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)

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Blanchett leads with both Oscar predix groups

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It's very...I don't know, reassuring to see that Cate Blanchett's Dylan performance in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There is the far-ahead favorite among MCN's Gurus of Gold and the The Envelope's new Buzzmeter prognosticators.

Bleiberg's reply<< previous | next >>Another Israeli dispute story

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 31, 2007 at 12:35 AM

comment #1

Aguirre says ...

cate... the only BRILLIANT part of a truly maddening film.

Posted by Aguirre at October 31, 2007 12:42 AM

comment #2

BurmaShave says ...

... besides Bob Dylan.

Posted by BurmaShave at October 31, 2007 02:49 AM

comment #3

p.Vice says ...

These assholes also have Julia Roberts in the top 5. Reassuring is the last word I'd use.

Posted by p.Vice at October 31, 2007 07:11 AM

comment #4

DavidF says ...

Why is this reassuring or odd?
I mean, does this have any actual bearing on reality?
Are we creating "buzz" here? Is that what's going on?

Posted by DavidF at October 31, 2007 08:46 AM

comment #5

lazarus says ...

I just saw I'm Not There a couple nights ago, and at this point it's my favorite of the year so far. I'm a huge Dylan fan, and perhaps if you're more familiar with the Dylan phases Haynes is depicting, you'll have a greater appreciation of what's going on, and the achivement of the whole endeavor. He managed to nail the "feeling" of each of these aspects, e.g. conjuring up the Americana/pioneer town/biblical tales of the post-motorcycle accident period in the Richard Gere scenes, or using 8 1/2 as an inspiration for Blanchett's Don't Look Back section.

So many jaw-dropping images in the film it's tough to know where to start, and the dialogue, while not contributing to any kind of plot, never fails to seem like it came from the mouth of Dylan at some point in his life. Lachman really deserves some praise here as well.

I'm not sure how much criticism is going to matter with this thing, because to call it maddening is what people have been saying about Dylan for 40 years when they try to nail him down. The only question you need to ask is does this or does this not FEEL like Dylan, and if the answer is yes then it's a success. I think the power of the music and the images is enough to carry this to a curious or already knowlegable audience.

Posted by lazarus at October 31, 2007 09:59 AM