Image: Carnivalesque Films
As any cinephile well knows, the physical places that serve as meaningful ports of entry to our love affair with cinema can often take on swollen, totemic value. It’s fitting, then, that one of the most legendary independent American video stores of all time gets its...
As any cinephile well knows, the physical places that serve as meaningful ports of entry to our love affair with cinema can often take on swollen, totemic value. It’s fitting, then, that one of the most legendary independent American video stores of all time gets its...
- 4/5/2024
- by Brent Simon
- avclub.com
For the international film industry, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, the man nominated to take over as the next president of the Venice Biennale, the foundation that oversees the Venice Film Festival, is a bit of an unknown. Not so in Italy, where Buttafuoco is one of the most prominent voices of Italy’s new right-wing, which has seen political success in the election last year of Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Fratelli d’Italia party.
The 60-year writer and journalist was literally born into the Italian right — his uncle was the extreme-right politician Antonino Buttafuoco —and for decades, as a journalist, novelist and television commenter, has been one of the right-wing’s prime promoters. He wrote a glowing biography of late Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was obsessed with what he saw as the hegemony of “the communists” in Italian cultural institutions. In a recent radio broadcast,...
The 60-year writer and journalist was literally born into the Italian right — his uncle was the extreme-right politician Antonino Buttafuoco —and for decades, as a journalist, novelist and television commenter, has been one of the right-wing’s prime promoters. He wrote a glowing biography of late Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was obsessed with what he saw as the hegemony of “the communists” in Italian cultural institutions. In a recent radio broadcast,...
- 10/30/2023
- by Scott Roxborough and Roberto Brunelli
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Venice Film Festival kicked off its 80th edition Wednesday night on a somewhat muted note, with the dual Hollywood strike casting a pall over the glitz and glamour that typically exemplify the world’s oldest cinema fest. Instead of Luca Guadagnino’s Zendaya starrer Challengers — which was scheduled to open Venice pre-strike, getting pulled amid the walkout — Venice was forced to go with a more locally focused feature, Edoardo De Angelis’ Italian World War II submarine drama, Comandante.
Italian actress Caterina Murino hosted the festival’s grand opening ceremony with a retrospective spanning eight decades of Venice cinema, featuring clips highlighting past Golden Lion winners. The audience burst into applause at the sight of the late William Friedkin, whose last film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, will premiere on the Lido this year.
Comandante tells the true story of Salvatore Todaro, a submarine captain under Italy’s fascist government who...
Italian actress Caterina Murino hosted the festival’s grand opening ceremony with a retrospective spanning eight decades of Venice cinema, featuring clips highlighting past Golden Lion winners. The audience burst into applause at the sight of the late William Friedkin, whose last film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, will premiere on the Lido this year.
Comandante tells the true story of Salvatore Todaro, a submarine captain under Italy’s fascist government who...
- 8/30/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York City’s fabled movie rental chain, Kim’s Video, shuttered its downtown locations throughout the early-to-mid aughts, offering an early warning sign that the cinema as we once knew it was dying, or at least migrating to other formats.
The chain’s disappearance left an open wound among lower Manhattan film buffs, stranding Kim’s hundreds of thousands of members without a good place — any place, actually — to rent movies, while leaving behind a collection of 55,000 VHS tapes and DVDs that encompassed everything from horror flicks like C.H.U.D. to the complete works of Paul Morrissey to bootleg copies of Jean-Luc Godard’s Histoire(s) du cinéma.
What happened to Kim’s treasure trove of films remained a mystery for quite some time, with occasional stories popping up — including a long-form Village Voice piece by movie critic and podcaster Karina Longworth (You Must Remember This) — explaining...
The chain’s disappearance left an open wound among lower Manhattan film buffs, stranding Kim’s hundreds of thousands of members without a good place — any place, actually — to rent movies, while leaving behind a collection of 55,000 VHS tapes and DVDs that encompassed everything from horror flicks like C.H.U.D. to the complete works of Paul Morrissey to bootleg copies of Jean-Luc Godard’s Histoire(s) du cinéma.
What happened to Kim’s treasure trove of films remained a mystery for quite some time, with occasional stories popping up — including a long-form Village Voice piece by movie critic and podcaster Karina Longworth (You Must Remember This) — explaining...
- 1/20/2023
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Kim’s Video was a grungy movie rental empire and cinephile paradise in downtown Manhattan that grouped its tapes and DVDs by director. Started in 1987 out of a dry-cleaning business by Yongman Kim, who was a little-seen and mysterious figure to even his employees, Kim’s Video eventually expanded to five stores and became a way of life for both the customers and the people who worked there.
(I worked at the Kim’s farthest west on Bleecker Street one summer and we all gorged ourselves on movie classics, cult films, outsider art, bootlegs of rarities, and shelves and shelves of unclassifiable ephemera.)
