Tag: Sergio Castellitto

REVIEW: L’ultimo bacio [The Last Kiss] [2001]

Jared Mobarak

“With pounds of cellulite and all your insecurities” I really want to love Gabriele Muccino‘s Italian blockbuster of a rom-com L’ultimo bacio [The Last Kiss] because it is funny, charming, complicated, and hopeful. My issue lies in the fact that it’s also awful in its depictions of selfish ego and weak indifference. Maybe this is a product of its European creation. Maybe extramarital affairs are commonplace enough in Italy to be able to laugh them off and accept them as a casualty of war, but I’d be lying if I…

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Top 25 Films of 2012

Jared Mobarak

(short and sweet and to the point; culled from watching ~140 releases. constantly updated as i catch up to those i missed. click poster for review if applicable) #25: End of Watch directed by David Ayer #24: Amour directed by Michael Haneke #23: Moonrise Kingdom directed by Wes Anderson #22: How to Survive a Plague directed by David France . #21: Prometheus directed by Ridley Scott . #20: Antiviral directed by Brandon Cronenberg #19: Skyfall directed by Sam Mendes . #18: Wreck-It Ralph directed by Rich Moore . #17: The…

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TIFF12 REVIEW: Venuto al mondo [Twice Born] [2012]

Jared Mobarak

“There’s no sea in Sarajevo” Adapted from the 2008 novel by Margaret Mazzantini of the same name, Venuto al mondo [Twice Born] isn’t quite what it seems. When an aged Italian woman named Gemma (Penélope Cruz) receives a phone call from her past, we infer certain facts via hers and her husband’s (director Sergio Castellitto‘s Giuliano) reactions. The mystery man in a photo on their fridge seems more important than a simple friend for who’s work is showing in Sarajevo. And as Gemma and son Pietro (Pietro Castellitto) exit the…

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REVIEW: Paris, je t’aime [Paris, I Love You] [2006]

Jared Mobarak

I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the short film anthology Paris, je t’aime [Paris, I Love You] for a long time. Once I heard of the project it really interested me as something that could be amazing, with some enormous talent attached. To my disappointment, I read about the finished shorts and how good they were, but alas no release date stateside for the entire experience. It will eventually come to the US (limited early May, Buffalo? Maybe), however, I could wait no longer and made the purchase…

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