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

Another Israeli dispute story

email this story
read comments (4)
post a comment

The N.Y. Times has now jumped into the Band's Visit vs. Beaufort spat, with the Jerusalem-based Isabel Kershner reporting in a 10.30 story that "unnamed producers" of The Band's Visit have been quoted as "accusing the makers of Beaufort -- and director Joseph Cedar in particular -- of having drawn the academy's attention to the rule about the predominance of English, leading to the disqualification of The Band's Visit.

After this story appeared in an Israeli newspaper on 10.14, Cedar "was quoted...as acknowledging that his producers had raised the issue with the Israeli academy, but denying any contact with the American one.

Cedar tells Kershner that "having to defend himself against accusations of being behind the disqualification of The Band's Visit is "ludicrous, preposterous. I can understand the argument that the academy rules may be too strict, [but] we have absolutely zero to do with the disqualification. We didn't make the rules, or put the English in that script."

Blanchett leads with both Oscar predix groups<< previous | next >>Forget Roberts in "War"

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 31, 2007 at 12:48 AM

comment #1

corey3rd says ...

The best thing that can happen to this film is keep fanning the ugliness to give it tons of free hype.

It's sad that the Oscars is willing to go to math to determine how much of a film is in English, but when it comes to determining Best Actor, you don't have to be on screen for half the running time.

Posted by corey3rd at October 31, 2007 08:21 AM

comment #2

PerfectTommy says ...

Good point Corey. There are also plenty of supporting role Oscars that have gone to those that were arguably leading roles. And how about some better animation rules.

Posted by PerfectTommy at October 31, 2007 10:04 AM

comment #3

RoyBatty says ...

Well, if you want to talk about math how about releasing the vote tallies so everyone can see just how close the races are.

I mean, if you are already going to hype the suspense of not releasing the winners before the show then stop being hypocrites by refusing to talk about the votes cast. They have already have turned it into a horse race so why be arbitrary about the numbers.

Posted by RoyBatty at October 31, 2007 10:06 AM

comment #4