Discland
edited by Jonathan Doyle
Mafioso (The Criterion Collection, 3.18.2008) Nino Badalamenti is a supervisor in a car manufacturing plant who hasn't taken a vacation in over two years. On his way out the door to visit his beloved childhood hometown of Sicily -- with his blonde wife and daughters -- Nino is handed a package by his boss and asked to deliver it to a powerful and influential Sicilian gangster named Don Vincenzo. Once in Sicily, Nino has a hoot seeing friends and family, but his wife has trouble fitting in and is unfairly dismissed as a snob by Nino's family. Even more worrisome, Nino finds himself entangled in an intricate web of secret mafioso dealings and is eventually sent on an unexpectedly... elaborate errand. (continued)

Upcoming


July 2

Hancock

July 3

The Whackness

July 4

Diminished Capacity

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

Holding Trevor

Kabluey

We are Together

July 9

Full Battle Rattle

July 11

A Man Named Pearl

August

Eight Miles High

Garden Party

Harold

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Meet Dave

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

The Stone Angel

July 18

A Very British Gangster

Before I Forget

The Dark Knight

The Doorman

Felon

Lou Reed's Berlin

Mad Detective

Mamma Mia!

Space Chimps

Take

Transsiberian

July 22

Two Tickets to Paradise

July 23

Boy A




 

An interesting theory has surfaced

An interesting theory has surfaced as to why Slate's David Edelstein, Salon's Charles Taylor and New York Press critic Armond White all hate Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby. Ready? They're all Paulettes -- i.e., disciples of the late, legendary film critic Pauline Kael -- and Kael had a case against Eastwood in her day, and her acolytes have continued to occasionally channel her from the grave. Kael was four-square against Eastwood's early films. She famously called Dirty Harry a "fascist" movie, and while Eastwood didn't direct that film, the label stuck. There's some juicy stuff in Richard Schickel's Clint Eastwood biography about that hatred. Indeed, one of the entries in the index is actually titled "animus against Eastwood." If Edelstein, Taylor or White would like to respond or kick this around in any way, get back to me and we'll thrash it out in Wednesday's column.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 27, 2004 at 01:57 PM

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