Still believe in the goodness of people? Still hold out hope for the future? If so this is one picture you’ll want to catch up with sooner than later. ‘The Good Totò’ is literally found in a cabbage patch; the simple magic of kindness enables him to turn a shanty town into a little Utopia . . . for a few days. Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini fashion a story that insists that magic is as real as sunlight, music, and the words ‘Good Morning’ — and that man is imperfect and his institutions unjust. Francesco Golisano, Brunella Bovo and the heavenly Emma Gramatica are unforgettable. The warmth and understanding here bests that of Charlie Chaplin.
Miracle in Milan
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1119
1951 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / Miracolo a Milano / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 19, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, Paolo Stoppa, Guglielmo Barnabò, Brunella Bovo, Anna Carena,...
Miracle in Milan
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1119
1951 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / Miracolo a Milano / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 19, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, Paolo Stoppa, Guglielmo Barnabò, Brunella Bovo, Anna Carena,...
- 4/12/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Imaginary Friend (1994).Unknown to many, Nico D'Alessandria (1941–2003) was one of the most important directors of independent Italian cinema. His stories of outcasts and ghost-like characters create a unique kind of poetic cinema, in which reality becomes a dream and the dream becomes reality. If one could sum up his work and personality in one word, that word would be independence. D’Alessandria’s absolute freedom of thought and action from both mainstream and art-house cinema proved to be too much not only for audiences, but also for producers, distributors and critics, leading to his work being frequently misunderstood if not entirely forgotten. Throughout his career he made only three feature films and his total dedication to his work took him so far as to mortgage his house.D’Alessandria’s films were all shot in the last two decades of the 20th century, but his story as an author and director begins much earlier.
- 1/10/2022
- MUBI
Warning: Do not read this story until you have seen the final episode of “Hollywood.”
For its first six episodes, Ryan Murphy’s “Hollywood” mixed reality and fiction in its portrait of the movie business in the years after World War II. But there’s a good reason why the final episode is titled “A Hollywood Ending” – because it uses the Oscars of March 1948 to paint a picture of Hollywood growing more tolerant, more open to minorities and gays and more embracing of the kind of films that in reality were nearly impossible to make at the time or for decades later.
Like the ending of Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” the episode veers into a kind of wish-fulfillment fiction that is the whole point of its existence.
So we’re not really fact-checking when we look at the show’s depiction of the 20th Academy Awards ceremony.
For its first six episodes, Ryan Murphy’s “Hollywood” mixed reality and fiction in its portrait of the movie business in the years after World War II. But there’s a good reason why the final episode is titled “A Hollywood Ending” – because it uses the Oscars of March 1948 to paint a picture of Hollywood growing more tolerant, more open to minorities and gays and more embracing of the kind of films that in reality were nearly impossible to make at the time or for decades later.
Like the ending of Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” the episode veers into a kind of wish-fulfillment fiction that is the whole point of its existence.
So we’re not really fact-checking when we look at the show’s depiction of the 20th Academy Awards ceremony.
- 5/13/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Don’t do it Vittorio! The Italian master’s last neorealist project was done ‘in collaboration’ with American producer David O. Selznick, who proceeded to crowbar his way into every directorial decision. The resulting ‘creative differences’ spoiled Signor De Sica’s Italian version, but that wasn’t enough. Selznick put it through a sausage machine for the American release, which is almost half an hour shorter. Jennifer Jones and Montgomery Clift are excellent in both versions, but De Sica’s is far superior — and studying the differences tells why the first demand of powerful directors is to retain final cut. The presentation offers both full films, plus the short subject Selznick added to bring his version up to minimal feature length.
Terminal Station & Indiscretion of an American Wife
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1953 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 89 + 72 min. / Street Date March 31, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift,...
Terminal Station & Indiscretion of an American Wife
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1953 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 89 + 72 min. / Street Date March 31, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift,...
- 4/7/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Joseph L. Anderson's Spring Night, Summer Night (1967) is showing September 1 – October 1, 2018 on Mubi as part of the series byNWR.Treated like a lost link in American Cinema and being placed by scholars somewhere between John Cassavetes and the L.A. Rebellion movement, Joseph L. Anderson’s Spring Night, Summer Night is foremost a problematic approach to a rural community. The film is set in south-eastern Ohio and follows the story of a young conflicted love. The cast in large parts consists of locals and amateurs. Carl, son of a local farmer, in a sudden outburst of emotion impregnates Jessica, a passive woman who wants to keep the child. What is more, they could be brother and sister. Anderson, who collaborated with Donald Richie on The Japanese Film: Art and Industry, spent about two years researching the coal-mining area in Ohio to prepare his first feature film in what he called “New Appalachian Cinema.
