Synopsis
The stars (Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan) and director (Nora Ephron) of Sleepless in Seattle reteamed for this charming audience favorite. Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton and more great co-stars add note-perfect support to this cinematic love letter in which superstore book chain magnate Hanks and cozy children’s bookshop owner Ryan are anonymous e-mail cyberpals who fall head-over-laptops in love, unaware they are combative business rivals. You’ve got rare Hollywood magic when You’ve Got Mail.
Sad to hear of Ephron death in June 2012.
Review
Hanks and Ryan are a perfect match for a deliberately paced, if somewhat incredible, love story in New York. I found myself smiling thinking back to the dawn of internet chatrooms in the 1990s... I used them myself though of course I grew out of them and have since moved to dedicated forums for my various interests (travel, photography, music...) and dating websites for meeting potential partners. Listening again to the whirring and hissing of narrow-band dial-up connection had a nostalgic effect on me!
A wonderful feel-good story but much more. It is also the story of modern cities, where traditional family businesses are jeopardized by megastores which offer larger selections and lower prices. It is happening all over the world. Megastores in turn are threatened by e-commerce. I don't share the romantic view that it was better in the good old days of small stores, where one was forced to choose from a smaller selection of goods on offer (be it books or anything else) and had to pay higher prices. Old stores, like everybody else, must adapt to the new world or they will inevitably disappear. Long live Amazon!
European DVD
European Blue-ray
Buy Amazon's instant video of this film:
Blue-Ray
15 March 2012
Filw review: The Pacific (2012), by Carl Franklin and David Nutter. ***
recensione in italiano di seguito in questo post
Synopsis
This limited collector's Blu-ray edition includes a bonus 7th disc entitled "Inside the Battle: Peleliu."
The Pacific is an epic 10-part miniseries that delivers a portrait of WWII's Pacific Theatre as seen through the intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines - Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge. The extraordinary experiences of these men and their fellow Marines take them from the first clash with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of Guadalcanal, through the impenetrable rain firests of Cape Gloucester, across the blasted coral strongholds of Peleliu, up the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, through the killing fields of Okinawa, to the triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J Day. The viewer will be immersed in combat through the intimate perspective of this diverse, relatable group of men pushed to the limit in battle both physically and psychologically against a relentless enemy unlike any encountered before
Inside the Battle: Peleliu: An exclusive look into the battle of Peleliu. Combining exclusive historian and veteran interviews with real footage from the battle of Peleliu, this featurette illustrates the massive undertaking of the battle for Peleliu in the Pacific theater of World War II.
This limited collector's Blu-ray edition includes a bonus 7th disc entitled "Inside the Battle: Peleliu."
The Pacific is an epic 10-part miniseries that delivers a portrait of WWII's Pacific Theatre as seen through the intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines - Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge. The extraordinary experiences of these men and their fellow Marines take them from the first clash with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of Guadalcanal, through the impenetrable rain firests of Cape Gloucester, across the blasted coral strongholds of Peleliu, up the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, through the killing fields of Okinawa, to the triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J Day. The viewer will be immersed in combat through the intimate perspective of this diverse, relatable group of men pushed to the limit in battle both physically and psychologically against a relentless enemy unlike any encountered before
Inside the Battle: Peleliu: An exclusive look into the battle of Peleliu. Combining exclusive historian and veteran interviews with real footage from the battle of Peleliu, this featurette illustrates the massive undertaking of the battle for Peleliu in the Pacific theater of World War II.
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| John Basilone |
10 March 2012
Film review: Taxi Driver (1976) by Martin Scorsese, *****
Synopsis
Paul Schrader's gritty screenplay depicts the ever-deepening alienation of Vietnam Veteran Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro in a tour-de-force performance), a psychotic cab driver who obsessively cruises the mean streets of Manhattan.
This edition has the following extras:
Introduction to DVD - Martin Scorsese - this was recorded in 2006 and lasts about 15 minutes during which Scorsese talks about the influences that created Taxi Driver (Jean Luc Goddard etc).
