Hey what while I’m on the topic, gotta recommend Rome, Open City by the same director. Incredible anti-war movie. Shot less than a year after the Nazis left Rome, with a cast mostly made of people who lived through the occupation, just an extremely powerful statement.
In order to authentically portray the hardships and poverty of life in Rome under the occupation Rossellini hired mostly non-professional actors; a few exceptions included established stars Fabrizi and Anna Magnani. According to Rossellini, “the situation of the moment guided by my own and the actors’ moods and perspectives” dictated what was shot, and he relied more on improvisation than on a script. He also stated that the work was “a film about fear, the fear felt by all of us but by me in particular. I too had to go into hiding. I too was on the run. I had friends who were captured and killed.”[9] Rossellini relied on traditional devices of melodrama, such as identification of the film’s central characters[citation needed] and a clear distinction between the primary good and evil ones. Only four interior sets were constructed for the more important locations of the film. Production ended in June 1945.
I mean…it’s been getting raves. It’s going to keep getting raves. It seems like it’s going to be part of the Best Picture and other Oscar races. Given all of this, there’s zero chance I can simply stay away from it long-term, so I may as well jump in and see it as soon as it’s available to me (in two weeks). I still maintain some optimism that I’ll like it.
A movie so good that it made Ingrid Bergman quit her Hollywood career to go to Italy and make movies with Rossellini (+ marry, have children with) for a decade. Strong commitment to the art on her part !
(and sorry to fact check but Bicycle Thieves (which I still haven’t seen) is dir. by De Sica, not Rossellini).
“You may know Ken from his roles as Santa in ‘Home Alone,’ the guy Bill Murray kisses in ‘Groundhog Day,’ or in ‘Armageddon’ where his character loses his life saving the world from a giant asteroid. Now, we need the world’s help to save Ken,” the statement continued.
As of Friday morning, the fundraiser had raised more than $88,000, from donors including fellow actors and former co-stars such as Steve Carell and Tim Meadows, People reported.
He was also in Seinfeld as the new dad who named his kid Seven.
I am going to mix things up and see if others want to add theirs too.
I have not seen a few contenders, including Poor Things, which I strongly suspect will make my list.
My 10 best viewing experiences of 2023
#10) Forks-The Bear (tv) #9) Rye Lane (movie) #8) How to Blow Up a Pipeline (movie) #7) Oppenheimer (movie) #6) The Holdovers (movie) #5) Long, Long Time-Last of Us (tv) #4) the Bear-The Bear (tv) #3) Killers of the Flower Moon (movie) #2) Connor’s Wedding- Succession (tv) #1) Past Lives (movie)
Two episodes from one show seems dumb but I couldn’t leave them off. Honestly a third one from this season of the Bear could have made my top 10.
Strong list. Feels like The Last of Us was from another year by now, but obviously you’re right that it was 2023. That one you named is probably my favorite TV episode of the year, but Forks is an extremely strong runner-up. I have great appreciation for Connor’s Wedding as a bold artistic choice and a more realistic treatment of certain events than most TV/film treats them, but it just didn’t hit for me like it did for others; it wouldn’t be my favorite Succession episode this year.
I’ll probably wait to see how December shakes out before posting my list since it’s such a major film release month with a strong chance of inserting itself into my top choices.
Just in case you’re actually interested in watching (all or part of) this, a big (partly Netflix-funded) restoration has been in the works for years and should be finished soon, so it’s probably best to wait a year or two (quality of version def makes a huge difference for movies that old).
I would probably not watch the original, but what you’ve described sounds great. I look forward to either watching it or watching someone else review it
I generally like these restored or enhanced editions as long as it’s subtle or purposed toward restoring rather than interpolating or adding to the original.
That’s because the lights didn’t translate to film properly. They had to cake them up and gauze them up just to somewhat read on camera with no way to see how it really looked on the day. They went too far but the reverse would would have been worse.
Eileen, new in theaters this weekend and starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway, is mostly dull and only ever occasionally breaks up the boredom with what feels like cheap tricks. McKenzie is by no means a bad actress, but her track record of playing in stuff that I actually like watching is getting rough. Probably the weakest film I bothered to see in the theater this year; not recommended.
FWIW: I went because I thought it had a promising trailer. And I just rewatched the trailer, and…still looks good! Even after I know better. Anyway, it’s pulling an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes so far, so don’t take my word for it.