- 9/26/2018
- MUBI
The strangest Italian portmanteau picture of the sixties features glorious Silvana Mangano in dozens of costume changes, directed by big names (Visconti, De Sica, Pasolini) and paired with a woefully miscast Clint Eastwood. The other major attraction is a delightful music score by Piero Piccioni, with an assist from Ennio Morricone.
The Witches
Special Edition Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1967 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 120 (?) 111 105 min. / Le streghe / Street Date January 30, 2018 / 34.95
Starring: Silvana Mangano, Clint Eastwood, Annie Girardot, Francisco Rabal, Massimo Girotti, Véronique Vendell, Elsa Albani, Clara Calamai, Marilù Tolo, Nora Ricci, Dino Mele Dino Mele, Helmut Berger, Bruno Filippini, Leslie French, Alberto Sordi, Totò, Ciancicato Miao, Ninetto Davoli, Laura Betti, Luigi Leoni, Valentino Macchi, Corinne Fontaine, Armando Bottin, Gianni Gori, Paolo Gozlino, Franco Moruzzi, Angelo Santi, Pietro Torrisi.
Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno
Film Editors: Nino Baragli, Adriana Novelli, Mario Serandrei, Giorgio Serrallonga
Original Music: Ennio Morricone, Piero Piccioni
Written by Mauro Bolognini, Fabio Carpi,...
The Witches
Special Edition Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1967 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 120 (?) 111 105 min. / Le streghe / Street Date January 30, 2018 / 34.95
Starring: Silvana Mangano, Clint Eastwood, Annie Girardot, Francisco Rabal, Massimo Girotti, Véronique Vendell, Elsa Albani, Clara Calamai, Marilù Tolo, Nora Ricci, Dino Mele Dino Mele, Helmut Berger, Bruno Filippini, Leslie French, Alberto Sordi, Totò, Ciancicato Miao, Ninetto Davoli, Laura Betti, Luigi Leoni, Valentino Macchi, Corinne Fontaine, Armando Bottin, Gianni Gori, Paolo Gozlino, Franco Moruzzi, Angelo Santi, Pietro Torrisi.
Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno
Film Editors: Nino Baragli, Adriana Novelli, Mario Serandrei, Giorgio Serrallonga
Original Music: Ennio Morricone, Piero Piccioni
Written by Mauro Bolognini, Fabio Carpi,...
- 2/13/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Witches (1967) is now available on Blu-ray from Arrow Academy. It can be ordered Here
In the mid-sixties, famed producer Dino De Laurentiis brought together the talents of five celebrated Italian directors for an anthology film. Their brief was simple: to direct an episode in which Silvana Mangano (Bitter Rice, Ludwig) plays a witch.
Luchino Visconti (Ossessione, Death in Venice) and screenwriter Cesare Zavattini (Bicycle Thieves) open the film with The Witch Burned Alive, about a famous actress and a drunken evening that leads to unpleasant revelations. Civic Sense is a lightly comic interlude from Mauro Bolognini (The Lady of the Camelias) with a dark conclusion, and The Earth as Seen from the Moon sees Italian comedy legend Totò team up with Pier Paolo Pasolini (Theorem) for the first time for a tale of matrimony and a red-headed father and son. Franco Rosso (The Woman in the Painting) concocts a...
In the mid-sixties, famed producer Dino De Laurentiis brought together the talents of five celebrated Italian directors for an anthology film. Their brief was simple: to direct an episode in which Silvana Mangano (Bitter Rice, Ludwig) plays a witch.
Luchino Visconti (Ossessione, Death in Venice) and screenwriter Cesare Zavattini (Bicycle Thieves) open the film with The Witch Burned Alive, about a famous actress and a drunken evening that leads to unpleasant revelations. Civic Sense is a lightly comic interlude from Mauro Bolognini (The Lady of the Camelias) with a dark conclusion, and The Earth as Seen from the Moon sees Italian comedy legend Totò team up with Pier Paolo Pasolini (Theorem) for the first time for a tale of matrimony and a red-headed father and son. Franco Rosso (The Woman in the Painting) concocts a...
