We end this month’s Director’s Spotlight on controversial director Spike Lee with his most recent picture, 2008’s Miracle at St. Anna. After viewing Clint Eastwood’s 2006 war pictures Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, Spike Lee stated at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival that Eastwood should have included black Marines in his movies. Eastwood responded that they were specifically about the Japanese soldiers and the Americans who raised the flag, that there were black soldiers at Iwo Jima but they were segregated and therefore not directly involved, and that Lee should “shut his face”. Lee countered that Eastwood was acting like an “angry old man” and that he should have included them anyway. Thus, Miracle at St. Anna was born.

Alternating between the 1940’s and the 1980’s, the film opens on Hector Negron (Laz Alonso, Jarhead), a dark-skinned Latino WWII veteran and current employee of the U.S. postal service, watching The Longest Day and murmuring to himself, “We served our country too”. The next day, he seems to recognize an Italian-accented customer, who does the same before Negron shoots him dead. A young reporter (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the chief reason I saw this movie) is thrown a bone by the jaded investigating detective (John Turturro) and witnesses the discovery of a lifetime: a long-lost marble statuehead of a destroyed Italian bridge, found in the perp’s closet. As the reporter pushes Negron for the story behind it, he recounts a tale of four members of the Buffalo Soldiers: one righteous and authoritative (Derek Luke, Antwone Fisher), one smooth and skeptical (Michael Ealy, Barbershop), one a linguist and optimist (Negron) and one huge and innocent (Omar Benson Miller, Transformers). Together, they survive the ambush of their squad in Nazi-occupied Italy and hole up with a fascist-supporting Italian family and a mute boy they rescued. The climactic finale includes betrayal (both romantic and political) and tragedy, but the film’s title is true to its word: hope surrounds the epilogue and Negron’s ultimate fate.

George, as soon as we get out of Nazi-occupied Italy we'll get a little place of our own where I can tend the rabbits...

This is a thoroughly unimpressive epic. It was billed as the African-American version of Saving Private Ryan, and that would be an insult to both that war classic and African-Americans in general. The plot has an interesting premise and starts relatively strong, but quickly loses its Wuthering Heights comparisons and slows to a halt once the soldiers arrive in the village. The characters are all very two-dimensional; there’s a cliched love triangle between Luke, Ealy and an Italian woman, Benson is basically a black version of Lennie from Of Mice and Men, and the protagonist’s only real depth is his survivor’s guilt. And of course, as this is a response piece from none other than Spike Lee, white men are shown in every opportunity to be prejudiced and hateful (one of the unnecessary flashbacks-within-a-flashback features a great character actor, John Hawkes, in the most pointed attack on a group of people I’ve seen this year), and his direction does nothing but beg his audience to cry for the plight of the downtrodden black man.

I understand what Lee was going for, but he went about it in all the wrong ways. There’s a convoluted and overdrawn structure, distracting cameos by the likes of John Leguizamo and Kerry Washington, underdeveloped protagonists and an agressiveness in garnering sympathy for the director’s heritage; none of these are what I look for in a movie. Overall I give the film 1 1/2 pitchforks out of five; Spike Lee got in over his head this time, and I hope he sticks to what he’s good at next time.

What a great Thanksgiving!!!!

Reformed wild child April Burns (Katie Holmes) attempts to make Thanksgiving dinner — while battling a temperamental oven — for her estranged suburban family at her grungy New York apartment and anticipates introducing them to her new boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke). Oliver Platt, Sean Hayes and Oscar-nominated Patricia Clarkson co-star in this drama that observes a dysfunctional family coming together to address the past and heal the future.

Shot in less than two weeks for less than $300,000, Pieces of April was written and directed by Peter Hedges, who adapted his novel Whats Eating Gilbert Grape.

With that film and this, Hedges shows that he can write a pretty decent script even with familiar source material. He happens to have this screenplay that is not only very comedic but also quite dark in its approach.

Though I did like this film I did have a little bit of complaints. The gritty look started to annoy me as I felt that it just looked way too dirty and cheaply made. There was also this little sub-plot that is really mysterious, only cause the film has it that way. Derek Luke is out doing something, and I kind of never understood what it really was.

All these flaws are quickly excused when the performances come out of these stars. Katie Holmes is actually pretty good in this film and gives charming performance as the leading woman, but the one that really knocks it out of the park here is Patricia Clarkson. She gives an amazing performance as an old and dying woman here is funny but also very tragic. You can see that she misses the times that she missed out on with her daughter, and she is upset about that but also still trying to keep her strength as an old woman. She was by far the best out of the whole cast.

The ending is probably one of the more touching and sincere endings I have ever seen. It really did feel genuine and the whole film basically lead up to this point and doesn’t leave us hanging out.

Consensus: Despite its flaws, Pieces Of April is a sincere, touching, and darkly comedic touch on familiar source material, that features an amazing performance from Patricia Clarkson.

