Today's suggested movie is Man on the moon (1999, directed by Milos Forman).
The movie tells the story about Andy Kaufman, a famous artist in US at the end of 1970's beginning of 1980's, almost unknown in Europe. I would therefore define it as an "american" movie, where you must pay attention to a lot of details (remember the "Saturday Night Live" ?) to get into the story, but it is also a contribution of a great director to that kind of art in the balance between genius and crap.
Maybe Kaufman was really a genius, maybe just a slob... Definitely Jim Carrey's performance in this movie is awesome. No one else could have played Kaufman, his "nonsense", his improvisation, his insanity and his artistic delirium.
With this movie Carrey finally gained the respect and the fame of a great actor, and Definitely he's one of the most versatile actors in the Hollywood industry nowadays.
Just watch this movie and judge yourself...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
the man who couldn't sleep
Christian Bale is much more than Batman. Some of you will remember Bale as Patrick Bateman, the main character of American Psycho. Thanks to the Gotham City's hero, Christian Bale gained more fame and now is one of the most appreciated Hollywood actors.
I would like to post one of his movies, which I considered a cult and that i really liked. I am talking about The machinist (2004, il titolo italiano e' L'uomo senza sonno).
It's a dark movie, a sort of psychological thriller which plays on the border between surreal and real. Christian Bale is Trevor Reznik, a clear reference to Trent Reznor, leader of the cult rock band Nine Inch Nails. The screenplayer, Scott Kosar, and Brad Anderson, the director, have been clearly influenced by Dostoevsky (and Trevor is shown while is reading The idiot).
A demanding role for Christian Bale, who had to lose 30 kilos in order to play Trevor Reznik, a man that is keeping such an horrible secret in his unconscious that has not been able to sleep for over one year.
I would like to post one of his movies, which I considered a cult and that i really liked. I am talking about The machinist (2004, il titolo italiano e' L'uomo senza sonno).
It's a dark movie, a sort of psychological thriller which plays on the border between surreal and real. Christian Bale is Trevor Reznik, a clear reference to Trent Reznor, leader of the cult rock band Nine Inch Nails. The screenplayer, Scott Kosar, and Brad Anderson, the director, have been clearly influenced by Dostoevsky (and Trevor is shown while is reading The idiot).
A demanding role for Christian Bale, who had to lose 30 kilos in order to play Trevor Reznik, a man that is keeping such an horrible secret in his unconscious that has not been able to sleep for over one year.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Breaking the waves
Breaking the Waves (titolo italiano, Le onde del destino) is not just the story about the love of a woman for her husband. This movie, directed in 1996 by Lars Von Trier, is a mixture of passion, love, religion that drive a woman to simply destroy herself to do everything for her husband. Bess, is a simple and childlike woman who has difficulty living without Jan when he is away on the oil platform in the Nordic sea, where he works. She prays for his return, till one day he has an accident and he gets paralyzed. She will start to think that it's her fault, because she wanted him so much at home with her. No longer able to make love, and mentally affected by the accident, Jan asks her to have sex with other men, and he will try to get some "joy" from the details she tells him about. Bess slowly begins to believe that what she is doing is the wish of God and she can't stop doing it.
Emily Watson is the fantastic actress playing Bess. She's absolutely one of my favourites, you may know her also from Gosford Park, The boxer, The life and death of Peter Sellers, Angela's ashes (in italiano, Le ceneri di Angela), Punch-Drunk love (titolo italiano, Ubriaco d'amore, opera singola di Paul Thomas Anderson, regista di Magnolia e Il petroliere - There will be blood).....
Lars Von Trier 4th movie, the first of the "Golden Heart" trilogy (the other two are The idiots and the wonderful Dancer in the dark), is not very faithful to the Dogma 95 realism, of which Von Trier was a founding member. But I think in this movie, what really matter is Bess and her character, her strength and passion. But, above all, her love. A sick love
Emily Watson is the fantastic actress playing Bess. She's absolutely one of my favourites, you may know her also from Gosford Park, The boxer, The life and death of Peter Sellers, Angela's ashes (in italiano, Le ceneri di Angela), Punch-Drunk love (titolo italiano, Ubriaco d'amore, opera singola di Paul Thomas Anderson, regista di Magnolia e Il petroliere - There will be blood).....
Lars Von Trier 4th movie, the first of the "Golden Heart" trilogy (the other two are The idiots and the wonderful Dancer in the dark), is not very faithful to the Dogma 95 realism, of which Von Trier was a founding member. But I think in this movie, what really matter is Bess and her character, her strength and passion. But, above all, her love. A sick love
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Kowalski! Kowalski! Kowalski!
Today's post is dedicated to one of my favourites road movie, Vanishing point (1971, directed by Richard Sarafian, titolo italiano, Punto Zero).
As usual, I am not going to say much about this movie as you can easily check the plot on your own on Wikipedia. It's considerend a cult, one of the Tarantino's favourites and a very good example of exploitation movie.