- 1/10/2018
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Even though everyone is pretty much amped that Pennywise and the newest adaptation of It are making their home entertainment debuts this Tuesday, we also have more great Blu-rays and DVD releases to look forward to as well. It’s a big week for Troma, as not only their latest feature, Hectic Knife, comes home on Blu this week, but Troma alum Trent Haaga’s wickedly wild crime caper 68 Kill is being released by Scream Factory and IFC Midnight.
Arrow Academy has put together a Special Edition release of The Witches, and a film that I really enjoyed out of Sundance 2017—Bad Day for the Cut—gets released this week via the fine folks over at Well Go USA. Other notable releases for January 9th include Friend Request and Nails.
68 Kill (Scream Factory/IFC Midnight, Blu-ray & DVD)
Trailer-dwelling, sewage-pumping Chip (Matthew Gray Gubler, Criminal Minds) may not lead the most glamorous life,...
Arrow Academy has put together a Special Edition release of The Witches, and a film that I really enjoyed out of Sundance 2017—Bad Day for the Cut—gets released this week via the fine folks over at Well Go USA. Other notable releases for January 9th include Friend Request and Nails.
68 Kill (Scream Factory/IFC Midnight, Blu-ray & DVD)
Trailer-dwelling, sewage-pumping Chip (Matthew Gray Gubler, Criminal Minds) may not lead the most glamorous life,...
- 1/9/2018
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This August will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Tuesday, August 1
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train
Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Tuesday, August 1
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train
Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.
- 7/24/2017
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
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
Close-Up is a column that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Vittorio de Sica's Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) is playing January 8 - February 6, 2017 in the United States.Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963), winner of the 1965 Oscar for Best Foreign Film, is a trio of stories directed by Vittorio De Sica in the omnibus fashion so popular at the time (just the year prior, he had contributed to the similarly structured Boccaccio ‘70, alongside Federico Fellini, Mario Monicelli, and Luchino Visconti). Spearheaded by international super-producer Carlo Ponti—helping to ensure global distribution and award-worthy prestige—the film is, first and foremost, a collaborative compendium of what partially defined the popular perception of its versatile director and its two leads, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.The first short, “Adelina,” was written by Eduardo De Filippo and Isabella Quarantotti, the second, “Anna,” by Bella Billa, Lorenza Zanuso, and one of Italian neorealism’s founding fathers,...
- 1/8/2017
- MUBI
Two Days, One Night
Written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Belgium/France/Italy, 2014
Are there any filmmakers working today with a better recent track record than Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne? From their 1996 feature La Promesse, to Two Days, One Night (2014), available now on a new Criterion Collection Blu-ray, the writing/directing duo have made seven classics of contemporary world cinema in a row, all of which were also among the best of their respective year of release. There have been six films up for the Palme d’Or, resulting in two wins (as well as five other Cannes awards), five César nominations, a host of critical accolades, and dozens of other honors spanning the globe (though curiously, no Oscar love for the brothers). Two Days, One Night, itself the winner of 40 international awards, is just the latest to follow this exceptional trend. It’s a film utterly unique in so many ways,...
Written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Belgium/France/Italy, 2014
Are there any filmmakers working today with a better recent track record than Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne? From their 1996 feature La Promesse, to Two Days, One Night (2014), available now on a new Criterion Collection Blu-ray, the writing/directing duo have made seven classics of contemporary world cinema in a row, all of which were also among the best of their respective year of release. There have been six films up for the Palme d’Or, resulting in two wins (as well as five other Cannes awards), five César nominations, a host of critical accolades, and dozens of other honors spanning the globe (though curiously, no Oscar love for the brothers). Two Days, One Night, itself the winner of 40 international awards, is just the latest to follow this exceptional trend. It’s a film utterly unique in so many ways,...
- 9/1/2015
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
'Father of the Bride': Steve Martin and Kimberly Williams. Top Five Father's Day Movies? From giant Gregory Peck to tyrant John Gielgud What would be the Top Five Father's Day movies ever made? Well, there have been countless films about fathers and/or featuring fathers of various sizes, shapes, and inclinations. In terms of quality, these range from the amusing – e.g., the 1950 version of Cheaper by the Dozen; the Oscar-nominated The Grandfather – to the nauseating – e.g., the 1950 version of Father of the Bride; its atrocious sequel, Father's Little Dividend. Although I'm unable to come up with the absolute Top Five Father's Day Movies – or rather, just plain Father Movies – ever made, below are the first five (actually six, including a remake) "quality" patriarch-centered films that come to mind. Now, the fathers portrayed in these films aren't all heroic, loving, and/or saintly paternal figures. Several are...
