One may resist celebrity culture, but most people have at least a few actors from pop culture history that mean something to them, whether they're from the silver screen or the flickering box.
Actors know how to spark our emotions and suspend our disbelief. They embody our favorite stories and the visions of our favorite filmmakers. The stars of film and television have the privilege of immortalizing themselves in certain times and places. But it is not just themselves that they immortalize. In their best projects, they capture many complexities of emotion and culture that are relevant to millions. Steve McQueen and his Mustang in "Bullet," Warren Beatty and his freewheeling libido in "Shampoo," Anthony Hopkins and his empathetic presidential turn in "Nixon" -- for better or worse, actors color our memories of the past in both trivial and important ways.
It can be wistful, therefore, when an old favorite passes,...
Actors know how to spark our emotions and suspend our disbelief. They embody our favorite stories and the visions of our favorite filmmakers. The stars of film and television have the privilege of immortalizing themselves in certain times and places. But it is not just themselves that they immortalize. In their best projects, they capture many complexities of emotion and culture that are relevant to millions. Steve McQueen and his Mustang in "Bullet," Warren Beatty and his freewheeling libido in "Shampoo," Anthony Hopkins and his empathetic presidential turn in "Nixon" -- for better or worse, actors color our memories of the past in both trivial and important ways.
It can be wistful, therefore, when an old favorite passes,...
- 2/11/2024
- by Jack Hawkins
- Slash Film
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For regular updates, sign up for our weekly email newsletter and follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSEvil Does Not Exist.We are saddened to learn that Issue 97 will be Cinema Scope’s last in its current form. To “do something valuable in this field,” editor and publisher Mark Peranson writes, “one needs creative freedom.” This is exactly what, for twenty-five years and just under 100 issues, Cinema Scope was able to provide, offering a space that allowed, per Peranson, “a certain kind of filmmaker’s work to be treated with the intellect and respect they deserve.” The print issue is on its way to subscribers now, and its entire contents—including interviews with Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Rodrigo Moreno, and Alex Ross Perry—can also be read online.Sandra Milo has died at the age of 90. She starred in Federico Fellini’s 8½ (1963) and Juliet of the Spirits...
- 1/31/2024
- MUBI
Veteran Italian actress Sandra Milo, best known for her roles in Federico Fellini‘s 8½ and Juliet of the Spirits, has died. She was 90. According to Variety, Milo’s passing was confirmed on social media by her daughters, Debora and Azzura, and son Ciro, who revealed she died in her sleep on Monday (January 29) morning at her home in Rome. Born Salvatrice Elena Greco on March 11, 1933, in Tunis, French Tunisia, Milo made her on-screen film debut in 1955’s The Bachelor. From there, she landed her first major role in Roberto Rossellini‘s 1959 drama film General Della Rovere; she also starred in Rossellini’s 1961 drama Vanina Vanini. Milo briefly retired from acting after her first marriage but was convinced to return by Fellini to star opposite Marcello Mastroianni in his 1963 avant-garde classic 8½, which is available to stream on Prime Video and Apple TV. She also starred in Fellini’s 1965 comedy-drama Juliet of the Spirits.
- 1/29/2024
- TV Insider
Sophia Loren is generating red-hot Oscar buzz for her performance in Netflix’s Italian-language drama “The Life Ahead.” The screen legend has earned some of the best reviews of her seven-decade career for her heartbreaking performance as a former prostitute and Holocaust survivor who takes care of children of streetwalkers.
Loren made Oscar history 59 years ago when she became the first performer to receive an Academy Award for a foreign-language film. She took home Best Actress for Vittorio DeSica’s harrowing World War II drama “Two Women,” which was also in Italian. Loren, who also starred with Charlton Heston that year in the lavish epic “El Cid,” had very strong competition when the Oscar nominations were announced in the winter of 1962.
Natalie Wood, who had received a Supporting Actress nomination as a teenager for 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause,” gave an extraordinary performance as a sensitive teenager living in Kansas...