Kowalski's silence and the 70's rock soundtrack are a perfect mix of how a road trip will have to be on the endless American highways. Super Soul, the DJ that is almost taking Kowalski along his race through the States, very much remind me the omniscient radio DJ of The warriors (I guerrieri della notte): they both report the events, but Super Soul is actually talking for Kowalski, he seems interpreting his thoughts, almost as being his soul.
A great road movie, it's worth seeing it again.
As usual, I am not going to say much about this movie as you can easily check the plot on your own on Wikipedia. It's considerend a cult, one of the Tarantino's favourites and a very good example of exploitation movie.
Kowalski's silence and the 70's rock soundtrack are a perfect mix of how a road trip will have to be on the endless American highways. Super Soul, the DJ that is almost taking Kowalski along his race through the States, very much remind me the omniscient radio DJ of The warriors (I guerrieri della notte): they both report the events, but Super Soul is actually talking for Kowalski, he seems interpreting his thoughts, almost as being his soul.
A great road movie, it's worth seeing it again.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Goodbye...
It has maybe nothing to do with cinema, but yesterday 3rd of August Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn left us.
I studied his novels at the University where I started to conceive a passion for the Russian literature. His most famous works:
One day in a life od Ivan Denisovich (1962, in italiano Una giornata di Ivan Denisovic)
The cancer ward (1968, in italiano Padiglione cancro)
The Gulag archipelag (1973-78, in italiano Arcipelago Gulag)
Lenin in Zurich (1976, in italiano Lenin a Zurigo)
A Nobel prize in literature in 1970, a fighter for the freedom of his country, Russia, that he deeply loved and for this love he was sent to Siberia and then forced to go into exile.
I studied his novels at the University where I started to conceive a passion for the Russian literature. His most famous works:
One day in a life od Ivan Denisovich (1962, in italiano Una giornata di Ivan Denisovic)
The cancer ward (1968, in italiano Padiglione cancro)
The Gulag archipelag (1973-78, in italiano Arcipelago Gulag)
Lenin in Zurich (1976, in italiano Lenin a Zurigo)
A Nobel prize in literature in 1970, a fighter for the freedom of his country, Russia, that he deeply loved and for this love he was sent to Siberia and then forced to go into exile.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Does your dog bite?
Peter Sellers doesn't really need a presentation, does he? Everybody knows this great actor so I am not going to talk about him, now. I'll definitely do that, but later on. Also because it's impossible to not talk about Peter Sellers in a blog dedicated to cinema. But, mainly, also because I simply love him.
The fragment below is from the movie The Pink Panther strikes again (in italiano, La pantera rosa sfida l'ispettore Clouseau), dated 1976. More info here
Sellers didn't really like the character of the French Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the Pink Panther series, but the movies exist only thanks to his fantastic touch and his awasome way to make the character looking like "simply an idiot".
In this movie what i adore is the insanity reached by the poor Dreyfus, who used to be Clouseau's boss.
Anyway, my favourite film among all the ones directed by Blake Edwards is A shot in the dark (1964, in italiano Uno sparo nel buio). There are unbelievable scenes where sometimes it's almost impossible to not laugh, even after many times you have seen the film. I will dedicate a post to this movie in the future.
The Pink Panther (1963, in italiano La Pantera Rosa) is the first chapter of the series, with David Niven and Claudia Cardinale (beautiful as always). It was actually supposed to be a film made for David Niven and his character, the thief Sir Charles Lytton. But at the end Sellers/Clouseau became so popular that Edwards decided to reshape the series following the French inspector rather than Niven/Lytton.
The return of the Pink Panther (1975, in italiano Il ritorno della Pantera Rosa) has unforgettable hilarious moments when Clouseau arrives at the hotel.
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978, La vendetta della Pantera Rosa) is the last movie of the series before Sellers died.
Everything that comes before and after Sellers is not Clouseau anymore.
The fragment below is from the movie The Pink Panther strikes again (in italiano, La pantera rosa sfida l'ispettore Clouseau), dated 1976. More info here
Sellers didn't really like the character of the French Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the Pink Panther series, but the movies exist only thanks to his fantastic touch and his awasome way to make the character looking like "simply an idiot".
In this movie what i adore is the insanity reached by the poor Dreyfus, who used to be Clouseau's boss.
Anyway, my favourite film among all the ones directed by Blake Edwards is A shot in the dark (1964, in italiano Uno sparo nel buio). There are unbelievable scenes where sometimes it's almost impossible to not laugh, even after many times you have seen the film. I will dedicate a post to this movie in the future.
The Pink Panther (1963, in italiano La Pantera Rosa) is the first chapter of the series, with David Niven and Claudia Cardinale (beautiful as always). It was actually supposed to be a film made for David Niven and his character, the thief Sir Charles Lytton. But at the end Sellers/Clouseau became so popular that Edwards decided to reshape the series following the French inspector rather than Niven/Lytton.
The return of the Pink Panther (1975, in italiano Il ritorno della Pantera Rosa) has unforgettable hilarious moments when Clouseau arrives at the hotel.
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978, La vendetta della Pantera Rosa) is the last movie of the series before Sellers died.
Everything that comes before and after Sellers is not Clouseau anymore.
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