- 6/22/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Neil Simon, a first-time screenwriter with three hits running on Broadway, wanted Marcello Mastroianni to play the lead in this movie-biz caper comedy, but got Peter Sellers instead, who had always wanted to work with Vittorio De Sica. De Sica brought on his writer pal Cesare Zavattini. He and Simon wrote together through interpreters, but in the end Simon worried that De Sica’s Italian editors were killing the jokes. Pretty much ignored when released, it’s now a moderately popular cult item.
- 5/20/2015
- by Trailers From Hell
- Thompson on Hollywood
Neil Simon, a first-time screenwriter with three hits running on Broadway, wanted Marcello Mastroianni to play the lead in this 1966 movie-biz caper comedy, but got Peter Sellers instead, who had always wanted to work with Vittorio De Sica. De Sica brought on his writer pal Cesare Zavattini. He and Simon wrote together through interpreters, but in the end Simon worried that De Sica’s Italian editors were killing the jokes. Pretty much ignored when released, it’s now a moderately popular cult item.
- 9/5/2014
- by Trailers From Hell
- Thompson on Hollywood
Neil Simon, a first-time screenwriter with three hits running on Broadway, wanted Marcello Mastroianni to play the lead in this movie-biz caper comedy, but got Peter Sellers instead, who had always wanted to work with Vittorio De Sica. De Sica brought on his writer pal Cesare Zavattini. He and Simon wrote together through interpreters, but in the end Simon worried that De Sica's Italian editors were killing the jokes. Pretty much ignored when released, it's now a moderately popular cult item.
The post After the Fox appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post After the Fox appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 9/4/2014
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Essays, one audiovisual and one textual, on Jacques Rivette's Out 1 by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin top today's roundup of news and views. Also: J. Hoberman on a collection of shorts written by Cesare Zavattini and directed by the likes of Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini; Rainer Werner Fassbinder's influence on Richard Linklater; an interview with Heinz Emigholz; a chapter on Tom Cruise in Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (1999); a Roger Corman retrospective; and more. » - David Hudson...
- 8/7/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
Essays, one audiovisual and one textual, on Jacques Rivette's Out 1 by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin top today's roundup of news and views. Also: J. Hoberman on a collection of shorts written by Cesare Zavattini and directed by the likes of Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini; Rainer Werner Fassbinder's influence on Richard Linklater; an interview with Heinz Emigholz; a chapter on Tom Cruise in Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (1999); a Roger Corman retrospective; and more. » - David Hudson...
- 8/7/2014
- Keyframe
Italian writer, poet and film-maker who adapted and directed his own novels for the screen
The distinguished Italian novelist, poet and film-maker Alberto Bevilacqua has died aged 79. Bevilacqua was one of the most respected new Italian writers of the 1960s and won fame with two novels, both of which he adapted and directed successfully for the screen: La Califfa (The Lady Caliph), published in 1964 and filmed in 1970, and Questa Specie d'Amore (This Kind of Love), published in 1966 and filmed in 1972.
Bevilacqua was born in Parma and raised in a poor family. In his youth he wrote the novel Una Città in Amore (City of Love), which was reworked and published much later, about his adolescence in Parma and how he and his family took part in the Resistance movement. In 1955 he wrote a book of stories about local life in Parma, La Polvere sull'Erba (Dust in the grass), which was...
The distinguished Italian novelist, poet and film-maker Alberto Bevilacqua has died aged 79. Bevilacqua was one of the most respected new Italian writers of the 1960s and won fame with two novels, both of which he adapted and directed successfully for the screen: La Califfa (The Lady Caliph), published in 1964 and filmed in 1970, and Questa Specie d'Amore (This Kind of Love), published in 1966 and filmed in 1972.
Bevilacqua was born in Parma and raised in a poor family. In his youth he wrote the novel Una Città in Amore (City of Love), which was reworked and published much later, about his adolescence in Parma and how he and his family took part in the Resistance movement. In 1955 he wrote a book of stories about local life in Parma, La Polvere sull'Erba (Dust in the grass), which was...
- 9/15/2013
- by John Francis Lane
- The Guardian - Film News
Scola comes out of retirement for first film in 10 years, How Strange to be Called Federico!.