Loren made Oscar history 59 years ago when she became the first performer to receive an Academy Award for a foreign-language film. She took home Best Actress for Vittorio DeSica’s harrowing World War II drama “Two Women,” which was also in Italian. Loren, who also starred with Charlton Heston that year in the lavish epic “El Cid,” had very strong competition when the Oscar nominations were announced in the winter of 1962.
Natalie Wood, who had received a Supporting Actress nomination as a teenager for 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause,” gave an extraordinary performance as a sensitive teenager living in Kansas...
- 1/17/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The saga continues, featuring Adam Rifkin, Robert D. Krzykowski, John Sayles, Maggie Renzi, Mick Garris and Larry Wilmore with special guest star Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Key Largo (1948)
I Don’t Want to Talk About It (1993)
Camila (1984)
I, the Worst of All (1990)
The Wages of Fear (1953)
Le Corbeau (1943)
Diabolique (1955)
Red Beard (1965)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Ikiru (1952)
General Della Rovere (1959)
The Gold of Naples (1959)
Bitter Rice (1949)
Pickup On South Street (1953)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
Yellow Sky (1948)
Ace In The Hole (1951)
Wall Street (1987)
Women’s Prison (1955)
True Love (1989)
Mean Streets (1973)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Abyss (1989)
The China Syndrome (1979)
Big (1988)
Splash (1984)
The ’Burbs (1989)
Long Strange Trip (2017)
Little Women (2019)
Learning To Skateboard In A War Zone (If You’re A Girl) (2019)
The Guns of Navarone...
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Key Largo (1948)
I Don’t Want to Talk About It (1993)
Camila (1984)
I, the Worst of All (1990)
The Wages of Fear (1953)
Le Corbeau (1943)
Diabolique (1955)
Red Beard (1965)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Ikiru (1952)
General Della Rovere (1959)
The Gold of Naples (1959)
Bitter Rice (1949)
Pickup On South Street (1953)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
Yellow Sky (1948)
Ace In The Hole (1951)
Wall Street (1987)
Women’s Prison (1955)
True Love (1989)
Mean Streets (1973)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Abyss (1989)
The China Syndrome (1979)
Big (1988)
Splash (1984)
The ’Burbs (1989)
Long Strange Trip (2017)
Little Women (2019)
Learning To Skateboard In A War Zone (If You’re A Girl) (2019)
The Guns of Navarone...
- 4/17/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
After The Fox
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
2017 / Color / 2.35 : 1 widescreen / Street Date March 22, 2017
Starring: Peter Sellers, Victor Mature, Martin Balsem, Akim Tamiroff.
Cinematography: Leonida Barboni
Film Editor: Russell Lloyd
Written by Neil Simon and Cesare Zavattini
Produced by John Bryan
Directed by Vittorio De Sica
After The Fox, a sunny mid-sixties farce about con-artists and movie-makers, boasts a powerhouse pedigree featuring leading men Peter Sellers and Victor Mature, a script by Neil Simon and Cesare Zavattini, music by Burt Bacharach, poster art from Frank Frazetta and the legendary director/actor/gambler Vittorio De Sica at the helm.
With such diverse talent on board, the film was somewhat misleadingly promoted as another in the line of 60’s screwball hipster comedies like Casino Royale and What’s New Pussycat. But the result is closer to De Sica’s laid back charmers from the ‘50s, Miracle in Milan and Gold of Naples (in fact,...
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
2017 / Color / 2.35 : 1 widescreen / Street Date March 22, 2017
Starring: Peter Sellers, Victor Mature, Martin Balsem, Akim Tamiroff.
Cinematography: Leonida Barboni
Film Editor: Russell Lloyd
Written by Neil Simon and Cesare Zavattini
Produced by John Bryan
Directed by Vittorio De Sica
After The Fox, a sunny mid-sixties farce about con-artists and movie-makers, boasts a powerhouse pedigree featuring leading men Peter Sellers and Victor Mature, a script by Neil Simon and Cesare Zavattini, music by Burt Bacharach, poster art from Frank Frazetta and the legendary director/actor/gambler Vittorio De Sica at the helm.