8/10=Matinee!!!!

Miracolo a Sant’Anna è un film di guerra 2008, diretto da Spike Lee e scritto da James McBride, basato sul romanzo omonimo di McBride . Il film è uscito il 26 settembre 2008, ed è ambientato durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, in autunno del 1944 in Toscana e nell’inverno del 1983 a New York e Roma.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Spike Lee | Derek Luke | Michael Ealy | Pierfrancesco Favino

First of all, I have managed to complete another absolutely non-productive weekend!  I’m on a freakin roll!  I always start off with wild expectations about gettin sh*t done, but I’ve yet to follow thru on anything I’ve planned on doing in 2009.  Pretty amazing if I don’t say so myself.  However, even though I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, I did some sh*t that I really didn’t want to do, but did it anyways.

Finally watched the movie Notorious.  Granted I’m almost a year late in seeing it, but this is ahead of schedule for me when it comes to movie watching.  If you want to frustrate yourself, drop a joke that references a movie and watch it fly over my head with the quickness.  I have zero attention span, so for me to sit down and watch a movie is like a major event.

I thought the movie was pretty good.  However, as a point of reference, my favorite movie is Belly, so that should give you an idea of the depth of my filmographic (is that a word?) knowledge.  Gravy did a good job as Frank White.  Derek Luke had me dyin the whole movie!  Dude was dancin just like Puff in every scene!!  They definitely kinda played Lil Kim and 2Pac in the movie.  Had Kim lookin like she was just B.I.G.’s jumpoff and Pac was wildin like he was schizo in every scene.  Overall, I though it was a good flick.

Did a little job hunting today.  All I accomplished by doing this was confusing myself even more about which direction I want to take my career.  Have no clue.  Moving along….

Went to the gym today too.  I’ve decided that all I’m going to do it workout my chest and let my mini-belly do its own thing.  Word.  Unfortunately, my I-Pod broke while at the gym and I was forced to listen to the absolutely awful music they play in there.  I swore I heard a techno version of Master P’s “Make’em Say Ugh” featuring Madonna, Justin Timberlake, and Tony Yayo.  Who in their right mind would even produce this track??  Oh, by the way fellas, under no circumstance should you and your girl wear matching wife beaters to the gym or should you sing along with any Usher song in public, especially at the gym!  That’s a No No!

Yeah…that’s about it.  Now it’s about 11:30 pm and the weekend is essentially over.  Might as well go to bed.  I’m gonna go eat a Hot Pocket first thou.  Maybe I’ll eat both of them.  We’ll see.  I’ll holla.  one.

Un film del 2009, regia di George Tillman Jr., con Jamal Woolard / Derek Luke / Angela Bassett / Naturi Naughton. Prodotto da 20th Century Fox (122min)

Drammatico / Musicale

L’ascesa di Christopher Wallace – questo il vero nome di Notorious B.I.G. – dai suoi inizi come spacciatore di crack a Brooklyn, fino al successo come protagonista indiscusso della scena hip-pop.

Spike Lee is known for showing racism on the streets but now moves to racism on the battlegrounds.

Miracle at St. Anna follows four black soldiers of the all-black 92nd Infantry Division who get trapped near a small Tuscan village on the Gothic Line during the Italian Campaign of World War II after one of them risks his life to save an Italian boy.

First of all this film is like no other from Spike Lee. All of his other films have had light and sometimes dramatic tones. This whole film is of a time that wasn’t too happy and features characters that don’t appreciate much in their life now. Not such a very light tone.

I enjoyed how the story evolved starting with a murder and then showing actual man behind the murder in the war. The problem was that at times it seemed very disjointed with its direction. I was happy about Spike Lee and his great passion for this story of the understated Buffalo Soldiers of WWII, but it soon gets washed away by the out of order direction.The film was also in need of a heavy editing job. Many scenes that weren’t needed would’ve been taken out and at times it seemed to long.

Though I’m not centered around the score in many films I just felt I could not get my head around it. I mean for example in Saving Private Ryan all the battle scenes do not feature scores or their battles and it becomes more effective that way.

Lastly my worst thing about the film was that it’s tone was all over the place. It went from dark humor, to drama, to humor, then back to drama. And sadly to say every time they tried, it failed. Despite Lee’s always brilliant scripts this script seemed a little more cliched than effective than a lot of his other films.

The praising of this film is mostly centered around the four leads played by Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, and Omar Benson Miller. Each actor does a brilliant job as their respective character, fully capturing the feel of soldiers who are trapped fighting for a country that doesn’t want them.

Lastly, the final praising of this film is probably the thing that saves it which is the battle scenes and its gritty pictures of 1940’s Italy during the war. I swear to you the final 20 min. of this film are the most heart-drenching in a war film you’ll ever see that you may just start crying. Just Kidding.

