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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Sneak Booking Results in Dargis Review

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Marina Zenovich's Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which HBO opened in Manhattan and Pasadena last Friday in order to qualify the doc for a Best Feature Documentary Oscar, was reviewed by plenty of people at last January's Sundance Film Festival, but N.Y. Times critic Manohla Dargis has taken advantage of last Friday's very limited, zero-profile opening to formally review it.

The doc "gets at the strong, curiously divisive reactions" that the famed director of The Pianist, Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown "has long inspired, reactions that have as much to do with the disturbing power of his best work as his own history as a victim and a survivor," she writes. "Mr. Polanski survived the Holocaust and the murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson. It was the American legal system that almost did him in."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 31, 2008 at 05:44 PM

comment #1

T. Holly says ...

So does this mean it won't show up to compete at any more juried film festivals? Can someone tell me the point of having a jury at a premiere-neutral film festival?

Posted by T. Holly at March 31, 2008 06:19 PM

comment #2

T. Holly says ...

About the review, it helps to link it, so we can read it for free (wait, was that a test?) and note her reluctance to use the R word and ease with sexual content and note that the NYTimes reviews everything opening in NY, supposedly. I don't think it'll score any HBO subscriptions, but I hope it shows up in the HBO doc section of Netflix after it airs, reportedly in June.

http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/movies/31roma.html

Posted by T. Holly at March 31, 2008 06:55 PM

comment #3

Dublin101 says ...

"It was the American legal system that almost did him in."

Really? I was under the impression that his raping of an underage child almost did him in.

Posted by Dublin101 at April 1, 2008 03:52 AM

comment #4

Josh Massey says ...

Why all this fuss over the guy from Rush Hour 3?

Posted by Josh Massey at April 1, 2008 04:30 AM

comment #5

Richardson says ...

"and note her reluctance to use the R word "

She says he was arrested for rape, but pled guilty to "illegal sex". He wasn't found guilty of "rape", so that probably explains why she only uses the word when referring to his arrest, not his guilty plea.

Posted by Richardson at April 1, 2008 11:55 AM

comment #6