Video stores started to close by 2008 when the near-mythical Mr. Kim offered his collection of 55,000 movies to any institution that would keep it intact. The town of Salemi, Sicily, acquired the archive, and in 2012 there was an article in The Village Voice by Karina Longworth that attempted...
(I worked at the Kim’s farthest west on Bleecker Street one summer and we all gorged ourselves on movie classics, cult films, outsider art, bootlegs of rarities, and shelves and shelves of unclassifiable ephemera.)
Video stores started to close by 2008 when the near-mythical Mr. Kim offered his collection of 55,000 movies to any institution that would keep it intact. The town of Salemi, Sicily, acquired the archive, and in 2012 there was an article in The Village Voice by Karina Longworth that attempted...
- 1/20/2023
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
A sweeping documentary by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin, Kim’s Video follows the personal-inquiry, man-on-the-street format from their previous works Mardi Gras: Made in China and Girl Model. With Redmon largely remaining behind the scenes, asking questions while holding his camera, the film is simply left to wander where the story takes it: from the cool counterculture of the East Village before eventually turning into a heist film with a mafia connection. Haunted by the ghosts of cinema, Youngman Kim’s collection calls out to David; eventually he’s able to rescue and repatriate it back to Lower Manhattan. Its happy end is known, with a collection of over 55,000 rare VHS tapes and DVDs from the chain’s flagship Mondo Kim’s now available to rent at the Alamo Drafthouse’s lower Manhattan outpost, the Found Footage Festival’s Nick Prueher responsible for the preservation and cataloging of titles.
- 1/20/2023
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
Italian big-screen diva Gina Lollobrigida was due to be laid to rest in her native hilltop town of Subiaco, after a televised funeral ceremony on Thursday at the Church of the Artists in nearby Rome.
The actress’s only son Milko Skofic, grandson Dimitri and Spanish ex-husband Javier Rigau were among those in attendance alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Cultural Under-Secretary Vittorio Sgarbi as well as film and entertainment world figures Mara Venier, Milly Carlucci, Adriano Aragozzini, Daniel McVicar, Giulio Base and Barbara Bouchet.
The actress’s long-time personal assistant Andrea Piazzolla, who was caught up in a legal battle with Skofic at the time of Lollobrigida’s battle over control of her finances, was also present with his parents.
The burial comes just five days after Lollobrigida’s death on January 16 at the age of 95 years old. Her coffin has been laying in state at the Campidoglio in Rome since then.
The actress’s only son Milko Skofic, grandson Dimitri and Spanish ex-husband Javier Rigau were among those in attendance alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Cultural Under-Secretary Vittorio Sgarbi as well as film and entertainment world figures Mara Venier, Milly Carlucci, Adriano Aragozzini, Daniel McVicar, Giulio Base and Barbara Bouchet.
The actress’s long-time personal assistant Andrea Piazzolla, who was caught up in a legal battle with Skofic at the time of Lollobrigida’s battle over control of her finances, was also present with his parents.
The burial comes just five days after Lollobrigida’s death on January 16 at the age of 95 years old. Her coffin has been laying in state at the Campidoglio in Rome since then.
- 1/19/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The actor, who will go on trial in June in the UK for a number of sexual offences, thanked the museum for having ‘the balls’ to invite him
Kevin Spacey has received a lifetime achievement award from the National Museum of Cinema in a ceremony in Turin, Italy. Spacey was given the Stella della Mole award by Vittorio Sgarbi, undersecretary to the Italian ministry of culture.
In remarks quoted by the Hollywood Reporter, Sgarbi said: “Tonight we’re witnessing Kevin Spacey’s comeback … The one living through cinema is an immortal man, and it is precisely him that we are awarding this prize to tonight.”...
Kevin Spacey has received a lifetime achievement award from the National Museum of Cinema in a ceremony in Turin, Italy. Spacey was given the Stella della Mole award by Vittorio Sgarbi, undersecretary to the Italian ministry of culture.
In remarks quoted by the Hollywood Reporter, Sgarbi said: “Tonight we’re witnessing Kevin Spacey’s comeback … The one living through cinema is an immortal man, and it is precisely him that we are awarding this prize to tonight.”...
- 1/17/2023
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Italy’s National Museum of Cinema in Turin on Monday paid tribute to Oscar-winning U.S. actor Kevin Spacey, presenting the American Beauty and House of Cards star with its highest honor, the Stella della Mole Award for lifetime achievement. Enzo Ghigo, president of the National Museum, and Vittorio Sgarbi, Undersecretary to the Italian Ministry of Culture, presented Spacey with the prize.
“Tonight we’re witnessing Kevin Spacey’s comeback,” said Sgarbi, adding. “The one living through cinema is an immortal man, and it is precisely him that we are awarding this prize to tonight.”
Spacey thanked the Turin Museum of Cinema for having “the courage, the balls, to invite me.” The public event marked Spacey’s first since facing sexual assault charges.
