Reza wrote:Marco, could you recommend any books (preferably in English) which cover Italian cinema and it's stars post 1990?
I have no idea honestly - I'm sure that there must be books in English about contemporary Italian cinema, but I didn't see any even in London, where I go often.
But Italian movies - I'm sure you can find plenty of them in Pakistan, at the black market maybe - when I'm in Beirut I go to Sabra and Chatila and the Palestinians sell Italian movies that even I haven't seen. Aren't there places like this in Pakistan? (But maybe you don't go to such places).
ITALIANO wrote:(Filippo Timi and Ksenia Rappoport are big stars here)
I am completely unfamiliar with these names. I'm old school and still associate Italian cinema with stars like Magnani, Gassman, Sordi, Mastroianni, Lollobrigida and Loren. I know most are dead now but I lost track of Italian cinema post Giancarlo Giannini & LIna Wertmuller
Marco, could you recommend any books (preferably in English) which cover Italian cinema and it's stars post 1990?
It has been a big hit in Italy, for reasons that can probably be fully understood only here: it's the first "Italian thriller" in decades - with the exception of another recent hit, Andrea Molaioli's overrated Girl by the Lake. We used to make giallos once - but they suddenly went out of fashion in the early 80s, and The Double Hour has been considered - by the critics even - a welcomed comeback to the genre.
It's not, however, a giallo - no flamboyant murders, no eccentric serial-killers; it's more like an elegant film-noir in the French (rather than American) tradition - very well shot, with an intense and pervading atmosphere (the location - Turin - helps), good performances by the two leads (Filippo Timi and Ksenia Rappoport are big stars here), and an appropriately intricated - some would say too intricated - plot.
The result is an interesting and certainly watchable movie. Still, despite the obvious care for details, it has its plot holes and some of the (many) twists, including a big one at the end, aren't completely unpredictable. It's an unusual movie by Italian standards, and it's definitely sophisticated and "European" - yet, how shall I put it, you get the feeling that if Americans put their hands on it, they would cut some unnecessary narrative threads, make the structure tighter, make the movie itself shorter even (it's essentially a Twilight Zone-type story, but I can't go too much into it). It would be a completely different movie, and probably not a better one, but the thriller aspect would certainly be more effective.
ITALIANO wrote:The much-praised, much-awarded Danish movie In a Better World - which has recently won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film - is one of those movies which could make a weaker soul feel like a freak, wondering "Why didn't I like it? What didn't I get?". And these Scandinavians! Once, not long ago actually, one could always count on them to deliver movies which were genuinely gloomy, dark, pessimistic. Now they still do that but at the same time they also want to be "emotional", they want to make us "cry", they have even discovered (Ingmar Bergman must be rolling in his grave) that ultimate dirty trick, the "happy ending" - all aspects that don't really belong to them and that they can't use confortably - unlike the true maestros of these things, Americans and Italians.
But of course they win award after award - the director of this movie seems to be especially smart, you know: "big", important issues, the use of children which proves always effective, scenes set in Africa which have no real raison d'etre except to make the movie feel "urgent"and contemporary, and - I must admit - a certain ability in creating a climate of emotional tension (a short sequence towards the end is quite gripping and definitely helped the movie on its way to the Academy Award). Paul Haggis comes to mind - but at his best (let's say in In the Valley of Elah) Haggis is much more profound and much more bitter.
I shouldn't be too cynical - there are definitely reasons why so many liked this movie, and Suzanne Bier not only is good with her actors (the adults more than the children, I'd say), but is also probably more honest than other directors of this kind - those who want to give us a final word on today's society. The risk, of course, is to come off as banal and superficial.
It may be a good sign that In A Better World, despite its Oscar, only lasted 2 weeks at New York City's premiere art house cinema.
The Italian film, The Double Hour, however. seems to be a big hit there on another screen. Any thoughts on it, Marco?
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
The Roommate (2011) Christian Christiansen- 3/10
Hop (2011) Tim Hil - 4/10
Rio (2011) Carlos Saldanha - 5/10
True Grit (2010) Coen Brothers - 7/10
How Do You Know (2010) James L. Brooks - 2/10 - insufferable mess, begged my fiance to allow me to turn this off, she said it had to get better (based on the 4 leads) - she now owes me Certified Copy
This harkens back to Tee's comment back at the beginning of Oscar season that a James Brooks film being completely dismissed sight unseen while a Coen Brothers' considered a shoe-in sight unseen was so odd to those who've been around for many more Oscar seasons than some of us younger board members....December 2010 is objective proof as to this sea change
Morning Glory (2010) - Roger Michell - 4/10 - this can't be all there is left for the great Diane
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) - John Sturges - 6/10
Johnny Guitar (1954) Nicolas Ray - 10/10 - still one of my favorite all-time films and for several reasons what I feel to be a near perfect film!
