Paola Cortellesi’s directing debut, in which she also stars, depicts gruelling domestic abuse before finding its way to startling redemption
Italian actor and singer Paola Cortellesi has been breaking hearts and box office records on her home turf with this directing debut. It’s a richly and even outrageously sentimental working-class drama of postwar Rome, a story of domestic abuse whose heroine finally escapes from misogyny and cruelty through a piece of narrative sleight-of-hand that borders on magic-neorealism, performed with shameless theatrical flair and marvellously composed in luminous monochrome. The film pays homage to early pictures by De Sica and Fellini, and Cortellesi’s own performance is consciously in the spirit of movie divas such as Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren and Giulietta Masina.
The scene is Rome just after the end of the second world war, when American GIs were a presence on the streets and Italian women had...
Italian actor and singer Paola Cortellesi has been breaking hearts and box office records on her home turf with this directing debut. It’s a richly and even outrageously sentimental working-class drama of postwar Rome, a story of domestic abuse whose heroine finally escapes from misogyny and cruelty through a piece of narrative sleight-of-hand that borders on magic-neorealism, performed with shameless theatrical flair and marvellously composed in luminous monochrome. The film pays homage to early pictures by De Sica and Fellini, and Cortellesi’s own performance is consciously in the spirit of movie divas such as Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren and Giulietta Masina.
The scene is Rome just after the end of the second world war, when American GIs were a presence on the streets and Italian women had...
- 4/25/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Marlon Brando – the man whom Time magazine crowned the greatest actor of the 20th century back in 1998 – would be celebrating his 100th birthday today had he not died 20 years ago. Born on April 3, 1924, Brando was a fascinating if divisive character, a perpetually enigmatic figure whose impact not only on the acting profession but on American popular culture itself can’t be overstated. He starred in numerous iconic roles, from Stanley Kowalski in “A Streetcar Named Desire” to Terry Malloy in “On the Waterfront” to Julius Caesar in “Julius Caesar” to Vito Corleone in “The Godfather.”
While he wound up nominated for eight Academy Awards and six Golden Globes and won two of each, it was the one honor Brando rejected, of course, that came to define his awards legacy: his Best Actor win for “The Godfather” in 1973 in which he sent actress and purported Native American representative Sacheen Littlefeather (a.
While he wound up nominated for eight Academy Awards and six Golden Globes and won two of each, it was the one honor Brando rejected, of course, that came to define his awards legacy: his Best Actor win for “The Godfather” in 1973 in which he sent actress and purported Native American representative Sacheen Littlefeather (a.
- 4/3/2024
- by Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
In “Crossing,” the new film from “And Then We Danced” director Levan Akin, the earthy spirit of Italian icon Anna Magnani is channeled by not one but two actresses who resemble her. There’s Mzia Arabuli as Lia, a retired schoolteacher on a journey from Batumi in Georgia to Istanbul in Turkey to find her missing trans niece, and Deniz Dumanli as Evrim, the trans Ngo lawyer the movie dupes us into thinking is Lia’s niece. The two women are as far apart on the joie de vivre spectrum as any pair could be — Lia has calcified into an emotionless stone who gives away nothing, while Evrim lives freely and sexually liberated in an otherwise LGBTQ-challenged country — yet “Crossing” movingly bridges the space between them as Lia gets closer to locating her niece with the help a Gen Z Georgian teenager named Achi (Lucas Kankava).
That these two women look so alike,...
That these two women look so alike,...
- 2/15/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Marisa Pavan, the Italian actress and twin sister of Pier Angeli who received an Oscar nomination for her performance as the daughter of Anna Magnani’s seamstress in the 1955 drama The Rose Tattoo, has died. She was 91.
Pavan died Wednesday in her sleep at her home in Gassin, France, near Saint-Tropez, Margaux Soumoy, who wrote Pavan’s 2021 biography, Drop the Baby; Put a Veil on the Broad!, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Pavan also portrayed the French queen Catherine de’ Medici in Diane (1956), starring Lana Turner; an Italian girl who had an affair years ago with a corporate exec (Gregory Peck) in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956); and the love interest of a former cop (Tony Curtis) investigating the murder of a priest in the film noir The Midnight Story (1957).
In Paramount’s The Rose Tattoo (1955), an adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play that won four Tony Awards, including best play,...
Pavan died Wednesday in her sleep at her home in Gassin, France, near Saint-Tropez, Margaux Soumoy, who wrote Pavan’s 2021 biography, Drop the Baby; Put a Veil on the Broad!, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Pavan also portrayed the French queen Catherine de’ Medici in Diane (1956), starring Lana Turner; an Italian girl who had an affair years ago with a corporate exec (Gregory Peck) in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956); and the love interest of a former cop (Tony Curtis) investigating the murder of a priest in the film noir The Midnight Story (1957).
In Paramount’s The Rose Tattoo (1955), an adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play that won four Tony Awards, including best play,...
- 12/6/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Stella Dallas.In the final scene of Stella Dallas (1925), the title character stands in a dark city street in the rain, peering through a window at her daughter’s wedding. This famous image inescapably suggests a viewer gazing at a movie screen: the lighted square of the window, framed by lace-trimmed drapes, even closely matches the aspect ratio of films from the time. This resemblance adds a subtle element of self-commentary to the scene, in which Stella is both punished and exalted. Having exiled herself from her child’s life so as not to hold her back, she gets to witness the fruit of her sacrifice while paying the bitter price, as a policeman curtly orders the bedraggled woman to move along.When I saw Stella Dallas, newly restored by the Museum of Modern Art, at Il Cinema Ritrovato 2023 in Bologna, I responded to this scene exactly as I was...
- 9/20/2023
- MUBI
Peter Gonzales Falcon, the actor from Texas who portrayed a young Federico Fellini in Roma, the famed Italian director’s 1972 autobiographical film, has died. He was 74.
Gonzales Falcon was found dead at his home Tuesday in La Pryor, Texas, by authorities called there for a safety check, his friend Aurelio Montemayor told The Hollywood Reporter.
After dropping out of college after being cast in Viva Max (1969), a farcical present-day comedy about retaking the Alamo, Gonzales Falcon was hired by Fellini himself for Roma, which featured cameos from Anna Magnani, Marcello Mastroianni and Gore Vidal.
Segments of the film show Gonzales Falcon as Fellini during the 1930s and ’40s after the future filmmaker arrives in Rome to pursue a career as a journalist and wanders the city to experience what it has to offer. He worked on the documentary-style feature for 41 weeks, he told author Tom Lisanti during an expansive 2018 interview.
Gonzales Falcon was found dead at his home Tuesday in La Pryor, Texas, by authorities called there for a safety check, his friend Aurelio Montemayor told The Hollywood Reporter.
After dropping out of college after being cast in Viva Max (1969), a farcical present-day comedy about retaking the Alamo, Gonzales Falcon was hired by Fellini himself for Roma, which featured cameos from Anna Magnani, Marcello Mastroianni and Gore Vidal.
Segments of the film show Gonzales Falcon as Fellini during the 1930s and ’40s after the future filmmaker arrives in Rome to pursue a career as a journalist and wanders the city to experience what it has to offer. He worked on the documentary-style feature for 41 weeks, he told author Tom Lisanti during an expansive 2018 interview.
- 8/24/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Recently restored versions of William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “One From the Heart” feature in the Venice Classics section of the 80th Venice Film Festival.
The lineup of recently restored films in Venice Classics, which is curated by the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera in collaboration with Federico Gironi, was unveiled on Friday.
“The Exorcist” is screened, 50 years after it was produced by Warner Bros., alongside Disney’s “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” starring Shirley Temple and directed by “the prolific and sometimes brilliant” Allan Dwan, to mark the Hollywood studios’ 100th anniversaries.
