vellutogrigio

A film with its pros and cons: as for the cons, I find the thriller plot rather weak, not particularly convincing or logical in its developments (these Scandinavian genre writers are perhaps a bit overrated); the jumble of characters is excessive, even though most of them are finely performed. Coming to the pros: the choice to set the film in the less touristy mountains of northern Italy is intelligent, and the realism of the locations and cinematography is excellent. The actors are great. Toni Servillo stands out (the scene where he smokes in the police station is iconic), so I believe that in twenty years this film will be remembered mainly in relation to him.

But no, sometimes it's hard to distinguish the essential from the superfluous.

Oh my God, between the ages of eighteen and twenty, I devoured all of Area's albums; I love them so much. Without delving into the scholarly debate about their prog or jazz roots, I like to think they created popular music, blending a bit of all the influences of the time (better on Crac! than on other, perhaps more pretentious albums), also to "educate" the youth of those days to listening. I even met Tavolazzi while he was playing jazz in '97, and the melancholy with which he spoke to me about the "Aerei" - as he called them - has stayed with me.

@supersoul: interesting the reference to "Desperate Hours," unfortunately I saw the - disappointing - version by Cimino. Still in the same vein, "Cape Fear" by Scorsese could also be related (which in turn is a remake of a classic from the '50s). The fact remains that the theme around which the film revolves is not very original, and this film is what it is.

Well. The reflection on violence that - certainly with impeccable style and taste - Haneke presents is not entirely new to me, and it doesn’t seem entirely original either. It was present in Hitchcock, often recurs in De Palma, even in Hostel. The comparisons with "A Clockwork Orange," which some advertisers or journalists have made, are completely misplaced; perhaps a more useful parallel would be with "Straw Dogs," obviously from a reversed perspective. No complaints about the film's form: I adore Naomi Watts, excellent and inert Roth, and the incredible faces of the two manchildren. Overall, it's a film that could be skipped, if there were serious alternatives.

Thank you all for stopping by (and thanks in advance to those who will). A shoutout to Lavalin for guessing who it is (Naldini and Mutarelli are the names of the drivers), with the caveat that in life the only definitive thing is the temporary. Which means that - hopefully - mine is just a goodbye, leaving a part of me on Deb.

I mostly asked just not to argue about the trite reasons for NATO yes or no (otherwise it would end up like the delirium of "Il divo"). As a child, I grew up right near one of them (my first infatuation, at six, was for a beautiful coloured daughter of a hulking parachutist; you would have liked her too, if you're Baiano - or Rambaudi?!?) and in the American presence, I also saw an opportunity for enrichment, not just an invader (oh well...). You can grasp the historical value of the great Conspiracy on the site I’m pointing out, right on the homepage where there’s a beautiful epitaph. As for the latest review, currently, I have personal reasons that force me to "leave" the site; I will try to remain as a commentator, but I see that as tough. These two years have been a great experience here; I've also seen new, very talented reviewers come and go, and obviously, I thank those who have read me from the start, like Ocram, Bisius, Pibroch, Tollani, on the rock side Shooting Star, and many others that I can’t recall at the moment. Debaser is beautiful and stimulating, just like, I imagine, many of the people who write here.

Eva Robin's made her debut in my mythical "Tenebre" by Dario Argento ('82), in a rather interesting role for the development of the plot (in my opinion, it was no coincidence that she/he was chosen). Aside from this, with all due respect to the big names I see involved in this discussion, I've never been too attracted to her/him, but honestly, that should be due to the fact that I already knew about the surprise attached, and I would never go as far as what Pazienza said. However, if she/he were to come to my area with the monologue that mentions Lavalin, I would go see her/him. Now I'll look for the tour dates, you’ve piqued my curiosity.

Il_Paolo, you know I follow your mission with sympathy, but lately, I’m noticing some missed points, which I hope will be overcome with your summer reviews (in your public swimming pool, do you swim with or without a cap?). This time you’ve gagged yourself with the material you tackled (by minors, rather than "minor" as you mean it), but in general, I see a weakness: what’s happening to you? I appreciate your vein of controlled madness, don’t let yourself be standardized, neither by the stuffy ones nor by the singers of "trash for the sake of trash." You usually recycle the garbage into artistic setups worthy of the Venice Biennale; don’t just limit yourself to photographing it with hyper-realistic touches as you did in this case!

Religious vocation and religiosity itself as a latent form of neurosis; the habit as a uniform that separates the man from the world and from the responsibilities of secular life, while adding others, and different ones; affective and relational immaturities as a consequence of an idealization of one's family of origin, to which stands in contrast the late awareness of the deceptive nature of many stable relationships and the profound disorientation; the unpredictable irruption of feeling as a destructive factor of the everyday. Lavalin demonstrates that he has learned the lesson of kraut rock and Central European decadence, striking with a deft pen, without resorting to the clanging of new buildings collapsing, but leaving us with a similar sense of disorientation in this accurate interpretation of the novella by Moretti. Chapeu. PS: One day you will explain to me and to all the debaseriani how it is that you send reviews along with Il_Paolo (whom I believe to be a Paola) and then you take offense if I confuse you with him.