‘Married to the Mob’ or — Ruehl Rules?Is it somewhat churlish to criticise a film for being too easy-going and enjoyable? I guess so, but let’s do it anyway and I’ll happily…1d ago1d ago
‘Iron Warrior’ or — Art-House Conan?Despite having watched literally hundreds of Italian movies over the last few years I can honestly say I’ve never encountered one that was…3d ago3d ago
‘Signore & Signori’ or — Brutally Funny?Pietro Germi’s ‘Signore & Signori’ (1966), or ‘The Birds, the Bees and the Italians’, is an Italian sex comedy consisting of three tales…5d ago5d ago
‘Buddha’s Palm’ or — Reaching a State of Idiotic Nirvana?Despite the superhuman abilities of their heroes the Wuxia films of the 1970’s still tended to be relatively grounded and realistic…Feb 6Feb 6
‘Bitter Rice’ or — The Americanisation of Silvana?Giuseppe De Santis’ ‘Bitter Rice’ (1949), or ‘Riso Amaro’, opens with a gag. A serious looking man directly addresses the audience to…Feb 5Feb 5
‘Airport’ or — Funnier Than ‘Airplane!’?I’ll admit that I was somewhat pissed when I returned home last night which could explain why I loudly announced on walking through my…Jan 29Jan 29
‘Il Posto’ or — “Rational Madness”?Despite Ermanno Olmi’s ‘Il Posto’ (1961) opening text describing how families migrated from rural areas of Italy to industrial Milan in…Jan 28Jan 28
‘Bread, Love and Dreams’ or — Tickled Pink?Apparently some of Italy’s more radical critics were somewhat dismissive of films such as Luigi Comencini’s ‘Bread, Love and Dreams’…Jan 25Jan 25
‘Caveman’ or — The Biggest Build-up in the History of Cinema?The memory is both clear and eternal.Jan 21Jan 21
‘Ulysses’ — Seriously Bewitched?Mario Camerini’s ‘Ulysses’ (1954) doesn’t get off to the most promising of starts with the first 25 minutes or so consisting of nothing…Jan 19Jan 19