“One From the Heart” and Arturo Ripstein’s “Deep Crimson” are “not just restored, but also revised by the filmmakers themselves in what are genuine Director’s Cuts,” Barbera and Gironi said, while Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece “Andrei Rublev” will be presented in the reconstruction of the original version,...
The lineup of recently restored films in Venice Classics, which is curated by the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera in collaboration with Federico Gironi, was unveiled on Friday.
“The Exorcist” is screened, 50 years after it was produced by Warner Bros., alongside Disney’s “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” starring Shirley Temple and directed by “the prolific and sometimes brilliant” Allan Dwan, to mark the Hollywood studios’ 100th anniversaries.
“One From the Heart” and Arturo Ripstein’s “Deep Crimson” are “not just restored, but also revised by the filmmakers themselves in what are genuine Director’s Cuts,” Barbera and Gironi said, while Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece “Andrei Rublev” will be presented in the reconstruction of the original version,...
- 7/21/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
A kindred spirit of Luis Buñuel, but one whose existential compulsions are more palpable, Pier Paolo Pasolini perpetually rebelled against moral hegemony, commiserating with outcasts and creating and dying as one. Today, his canon has been co-opted by forces on the right and left, the faithful and the secular. Which is to say, he belongs to us all.
The Criterion Collection’s new box set, Pasolini 101, represents the most comprehensive collection of Pasolini’s films to date, collecting nine of his features, as well as two shorts (1963’s La Ricotta and 1969’s The Sequence of the Paper Flower) that he made for anthology films and two documentaries that he shot during his travels. In addition to his own work, the set’s extensive and richly informative extras, among them two commentary tracks and a 100-page book featuring an essay and notes on the films by critic James Quandt, remind us...
The Criterion Collection’s new box set, Pasolini 101, represents the most comprehensive collection of Pasolini’s films to date, collecting nine of his features, as well as two shorts (1963’s La Ricotta and 1969’s The Sequence of the Paper Flower) that he made for anthology films and two documentaries that he shot during his travels. In addition to his own work, the set’s extensive and richly informative extras, among them two commentary tracks and a 100-page book featuring an essay and notes on the films by critic James Quandt, remind us...
- 6/20/2023
- by Ed Gonzalez
- Slant Magazine
Movie star John Wayne rightfully received a lot of criticism for racist statements that he made over the years. His harmful words ultimately overshadowed his monumental career in Western and war movies. So much so, that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences asked Wayne to present the Oscar for Best Actress on March 26, 1958.
John Wayne said racist statements in his 1971 Playboy interview John Wayne | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Wayne said racist statements in his 1971 Playboy interview that will always haunt his memory. He wasn’t very fond of Native Americans, calling them selfish for not sharing their land. The actor didn’t think white folks did anything wrong by taking the country.
Additionally, Wayne had negative statements about Black people. Perhaps the most infamous part of the interview saw him admit, “I believe in white supremacy until the Blacks are educated to a point of responsibility.”
These...
John Wayne said racist statements in his 1971 Playboy interview John Wayne | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Wayne said racist statements in his 1971 Playboy interview that will always haunt his memory. He wasn’t very fond of Native Americans, calling them selfish for not sharing their land. The actor didn’t think white folks did anything wrong by taking the country.
Additionally, Wayne had negative statements about Black people. Perhaps the most infamous part of the interview saw him admit, “I believe in white supremacy until the Blacks are educated to a point of responsibility.”
These...
- 3/26/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Prior to becoming an actor, Giancarlo Giannini, who on March 6 will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, studied electronic engineering, a skill he’s been known to put to good use even on movie sets.
“I was meant to start working on the first artificial satellites, or on the first computers at Ibm,” the Italian film and theater thesp recalls. But then Giannini enrolled in acting school and soon was given major roles, first by Franco Zeffirelli and then by Lina Wertmüller, with whom he went on to make nine movies that brought them both international fame.
“I owe it to Lina that I will be getting the star. The only other Italian actor who has one is Rudolph Valentino,” he notes.
Before traveling to Los Angeles, Giannini spoke to Variety about his career journey and what he learned from Anna Magnani, Marlon Brando and Marcello Mastroianni.
“I was meant to start working on the first artificial satellites, or on the first computers at Ibm,” the Italian film and theater thesp recalls. But then Giannini enrolled in acting school and soon was given major roles, first by Franco Zeffirelli and then by Lina Wertmüller, with whom he went on to make nine movies that brought them both international fame.
“I owe it to Lina that I will be getting the star. The only other Italian actor who has one is Rudolph Valentino,” he notes.
Before traveling to Los Angeles, Giannini spoke to Variety about his career journey and what he learned from Anna Magnani, Marlon Brando and Marcello Mastroianni.
- 3/2/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
A year after receiving her first Oscar nomination for her 16-minute supporting turn in “The Help,” Jessica Chastain landed a Best Actress bid for a performance more than three times as large in “Zero Dark Thirty.” Nine years after losing to Jennifer Lawrence, whose “Silver Linings Playbook” performance was seven minutes shorter than hers, she returned and took the gold for her massive role in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” Her screen time of one hour, 36 minutes, and 42 seconds in the film is the fifth longest among all 97 winners of the lead female Oscar and the 23rd highest among the category’s nearly 500 nominees.
Chastain’s 2022 Oscar victory made her the third consecutive Best Actress winner to cross both the 80 minute and 74 screen time marks, after Renée Zellweger (“Judy”) and Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”). The only performances lengthier than hers to have ever merited wins in this category are those of...
Chastain’s 2022 Oscar victory made her the third consecutive Best Actress winner to cross both the 80 minute and 74 screen time marks, after Renée Zellweger (“Judy”) and Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”). The only performances lengthier than hers to have ever merited wins in this category are those of...
- 1/22/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
The pseudonymous novelist Elena Ferrante’s appeal to television producers remains as clear as the Tyrrhenian Sea. Sun-kissed Italian locations; prominent female leads, afforded greater agency than the Italian media have traditionally afforded their women; material that’s genre-adjacent, but open to more emotion than genre mechanics typically allow. As HBO’s much-lauded ‘My Brilliant Friend’ — three seasons in, headed for a fourth — has demonstrated, Ferrante’s flinty prose excavates not just time and place, but class and attitudes. That these projects function as deluxe soap is down to the abrasive element of social history salted into their fragrance and colouring: To wallow in these texts is to better understand how Italians used to live.
Netflix’s new six-part adaptation of Ferrante’s “The Lying Life of Adults” is framed as the coming-of-age of a sleuthy heroine; the mystery she stumbles into concerns her own extended family. When we meet...
Netflix’s new six-part adaptation of Ferrante’s “The Lying Life of Adults” is framed as the coming-of-age of a sleuthy heroine; the mystery she stumbles into concerns her own extended family. When we meet...
- 1/2/2023
- by Mike McCahill
- Variety Film + TV
Backstage at the Valentino Haute Couture Spring 2020 collection with Hannelore Knuts and creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli Photo: Archivio Fotografico Paolo Di Paolo
Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti, Anna Magnani, Michelangelo Antonioni, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Charlotte Rampling, Grace Kelly, Marcello Mastroianni, Rudolf Nureyev, Sophia Loren, Ezra Pound, Faye Dunaway, Monica Vitti, Giorgio de Chirico, Gina Lollobrigida, Tennessee Williams, Marlene Dietrich, Giulietta Masina, Simone Signoret, Yves Montand, Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Anita Ekberg, Vittorio De Sica, Alberto Moravia, and many others were photographed by Bruce Weber’s muse and subject of his latest documentary The Treasure Of His Youth: The Photographs Of Paolo Di Paolo, which starts with an overture of images and film clips. After putting his camera away for decades we see di Paolo return to shoot Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Valentino Haute Couture Spring 2020 collection.