With such diverse talent on board, the film was somewhat misleadingly promoted as another in the line of 60’s screwball hipster comedies like Casino Royale and What’s New Pussycat. But the result is closer to De Sica’s laid back charmers from the ‘50s, Miracle in Milan and Gold of Naples (in fact,...
- 4/2/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
‘Toni Erdmann’ (Courtesy: Tiff)
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
It’s not too often that foreign-language films get recognized for anything at the Oscars beyond the best foreign-language film category — but it does happen. And, believe it or not, it happens more for best original screenplay and best adapted screenplay than many other categories. A prime example of that is Toni Erdmann, Germany’s submission this year that is proving to be a cross-category threat, which could score a nomination — or a win — for its writing.
The story of Toni Erdmann — which has a solid Rotten Tomatoes score of 91% — follows a father who is trying to reconnect with his adult daughter after the death of his dog. It sounds simple enough but, of course, the two couldn’t be more unalike. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and where it won the Fipresci Prize. Since then, it...
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
It’s not too often that foreign-language films get recognized for anything at the Oscars beyond the best foreign-language film category — but it does happen. And, believe it or not, it happens more for best original screenplay and best adapted screenplay than many other categories. A prime example of that is Toni Erdmann, Germany’s submission this year that is proving to be a cross-category threat, which could score a nomination — or a win — for its writing.
The story of Toni Erdmann — which has a solid Rotten Tomatoes score of 91% — follows a father who is trying to reconnect with his adult daughter after the death of his dog. It sounds simple enough but, of course, the two couldn’t be more unalike. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and where it won the Fipresci Prize. Since then, it...
- 1/4/2017
- by Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
So, I’ll be the first to admit that I have never seen this film, nor have I ever heard it mentioned, even on the corners of the internet where friends are obsessed with Italian cinema. However, this is a Raro Video Blu-ray, which means it will be part of my collection. I don’t know if you that are reading have ever purchased a Raro Blu-ray before, but they are fantastic releases, and serve a great purpose of exposing us to some of the best of the criminally ignored entries into the Italian genre film scene. On August 5th, Raro Video, in partnership with Kino Lorber will release the new Raro Video Blu-ray release of Bankers of God: The Calvi Affair, and if you’re a fan of what Raro and Kino do, then you should probably hit this link and pre-order a copy for yourself. Check out the press release below.
- 7/26/2014
- by Shawn Savage
- The Liberal Dead
Back in 2009, the Criterion collection released Roberto Rossellini’s 1959 film General Della Rovere on DVD, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and saw the auteur receive celebratory reception, the first since his famed collaborative efforts with then wife Ingrid Bergman earlier in the decade had all been deemed critical and financial missteps. While that release has lapsed out of print, Raro Video, which has focused on releasing cult and classic oddities from around the globe (recently, they delightfully resurrected several Fernando Di Leo titles, and have a host of other upcoming refurbishments from Italy, including titles from Liliana Cavani and Umberto Lenzi), has thankfully been graceful enough to grant this mid-career notable from Rossellini a Blu-ray release. While it’s a return to Rossellini’s celebrated rendering of a historical period, the ‘father’ of neorealism is operating in recuperative mode here, a distinctly unique conversation piece to his 1940’s War Trilogy,...
- 12/3/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
This episode brings us up to date with our releases through November 26. The mix of old and new is exhilarating. The absolutely breathtaking Russian Ark makes its Blu-ray debut. Hannah Arendt does as well, telling the story of the woman who coined the phrase "banality of evil" in connection with Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. Lastly, Roberto Rossellini's Il Generale Della Rovere makes a powerful debut on Blu-ray, telling the story of a war traitor who may have waited too long to repent. Two great so-called guilty pleasures also hit Blu-ray courtesy of Shout Factory, and each has substantial extras. You could say that Tank Girl looks better than it deserves in hi-def, but only by ignoring the goofy smile that spreads over your face...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 11/27/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Clint Eastwood Western persona co-creator dead at 87: Luciano Vincenzoni (photo: Clint Eastwood in ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’) Screenwriter Luciano Vincenzoni, whose nearly five-decade career included collaborations with Mario Monicelli, Pietro Germi, and Sergio Leone, died of cancer on Sunday, September 22, 2013, in Rome. Vincenzoni (born on March 7, 1926, in Treviso, near Venice) was 87. In the late ’50s, Luciano Vincenzoni co-wrote Mario Monicelli’s The Great War / La Grande guerra (1959), a humorous (if overlong) World War I comedy-drama starring Vittorio Gassman and Alberto Sordi as reluctant conscripts that earned a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award nomination and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival (tied with Roberto Rossellini’s Il Generale della Rovere). Vincenzoni was also partly responsible for the screenplay of two well-regarded Pietro Germi movies: the omnibus comedy of manners The Birds, the Bees and the Italians / Signore & signori (1966), featuring Virna Lisi and Franco Fabrizi,...
