fusillo

Dear Jake, I assure you that I wasn't and am not angry. I didn't say you know nothing about math; rather, if anything, it's me who knows nothing about it. I said that you don't understand what you're talking about regarding a specific point in my critique, namely the rapid reading of mountains of books. A performance aimed at proving an unconfirmed hypothesis, namely that Will is a genius. And neither do the arguments you mention, which can be found in any book on mathematical analysis, achieve the goal. If I'm not mistaken, we are not talking about just any mathematician, but the greatest living mathematician. Should the audience trust the words of Professor Lambeau? Weak argument, if you allow me... I recall that at the end of "Finding Forrester," something similar happens. The great writer gives a beautiful speech in front of an assembly of academics to support the admission of a black student to university. What did the great writer say? Who knows, Van Sant thought it would be better to cut that part and show the academics stunned and moved at the end of said speech. A writer uses words, a mathematician uses his theorems. What differentiates a great writer from an ordinary scribbler is the way they use words; the same, I'm afraid, applies to mathematicians with theorems, formulas, etc... If you skip this point altogether, I think you are trying to pull a fast one on me; what can I say, I’m a contrarian. :-) Anyway, you're absolutely right when you say it was better not to watch this movie; in fact, I’ll tell you more, Van Sant could have avoided making it. MY GOD, HOW ANGRY I AM... :-) Bye.

"Will is perhaps the greatest living mathematical genius" ---> Really? And how do we understand that? "He solves incredibly intricate theorems and tackles mathematical proofs that challenge the brightest minds in the world, with the ease that ordinary people use to do addition." ---> Well, in the film, we only see a blackboard with some mathematical formulas and a professor who is astonished. Are we sure Will is really that good and that professor isn't just a fool? "He reads mountains of books, flipping through the pages absent-mindedly, and learns the entire content immediately and indelibly." ---> Did you quiz him on the content of those books? So what are you talking about? Movies that talk about geniuses without giving the audience even a very rough but objective measure of their genius are, in 99% of cases, nonsense. Of course, I don't expect mathematical treatises, but at a certain point, instead of trying to trick the audience, it would be better to refrain. For me, this is just the trivial story of any little thug and it is definitely the worst film by Van Sant, along with "Finding Forrester." By the way, do you know what "Finding Forrester" is about? About a GENIUS writer... Just a coincidence?

What the hell does the sample have to do with it?

Beautiful, but with a very small flaw in the screenplay, in my opinion: the victim is shown before being killed; right after, we see Tim Robbins, injured and covered in blood, returning home late at night. The next morning, the corpse is found, and the unaware viewer thinks, wrongly, "it was Tim Robbins." Obviously, the murder shouldn't have been shown, and the audience misled, but the omission needed to be "justified" in the plot somehow. Instead, the suspense effect seems artificially constructed. Well, mental gymnastics aside, as I’ve already said, great film.

Indeed, the situation of Italian cinema is pitiful. Regarding Berlusconi's omnipotence even in the film industry, a few years ago I read "Il diario di Sabna Guzz" by Sabina Guzzanti, in which she recounts the systematic destruction of a film ("Bambola") by Medusa. Certainly, in that case there were, let's say, "political" reasons, but things like that happen often. A historical film from 2004 by Antonietta De Lillo titled "Il resto di niente," after winning various awards at numerous festivals, was poorly distributed by the Istituto Luce. And to think that the presence of Maria De Medeiros (Bruce Willis's girlfriend in "Pulp Fiction") would have made this film appealing even in the international market. I could also mention "Musikanten" by Franco Battiato, which was met with laughter and boos at the Venice Film Festival and was not distributed in theaters. Battiato and Sgalambro then took their copy and presented it in various cities... Sure, "Musikanten" isn't a masterpiece, but I imagine it's a hundred to two hundred times more interesting than that film with Banfi.... And if we really have to talk about tickets sold, well, I believe the name Battiato holds a certain appeal regardless. In short, we're in a pretty dire situation...

Well, it seems to me that Johnny Depp is much more of an artist than many other actors out there today... Perhaps the air doesn’t vibrate when he talks, but he is an honest actor with an expressive face that is anything but bland... He has also participated in many beautiful films: just off the top of my head, I think of "Ed Wood," my favorite Tim Burton film, and "Dead Man" by Jarmusch. I liked both of those quite a lot... I would have also liked to see him in the role of Sancho Panza in Terry Gilliam's "Don Quixote," but alas, that film was started and never finished... Then Depp has also done some box office films, no one can deny that, but in his place, I probably would have done the same... In short, Contemplation, you are absolutely free to detest Depp, but you’ve gone a bit overboard... Ah, I haven’t seen "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," but the hateful tone of Uxo’s review makes me believe it’s a good film...

It can't be as bad as "Masked and Anonymous," but just to be safe, I'll vote for a damn smashed debaser...

Well, safe travels and take care of yourself...

"I don't believe, that is, that such a professional environment provides the key to better understand the world" ---> But in fact, this is certainly not the purpose of the film, which instead focuses almost entirely on the emotional deficiencies of the characters, just like in "Punch-Drunk Love" and especially in "Magnolia." A great movie, nonetheless.

I don't know, I only remembered the quoted line, and by the way, I remembered it wrong, since "cicciottella" is a little girl and not a girl (oh well...). Google led me to the fantastic site of Loretta Goggi (http://www.lorettagoggi.it/testi/7780/cicciottella.htm).