Paolo di Paolo with Silvia di Paolo and Anne-Katrin Titze on Tennessee Williams: “I...
Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti, Anna Magnani, Michelangelo Antonioni, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Charlotte Rampling, Grace Kelly, Marcello Mastroianni, Rudolf Nureyev, Sophia Loren, Ezra Pound, Faye Dunaway, Monica Vitti, Giorgio de Chirico, Gina Lollobrigida, Tennessee Williams, Marlene Dietrich, Giulietta Masina, Simone Signoret, Yves Montand, Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Anita Ekberg, Vittorio De Sica, Alberto Moravia, and many others were photographed by Bruce Weber’s muse and subject of his latest documentary The Treasure Of His Youth: The Photographs Of Paolo Di Paolo, which starts with an overture of images and film clips. After putting his camera away for decades we see di Paolo return to shoot Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Valentino Haute Couture Spring 2020 collection.
Paolo di Paolo with Silvia di Paolo and Anne-Katrin Titze on Tennessee Williams: “I...
- 12/7/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Bassem Breche raised controversy with his maternal melodrama “Riverbed” following its world premiere at Cairo Film Festival.
The story, a Lebanon and Qatar production shown in the Horizons of Arab Cinema section, sees a mother (Carole Abboud) and her pregnant daughter (Omaya Malaaeb) reunite under dramatic circumstances.
While it picked up multiple gongs at the fest, including one for Abboud’s performance and a special jury award, it also ruffled some feathers, mostly due to its depictions of female sexuality and abortion.
“During a Q&a at the festival, the conversation ended up focusing entirely on abortion. It was tough for me. I wasn’t expecting that,” Breche tells Variety after the ceremony.
“I don’t think anyone sets out to make ‘controversial’ films. I just have so many questions about families in general, I am interested in them. In the film, I am not wondering if abortion is halal...
The story, a Lebanon and Qatar production shown in the Horizons of Arab Cinema section, sees a mother (Carole Abboud) and her pregnant daughter (Omaya Malaaeb) reunite under dramatic circumstances.
While it picked up multiple gongs at the fest, including one for Abboud’s performance and a special jury award, it also ruffled some feathers, mostly due to its depictions of female sexuality and abortion.
“During a Q&a at the festival, the conversation ended up focusing entirely on abortion. It was tough for me. I wasn’t expecting that,” Breche tells Variety after the ceremony.
“I don’t think anyone sets out to make ‘controversial’ films. I just have so many questions about families in general, I am interested in them. In the film, I am not wondering if abortion is halal...
- 11/23/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
It’s easy to take Anne Hathaway for granted. She’s that smart tall girl who always does her homework, raises her hand, and knows the answer. She’s been in demand in Hollywood since her 2001 breakout in “The Princess Diaries” and she’s been rewarded for her doing her best: She earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her recovering addict in Jonathan Demme’s 2009 drama “Rachel Getting Married, and she won the Supporting Actress Oscar in 2013 for her moist and skeletal singing of “I Dreamed a Dream” in “Les Misérables.”
And then, social media slagged Hathaway for her goody-two-shoes perfectionism. At last week’s Elle annual Women in Hollywood tribute, Hathaway admitted that her time in the virtual hate box left scars. “Ten years ago, I was given an opportunity to look at the language of hatred from a new perspective,” she said. “For context — this was a...
And then, social media slagged Hathaway for her goody-two-shoes perfectionism. At last week’s Elle annual Women in Hollywood tribute, Hathaway admitted that her time in the virtual hate box left scars. “Ten years ago, I was given an opportunity to look at the language of hatred from a new perspective,” she said. “For context — this was a...
- 10/25/2022
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
IndieWire can exclusively announce that New York City’s Film at Lincoln Center (Flc) has promoted Florence Almozini to the role of Senior Director of Programming after a comprehensive, months-long search. Her predecessor, Dennis Lim, was previously elevated to the role of New York Film Festival (NYFF) Artistic Director back in March. Almozini will report to Flc president Lesli Klainberg and begin her new role on September 6, 2022. This year’s NYFF runs September 30 through October 16.
“Florence is an accomplished and highly respected film curator with deep expertise in creating and presenting innovative quality programs,” said Klainberg in a statement shared with IndieWire. “As we seek to develop and engage new audiences and sustain Flc as the premier destination for first run and cinematheque programming in the city, Florence’s experience, commitment to our mission, and vast knowledge of cinema make her an exceptional choice to lead our efforts.”
Per Flc,...
“Florence is an accomplished and highly respected film curator with deep expertise in creating and presenting innovative quality programs,” said Klainberg in a statement shared with IndieWire. “As we seek to develop and engage new audiences and sustain Flc as the premier destination for first run and cinematheque programming in the city, Florence’s experience, commitment to our mission, and vast knowledge of cinema make her an exceptional choice to lead our efforts.”
Per Flc,...
- 7/21/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Judging by recent winners, the Best Actress Oscar category is the only acting one in which voters do not have a clear performance length preference. Over the last decade, women with the first or second highest screen times in their lineups have won just as often as those with the first or second lowest amounts, and two wins have gone to those who have fallen in the middle. Nonetheless, since Olivia Colman triumphed for her relatively short performance in “The Favourite” in 2019, the award has only been won by actresses who cross the 80 minute and 74% marks, which seems to indicate increasing favor toward larger lead female roles.
In 2020, Renée Zellweger triumphed here for her work in “Judy,” which amounts to one hour, 27 minutes, and 29 seconds, or 74.01% of the film. She was followed last year by Frances McDormand, whose performance in “Nomadland” is six minutes and 33 seconds shorter but 1.20% longer. She...
In 2020, Renée Zellweger triumphed here for her work in “Judy,” which amounts to one hour, 27 minutes, and 29 seconds, or 74.01% of the film. She was followed last year by Frances McDormand, whose performance in “Nomadland” is six minutes and 33 seconds shorter but 1.20% longer. She...
- 3/24/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Helen Mirren received the life achievement award at the 2022 SAG Awards in Santa Monica, CA, on Sunday night! Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett presented Mirren with the special honor following a career retrospective of the 76-year-old actor's nearly six-decade career. "Lifetime achievement sounds so grand, but I suppose I'm still alive, so by that measure I'm eligible," Mirren began her acceptance speech. "But honestly, any achievement that I've succeeded in is the result of my mantra . . . 'Be on time and don't be an ass.'"
The living legend admitted that she struggled knowing what to say during her speech. "I've been angsting about what to say tonight, and I waited for inspiration. And then it came," she said. "To all those people with whom I have shared my professional life: the actors. I will talk about actors, oh my God, what a brilliant idea. So original. I like to think inside the box.
The living legend admitted that she struggled knowing what to say during her speech. "I've been angsting about what to say tonight, and I waited for inspiration. And then it came," she said. "To all those people with whom I have shared my professional life: the actors. I will talk about actors, oh my God, what a brilliant idea. So original. I like to think inside the box.
- 2/28/2022
- by Princess Gabbara
- Popsugar.com
In another blow to mass-appealing movies at the Oscars, Academy voters decided to deplete MGM/Uar’s Ridley Scott-directed House of Gucci of all but one nomination, that being for Makeup and Hairstyling.
While adults have been sluggish to return to theaters during the pandemic, House of Gucci broke through, launching over Thanksgiving with a five-day domestic debut of $22M and grossing $53.5M stateside to date and $151.8M global. It has been by far the highest-grossing U.S. drama during the pandemic.
Oscars Snubs & Surprises: Lady Gaga, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ruth Negga & ‘Sing 2’ Rebuffed By Academy Voters
Completely overlooked was Lady Gaga for her portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani, an AMPAS misstep that completely enraged Twitter world and Gaga’s Monsters, including one who pointed out all the rival award noms the 12-time Grammy winner racked up this past season. Gaga won the Original Song Oscar in 2019 for “Shallow” from A Star Is Born,...