Introduction to DVD - Paul Schrader
Commentary - Paul Schrader
Commentary Robert Kolker (Author)
Loneliness and Inspiration - Documentary
Cabbie Confessional - Documentary
Producing a Cult Classic
Taxi Driver Locations - Then and Now
Animated Photo Gallery
Storyboard to Film Comparisons
Behind the Scenes Documentary
Theatrical Trailer
Filmographies
Review
A monumental film about human nature, about the aftermath of the Vietnam war, about New York in the seventies. These are the several layers of reading this film lends itself to and they are all worth the viewer's time. For this reason this is a film that must be seen several times to get all it has to offer. It can not be metabolized in one viewing. One of the best films of the seventies.
The BD version is very good, and quite a few extras complete an excellent deal.
Paul Schrader's gritty screenplay depicts the ever-deepening alienation of Vietnam Veteran Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro in a tour-de-force performance), a psychotic cab driver who obsessively cruises the mean streets of Manhattan.
This edition has the following extras:
Introduction to DVD - Martin Scorsese - this was recorded in 2006 and lasts about 15 minutes during which Scorsese talks about the influences that created Taxi Driver (Jean Luc Goddard etc).
Introduction to DVD - Paul Schrader
Commentary - Paul Schrader
Commentary Robert Kolker (Author)
Loneliness and Inspiration - Documentary
Cabbie Confessional - Documentary
Producing a Cult Classic
Taxi Driver Locations - Then and Now
Animated Photo Gallery
Storyboard to Film Comparisons
Behind the Scenes Documentary
Theatrical Trailer
Filmographies
Review
A monumental film about human nature, about the aftermath of the Vietnam war, about New York in the seventies. These are the several layers of reading this film lends itself to and they are all worth the viewer's time. For this reason this is a film that must be seen several times to get all it has to offer. It can not be metabolized in one viewing. One of the best films of the seventies.
The BD version is very good, and quite a few extras complete an excellent deal.
02 March 2012
Bodyworlds exhibition
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| Carrying your own skin is possible |
It took me some time. The first couple of attempts I made when the exhibition was in Belgium failed miserably when I was too impatient to stand in line for hours as long lines of waiting viewer snaked around the building where the plastinated bodies were on display.
This time it was easy. Few people and almost empy halls. A perfect afternoon to look at how we are made inside.
Many exhibits, and they change all the time in different cities. Plastinated men and women displayed in many everyday poses and performing normal activities that look altogether different in this context.
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| Couple mating |
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| Playing cards |
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| Football |
As I walk out I am thinking it might me interesting to be plastinated, though I felt a bit queasy at the end, when a plastinated man was encouraging volunteers for his job from a wall board:
"I was like you are now: alive. You will be like I am now: dead."
Strongly recommended, the visit if not necessarily the volunteering. The exhibition tours the world, you will find its calendar here.
Strongly recommended, the visit if not necessarily the volunteering. The exhibition tours the world, you will find its calendar here.
24 February 2012
Book Review: Triumph of the City, by Edward Glaser, ****
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| Singapore, 2012 |
America is an urban nation. More than two thirds of us live on the 3 percent of land that contains our cities. Yet cities get a bad rap: they're dirty, poor, unhealthy, crime ridden, expensive, environmentally unfriendly... Or are they?
As Edward Glaeser proves in this myth-shattering book, cities are actually the healthiest, greenest, and richest (in cultural and economic terms) places to live. New Yorkers, for instance, live longer than other Americans; heart disease and cancer rates are lower in Gotham than in the nation as a whole. More than half of America's income is earned in twenty-two metropolitan areas. And city dwellers use, on average, 40 percent less energy than suburbanites.
18 February 2012
Recensione: Sale Nero, di Marco Aime, Stefano Pensotti e Andrea Semplici, ****
Taudenni e Ahmed Ela: due "non luoghi" africani, il primo in Mali il secondo nella Dancalia etiope, sono un chiaro esempio di quelle società "diversamente sviluppate" dove il modello è ancora quello della cultura materiale. Per entrambi è grande l'importanza che continua ad avere il commercio del sale, l'uso dello stesso per gli scambi commerciali è ancora ampiamente diffuso.
Il libro racconta con testi e fotografie l'ambiente "umano e geografico" che le carovane attraversano: comunità, culture, ambienti naturali. Mette in rilievo le comunità che vivono di questa economia, i rapporti che si intrecciano, le strutture sociali e parentali delle popolazioni, l'esperienza umana. Chi sono questi uomini, quale la loro esperienza?