- 9/26/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
MoMA's 10th annual International Festival of Film Preservation will unveil the restored version of Roberto Rossellini's "Il Generale della Rovere," presented for the first time since the film's premiere in 1959 at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion in its original uncut glory. Talk about a once-in-a-half-century opportunity. "Il Generale" marked a return for Rossellini to World War II themes more than a decade after his Neorealist trilogy (including "Rome: Open City," "Paisa" and "Germany Year Zero") concluded in 1948, and was one of his most commercially and critically successful dramas. It stars his friend and fellow Neorealist filmmaker Vittorio De Sica as a conman compelled by the Nazis to impersonate a partisan hero. The version screening at MoMA is ten minutes longer than the original Italian theatrical cut, and will be showcased in a brand new 35mm print. New Yorkers have two...
- 10/11/2012
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
Romeo and Juliet: Hailee Steinfeld, Douglas Booth Starring Lol‘s Douglas Booth and True Grit‘s Hailee Steinfeld, a new version of Romeo and Juliet is currently being shopped around at the Cannes Film Festival. Partly financed by Austrian design house Swarovski, this latest adaptation of Shakespeare’s love story was written by Academy Award winner Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) and directed by Carlo Carlei. A Best New Director David di Donatello nominee for The Flight of the Innocent (1993), Carlei’s previous English-language foray, the Matthew Modine vehicle Fluke, was a major box-office flop in 1995. In recent years, Carlei has worked on Italian television; his most recent TV movie was a remake of Roberto Rossellini’s Il General della Rovere (2011), starring Pierfrancesco Favino in the old Vittorio De Sica role. According to the Los Angeles Times blog 24 Frames, producer Ileen Maisel wants “every teenager in the world to come see” Romeo and Juliet.
- 5/20/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
2011 was a banner year for Vittorio De Sica fans. Kino International released four Blu-rays of his '60s work and Arrow Academy released Bicycle Thieves on Blu-ray and Il Generale Della Rovere & The Garden of the Finzi-Continis on DVD, and now they're starting off 2012 right with more De Sica. Miracle In Milan is the first post-Bicycle Thieves film from De Sica, and one that has never been available on Us DVD, but Arrow Academy are preparing a fantastic edition on Blu-ray for the UK. The film will be presented in HD with some great extras, including De Sica's 1956 feature Il Tetto (The Roof) which has also never made it to Us or UK DVD. What a great way to celebrate the master!...
- 1/26/2012
- Screen Anarchy
Her Private Hell is a cautionary tale of an innocent girl abroad caught up in London’s sleazy world of modelling, and was Britain’s first narrative sex film. Previously unreleased, it finally comes to DVD and Blu-ray for the first time on 20th February 2012 in a Dual Format Edition on the BFI’s celebrated Flipside label. The new, director-approved High Definition transfer is accompanied by a wealth of rare and fascinating extra features and a comprehensive booklet.
Starring the Italian actress Lucia Modugno (Il generale Della Rovere, Danger: Diabolik), and directed by Norman J. Warren (Satan’s Slave, Prey, Terror), Her Private Hell put Britain on the map in the realm of home- grown adult features. The storyline features beautiful but naïve Marisa who arrives from the continent for a job as a fashion model, but soon discovers she’s being groomed for a different purpose.