The much-praised, much-awarded Danish movie In a Better World - which has recently won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film - is one of those movies which could make a weaker soul feel like a freak, wondering "Why didn't I like it? What didn't I get?". And these Scandinavians! Once, not long ago actually, one could always count on them to deliver movies which were genuinely gloomy, dark, pessimistic. Now they still do that but at the same time they also want to be "emotional", they want to make us "cry", they have even discovered (Ingmar Bergman must be rolling in his grave) that ultimate dirty trick, the "happy ending" - all aspects that don't really belong to them and that they can't use confortably - unlike the true maestros of these things, Americans and Italians.
But of course they win award after award - the director of this movie seems to be especially smart, you know: "big", important issues, the use of children which proves always effective, scenes set in Africa which have no real raison d'etre except to make the movie feel "urgent"and contemporary, and - I must admit - a certain ability in creating a climate of emotional tension (a short sequence towards the end is quite gripping and definitely helped the movie on its way to the Academy Award). Paul Haggis comes to mind - but at his best (let's say in In the Valley of Elah) Haggis is much more profound and much more bitter.
I shouldn't be too cynical - there are definitely reasons why so many liked this movie, and Suzanne Bier not only is good with her actors (the adults more than the children, I'd say), but is also probably more honest than other directors of this kind - those who want to give us a final word on today's society. The risk, of course, is to come off as banal and superficial.
Dragon Tattoo Trilogy (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; The Girl Who Played With Fire; The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest) (2009-2010) 9/10
I tried reading the first novel, but couldn't get into it. I tried watching the first film in Swedish but couldn't get nto it. Finally I watched all three in their dubbed English versions and was riveted to the screen.
These novels have been publishing phenomenons all over the world. In Denmark, for example, the first novel purportedly outsold the bible. The original title of the first was The Man Who Didn't Like Women with the emphaisis, as I understand it, on the reporter who solves the decades old murder and the computer hacker (the girl with the dragon tattoo) a secondary character who becomes more important as the trilogy evolves. Why the films haven;t had the same success is puzzling.
The brutal sex and violence, along with the various mysteries may be what sold the series, but what struck me most was that this is quite possibly the last time we'll see a contemporary film, or series of films, in which the written word is paramount, especially in the third film when the publication of a magazine with a 50-75 page article exposing government corruption is one of the key plot elements.
It's possible that David Fincher's Hollywood remakes will be as good as these films, but I can't imagine them being better. There really is no reason to remake them so soon. Roomy Rapace as the title character should have gotten more recognition in last year's awards races. What Jennifer Lawrence goes through in Winter's Bone is nothing compared to what Rapace goes through in these films.
All the actors are excellent including Michael Nyqvist as the fill-in for the late author Stieg Larsson and it's especially interesting to see actors not really much on heh international scene in decades. Sven-Bertil Taube, excellent as the old man in the first film looks nothing like the blonde stud of such 70s films as The Buttercup Chain, but the late Per Oscarssen in the second film is easily recognizable in advanced age.
The Blu-ray set comes with a fourth disc of special features including a fascinating in-depth documentary on Stieg Larsson.
flipp525 wrote:If Eric is lurking around here today, I'm sure he'll co-sign as well.
Don't FUCK with my distribution costs! I'm making a lousy two-fifteen per segment! I'm already deficiting 25 grand a week with Metro! I'm paying William Morris 10 percent off the TOP! And I'm giving ten-thou per segment for this turkey and another five for this fruitcake!
And, Helen, don't start no shit with me about a piece again! I'm paying Metro for ALL foreign and Canadian distribution, and that's after recoupment! The communist party's not going to see a nickel out of this goddamned show until we go into syndication!
flipp525 wrote:If Eric is lurking around here today, I'm sure he'll co-sign as well.
Don't FUCK with my distribution costs! I'm making a lousy two-fifteen per segment! I'm already deficiting 25 grand a week with Metro! I'm paying William Morris 10 percent off the TOP! And I'm giving ten-thou per segment for this turkey and another five for this fruitcake!
And, Helen, don't start no shit with me about a piece again! I'm paying Metro for ALL foreign and Canadian distribution, and that's after recoupment! The communist party's not going to see a nickel out of this goddamned show until we go into syndication!
Plus, I mean, it's not like if one says that American cinema today isn't very good he should be considered a dangerous terrorist or something like that. There's a McCarthy in any young American, it seems, and I'm not sure I like that.