Recensione
Recensione
Un libro insolito, il cui il protagonista è una materia prima alimentare, la sola roccia che faccia parte della nostra alimentazione da sempre. Ed è anche merce di scambio in tutte le culture del mondo. L'aspetto economico cruciale del sale è che di solito deve essere trasportato per centinaia o anche migliaia di kilometri dal punto di produzione al consumatore. Il sale, ovviamente, è bianco, ma qui siamo in Africa...
14 February 2012
Book Review: Buddhism Without Beliefs, by Stephen Batchelor, ****
Synopsis
The author points out that Buddha was not a mystic and his awakening was not a shattering revelation that revealed the mysteries of God or the universe. What the Buddha taught was not something to believe in, but something to do. Buddha challenged people to understand the nature of anguish, let go of its origins, realize its cessation and create a certain way of life and awakening. This awakening is available to all of us, and Batchelor examines how to work realistically towards it, and how to practise and live it every day.
Review
This book immediately rang a bell with me. I have long felt close to Buddhism, among other reasons, because it does not require believing in any dogma. As someone who has been educated in science, I always felt uneasy with beliefs. I prefer to know, or to accept I don't know. I am an agnostic. This book spells out very clearly how Buddhism traces the path to inner peace without requiring anyone to "believe" in anything.
For example, we have no real answers to metaphysical questions (the origins of the universe and such unanswerable eternal open issues) so Buddha stopped asking them. On the ethical plane, the dharma is the logical conclusions one reaches by reasoning on what is good, not some kind of given commandment. The closest thing I can find in Western philosophy is the categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant, whom I regard as the greatest thinker of Western civilization.
You can find more books by the same author by clicking on this link.
The author points out that Buddha was not a mystic and his awakening was not a shattering revelation that revealed the mysteries of God or the universe. What the Buddha taught was not something to believe in, but something to do. Buddha challenged people to understand the nature of anguish, let go of its origins, realize its cessation and create a certain way of life and awakening. This awakening is available to all of us, and Batchelor examines how to work realistically towards it, and how to practise and live it every day.
Review
This book immediately rang a bell with me. I have long felt close to Buddhism, among other reasons, because it does not require believing in any dogma. As someone who has been educated in science, I always felt uneasy with beliefs. I prefer to know, or to accept I don't know. I am an agnostic. This book spells out very clearly how Buddhism traces the path to inner peace without requiring anyone to "believe" in anything.
For example, we have no real answers to metaphysical questions (the origins of the universe and such unanswerable eternal open issues) so Buddha stopped asking them. On the ethical plane, the dharma is the logical conclusions one reaches by reasoning on what is good, not some kind of given commandment. The closest thing I can find in Western philosophy is the categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant, whom I regard as the greatest thinker of Western civilization.
You can find more books by the same author by clicking on this link.
13 February 2012
Film Review: The Swimming Pool (1968), by Jacques Deray, ***
Synopsis
Contains the French version and the original English spoken version in FULL HD resolution !!! Classic 60's French drama, the Blu-ray features the full HD version of the originally in English spoken and recorded movie. Starring screen legends Alain Delon (Lost Command, Borsalino, Mr Klein, Swann In Love), Romy Schneider (What's New Pussycat, Ludwig, Deathwatch), Jane Birkin (Blow Up, Death On The Nile, Dust) it's the story of two lovers, Marianne and Jean-Paul who are spending their vacation in a sumptous villa near St.-Tropez. After a visit Marianne invites former lover Harry and his teenage daughter Penelope to stay. With the swimming pool the main centre of action, tensions soon rise and passion turns to deadly violence.
Review
It must have been pretty shocking in the late sixties to see Schneider's naked breasts, but somehow it's not the same 45 years later :) A classic story of possessive love and obsessive lust. The movie makes me sort of detest Alain Delon, a spoiled brat in the story and perhaps in real life? In the disc there is an alternative end to the story, with policemen coming up to ... well I won't spoil it here, but somehow my disc was defective and the alternative end is cut off. There is also a short extra with an interview to the two protagonists just before the shooting of the movie.
What I found most interesting here is the lifestyle of the sixties, the clothing, hairstyle, smoking habits...