Italian director Ettore Scola has unveiled more details of his upcoming tribute to his friend and fellow filmmaker Federico Fellini, which is due for release in Italy this autumn to mark the 20th anniversary of the La Dolce Vita director’s death.
Entitled How Strange to be Called Federico!, the hybrid work combining archive footage and re-enactments of Scola’s memories of Fellini is currently in post-production.
The original Italian title - Che Strano Chiamarsi Federico! - is an allusion to a line in a poem by Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca.
“I don’t know what will come out of this. I am as curious as you are to discover it. The intentions and emotions are all there but it’s not ready yet,” Scola told a packed news conference in Rome’s Cinecittà film studios on Tuesday.
The $2.6m (€2m...
Italian director Ettore Scola has unveiled more details of his upcoming tribute to his friend and fellow filmmaker Federico Fellini, which is due for release in Italy this autumn to mark the 20th anniversary of the La Dolce Vita director’s death.
Entitled How Strange to be Called Federico!, the hybrid work combining archive footage and re-enactments of Scola’s memories of Fellini is currently in post-production.
The original Italian title - Che Strano Chiamarsi Federico! - is an allusion to a line in a poem by Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca.
“I don’t know what will come out of this. I am as curious as you are to discover it. The intentions and emotions are all there but it’s not ready yet,” Scola told a packed news conference in Rome’s Cinecittà film studios on Tuesday.
The $2.6m (€2m...
- 6/5/2013
- ScreenDaily
Miracle In Milan
Stars: Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, Paolo Stoppa, Guglielmo Barnabò | Written by Cesare Zavattini | Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Films carry power, whether it’s to just merely entertain or to get an emotional reaction from the water they still gain a reaction. When a film fails the reaction they get can range from pure hatred to just pure boredom. Of course there is no reason to hate a film just because it’s bad, sure have a dislike for it but don’t waste emotion on hate, just don’t watch the film ever again. That said it’s always fun to bitch about one that truly sucks. Miracle in Milan is one that I would argue brings happiness, it’s a true feel good film.
Some films can be seen as a kind of social commentary, and this could be said about Miracle in Milan, even...
Stars: Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, Paolo Stoppa, Guglielmo Barnabò | Written by Cesare Zavattini | Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Films carry power, whether it’s to just merely entertain or to get an emotional reaction from the water they still gain a reaction. When a film fails the reaction they get can range from pure hatred to just pure boredom. Of course there is no reason to hate a film just because it’s bad, sure have a dislike for it but don’t waste emotion on hate, just don’t watch the film ever again. That said it’s always fun to bitch about one that truly sucks. Miracle in Milan is one that I would argue brings happiness, it’s a true feel good film.
Some films can be seen as a kind of social commentary, and this could be said about Miracle in Milan, even...
- 4/17/2012
- by Pzomb
- Nerdly
As happened for so many other genres, the 1960s/1970s saw a tremendous creative expansion in crime and cop thrillers. The old Hollywood moguls had died off or retired, most of the major studios were bleeding red ink, attendance had gone off a cliff since the end of Ww II, and a new breed of young, creatively adventurous production executives had been tasked with trying to save their business by coming up with movies which could hook a new, young, cinema-literate audience.
It also happened to be one of the most socially turbulent times in American history. Even before the American public grew restive over the growing disaster in Vietnam, the social fabric was unraveling with self-examination and doubt. The Cold War; a certain inner emptiness that went with a period of great material prosperity; once invisible fault lines on matters of race and gender discrimination beginning to crack – all...
It also happened to be one of the most socially turbulent times in American history. Even before the American public grew restive over the growing disaster in Vietnam, the social fabric was unraveling with self-examination and doubt. The Cold War; a certain inner emptiness that went with a period of great material prosperity; once invisible fault lines on matters of race and gender discrimination beginning to crack – all...
- 3/22/2012
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Larry chases After The Fox.
Neil Simon, a first-time screenwriter with three hits running on Broadway, wanted Marcello Mastroianni to play the lead in this movie-biz caper comedy, but got Peter Sellers instead, who had always wanted to work with Vittorio De Sica. De Sica brought on his writer pal Cesare Zavattini. He and Simon wrote together through interpreters, but in the end Simon worried that De Sica’s Italian editors were killing the jokes. Pretty much ignored when released, it’s now a moderately popular cult item.
Click here to watch the trailer.
One of the huge benefits of following Trailers From Hell on a day-to-day basis is that you start in on a grasp of what’s driving certain gurus at any certain time. Larry Karaszewski? He’s currently our go to guy for late-1960′s/early 1970′s comedies like Who’s Minding the Mint?, Get to Know Your Rabbit,...