While adults have been sluggish to return to theaters during the pandemic, House of Gucci broke through, launching over Thanksgiving with a five-day domestic debut of $22M and grossing $53.5M stateside to date and $151.8M global. It has been by far the highest-grossing U.S. drama during the pandemic.
Oscars Snubs & Surprises: Lady Gaga, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ruth Negga & ‘Sing 2’ Rebuffed By Academy Voters
Completely overlooked was Lady Gaga for her portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani, an AMPAS misstep that completely enraged Twitter world and Gaga’s Monsters, including one who pointed out all the rival award noms the 12-time Grammy winner racked up this past season. Gaga won the Original Song Oscar in 2019 for “Shallow” from A Star Is Born,...
- 2/8/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Fifteen years have passed since Penélope Cruz broke new ground as the first Spanish woman to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Although her performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s Spanish-language film “Volver” was passed over in favor of Helen Mirren’s in “The Queen,” she bounced back two years later by triumphing in the supporting category for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” Now, based on her work in Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers” (their seventh collaboration), she may have another shot at lead glory. If she does land in the lineup, she will join an exclusive club as the fifth leading lady to be recognized for two non-English language performances.
The first woman to accomplish this feat was Sophia Loren, who was nominated for “Marriage Italian Style” (1965) after winning for “Two Women” (1962). Both are Italian-language films directed by Vittorio De Sica. After losing on her second outing to Julie Andrews (“Mary Poppins...
The first woman to accomplish this feat was Sophia Loren, who was nominated for “Marriage Italian Style” (1965) after winning for “Two Women” (1962). Both are Italian-language films directed by Vittorio De Sica. After losing on her second outing to Julie Andrews (“Mary Poppins...
- 2/6/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Oscar voters take their duties seriously and seem to have a few key criteria in voting: Is this work emotionally honest, does it pop off the screen, and is it something that will be admired 50 years from now?
Penelope Cruz in “Parallel Mothers” checks all those boxes. There are no guarantees with Oscars, but if there’s justice in the world, she will be nominated Feb. 8. She grabs the screen and invites comparisons to the best work of Bette Davis, Anna Magnani and Barbara Stanwyck, but is very much an original.
Cruz plays photographer Janis, who becomes a single mother. As she withholds the truth about her baby, she is trying to uncover the truth of mass killings that have been covered up since the Francisco Franco regime.
She rehearsed with writer-director Pedro Almodovar for four months. Still, filming was difficult. “I couldn’t release any emotions in the early section,...
Penelope Cruz in “Parallel Mothers” checks all those boxes. There are no guarantees with Oscars, but if there’s justice in the world, she will be nominated Feb. 8. She grabs the screen and invites comparisons to the best work of Bette Davis, Anna Magnani and Barbara Stanwyck, but is very much an original.
Cruz plays photographer Janis, who becomes a single mother. As she withholds the truth about her baby, she is trying to uncover the truth of mass killings that have been covered up since the Francisco Franco regime.
She rehearsed with writer-director Pedro Almodovar for four months. Still, filming was difficult. “I couldn’t release any emotions in the early section,...
- 1/27/2022
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
If you weren’t around at the time, it’s hard to communicate just what a splashy, dominating place the Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller occupied during the 1970s. Wertmüller, who died on Thursday at 93, was far from the first celebrated woman director — just think of Agnès Varda, Shirley Clarke, Elaine May, Lois Weber, Ida Lupino, Dorothy Arzner, or Barbara Loden. But apart from the infamous Leni Riefenstahl, it’s fair to say that Wertmüller was the first woman filmmaker to become a household name. She was the first to receive an Academy Award nomination for best director, the first to adorn the cover of major magazines, the first to rule and own the zeitgeist.
And rule it she did. “Swept Away,” Wertmüller’s controversial 1974 drama about a wealthy snob (Mariangela Melato) and one of her lowly yacht crew members (Giancarlo Giannini), who wind up swapping roles after the two are stranded on a desert island,...
And rule it she did. “Swept Away,” Wertmüller’s controversial 1974 drama about a wealthy snob (Mariangela Melato) and one of her lowly yacht crew members (Giancarlo Giannini), who wind up swapping roles after the two are stranded on a desert island,...
- 12/10/2021
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
“I am a product of my dream. Even as a child, I wanted to be an actress and enter this world, even though it was very far from my reality,” said Monica Bellucci at the Torino Film Festival, where she accepted the Stella Della Mole Award for Artistic Innovation.
Bellucci also held a masterclass at the National Cinema Museum of Turin, discussing her career alongside Antongiulio Panizzi, who directed her recently in “The Girl in the Fountain.” In the film, which screened for the first time at the festival, Bellucci plays Anita Ekberg, the Swedish star famous for her role in “La Dolce Vita.”
“Back then, Italian women would exist mostly within the domestic world. When Ekberg, already so different physically, arrived and allowed herself to be so free, also economically, it was as if a bomb exploded in that society,” said Bellucci, discussing Ekberg’s rapid ascent and then her descent,...
Bellucci also held a masterclass at the National Cinema Museum of Turin, discussing her career alongside Antongiulio Panizzi, who directed her recently in “The Girl in the Fountain.” In the film, which screened for the first time at the festival, Bellucci plays Anita Ekberg, the Swedish star famous for her role in “La Dolce Vita.”
“Back then, Italian women would exist mostly within the domestic world. When Ekberg, already so different physically, arrived and allowed herself to be so free, also economically, it was as if a bomb exploded in that society,” said Bellucci, discussing Ekberg’s rapid ascent and then her descent,...
- 12/4/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Something strange happened to Penélope Cruz as she rehearsed on the set of “Parallel Mothers.” Whenever the crew would come to collect the doll she was using as a stand-in for a flesh-and-blood baby, Cruz tensed up. She became combative. It didn’t matter that it was only a toy — she refused to surrender her child.
“It freaked me out,” remembers Cruz. “When the prop department would take the doll, I went psycho. It was my baby. I felt something deep in myself that was like if you take the fucking doll from me, I’m going to hit you.”
That primal instinct and protective flame would serve Cruz well when it came to putting “Parallel Mothers,” the story of two women whose children are switched at birth, on the screen. The film, which marks her eighth collaboration with Pedro Almodóvar, is one of the most psychologically rich and surprising of their partnerships,...
“It freaked me out,” remembers Cruz. “When the prop department would take the doll, I went psycho. It was my baby. I felt something deep in myself that was like if you take the fucking doll from me, I’m going to hit you.”
That primal instinct and protective flame would serve Cruz well when it came to putting “Parallel Mothers,” the story of two women whose children are switched at birth, on the screen. The film, which marks her eighth collaboration with Pedro Almodóvar, is one of the most psychologically rich and surprising of their partnerships,...
- 11/17/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
As the director and producer of both “House of Gucci” and “The Last Duel,” Ridley Scott is poised to score big when the 2022 Oscar nominations are announced three months from now. Reaping double Best Picture or Best Director bids would make the 83-year-old the first to pull off either feat since Steven Soderbergh did so in 2001. Even if he ends up being left out of both lineups, he could still make history if academy voters decide to recognize the work of his two leading ladies. If Jodie Comer (“The Last Duel”) and Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci”) are both chosen to compete for Best Actress, Scott will become the fifth person to direct female leads from different films to nominations in a single year.
The first of these rare occurrences dates back to the third Oscars ceremony in 1930 when Nancy Carroll (“The Devil’s Holiday”) and Gloria Swanson (“The Trespasser...
The first of these rare occurrences dates back to the third Oscars ceremony in 1930 when Nancy Carroll (“The Devil’s Holiday”) and Gloria Swanson (“The Trespasser...