By the late 1960s,...
Starring the Italian actress Lucia Modugno (Il generale Della Rovere, Danger: Diabolik), and directed by Norman J. Warren (Satan’s Slave, Prey, Terror), Her Private Hell put Britain on the map in the realm of home- grown adult features. The storyline features beautiful but naïve Marisa who arrives from the continent for a job as a fashion model, but soon discovers she’s being groomed for a different purpose.
By the late 1960s,...
- 1/9/2012
- by Phil
- Nerdly
It has been a stellar year to be a fan of Italian master, Vittorio De Sica. First there was Arrow Academy's Bicycle Thieves Blu-ray a couple of months ago, then Kino jumped in with three of his collaborations with Sophia Loren on Blu-ray and DVD, then Arrow Academy celebrated De Sica the actor with Roberto Rossellini's Il Generale Della Rovere, and now, the latest news: Arrow Academy is releasing De Sica's The Garden of the Finzi Contini on DVD for the first time ever in the UK on August 8th. As a latecomer to De Sica's films, this is almost overwhelming, but I still can't wait to get my hands on it, Arrow Academy have done some stellar work in their short life, and I...
- 7/18/2011
- Screen Anarchy
It's a DVD news kinda day! Arrow Academy, who've so far provided some stellar edition of international classics are, again, presenting the world with a classic from Roberto Rossellini, starring Vittorio De Sica, Il Generale Della Rovere. Two immense talents came together to tell this story, and both are in fine form. I cannot wait to see this one, the film is spectacular, and Arrow Academy's booklets are nothing less than that as well. Here are the details:Arrow Films presents Il Generale Della RovereRoberto Rossellini directs Vittorio De Sica in this Venice Film Festival Winner, on DVD for the first time in the UK!Roberto Rossellini's first box-office success after a string of commercial failures, notably with Ingrid Bergman was also a return to the themes...
- 5/31/2011
- Screen Anarchy
It’s been about a month since my last look at what has been going on in the world of Criterion Collection blogs, and I thought it’d be appropriate to finally just change the column to be “this month in…” instead of “this week in…” As most of you know, this past month has seen the birth of my daughter, which has led to a steady decrease in my output of blog posts, but a dramatic increase in my posting of adorable pictures. So, we all win in this situation.
Let’s take a look at what May has seen from the internet’s best and brightest, when it comes to the Criterion Collection.
First up, let’s take a look at our own Joshua Brunsting, who started writing the news here on the blog last May. Josh managed to make it to the Cannes film festival this past year,...
Let’s take a look at what May has seen from the internet’s best and brightest, when it comes to the Criterion Collection.
First up, let’s take a look at our own Joshua Brunsting, who started writing the news here on the blog last May. Josh managed to make it to the Cannes film festival this past year,...
- 5/31/2011
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
A couple weekends ago, as part of my ongoing Criterion Reflections blogging project, I watched Il Generale Della Rovere, a 1959 film directed by Roberto Rossellini that marked one of the commercial and critical high points of his career, yielding his biggest box office results since his breakthrough Rome Open City and major festival hardware (Venice’s Golden Lion for Best Film that year, among others.) Perfectly in keeping with his restless, artistically ambitious yet self-deprecating character, Rossellini afterwards expressed a fair amount of ambivalence toward that film, despite its indisputable success. It wasn’t too much further along into his career that the great pioneer of Neorealism, after proving that he could crank out a hit movie if he really wanted to, finally turned his back on commercial aspirations, choosing instead to produce films on his own terms that attempted to elevate the consciousness and inform the intellect of his audience,...
- 5/25/2011
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
One of Italy's leading screenwriters, he worked on 140 films
One of Italy's most respected and prolific screenwriters, Furio Scarpelli, who has died aged 90, worked on the scripts of about 140 films, sometimes without a credit, and received three shared Oscar nominations, for I Compagni (The Organiser, 1963), Casanova '70 (1965) and Il Postino (1994). Scarpelli enjoyed a lengthy writing partnership, from 1949 until 1985, with Agenore Incrocci, also known as Age. The pair collaborated on the 1958 film I Soliti Ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street), about a team of makeshift thieves, which owed much of its success to the brilliant comic characterisations. The film, starring Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni, helped to launch the genre of commedia all'italiana ("comedy Italian-style").
