one medium though but it’s your/dealer’s choice

separate pieces of media from one franchise doesn’t count/only counts as one entry

ooh thank u for this question. I had to think hard about it.

1- I'm gonna cheat a bit and say the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett for my favourite book series. They always make me howl with laughter and the satire is just excellent.

2- A podcast that is veryyyy dear to me is The Magnus Archives because it got me through lockdown in 2020 and onwards. I would bake furiously and listen to it and then not be able to sleep at night. Oh, The Horrors, Oh The Terrors.

3- (Aside from Warrior Nun) Orphan Black is a show that I always seem to go back to, no matter how many times I re-watch it never gets old. It has a special place in my heart because it reminds me of someone I used to watch it with who is no longer in my life. (Also the first season aired 10 years ago today????)

4- The obvious choice for my favourite movie is probably Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders but I am partial to an Argento film every once and a while (the atrocious dubbing and 70's gore makes it all worth it)

5- I don't play a lot of games so I'm gonna say Exhalation by Ted Chiang as another book. It's a collection of Science-Fiction short stories and they are mind blowinngggggg. (Arrival is based on one of his stories from a different book!! such an awesome film.)

#also for your other ask what did you mean by artists? #like art art or music? #i dont wanna get it wrong hehe #this was so hard bcos there is so much media I feel So Strongly about #discworld #orphan black #ted chiang #wings of desire #warrior nun #dario argento #the magnus archives #misiek asks

[sous-le-signe-de-la-lune]

2023 wrapped in media  ☆  - the medias mentioned are not all 5 stars, but these are the stories that impacted me the most this year

Favorite first watches - movies

Retour à Séoul, dir. Davy Chou (2022)

The Asadas! dir. Ryota Nakano (2020)

The Boy and the Heron, dir. Hayao Miyazaki (2023)

Perfect Days, dir. Wim Wenders (2023)

Favorite first watches - series

The Bear

Alice in Borderland

Kinnporsche

The Rookie

Favorite first reads

The Six Deaths of the Saint - Alix E. Harrow

The Wicker King - K. Ancrum

Empire of Sand - Tasha Suri

Small Gods of Calamity - Sam Kyung Yoo

Honorable mentions:

How I Met My Soulmate - Anashin

We Grant You a Merry Christmas - Morgan Matson

Hiver à Sokcho - Elisa Shua Dusapin

#mine #wrapped in media #2023 wrapped #2023 wrapped in media

[denimbex1986]

''Does the world need another cinematic representation of the Ripley story?' That is the question I asked myself when the teaser, and then trailer, of the new Netflix series dropped a few months ago.

I answered the question myself: 'Yes, of course, we can definitely do with more Ripley on the screen, even when I know the story so well.'

I have been a fan of the films based on the character Tom Ripley, a conniving imposter, an insecure man and yet utterly charming, created by Patricia Highsmith in her five Ripley books also referred to as Ripliad, starting with The Talented Mr Ripley (1955), the source for the 1960 French film Purple Noon directed by Rene Clement (the restored version of the film was re-introduced to the world in 1996 by Martin Scorsese). The same book was also adapted by Anthony Minghella for his 1999 film, also called The Talented Mr Ripley.

The new Netflix series, written and directed by Steven Zaillian (Oscar winner for Schindler's List), is based on Highsmith's first book.

While I will admit I have not read Highsmith's books (her 1950 novel Strangers on a Train was adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock), I have been engaged with the Ripley films for some time, including Ripley's Game (2002) starring John Malkovich. No spoiler here, but Malkovich makes a surprise appearance in Zaillian's Ripley.

There is also a Wim Wenders' take on Ripley's Game called The American Friend (1977), which is on my watch list. In last year's Saltburn, Barry Keoghan plays a Ripley-like character. Emerald Fennell's film is clearly inspired by the Ripley story, but it also takes many departures from Highsmith's narrative.

So I really waited for the Netflix show.