- 11/9/2021
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
We're revisiting 1986 this month leading up to the next Supporting Actress Smackdown. As always Nick Taylor will suggest a few alternates to Oscar's ballot.
It’s been a while since I wrote about someone who had actual Oscar buzz, right? We can argue how Anna Magnani and Kimberly Elise should have contended in their years, but Cathy Tyson’s cryptic and involving turn in Mona Lisa definitely appears to have landed in the sixth spot of the 1986 Supporting Actress lineup. Tyson won Lafca (tying with Dianne Wiest for Hannah and Her Sisters) and was first runner-up with New York. She scored Globe and BAFTA nominations, as well, before missing out with Oscar. Given the strength of her performance, the degree of precursor attention she received, the way her role fits in well-worn paths for ingenue recognition, and the ... um... quality of some of the actual nominees, I’m surprised Tyson didn’t make the cut.
It’s been a while since I wrote about someone who had actual Oscar buzz, right? We can argue how Anna Magnani and Kimberly Elise should have contended in their years, but Cathy Tyson’s cryptic and involving turn in Mona Lisa definitely appears to have landed in the sixth spot of the 1986 Supporting Actress lineup. Tyson won Lafca (tying with Dianne Wiest for Hannah and Her Sisters) and was first runner-up with New York. She scored Globe and BAFTA nominations, as well, before missing out with Oscar. Given the strength of her performance, the degree of precursor attention she received, the way her role fits in well-worn paths for ingenue recognition, and the ... um... quality of some of the actual nominees, I’m surprised Tyson didn’t make the cut.
- 8/1/2021
- by Nick Taylor
- FilmExperience
The EuroCrypt of Christopher Lee
Blu ray – Region Free
Severin Films
1962-72
Starring Christopher Lee, Thorley Walters, Karin Dor
Cinematography by Ernst W. Kalinke, Angelo Baistrocchi
Directed by Terence Fisher, Harald Reinl
While Hammer Studios depended on bosoms and blood to rejuvenate a listless horror industry, their new contract player had some high octane ideas of his own. His name was Christopher Lee and though the hulking actor towered above the crew and co-stars, he proved shockingly agile as the newborn creature in 1957’s The Curse of Frankenstein. No matter how hospitable or well-tailored, his Dracula was a clear and present danger—fleet of foot and supernaturally strong. And in 1959’s The Mummy, he turned the slow-moving immortal into an Olympian killing machine, outpacing his victims like an undead Usain Bolt.
Making the scene just as the sixties were racing into view, Lee’s express lane monsters ignored musty gothic...
Blu ray – Region Free
Severin Films
1962-72
Starring Christopher Lee, Thorley Walters, Karin Dor
Cinematography by Ernst W. Kalinke, Angelo Baistrocchi
Directed by Terence Fisher, Harald Reinl
While Hammer Studios depended on bosoms and blood to rejuvenate a listless horror industry, their new contract player had some high octane ideas of his own. His name was Christopher Lee and though the hulking actor towered above the crew and co-stars, he proved shockingly agile as the newborn creature in 1957’s The Curse of Frankenstein. No matter how hospitable or well-tailored, his Dracula was a clear and present danger—fleet of foot and supernaturally strong. And in 1959’s The Mummy, he turned the slow-moving immortal into an Olympian killing machine, outpacing his victims like an undead Usain Bolt.
Making the scene just as the sixties were racing into view, Lee’s express lane monsters ignored musty gothic...
- 7/10/2021
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Each month before the Supporting Actress Smackdown, Nick Taylor suggests alternatives to the actual Oscar nomination ballot.
by Nick Taylor
I gather that folks will have different ideas about whether Anna Magnani’s work in Rome, Open City belongs in the leading or supporting category. Magnani holds down the first half of her film similar to the way Janet Leigh leads us into Psycho, appearing as an indomitable central player until a cruel exit halfway through her film. Unlike Leigh, Magnani isn’t the only character driving her film, sharing a comparable amount of narrative focus as Aldo Fabrizi’s priest and Marcello Pagliero’s Resistance fighter, to say nothing of the other characters threaded through the first half who only grow more important as the film continues. Still, her presence is so strong that, like Leigh, you can’t forget about her even after she’s gone. It’s...
by Nick Taylor
I gather that folks will have different ideas about whether Anna Magnani’s work in Rome, Open City belongs in the leading or supporting category. Magnani holds down the first half of her film similar to the way Janet Leigh leads us into Psycho, appearing as an indomitable central player until a cruel exit halfway through her film. Unlike Leigh, Magnani isn’t the only character driving her film, sharing a comparable amount of narrative focus as Aldo Fabrizi’s priest and Marcello Pagliero’s Resistance fighter, to say nothing of the other characters threaded through the first half who only grow more important as the film continues. Still, her presence is so strong that, like Leigh, you can’t forget about her even after she’s gone. It’s...
- 6/14/2021
- by Nick Taylor
- FilmExperience
Last year we watched as Renee Zellweger followed the yellow brick road all the way to the Wizard of Oscar as Judy Garland in “Judy.” Can lightning (or a tornado) strike two years in a row? That’s surely the hope of Andra Day, looking like a strong Best Actress Oscar contender for her title role in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Like Garland, Holiday rose to stardom in the late 1930s. She also had multiple marriages, faced financial woes and struggled with drugs and alcohol. The question is: can the role in this Hulu release deliver the Oscar to Day?
Before making a decision, keep in mind that the academy has a long history of recognizing actresses for portraying other actresses or entertainers. And the more drama, trauma and tragedy the better. Even raging and hysterical divas are welcome. Let’s look back at some prime and primadonna examples from Oscar’s history.
Before making a decision, keep in mind that the academy has a long history of recognizing actresses for portraying other actresses or entertainers. And the more drama, trauma and tragedy the better. Even raging and hysterical divas are welcome. Let’s look back at some prime and primadonna examples from Oscar’s history.
- 1/22/2021
- by Tariq Khan
- Gold Derby
It immediately says something about the differences between Jean Cocteau’s brilliant 1928 dramatic monologue The Human Voice — as first put on screen in 1948 by Roberto Rossellini with the immortal Anna Magnani — and Pedro Almodovar’s new version of it starring Tilda Swinton, that the latter features six costume changes within the first six minutes, while the original was content with a single drab bit of wardrobe.
There are few single-character pieces of 20th century theater as mesmerizing and emotionally intricate as Cocteau’s soliloquy in which a woman spends a half-hour on the phone with her lover coping with the devastating news that he’s about to marry someone else. Swinton indisputably belongs in the select group of actresses who could pull this off, but the ever-arresting Spanish director, in his first English-language outing, is preoccupied with other issues as well, notably the notion of the fine, if not (for...
There are few single-character pieces of 20th century theater as mesmerizing and emotionally intricate as Cocteau’s soliloquy in which a woman spends a half-hour on the phone with her lover coping with the devastating news that he’s about to marry someone else. Swinton indisputably belongs in the select group of actresses who could pull this off, but the ever-arresting Spanish director, in his first English-language outing, is preoccupied with other issues as well, notably the notion of the fine, if not (for...
- 1/16/2021
- by Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
Time has not diminished the beauty and talent of Sophia Loren, who is garnering Oscar buzz for her acclaimed performance in the Netflix drama “The Life Ahead,” directed and co-adapted by her son Edoardo Ponti from Romain Gary’s 1975 bestseller “The Life Before Us.” The 86-year-old Oscar-winner (“Two Women”) plays Madame Rosa, a former prostitute and Holocaust survivor who lives in Naples where she takes care of children of streetwalkers including the rebellious Momo.
Loren has been a star for over 65 years, but her early life was anything but idyllic. She was born in a charity ward in a hospital in Rome. Her parents never married, and her father left her, her mother and younger sister Romida-who married Mussolini’s son. Loren and her family grew up poor as church mice in Pozzuoli, a small town outside of Naples.