Scarpelli was born in Rome. His Neapolitan father, Filiberto, was a satirical writer who founded a humorous magazine, Il Travaso delle Idee. Furio began his own career as a cartoonist. It was after the second world war,...
One of Italy's most respected and prolific screenwriters, Furio Scarpelli, who has died aged 90, worked on the scripts of about 140 films, sometimes without a credit, and received three shared Oscar nominations, for I Compagni (The Organiser, 1963), Casanova '70 (1965) and Il Postino (1994). Scarpelli enjoyed a lengthy writing partnership, from 1949 until 1985, with Agenore Incrocci, also known as Age. The pair collaborated on the 1958 film I Soliti Ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street), about a team of makeshift thieves, which owed much of its success to the brilliant comic characterisations. The film, starring Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni, helped to launch the genre of commedia all'italiana ("comedy Italian-style").
Scarpelli was born in Rome. His Neapolitan father, Filiberto, was a satirical writer who founded a humorous magazine, Il Travaso delle Idee. Furio began his own career as a cartoonist. It was after the second world war,...
- 5/17/2010
- by John Francis Lane
- The Guardian - Film News
I wanted to mention that on top of movie watching this week I also finally join the ranks of most of you out there as I read J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" for the first time. My literary upbringing was not that impressive and to think of the endless number of classic books I have not read all while having a college degree in print and broadcast journalism is embarrassing. Oh well, you can only try to play catch up in some aspects of life...
As for movies, I also watched several titles I will be reviewing this coming week including the Studio Canal Collection Blu-ray editions of Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (excellent film) and Akira Kurosawa's Ran as well as upcoming Warner Home Video Blu-ray releases of the original Clash of the Titans and The Neverending Story. That said, I also have a trio of...
As for movies, I also watched several titles I will be reviewing this coming week including the Studio Canal Collection Blu-ray editions of Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (excellent film) and Akira Kurosawa's Ran as well as upcoming Warner Home Video Blu-ray releases of the original Clash of the Titans and The Neverending Story. That said, I also have a trio of...
- 2/28/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
My first experience with the work of Roberto Rossellini was when I reviewed Criterion's Il Generale Della Rovere back in March 2009 (read that here). Less than a month after that I watched the first film in Rossellini's War Trilogy, Rome Open City, for the first time via a Netflix rental. The film was excellent with specific moments of true terror as citizens of Rome struggle against the occupying Germans during World War II. However, the DVD transfer was awful and had I been reviewing it I never would have recommended it. So to say I was anxiously waiting to see what Criterion would deliver with their three-dvd release of Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy would be an understatement, but once again Criterion manages to impress beyond expectations.
All three films in this set -- Rome Open City, Paisan and Germany Year Zero -- look spectacular and prove the very existence...
All three films in this set -- Rome Open City, Paisan and Germany Year Zero -- look spectacular and prove the very existence...
- 1/26/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
This week the Criterion Collection releases the Roberto Rossellini War Trilogy on DVD, filling an important gap in DVD libraries everywhere. The first and third movies in the trilogy, Open City (1945) and Germany Year Zero (1948), were available in shoddy editions that did not do justice to the films, and the second, Paisan (1946), has been on the hard-to-find list for some time. These movies are notable for establishing the "Italian Neorealism" movement that cropped up just after WWII. Italy was devastated, and several young filmmakers realized that making glossy entertainments felt false under the circumstances. So they grabbed some cameras, some short ends and some inexperienced actors and hit the streets.
The odd thing about Open City is how much of it takes place indoors, and how much it resembles a standard-issue melodrama. But it still contains moments of genuine invention and power -- especially the performance of Anna Magnani --...
The odd thing about Open City is how much of it takes place indoors, and how much it resembles a standard-issue melodrama. But it still contains moments of genuine invention and power -- especially the performance of Anna Magnani --...