Neil Simon, a first-time screenwriter with three hits running on Broadway, wanted Marcello Mastroianni to play the lead in this movie-biz caper comedy, but got Peter Sellers instead, who had always wanted to work with Vittorio De Sica. De Sica brought on his writer pal Cesare Zavattini. He and Simon wrote together through interpreters, but in the end Simon worried that De Sica’s Italian editors were killing the jokes. Pretty much ignored when released, it’s now a moderately popular cult item.
Click here to watch the trailer.
One of the huge benefits of following Trailers From Hell on a day-to-day basis is that you start in on a grasp of what’s driving certain gurus at any certain time. Larry Karaszewski? He’s currently our go to guy for late-1960′s/early 1970′s comedies like Who’s Minding the Mint?, Get to Know Your Rabbit,...
- 7/15/2011
- by Danny
- Trailers from Hell
The films of Fellini, Pasolini, and De Sica. The week’s preview lies ahead.
On Monday, July 11, join John Landis for the trailer to La Strada.
The film that put Federico Fellini on the map internationally, with his wife Giuliana Masina’s indelible performance as the waif mistreated by brutish strongman Anthony Quinn. Richard Basehart provides further Us name value although he doesn’t dub himself in the English version. Winner of the first Academy Award for foreign language film in 1956.
On Wednesday, July 13, join Bernard Rose for the trailer to The Decameron.
Nine 14th-century scatological stories from Boccaccio’s Decameron form the basis of the first entry in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “Trilogy of Life”, followed by The Canterbury Tales and Arabian Nights. Trailers from Hell welcomes filmmaker Bernard Rose to its guru ranks with his thoughts about this typically eye catching Alberto Grimaldi production, complete with Morricone score.
On Monday, July 11, join John Landis for the trailer to La Strada.
The film that put Federico Fellini on the map internationally, with his wife Giuliana Masina’s indelible performance as the waif mistreated by brutish strongman Anthony Quinn. Richard Basehart provides further Us name value although he doesn’t dub himself in the English version. Winner of the first Academy Award for foreign language film in 1956.
On Wednesday, July 13, join Bernard Rose for the trailer to The Decameron.
Nine 14th-century scatological stories from Boccaccio’s Decameron form the basis of the first entry in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “Trilogy of Life”, followed by The Canterbury Tales and Arabian Nights. Trailers from Hell welcomes filmmaker Bernard Rose to its guru ranks with his thoughts about this typically eye catching Alberto Grimaldi production, complete with Morricone score.
- 7/11/2011
- by Danny
- Trailers from Hell
Another week has gone by and as usual, Criterion has put up some choice content on their page on Hulu Plus. Using the service more than ever to stream films that I’ve seen before and don’t own or have never even heard of until Criterion put them up, I’ve valued Hulu Plus more than ever. I also want to thank all those who have used our referral link to sign up. It pays for this article to keep going so please, sign up here to keep it going with no hiccups whatsoever. But you want to know what new and amazing films are streaming. So without further adieu…
It’s Alain Resnais’ birthday so you should be streaming his film Night And Fog (1955), a very harsh and intense depiction of the Holocaust, one of the first truthful accounts around.
Also you can stream the film we’re covering this week,...
It’s Alain Resnais’ birthday so you should be streaming his film Night And Fog (1955), a very harsh and intense depiction of the Holocaust, one of the first truthful accounts around.
Also you can stream the film we’re covering this week,...
- 6/4/2011
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
Vittorio De Sica, director of Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette), was a leading force in the neorealist movement in Italy. It’s no wonder that this 1948 film is the one people point to as the perfect example in the genre. A crowning achievement, not only in this particular genre but in film in general, De Sica’s film won an honorary Oscar in 1950 and was listed in many ‘best of’ lists, especially Sight & Sound’s poll for greatest film of all time by 1952, 4 years after it’s release. Since then it’s been regarded as one of the best films of all time and for good reason. It is a story that still resonates, even in today’s world.
Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) is a husband and a father who is desperate for a job. He goes to the local job club and as luck would have it, he gets an offer.
Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) is a husband and a father who is desperate for a job. He goes to the local job club and as luck would have it, he gets an offer.