Stunningly beautiful at an early age and at 14, Loren came in...
Loren has been a star for over 65 years, but her early life was anything but idyllic. She was born in a charity ward in a hospital in Rome. Her parents never married, and her father left her, her mother and younger sister Romida-who married Mussolini’s son. Loren and her family grew up poor as church mice in Pozzuoli, a small town outside of Naples.
Stunningly beautiful at an early age and at 14, Loren came in...
- 11/20/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Indie veteran lining up development and production fund.
Rose Ganguzza, the New York producer of summer release Fatima, has unveiled a Rose Pictures development slate that includes new work from the directors of How To Build A Girl and Grudge.
Ganguzza, a veteran of the independent space whose producing credits include Margin Call and Kill Your Darlings, has partnered on the content pipeline for 2021 with Max Born, a producer The Devil All The Time, and Jake Alden Falconer, a producer on summer horror film 1Br.
As Fatima – the film released by Bob and Jeanne Berney’s Picturehouse – ranks in the...
Rose Ganguzza, the New York producer of summer release Fatima, has unveiled a Rose Pictures development slate that includes new work from the directors of How To Build A Girl and Grudge.
Ganguzza, a veteran of the independent space whose producing credits include Margin Call and Kill Your Darlings, has partnered on the content pipeline for 2021 with Max Born, a producer The Devil All The Time, and Jake Alden Falconer, a producer on summer horror film 1Br.
As Fatima – the film released by Bob and Jeanne Berney’s Picturehouse – ranks in the...
- 11/4/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Indie veteran lining up development and production fund.
Rose Ganguzza, the New York producer of summer release Fatima, has unveiled a Rose Pictures development slate that includes new work from the directors of How To Build A Girl and Grudge.
Ganguzza, a veteran of the independent space whose producing credits include Margin Call and Kill Your Darlings, has partnered on the content pipeline for 2021 with Max Born, a producer The Devil All The Time, and Jake Alden Falconer, a producer on summer horror film 1Br.
As Fatima – the film released by Bob and Jeanne Berney’s Picturehouse – ranks in the...
Rose Ganguzza, the New York producer of summer release Fatima, has unveiled a Rose Pictures development slate that includes new work from the directors of How To Build A Girl and Grudge.
Ganguzza, a veteran of the independent space whose producing credits include Margin Call and Kill Your Darlings, has partnered on the content pipeline for 2021 with Max Born, a producer The Devil All The Time, and Jake Alden Falconer, a producer on summer horror film 1Br.
As Fatima – the film released by Bob and Jeanne Berney’s Picturehouse – ranks in the...
- 11/4/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Six years ago, Sophia Loren emerged from retirement to film Jean Cocteau’s “The Human Voice” — her version of the one-act play that Tilda Swinton and Pedro Almodóvar recently adapted during lockdown, and which Anna Magnani and Ingrid Bergman had each tackled decades before. In the 25-minute project, which was directed by her son Edoardo Ponti, Loren plays a woman alone but for her housekeeper in an Italian villa, speaking to the man she once loved via a shaky phone connection.
“The only thing left between us is this telephone wire,” Loren says in the film, her voice torn.
In a way, that short feels like a forecast of Loren’s life today, as the coronavirus has forced so many into isolation — including the still vibrant acting legend, who laughs easily and often over the course of a career-spanning 90-minute phone call. The Italian star, the first person from any...
“The only thing left between us is this telephone wire,” Loren says in the film, her voice torn.
In a way, that short feels like a forecast of Loren’s life today, as the coronavirus has forced so many into isolation — including the still vibrant acting legend, who laughs easily and often over the course of a career-spanning 90-minute phone call. The Italian star, the first person from any...
- 11/2/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s master filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s first English-language film, “The Human Voice,” is akin to a Douglas Sirk fevered-dream. An unnamed woman (Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton) has been waiting for three days for a phone call from her long-time love who has left her for another so he would arrange a time for him to pick up his luggage and his dog. And then the phone rings. In less than 30 minutes, Swinton emotes every passion from joy to anger to suicidal despair during her photo call.
Critics were effusive in their praise at the Venice International Film Festival and New York Film Festival with Sony Pictures Classic picking up the live-action short film. “Despite its origins as a play. “The Human Voice” is well-suited to being filmed,” said Gary M. Kramer in Salon. “Swinton’s expressions, from a silent sigh in the opening moments, to her look of shock enhanced by her unkempt,...
Critics were effusive in their praise at the Venice International Film Festival and New York Film Festival with Sony Pictures Classic picking up the live-action short film. “Despite its origins as a play. “The Human Voice” is well-suited to being filmed,” said Gary M. Kramer in Salon. “Swinton’s expressions, from a silent sigh in the opening moments, to her look of shock enhanced by her unkempt,...
- 10/1/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
‘The Human Voice’ Review: Tilda Swinton Sets the Screen Ablaze in Pedro Almodóvar’s Iridescent Short
“These are the rules of the game, the law of desire,” Tilda Swinton sighs, playing an unnamed woman — who, let it be said, looks and speaks and dresses an awful lot like Tilda Swinton — whose lover has left her, and can only be bothered to say goodbye over the phone. We don’t hear his side of the conversation, as she vents hers, crisp and enunciated even in despair, into discreetly tucked airpods; it looks for all the world as if she’s talking to herself, and perhaps she even is. It’s not as if anyone talks like this anyway, articulating violent heartbreak through film references as neatly coordinated as her Technicolor apartment decor. We’re in the world of Pedro Almodóvar, where raw human feeling and dizzily heightened artifice are complementary modes of expression, not contradictory ones: “The Human Voice,” his palate-cleansing vodka shot of a short film,...
- 9/3/2020
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
by Cláudio Alves
In 1957, the Italian actress Anna Magnani received her second and final Oscar nomination. She had won the Best Actress prize two years before thanks to her first Hollywood movie, the adaptation of Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo, in which she gives a volcanic performance that's still considered, by many, as one of the best winners in the category's history. Still, despite such a glorious start, her career in American pictures was short-lived, encompassing only four films made between 1955 and 1969.
On one hand, Hollywood's mistreatment of a great actress is heartbreaking. On the other, Magnani's tenure in the American film industry feels right for her legacy, reflecting how one of a kind she was and how this acting titan resisted any and all attempts of assimilating her into the model of traditional stardom…...
In 1957, the Italian actress Anna Magnani received her second and final Oscar nomination. She had won the Best Actress prize two years before thanks to her first Hollywood movie, the adaptation of Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo, in which she gives a volcanic performance that's still considered, by many, as one of the best winners in the category's history. Still, despite such a glorious start, her career in American pictures was short-lived, encompassing only four films made between 1955 and 1969.
On one hand, Hollywood's mistreatment of a great actress is heartbreaking. On the other, Magnani's tenure in the American film industry feels right for her legacy, reflecting how one of a kind she was and how this acting titan resisted any and all attempts of assimilating her into the model of traditional stardom…...
- 7/7/2020
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
The David di Donatello Awards, which are modeled on the Oscars, were established in the 1950s as Italy’s film industry started thriving amid the country’s postwar reconstruction effort.
Below are some milestones that provide a partial mini-history of postwar Italian cinema.
1956: The first David di Donatello awards ceremony takes place at Rome’s Cinema Fiamma. The gold statuette, which is a replica of Michelangelo’s David, is made by Bulgari. Vittorio De Sica, Walt Disney, and Gina Lollobrigida are among the year’s prizewinners.
1957: The Davids ceremony moves to Taormina’s Ancient Greek Theater, which will host the ceremony for many more years to come. Federico Fellini wins the best director prize for “Nights of Cabiria.”