Contains the French version and the original English spoken version in FULL HD resolution !!! Classic 60's French drama, the Blu-ray features the full HD version of the originally in English spoken and recorded movie. Starring screen legends Alain Delon (Lost Command, Borsalino, Mr Klein, Swann In Love), Romy Schneider (What's New Pussycat, Ludwig, Deathwatch), Jane Birkin (Blow Up, Death On The Nile, Dust) it's the story of two lovers, Marianne and Jean-Paul who are spending their vacation in a sumptous villa near St.-Tropez. After a visit Marianne invites former lover Harry and his teenage daughter Penelope to stay. With the swimming pool the main centre of action, tensions soon rise and passion turns to deadly violence.
Review
It must have been pretty shocking in the late sixties to see Schneider's naked breasts, but somehow it's not the same 45 years later :) A classic story of possessive love and obsessive lust. The movie makes me sort of detest Alain Delon, a spoiled brat in the story and perhaps in real life? In the disc there is an alternative end to the story, with policemen coming up to ... well I won't spoil it here, but somehow my disc was defective and the alternative end is cut off. There is also a short extra with an interview to the two protagonists just before the shooting of the movie.
What I found most interesting here is the lifestyle of the sixties, the clothing, hairstyle, smoking habits...
12 February 2012
Film Review: Midnight in Paris (2010), by Woody Allen, ***
Synopsis
This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have experiences there that change their lives. It's about a young man's great love for a city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better.
This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have experiences there that change their lives. It's about a young man's great love for a city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better.
09 February 2012
Film Review: Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), by Michael Anderson, ****
Sinopsys
Phileas Fogg bet his fellow club members that he can circle the globe in eighty days. That may not be impressive today, but in 1872, it was nearly impossible. Accompanied by his valet, Passepartout, and the wandering Princess Aouda, Fogg crosses Europe, India, Japan, the Pacific and the United States.
Winner of several Academy Awards, this was written by John Farrow (Mia's dad) and S.J. Perelman, based on Jules Verne's 1873 classic. The fun part is the razzle-dazzle. Todd knew what he was doing with all those exotic locales and over 40 cameo appearances, including Charles Boyer, Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, José Greco, Peter Lorre, Buster Keaton, Frank Sinatra, and Red Skelton. A very young Shirley MacLaine was painted and dyed to play a lively Indian Princess. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Review
Five Oscar winner film from 1956, the only one ever produced by Michael Todd, third husband of Elizabeth Taylor, who died soon afterwrds at 48. Nice box with two DVDs in English and French, with subtitles in Spanish as well. A pleasant panoramic view of the world's cultures, where the real protagonist is Passpartout, while Phileas Fogg embodies English pleghm in front of every and all adversity and unforseen circumstances. Surely some scenes appear rather improbable (in the book and in the film) but we should keep in mind that Verne was writing in the XVIII century and the film was made in the 1950s technology, no CGI here! But the movie flows well and leads the viewer by the hand around the world for a lively and at times even sparkling journey.
Of course, it is highly advisable to read the book as well, Naturalmente è consigliatissimo leggere il libro di Jules Verne. There are several editions available on Amazon if you click here.
Phileas Fogg bet his fellow club members that he can circle the globe in eighty days. That may not be impressive today, but in 1872, it was nearly impossible. Accompanied by his valet, Passepartout, and the wandering Princess Aouda, Fogg crosses Europe, India, Japan, the Pacific and the United States.
Winner of several Academy Awards, this was written by John Farrow (Mia's dad) and S.J. Perelman, based on Jules Verne's 1873 classic. The fun part is the razzle-dazzle. Todd knew what he was doing with all those exotic locales and over 40 cameo appearances, including Charles Boyer, Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, José Greco, Peter Lorre, Buster Keaton, Frank Sinatra, and Red Skelton. A very young Shirley MacLaine was painted and dyed to play a lively Indian Princess. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Review
Five Oscar winner film from 1956, the only one ever produced by Michael Todd, third husband of Elizabeth Taylor, who died soon afterwrds at 48. Nice box with two DVDs in English and French, with subtitles in Spanish as well. A pleasant panoramic view of the world's cultures, where the real protagonist is Passpartout, while Phileas Fogg embodies English pleghm in front of every and all adversity and unforseen circumstances. Surely some scenes appear rather improbable (in the book and in the film) but we should keep in mind that Verne was writing in the XVIII century and the film was made in the 1950s technology, no CGI here! But the movie flows well and leads the viewer by the hand around the world for a lively and at times even sparkling journey.
Of course, it is highly advisable to read the book as well, Naturalmente è consigliatissimo leggere il libro di Jules Verne. There are several editions available on Amazon if you click here.
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