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

Transsiberian

July 22

Two Tickets to Paradise

July 23

Boy A

Feinberg and Arkin

email this story
read comments (5)
post a comment

Scott Feinberg, auteur-administrator of andthewinneris. blog.com, had a recent chat with Little Miss Sunshine's Alan Arkin, whose grandpa with the heroin habit and the "fuckin' chicken" is an absolutely un-ignorable Best Supporting Actor contender. (And so is Steve Carell's performance. We should all support Carell. No matter how good he is in Evan Almighty he's going to get killed next year for just being in the damn thing so be nice to him now.) I tried talking to Arkin myself but it didn't work out. He was excellent in Keith Gordon's Mother Night.

Irwin stingray<< previous | next >>Halloween parade

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 31, 2006 at 10:06 PM

comment #1

jeffmcm says ...

That last sentence is kind of a non sequitur.

Posted by jeffmcm at October 31, 2006 11:36 PM

comment #2

Mr. Muckle says ...

Alan Arkin is one of the best actors ever, imo. "Slums of Beverly Hills" and "Glengarry Glen Ross" being prime examples, not to mention the great earlier stuff. Always great.

Posted by Mr. Muckle at November 1, 2006 08:49 AM

comment #3

Mgmax says ...

Arkin was so underrated in Glengarry. What's great is that he's the fish out of water-- he's the non-Mamet character in a Mamet world, the only one (besides Jonathan Pryce's patsy) who's not trying to out-Mamet everyone else (a hopeless contest anyway-- Pacino owns it all). He's a normal guy, trapped in Mametland. One of my standard lines in many life situations, delivered in Arkin's voice-- "Are we talking about this, or just talking about this?"

Posted by Mgmax at November 1, 2006 09:09 AM

comment #4

Hallick says ...

Arkin's the sentimental favorite from the movie and he's going to get nominated over Carell because of that scene with the grand-daughter where she asks him if he thinks she's a loser.

Posted by Hallick at November 1, 2006 12:09 PM

comment #5

ArchiveGuy says ...

If Arkin scores a nod, it will have been 38 years since his most recent previous nomination. You know who else had 38 year gaps between nods? Helen Hayes & Jack Palance (and both ended up winning)

Posted by ArchiveGuy at November 1, 2006 02:05 PM