1958: Anna Magnani wins best actress for George Cukor’s “Wild Is the Wind.” Marilyn Monroe is feted for her role in “The Prince and the Showgirl,” directed by Laurence Olivier.
Below are some milestones that provide a partial mini-history of postwar Italian cinema.
1956: The first David di Donatello awards ceremony takes place at Rome’s Cinema Fiamma. The gold statuette, which is a replica of Michelangelo’s David, is made by Bulgari. Vittorio De Sica, Walt Disney, and Gina Lollobrigida are among the year’s prizewinners.
1957: The Davids ceremony moves to Taormina’s Ancient Greek Theater, which will host the ceremony for many more years to come. Federico Fellini wins the best director prize for “Nights of Cabiria.”
1958: Anna Magnani wins best actress for George Cukor’s “Wild Is the Wind.” Marilyn Monroe is feted for her role in “The Prince and the Showgirl,” directed by Laurence Olivier.
- 5/8/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Long gone are the days when a vignette styled filmed would be crafted for the purposes of showcasing a talented performer, at least to the auteur spangled heights which matched many such items out of Italy. Anna Magnani was the muse of Rossellini’s Amore (1948) and then Silvana Mangano was the scintillating subject spearheading 1967’s The Witches.
The very same year, Vittorio De Sica would command all seven segments of Woman Times Seven, each featuring the talented Shirley MacLaine as an American in Paris.…...
The very same year, Vittorio De Sica would command all seven segments of Woman Times Seven, each featuring the talented Shirley MacLaine as an American in Paris.…...
- 5/5/2020
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
By Brian Greene
Tennesee Williams’s play Orpheus Descending stands out among his works for being a flop at a time when the playwright could seem to do no wrong. The seemingly unstoppable commercial and critical success Williams had enjoyed for more than a decade came to a momentary halt when Orpheus Descending tanked on Broadway in 1957. Despite the unexpected failure of the stage production of the play, however, a few years later plans were made to turn the story into a major motion picture, with up-and-coming director Sidney Lumet behind the camera, and acting luminaries Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, and Joanne Woodward playing key roles. Williams, who’d been working on various versions of the play for close to 20 years, was so thrilled by this development that he signed on to co-write the screenplay.
But Williams’s beloved tale just seemed to be doomed. Despite his reputation as a writer,...
Tennesee Williams’s play Orpheus Descending stands out among his works for being a flop at a time when the playwright could seem to do no wrong. The seemingly unstoppable commercial and critical success Williams had enjoyed for more than a decade came to a momentary halt when Orpheus Descending tanked on Broadway in 1957. Despite the unexpected failure of the stage production of the play, however, a few years later plans were made to turn the story into a major motion picture, with up-and-coming director Sidney Lumet behind the camera, and acting luminaries Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, and Joanne Woodward playing key roles. Williams, who’d been working on various versions of the play for close to 20 years, was so thrilled by this development that he signed on to co-write the screenplay.
But Williams’s beloved tale just seemed to be doomed. Despite his reputation as a writer,...
- 1/18/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Marlon Brando is back in an adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play Orpheus Descending. The cameraman is Boris Kaufman and the director is Sidney Lumet; Marlon’s a classic tomcat drifter in a dangerous parish, who attracts two women. Acting styles mesh, or mix without blending — Anna Magnani and Joanne Woodward each get opportunities to shine. It’s all poetics and symbolism — dig the snakeskin jacket! — in a fairly realistic setting.
The Fugitive Kind
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 515
1960 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 121 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 14, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward, Maureen Stapleton, Victor Jory, R.G. Armstrong.
Cinematography: Boris Kaufman
Film Editor: Carl Lerner
Original Music: Kenyon Hopkins
Written by Meade Roberts, Tennessee Williams from his play Orpheus Descending
Produced by Martin Jurow, Richard Shepherd
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Tennessee Williams sometimes seemed a continuation of William Faulkner’s literary legacy. This story’s...
The Fugitive Kind
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 515
1960 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 121 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 14, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward, Maureen Stapleton, Victor Jory, R.G. Armstrong.
Cinematography: Boris Kaufman
Film Editor: Carl Lerner
Original Music: Kenyon Hopkins
Written by Meade Roberts, Tennessee Williams from his play Orpheus Descending
Produced by Martin Jurow, Richard Shepherd
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Tennessee Williams sometimes seemed a continuation of William Faulkner’s literary legacy. This story’s...
- 12/28/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
In recent years, Roundabout Theatre Company has demonstrated a knack for pairing stellar actresses in revivals by acclaimed playwrights, including Annette Bening in Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” (2019), Jessica Lange in Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” (2016), and Diane Lane in Anton Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” (2016).
That trend continues this fall with Marisa Tomei’s return to the stage in Tennessee Williams’s early-career play “The Rose Tattoo.” Set in a predominantly Sicilian community in a Gulf Coast town in 1950, the play centers on Tomei’s Serafina Delle Rose, a widowed seamstress who finds lust after her husband’s death with a man who resembles her late spouse.
This production of “Rose Tattoo,” which originated at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2016, officially opened on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre on October 15. Trip Cullman directs the 18-member ensemble.
Sign Up for Gold Derby’s...
That trend continues this fall with Marisa Tomei’s return to the stage in Tennessee Williams’s early-career play “The Rose Tattoo.” Set in a predominantly Sicilian community in a Gulf Coast town in 1950, the play centers on Tomei’s Serafina Delle Rose, a widowed seamstress who finds lust after her husband’s death with a man who resembles her late spouse.
This production of “Rose Tattoo,” which originated at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2016, officially opened on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre on October 15. Trip Cullman directs the 18-member ensemble.
Sign Up for Gold Derby’s...
- 10/16/2019
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Imagine you’re invited to some netherworld, Southern Gothic-themed cocktail party peopled with Tennessee Williams heroines. There’s Amanda Wingfield and Blanche DuBois competing for pity with wilted stories of glory days, Maggie the Cat in her slip, stalking waiters, and lusty Maxine walking a leashed iguana and a cabana boy or two. Even among this look-at-me bunch, The Rose Tattoo‘s Serafina Delle Rose would be a spectacle, the brash, loud and vulgar center of attention outtalking everyone else, bragging about her long-dead husband’s bedroom talents, how the two got those colored lights going like even Stanley Kowalski would envy.
Now imagine Serafina portrayed by Marisa Tomei in prodigious Cousin Vinny Oscar-getting mode, and you’ll maybe get a sense of director Trip Cullman’s tonally raucous production of The Rose Tattoo, opening on Broadway tonight in a Roundabout Theatre Company presentation at American Airlines Theatre.
Presented...
Now imagine Serafina portrayed by Marisa Tomei in prodigious Cousin Vinny Oscar-getting mode, and you’ll maybe get a sense of director Trip Cullman’s tonally raucous production of The Rose Tattoo, opening on Broadway tonight in a Roundabout Theatre Company presentation at American Airlines Theatre.
Presented...
- 10/16/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Marisa Tomei will star in a Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ The Rose Tattoo, to be directed by Trip Cullman and set for a Roundabout Theatre Company production in September.
Tomei will play Serafina, the widow “who rekindles her desire for love, lust and life in the arms of a fiery suitor,” in the description by Roundabout. Other casting — including that fiery suitor — hasn’t been announced.
The Rose Tattoo will begin previews on September 19, with an official opening on Tuesday, October 15. The limited engagement will run through December 8 at the nonprofit Roundabout’s Broadway venue American Airlines Theatre.
Cullman and Tomei premiered the revival at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in June 2016.
The play made its Tony-winning Broadway debut in 1951, starring Maureen Stapleton and Eli Wallach. A movie version was released in 1955 starring Anna Magnani and Burt Lancaster, and a 1995 Broadway revival at Circle in the Square starred Mercedes Ruehl and Anthony Lapaglia.