- 5/22/2011
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
Beverly Hills, CA – Oscar®-winning director Martin Scorsese will inaugurate the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “Member Selects” evening with a screening of “The Bicycle Thief” (1948) on Monday, May 16, at 7 p.m. at the Academy Theater at Lighthouse International in New York City. Scorsese will introduce the program, which is part of the Academy’s ongoing “Monday Nights with Oscar” film series.
Voted by the Academy Board of Governors as “the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States during 1949,” “The Bicycle Thief” is a story of a father and son desperately combing the streets of post-World War II Rome in search of a stolen bicycle.
The father, who has been unemployed for a long time and is struggling to make ends meet, finally finds work posting flyers and scrapes together the funds to buy a bicycle. When his only means of transportation is stolen on his first day of work,...
Voted by the Academy Board of Governors as “the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States during 1949,” “The Bicycle Thief” is a story of a father and son desperately combing the streets of post-World War II Rome in search of a stolen bicycle.
The father, who has been unemployed for a long time and is struggling to make ends meet, finally finds work posting flyers and scrapes together the funds to buy a bicycle. When his only means of transportation is stolen on his first day of work,...
- 5/10/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Great movie, huh? So refreshing to see something like this after all these… cop movies and, you know, things we do. Maybe we’ll do a remake of this!”
So says Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), the amoral producer in Robert Altman’s The Player. So unassailable is the popular opinion surrounding Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves that Altman uses the film as shorthand for the kind of untouchable classic that Hollywood could so easily ruin.
Closely associated with Italian neorealism, even defining the ‘movement’ for some, Bicycle Thieves tells a relatively simple story of a working class man, Antonio Ricci (Lamerto Maggiorani). Antonio’s bike is stolen and, unable to work without it, he desperately searches the streets of Rome, trying to find this simple item that represents a lifeline for him. Accompanied by his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola), Antonio’s search becomes an seemingly unending quest to which there is no happy resolution.
So says Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), the amoral producer in Robert Altman’s The Player. So unassailable is the popular opinion surrounding Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves that Altman uses the film as shorthand for the kind of untouchable classic that Hollywood could so easily ruin.
Closely associated with Italian neorealism, even defining the ‘movement’ for some, Bicycle Thieves tells a relatively simple story of a working class man, Antonio Ricci (Lamerto Maggiorani). Antonio’s bike is stolen and, unable to work without it, he desperately searches the streets of Rome, trying to find this simple item that represents a lifeline for him. Accompanied by his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola), Antonio’s search becomes an seemingly unending quest to which there is no happy resolution.
- 4/19/2011
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Tron/Tron: Legacy
Blu-ray, Walt Disney
The release of the belated sequel to Tron was greeted as open season to unfairly ridicule the original.
It flopped at the box office, but remember, 1982 was the year of Et; everything not Et flopped that year, leaving Tron to keep company with Blade Runner, The Thing and Conan, and there's no shame in that. Tron was staggeringly ahead of its time – its makers had no idea if any of it was even possible to achieve – proving Disney to be a far more innovative and progressive studio than it gets credit for. With stunning Syd Mead and Moebius design and the mix of early CGI (often little more than lines of perspective and colour) and hand-augmented live action, it still looks unique. At least star Jeff Bridges recognised its worth, which is why his first film after his Oscar-winning turn in Crazy Heart was...
Blu-ray, Walt Disney
The release of the belated sequel to Tron was greeted as open season to unfairly ridicule the original.
It flopped at the box office, but remember, 1982 was the year of Et; everything not Et flopped that year, leaving Tron to keep company with Blade Runner, The Thing and Conan, and there's no shame in that. Tron was staggeringly ahead of its time – its makers had no idea if any of it was even possible to achieve – proving Disney to be a far more innovative and progressive studio than it gets credit for. With stunning Syd Mead and Moebius design and the mix of early CGI (often little more than lines of perspective and colour) and hand-augmented live action, it still looks unique. At least star Jeff Bridges recognised its worth, which is why his first film after his Oscar-winning turn in Crazy Heart was...
- 4/15/2011
- by Phelim O'Neill
- The Guardian - Film News
Umberto D. (1952) Direction: Vittorio De Sica Cast: Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari Screenplay: Cesare Zavattini Oscar Movies Flike, Carlo Battisti, Umberto D. By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica Lost between the glare of The Bicycle Thief (1948) and his later films with Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica's 1952 drama Umberto D. stands as an almost forgotten masterpiece of Italian neorealism and one of the last films that could claim to be of that movement alone. Upon its release, Umberto D. was pilloried by a few cineastes who, unable to understand the chasm between true sentiment and false sentimentality, found it too maudlin, and by myopic critics — mostly left-wing dilettantes — who thought that the formerly middle-class civil servant's tale was not "socially conscious" enough for the filmmaker to waste his talents on. Umberto D. flopped, but it has steadily risen in De Sica's pantheon; it is now thought of as [...]...
