Il_Paolo

@Kemo: my philosophical knowledge is limited to summaries; I'm not very good at it. By Spirit, I actually refer to Hegel, or even to a certain Platonism. However, like at the supermarket, I use these ideas (not Ideas) to justify my reviews, like cash and carry. Hermeneutic derivation - I must be honest - is not mine; it's a concept used by philosophers like Derrida and Gadamer, who basically say that the text is created by the reader and not the author (and, therefore, not the Spirit behind the author). In all this philosophical mess I'm just borrowing — which I only use to give myself some credibility, as I don't really know much — it seems confirmed that you can say anything and the opposite of anything. Anyway, to impress some philosopher, feel free to use hermeneutic derivation saying you made it up: maybe materialism wins. Philosophically Yours, Il_Paolo

Look, Kemo, I really appreciate your point of view. It compels me to take a detour before returning to the ski slopes for my last days in Aosta: in my opinion, every work of man is inspired by the Spirit, and the Spirit hovers everywhere (even, or especially?, in what we consider base). Writing, like film or music, is not truly of man, who is a conduit, a medium, a Demiurge, in liquid Hydraulic. Castellano & Pipolo, even if unaware – or perhaps precisely for that reason – were instruments of the Spirit in making this film and in addressing consumer society, in describing the commodification of man in the '80s (in this, better than Fellini, in my opinion). Indeed, and here I go a bit further, pornography itself is a sign of the Spirit and commodification, of the ruin of bodies (here, PPP was right about the 120 days). In short, it is up to the interpreter to understand the Sign of the Spirit, in an endless search that can also be a hermeneutic drift, but sweet, all things considered, like Ugo Foscolo's shipwreck, in the very Infinite. Poetically Yours (and infinitely Yours), Il_Paolo

@Panthera, are you gay? (you're alluding to your boyfriend but using the masculine form, after all). In that case, stay tuned, because in a bit... @Contemplazione: what’s wrong with being all the same in a supermarket???? A guy like you, if you started doing demonstrations of gym equipment on Saturdays in supermarkets, would significantly boost your weekly allowance with the overtime alongside various dissatisfied housewives. Do I always have to be the one to enlighten you and show you the way? @Kemo: the Montesano/Antonelli discourse is complex, but it seems undoubted that my sweet Laura does not want to possess Montesano for what he is (just an ordinary guy, really) but for what he has and for what he represents, almost symbolically (wealth, possession, stuff in the style of Verga). Here it would be interesting to delve into considerations about: do we desire what we desire because it "is" or because it "represents," functioning as a "fetish" for what we lack, is it a "substitute" or a "surrogate," just like the goods in the stores? Not simple at all, and anyway, I have to go to the bar to eat. SV, Il_Paolo

No, New, I'm still active, not passive. I like being the man, always and anyway. @Mien: okay for Armando de Razza, I hope you didn't make her feel "Esperanza d'Escobar," because that, in itself, while not devoid of a literary touch, would have sounded like a blunder. I reiterate, Christian or Fred Bongusto, "Malaga." Regards, Il_Paolo

Sorry Mien, something came to my mind: to understand if she is the woman of your life, instead of moping (although all this fuels the literary talent within us), why don’t you take her for a drive with "Finalmente l'alba" by Christian playing on the radio???? If she gives in, captivated by the beautiful Sicilian singing of Julio Iglesias from your side, fine, if she doesn’t, better for you.

Thank you all, welcome back and happy early autumn, a season when the days shorten and new reviews will be needed to alleviate the tedium of living. I reiterate that I don’t have any fakes (though it’s true that no one has seen me in the same place as my fakes, so, in theory at least, we could all be the same person). The fact that you come to my virtual rest stop, help yourselves, and leave either satiated or not is an intimate joy for me. If the restrooms are dirty, don’t take it out on me. Until next time. Yours soon, Il_Paolo

Until today, dear Mien_Mo_Man, I was convinced I was rigidly heterosexual. This ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE OF A REVIEW is starting to change my mind, at least about you. It's got everything, from the grandmother on the beach (missing only the description of the little crying cousins who steal your ball, of the gorgeous girl from the north who nobody pays attention to and in any case will never acknowledge you, of the pee directly on the sand, in the sea, or, in the craziest cases, in a bottle), to the friends of friends with kids in tow who come to disrupt family peace - then in November you find out they've had a fight with your uncle and the "screw you" comes late, but full. Then there’s the foreign girl in Spain as a reward for the trip (but will she ever let you forget the "no" from your classmate? The fleetingness of that love will satisfy you deep down, regardless of the proper showcasing of the trophy with friends when you get back home?), and the foreign girl who oppositely comes to Sicily to act like a Sicilian, working at the university (here, a piece of advice: take advantage of her childish side, her desire not to grow up, her Latin culture). In short, there’s something biblical in here that I could have never written. I care about you. ST IL_Paolo

The last one, in particular, is the most beautiful. But it’s nice to indulge in illusions sometimes, without going overboard.

@Backdoor: I haven't heard the cover/plagiarism album of de André. Let's say, however, that if you do things like that, you're a bit out of your depth – I mean: a nice album of original tracks would be better – and to be honest, you're at the final stretch if you reform the Bluvertigo. With all due respect: I like them too; I think that basically, people with a twisted mind are beautiful. ST Il_Paolo

Jake Chambers says: "Abatantuono, still chubby and equipped with his stinky Apulian-Milanese twang, who does 'the magician of Segrate' and his 'levitation' experiments (which are a riot, right?)." NO: THIS WAS GRAND HOTEL EXCELSIOR, which I saw directly in the cinema. Jake, you know I care about you, but you gave me a 3 for a review written with genuine passion, and you stumble on one of the foundations of lesser Italian cinema???? This shocks me. Thanks to everyone else, and welcome back to Muito as well.