- 1/26/2010
- by Jeffrey M. Anderson
- Cinematical
For nearly 15 years after his 1945 masterpiece Open City became a critical and commercial phenomenon, director Roberto Rossellini never stopped making great movies, including his related neorealist classics Paisan and Germany Year Zero, and the Ingrid Bergman vehicles Stromboli, Europa ’51, and Journey To Italy. Trouble is, audiences and critics unfairly abandoned him—his affair with Bergman was even denounced on the floor of the U.S. Congress—and by 1959, he was still searching haplessly for redemption. Re-teaming with Open City screenwriter Sergio Amidei, Rossellini cannily seized upon a perfect moment in Italian history to make Il Generale ...
- 4/15/2009
- avclub.com
DVD Rating: 3.5/5.0 Chicago – The Criterion Collection expanded by two titles recently and fans of Andrzej Wajda and Roberto Rossellini will be happy to see two of their films in slots #463 and #464 in the most acclaimed series of DVDs in the history of the format. Rossellini’s “Il Generale Della Rovere” and Wajda’s “Danton” might not be as high-profile films as some recent Criterion releases, but they have been given the typically spectacular treatment that this company has been known for over the years.
Rossellini’s “Il Generale Della Rovere” is a transition film from one of the fathers of neorealism’s more human films of the ’40s and ’50s to his historically-based work of the ’60s and ’70s. The director is still most known for that early period with “Rome, Open City” being required viewing for anyone with the guts to call themselves a film historian.
Danton was released...
Rossellini’s “Il Generale Della Rovere” is a transition film from one of the fathers of neorealism’s more human films of the ’40s and ’50s to his historically-based work of the ’60s and ’70s. The director is still most known for that early period with “Rome, Open City” being required viewing for anyone with the guts to call themselves a film historian.
Danton was released...
- 4/13/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
DVD Playhouse—April 2009
By
Allen Gardner
Milk (Universal) Sean Penn deservedly captured his second Best Actor Oscar (and Dustin Lance Black a statuette for his original screenplay) in director Gus Van Sant’s portrait of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold public office in the U.S. Alternately heartbreaking, infuriating and very funny, a film that both captures a bygone era and is still very timely. Fine support from Josh Brolin, Victor Garber, James Franco and Emile Hirsch. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Three featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.
Slumdog Millionaire (20th Century Fox) The Best Picture of 2008 is a kinetic, clever audience-pleaser about a determined lad (Dev Patel) from the slums of Mumbai, who has his chance at literal and financial redemption as a contestant on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Best Director Danny Boyle dazzles...
By
Allen Gardner
Milk (Universal) Sean Penn deservedly captured his second Best Actor Oscar (and Dustin Lance Black a statuette for his original screenplay) in director Gus Van Sant’s portrait of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold public office in the U.S. Alternately heartbreaking, infuriating and very funny, a film that both captures a bygone era and is still very timely. Fine support from Josh Brolin, Victor Garber, James Franco and Emile Hirsch. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Three featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.
Slumdog Millionaire (20th Century Fox) The Best Picture of 2008 is a kinetic, clever audience-pleaser about a determined lad (Dev Patel) from the slums of Mumbai, who has his chance at literal and financial redemption as a contestant on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Best Director Danny Boyle dazzles...
- 4/11/2009
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
I had not yet seen a Roberto Rossellini film, which made Il Generale Della Rovere my debut feature from the helmer. No worries, I just queued Rome, Open City, which according to the video essay in the Della Rovere is his only other "big success." That statement, of course, is in reference to Rossellini's box-office prowess, and does not reflect his filmmaking ability or the effect his films had on cinema and his peers. Starring Italian cinema icon Vittorio De Sica (director of The Bicycle Thief) the film is set in Italy during World War II. Germans occupy the city of Genoa and Emanuele Bardone (De Sica) has made a nasty habit of taking advantage of his fellow Italians by exploiting their family losses and conning them into thinking he will help them find (and potentially save) their missing loved ones. As an addicted gambler he continues down a path...
- 3/30/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
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