- 3/14/2011
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
Italian screenwriter who worked with directors such as Visconti and Zeffirelli
The Italian screenwriter Suso Cecchi d'Amico, who has died aged 96, collaborated on the scripts of more than 100 films, including Vittorio De Sica's Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, 1948), William Wyler's Roman Holiday (1953), Mario Monicelli's I Soliti Ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street, 1958) and Francesco Rosi's Salvatore Giuliano (1962). She also worked with Michelangelo Antonioni on Le Amiche (The Girlfriends, 1955) and Franco Zeffirelli on Jesus of Nazareth (1977), but she was best known for her creative contribution to the films of Luchino Visconti, including Il Gattopardo (The Leopard, 1963).
She was born Giovanna Cecchi in Rome to a Tuscan painter, Leonetta Pieraccini, and the literary critic Emilio Cecchi, a major figure in 20th-century Italian letters. For a few years in the early 1930s, before the Cinecittà studios were built in Rome, her father had been entrusted by Mussolini's government with...
The Italian screenwriter Suso Cecchi d'Amico, who has died aged 96, collaborated on the scripts of more than 100 films, including Vittorio De Sica's Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, 1948), William Wyler's Roman Holiday (1953), Mario Monicelli's I Soliti Ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street, 1958) and Francesco Rosi's Salvatore Giuliano (1962). She also worked with Michelangelo Antonioni on Le Amiche (The Girlfriends, 1955) and Franco Zeffirelli on Jesus of Nazareth (1977), but she was best known for her creative contribution to the films of Luchino Visconti, including Il Gattopardo (The Leopard, 1963).
She was born Giovanna Cecchi in Rome to a Tuscan painter, Leonetta Pieraccini, and the literary critic Emilio Cecchi, a major figure in 20th-century Italian letters. For a few years in the early 1930s, before the Cinecittà studios were built in Rome, her father had been entrusted by Mussolini's government with...
- 8/1/2010
- by John Francis Lane
- The Guardian - Film News
Rome - Screenwriter Suso Cecchi D'Amico, who emerged from Italy's male-dominated post-war cinema boom to contribute to some of its most celebrated films, including Bicycle Thieves, died Saturday. She was 96. Her death was announced by relatives who said Cecchi D'Amico had been ill for some time, the Ansa newsagency reported. In Bicycle Thieves, Cecchi D'Amico together with director Vittorio De Sica and fellow screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, helped craft one of the finest examples of what has become known as the neo-realist school of cinema. The 1948 film's final, heart-wrenching scene, when the protagonist Antonio attempts to steal a bicycle, but is caught and humiliated by a crowd in front of his young son, was penned...
- 7/31/2010
- Monsters and Critics
With its silent superspectacles, postwar neo-realism and 1960s new wave, the Italian film industry has enjoyed three major periods of international influence. In between times, it has assimilated the technological advances and dramatic styles of foreign competitors and used them to shape such local trends as the `white telephone' film, calligraphism, giallo, the `sword and sandal' epic, the `spaghetti' Western and the dialect comedy.
Over the years, the unexpected has become commonplace. Therefore, it's no surprise to see Gianni di Gregorio, the screenwriter of the uncompromising crime saga Gomorrah, making his directorial debut with Mid-August Lunch, a charming comedy of bourgeois manners, whose unforced naturalism, social insight and deceptive wit hark back to a golden age that is recalled here by MovieMail - the best place to buy classic movies and world cinema on DVD.
After two decades of propaganda and pictorialism, Italian film went back to basics after the Second World War.
Over the years, the unexpected has become commonplace. Therefore, it's no surprise to see Gianni di Gregorio, the screenwriter of the uncompromising crime saga Gomorrah, making his directorial debut with Mid-August Lunch, a charming comedy of bourgeois manners, whose unforced naturalism, social insight and deceptive wit hark back to a golden age that is recalled here by MovieMail - the best place to buy classic movies and world cinema on DVD.
After two decades of propaganda and pictorialism, Italian film went back to basics after the Second World War.
- 11/10/2009
- Screenrush
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