Tomei will play Serafina, the widow “who rekindles her desire for love, lust and life in the arms of a fiery suitor,” in the description by Roundabout. Other casting — including that fiery suitor — hasn’t been announced.
The Rose Tattoo will begin previews on September 19, with an official opening on Tuesday, October 15. The limited engagement will run through December 8 at the nonprofit Roundabout’s Broadway venue American Airlines Theatre.
Cullman and Tomei premiered the revival at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in June 2016.
The play made its Tony-winning Broadway debut in 1951, starring Maureen Stapleton and Eli Wallach. A movie version was released in 1955 starring Anna Magnani and Burt Lancaster, and a 1995 Broadway revival at Circle in the Square starred Mercedes Ruehl and Anthony Lapaglia.
- 5/20/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Barcelona – Soon set to be seen at Cannes’ in Pedro Almodóvar’s competition contender “Pain and Glory.” Penélope Cruz will receive the 2019 Donostia Award for career achievement at the 67th San Sebastian Festival, which runs Sept. 20-28 at the Basque resort city.
The Spanish actress will be honored doubly way, as she will also be the official image on this year’s festival poster.
No other Spanish actress has received the international recognition of Cruz, nor her number of top-echelon prizes and nominations as she has battled to broaden the roles open to Latin actresses.
She demonstrated a range most memorably perhaps winning a best supporting actress Academy Award and Bafta winner for her performance as Maria Elena in Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
“Cruz, who officially graduated from sex kitten to powerhouse melodramatic actress in ‘Volver,’ is in full Anna Magnani mode here, storming up and down mountain...
The Spanish actress will be honored doubly way, as she will also be the official image on this year’s festival poster.
No other Spanish actress has received the international recognition of Cruz, nor her number of top-echelon prizes and nominations as she has battled to broaden the roles open to Latin actresses.
She demonstrated a range most memorably perhaps winning a best supporting actress Academy Award and Bafta winner for her performance as Maria Elena in Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
“Cruz, who officially graduated from sex kitten to powerhouse melodramatic actress in ‘Volver,’ is in full Anna Magnani mode here, storming up and down mountain...
- 5/10/2019
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Tom Volf on finding the interview by David Frost with Maria Callas: "[It] was a real key to understanding how she had to cope ..."
Tom Volf's standout Maria By Callas on Maria Callas, with the voice of Joyce Didonato screened as a highlight in the Spotlight on Documentary programme of the 56th New York Film Festival last month. Personal letters and unpublished memoirs were voiced by Fanny Ardant when the film came out in France at the end of last year.
Maria By Callas director Tom Volf at Langham Place in New York: "The duality between Maria and Callas, that is a thread throughout her life." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The documentary fashionably transports you into the world of a great artist with recordings from radio and clips from television interviews, including with David Frost, Edward R Murrow, and Barbara Walters. Jean Cocteau, Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Catherine Deneuve,...
Tom Volf's standout Maria By Callas on Maria Callas, with the voice of Joyce Didonato screened as a highlight in the Spotlight on Documentary programme of the 56th New York Film Festival last month. Personal letters and unpublished memoirs were voiced by Fanny Ardant when the film came out in France at the end of last year.
Maria By Callas director Tom Volf at Langham Place in New York: "The duality between Maria and Callas, that is a thread throughout her life." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The documentary fashionably transports you into the world of a great artist with recordings from radio and clips from television interviews, including with David Frost, Edward R Murrow, and Barbara Walters. Jean Cocteau, Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Catherine Deneuve,...
- 11/2/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Burt Lancaster would’ve celebrated his 105th birthday on November 2, 2018. The Oscar-winning actor appeared in dozens of movies until his death in 1994. But which titles are among his finest? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of Lancaster’s greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1913, Lancaster got into acting after performing as an acrobat in the circus. He made his movie debut in 1946 with a leading role in the quintessential noir thriller “The Killers” (1946). He earned his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor for Fred Zinnemann‘s wartime drama “From Here to Eternity” (1953), winning the prize just seven years later for playing a fast-talking preacher in “Elmer Gantry” (1960). Lancaster would compete twice more in the category (“Birdman of Alcatraz” in 1962 and “Atlantic City” in 1981).
In the 1950s, the actor decided to chart his own career by forming the production company Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, which churned...
Born in 1913, Lancaster got into acting after performing as an acrobat in the circus. He made his movie debut in 1946 with a leading role in the quintessential noir thriller “The Killers” (1946). He earned his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor for Fred Zinnemann‘s wartime drama “From Here to Eternity” (1953), winning the prize just seven years later for playing a fast-talking preacher in “Elmer Gantry” (1960). Lancaster would compete twice more in the category (“Birdman of Alcatraz” in 1962 and “Atlantic City” in 1981).
In the 1950s, the actor decided to chart his own career by forming the production company Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, which churned...
- 11/2/2018
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Making all of us not in New York jealous yet again, the Film Society of Lincoln Center has partnered with Istituto Luce Cinecittà to present a complete retrospective of Luchino Visconti’s feature films. Most of the Italian master’s work, from “The Leopard” and “Rocco to His brothers” to “Senso” and “Death in Venice,” will be screening on new restorations and imported prints; the series will conclude with a weeklong run of “Ludwig,” playing here on a new 35mm print. Avail yourself of a trailer for the series below.
Visconti’s films are a sensory delight, and “The Leopard” — based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s majestic novel of the same name — is especially acclaimed. His 1963 adaptation, which runs just shy of three hours, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and was released on DVD and Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection. Flsc’s look back at Visconti’s career doesn’t stop there,...
Visconti’s films are a sensory delight, and “The Leopard” — based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s majestic novel of the same name — is especially acclaimed. His 1963 adaptation, which runs just shy of three hours, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and was released on DVD and Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection. Flsc’s look back at Visconti’s career doesn’t stop there,...
- 5/31/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
French star Isabelle Huppert, whose role in Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” earned her an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe last year, served as president of the Cannes Film Festival jury in 2009.
Huppert was reportedly at odds with fellow juror James Gray over awarding the Palme d’Or to Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” and was accused by
some of favoring Haneke because he had directed her in “The Piano Teacher,” which earned her the prize for best actress at Cannes in 2001. Winning that year and also in 1978 for her performance in Claude Chabrol’s “Violette Noziere” remain her strongest memories of Cannes.
“The festival is first and foremost a competition, and when you’re in competition, the best thing is to win,” Huppert says. “Honestly, without blushing, I can say that each time it was an intense and immense pleasure.”
Although she is one of fewer than a...
Huppert was reportedly at odds with fellow juror James Gray over awarding the Palme d’Or to Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” and was accused by
some of favoring Haneke because he had directed her in “The Piano Teacher,” which earned her the prize for best actress at Cannes in 2001. Winning that year and also in 1978 for her performance in Claude Chabrol’s “Violette Noziere” remain her strongest memories of Cannes.
“The festival is first and foremost a competition, and when you’re in competition, the best thing is to win,” Huppert says. “Honestly, without blushing, I can say that each time it was an intense and immense pleasure.”
Although she is one of fewer than a...
- 5/2/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Though she’s not quite the household name that her contemporaries Anna Magnani and Alida Valli are, Italian actress Valentina Cortese had an impressive career both on screen and on stage. Besides her romantic and professional relationship with Italian theater legend Giorgio Strehler, she worked with such film luminaries as Robert Wise, Jules Dassin, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Terry Gilliam, William Dieterle — as well as Fellini, Antonioni and Truffaut — even garnering an Oscar nomination for her supporting part as an alcoholic and aging actress in Truffaut’s Day for Night.
Italian director Francesco Patierno pays homage to her life, talent and...
Italian director Francesco Patierno pays homage to her life, talent and...
- 9/2/2017
- by Boyd van Hoeij
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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