Spacey also took part in a masterclass at the Temple Hall of the Mole Antonelliana in Turin, where he spoke with museum director Domenico De Gaetano about his life and career.
“Tonight we’re witnessing Kevin Spacey’s comeback,” said Sgarbi, adding. “The one living through cinema is an immortal man, and it is precisely him that we are awarding this prize to tonight.”
Spacey thanked the Turin Museum of Cinema for having “the courage, the balls, to invite me.” The public event marked Spacey’s first since facing sexual assault charges.
Spacey also took part in a masterclass at the Temple Hall of the Mole Antonelliana in Turin, where he spoke with museum director Domenico De Gaetano about his life and career.
- 1/16/2023
- by Gianmaria Tammaro
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has denied he has been keeping a low profile since a string of sexual misconduct accusations brought his stellar career to a halt in 2017, in a rare meeting with the press ahead of an awards ceremony in northern Italy on Monday evening.
“I live my life every day, I go to restaurants, I meet people, drive, play tennis, I’ve always managed to meet generous, genuine, compassionate people,” Spacey told Italian news agency Ansa.
“I haven’t hidden away, I haven’t gone to live in a cave,” he said.
Spacey was speaking ahead of a special honorary event organized by Italy’s National Cinema Museum in the northern city of Turin on Monday.
Deadline’s request to speak to Spacey was turned down but the actor agreed to speak to a handful of Italian outlets including local news agency Ansa.
The actor is due to give a public masterclass,...
“I live my life every day, I go to restaurants, I meet people, drive, play tennis, I’ve always managed to meet generous, genuine, compassionate people,” Spacey told Italian news agency Ansa.
“I haven’t hidden away, I haven’t gone to live in a cave,” he said.
Spacey was speaking ahead of a special honorary event organized by Italy’s National Cinema Museum in the northern city of Turin on Monday.
Deadline’s request to speak to Spacey was turned down but the actor agreed to speak to a handful of Italian outlets including local news agency Ansa.
The actor is due to give a public masterclass,...
- 1/16/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
ROME -- Italy's already packed film festival calendar may become even more crowded, as the northern city of Milan said Thursday it is mulling the possibility of creating another festival.
The municipality of Milan confirmed Thursday that the city's culture secretary, culture and art critic Vittorio Sgarbi, and actor and critic Enrico Ghezzi were working on a plan that could add a new Milan festival to an already overburdened calendar that already includes international festivals such as the venerable Venice Film Festival, the upcoming RomaCinemaFest, Sicily's storied Taormina Film Festival, the Turin Film Festival, plus scores of other smaller niche festivals.
Italy is already home to around 50 competitive festivals of various stripes, including nearly a dozen created in the last three years.
According to Ghezzi, the names under consideration for the new Milan festival are "Mnemosine" (Mnemosyne), the name of the mother of the nine muses in Greek mythology, and "Epifanie" (Epiphany).
Officials said the largest contributor to the new festival's budget would be the city, which would have to triple its funds destined for film promotion to some €2.4 million ($3.4 million).
The municipality of Milan confirmed Thursday that the city's culture secretary, culture and art critic Vittorio Sgarbi, and actor and critic Enrico Ghezzi were working on a plan that could add a new Milan festival to an already overburdened calendar that already includes international festivals such as the venerable Venice Film Festival, the upcoming RomaCinemaFest, Sicily's storied Taormina Film Festival, the Turin Film Festival, plus scores of other smaller niche festivals.
Italy is already home to around 50 competitive festivals of various stripes, including nearly a dozen created in the last three years.
According to Ghezzi, the names under consideration for the new Milan festival are "Mnemosine" (Mnemosyne), the name of the mother of the nine muses in Greek mythology, and "Epifanie" (Epiphany).
Officials said the largest contributor to the new festival's budget would be the city, which would have to triple its funds destined for film promotion to some €2.4 million ($3.4 million).
- 10/12/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Superstar Madonna is causing controversy in Italy again, after her image was posted on the side of Milan's famous Duomo. An advertisement from Madonna's latest modeling job, as the face of the Autumn/Winter range of Swedish fashion firm Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), appears on the side of the world's largest gothic cathedral. The Duomo is currently covered in scaffolding for essential repair and restoration work and has begun selling advertising space in a bid to raise funding. Religious leaders in Italy and The Vatican are no fans of Madonna, who has tested their ire over the past two decades with her "Like A Prayer" video, in which she kissed a black Jesus, and her latest world tour, which features the singer posing on a crucifix, while wearing a crown of thorns. In defense, the Duomo's Monsignor Luigi Manganini says, "It's just an ad, certainly not a canonisation. When it was accepted, the poster seemed all correct and appropriate for its place, and it still is." Vittorio Sgarbi, the head of culture for the city's council, adds, "The other parts of the building are full of devils and demons. So an infernal Madonna shouldn't hurt us too badly."...
- 8/10/2006
- WENN
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.