There were many reasons why I was looking forward it, one of which was that it stars Andrew Scott -- the 'hot priest' from Fleabag, who recently shattered our hearts into small pieces with his tragic performance in All of Us Strangers (a film criminally ignored by Oscar voters).

Zaillian's eight-part slow-burning, moody and at times riveting show, with stunning black and white cinematography stands on its own. But I could not help that the other versions of the Ripley story played in my mind at the same time.

In a 1971 short French documentary, Highsmith talked about seeing a man walk on the beach in Positano, Italy. The documentary is available on the Criterion Channel.

It was in the early 1950s, 6 am.

The man looked upset.

From that image of the man who Highsmith did not speak to, she created Ripley, her most famous fictional character who impersonates his friend, is an expert at forgery and even kills to survive in the world of the rich and the famous, where he is an outsider. In the same interview, Highsmith said she did not think Ripley was very likable.

But the Ripley in Zaillian's show, as well as in Purple Noon (a very handsome Alain Delon) and The Talented Mr Ripley (an equally handsome Matt Damon) are all very likable. That is why we care so much for the character. We want Ripley to survive even when he leaves a trail of crimes -- horrific murders and forged bank checks.

A part of it has to do with Ripley's insecurities and how he is taunted by his friend -- Richard Greenleaf, better known as Dickey, played by a charismatic Johnny Flynn in the current show. Flynn is good, but possibly overshadowed by Jude Law, who played a very sexually charged Greenleaf in Minghella's film, which also had the most gay subtext among all the representations of the story.

Ripley was sent to Italy to track Greenleaf by his wealthy shipbuilding father, played in the show, by a subdued, yet tough Kenneth Lonergan, better known as a playwright and director of films such as Manchester By The Sea.

Greenleaf Senior funded Ripley's trip to Italy. But when his son shows no signs of returning to the US, he decides to cut the flow of money and cancel the large sum he had promised Ripley upon completion of the job.

That is when Ripley's life, his plans and dreams start to fall apart.

In order to pick up the pieces and stand back on his feet, Ripley starts to commit crimes: Some that take place in the heat of passion, while others are meticulously planned and executed.

We watch Andrew Scott's Ripley struggle through the mess he has created, at times finding it hard to keep it straight in his head if he is Ripley or Greenleaf, while the police are trying to track the two down and solve the complex twists in the narrative.

He jumps hotels and moves from one Italian city to another.

The show at times becomes a tourism piece for Italy where the camera lovingly strolls along the beaches, streets, old historic parts and steps of several Italian cities including Rome, Naples, Palermo, Atrani, San Remo, even Venice.

The show takes its own pace to pick up, but then when you least expect, it grabs you by the throat.

There are some delightfully dark and creepy moments. An entire episode set in Rome is dedicated to Ripley trying to dispose of a body, as he drags it down a staircase (the elevator in the building keeps breaking down) leaving a trail of blood, that looks rather gooey in dark shades of black.

We also find a lot of beauty in Zaillian's show, especially in the performances of two of the principal cast members. Dakota Fanning plays Marge Sherwood, Dickie Greenleaf's love interest who quietly suffers as Ripley gets close to her boyfriend.

Zaillian made a very unique casting choice by casting Eliot Sumner (Sting and Trudie Styler's non-binary child) to play Dickie's wealthy friend Freddie Miles. Eliot has soft, gentle features which makes his Freddie quite menacing.

In Minghella's film, Philip Seymour Hoffman was cast as Freddie and he used his deep voice and physicality to scare Ripley, and make him nervous.

But the real star of the Netflix series is its stark black and white cinematography -- the work of master cameraman Robert Elswit (Oscar winner for There Will Be Blood).

Every shot, every frame is precious.

It is film noir at its best but inspired by classic films such as Citizen Kane (1941) and The Third Man (1949).

I wish I could have spent time taking screen shots of many of the scenes on my laptop but Netflix's copyright laws do not allow that. If a coffee table book is produced of the images from the show, I will be first in the line to buy it.

Ripley streams on Netflix.

Ripley Review Rediff Rating: ****'

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