Miracle at St. Anna is a strong homage to the Buffalo Soldiers during WWII which is probably one of Lee’s most strong films. But by all means not his best. Still if you love war movies go and see it, but if you don’t care for war movies then don’t bother.

I know I’m gonna catch a lot of heat for this but I have got to give this film a

7/10=Rental!!

I will like to highlight Derek Luke. if you take your mind way back to 2002, he was in the Movie Antwone Fisher. This Jersey native is sophisticated and fly. A very confident brother with a bright smile and future, is one we should definatley look out for. You can see more of him in Biker Boyz, Glory Road, Notorious, madea goes to jail, and A.keys video.

From the Executive Producer of Friday Night Lights, Peter Berg brings the fast paced world of EMT’s to our living rooms.  Wait did I say fast paced?  Oops sorry what I meant to say was…well to be quite honest I have no idea what to say about Trauma other than I didn’t hate it.  But I didn’t like it either.  Each accident you could see coming from a mile away and when the trauma team arrived well let’s just say it was pretty lack luster.  There was no sense of urgency among the actors.  I felt that just about anybody could have been responding to the accident.  There was a detachment between the action and the actors.  It was as if someone was standing behind the camera and literally telling them what to do next.  Which is strange considering that this is not the first show of this type to air on NBC.  ER was practically revered for it’s accurate portrayal of medical terms and traumas.  Hell even Third Watch was spot on when it came to emergencies and the reactions of the actors.

  The premiere starts off with a group of EMT’s responding to an accident on the roof of a building (the first accident you see coming from the beginning).  The only bonus points I gave this scene is almost at the exact moment I was thinking it was ironic that they were shocking a guy with electricity to save his life after being shocked by electricity that was trying to end his life Kevin Rankin’s (Lost, Bionic Woman) character Tyler Briggs said almost the same thing.   That was pretty cool, but unless millions of people were thinking the same thing as I was than I am pretty sure I was the only one who thought that scene was cool.  Unfortunately we don’t learn much about Kevin’s character in this episode but I am a huge Kevin fan so I am hoping that changes.  His partner played Cameron Boone, played by Derek Luke (Madea Goes To Jail, Antwone Fisher) we learn later has family problems and seems to be a serial cheater for reasons we will soon learn about. 

  Anastasia Griffith plays the resident tortured soul (to be fair they all seem to play that role except Reuben, more on that later) Nancy Carnahan who likes to have sex with her partner in the back of her rig (thats what they call ambulances) and give dull performances.  Don’t worry about her sex partner because he doesn’t last longer than the first 10 minutes or so, but that seems to be the cause of most of her pain.  Though they do hint at some troubled family history that will probably come more into play later on.  She gets a new partner in the middle of the premier and as much as I would like to tell you about him I honestly can’t remember anything except he looked vaguely familiar. 

  Finally we get to the only two people in this entire episode that interested me in the slightest Aimee Garcia (George Lopez, CSI: Miami) and Cliff Curtis (soon to be seen in The Last Airbender).   Aimee plays Iraq Vet Marisa Benez who I guess flew helicopters when she in the Army an Cliff plays Reuben Palchuck a crazy Helicopter pilot who barely escaped a crah in midair and now believes he can’t die.  Sounds lame I know but he plays it with such intensity and fevor that you can’t help but to like him.  I am looking forward to seeing the two of them play off each other in future episodes if I continue to watch Trauma because the bottom line is that even though I am a fan of 3 of the actors on the show I am not sure if that is worth investing any time in it.

First I didn’t have any big expectations of this series. Another effort to copy ER, then NBC putting the show on a slot after the struggling Heroes. So it won’t be a show for more than one season, and if NBC is lucky this season, Trauma will have his 5 or 6 million viewers and they can be happy about that. Then I saw the action packed promos and thought this show could make it. Then I saw resembles of Emergency! (I loved this show when I was a child) and Third Watch (L liked this show, when I grew up) and thought this show has a chance to make it. Probably it will be a success, but with NBC and then as lead-out to Heroes? That just can’t work.
After I saw the pilot, I kind of hope Trauma will survive the season, because I liked it. The characters are believable, their actions are understandable, the story is fast and doesn’t have any length, the actors are good. And the similarities with other NBC shows like Emergency! (from the Seventies) or Third Watch (from the beginning of the century) we have another clone in the current fall season. Not that I don’t like TV clones, which copy from other shows (even when they are more than 30 years old now), especially when they are working like the pilot episode of Trauma.
Trauma is nothing but an updated version of Emergency!, with a little bit of character development like in Third Watch. And with guys like Peter Berg as executive producer, the series is guaranteeing some movie-like action-packed sequences, interesting characters and their talented actors, plausible stories and all in all a good series.

In the first minutes of the series, we see an action-packed rescue mission. A worker got electrocuted on a building’s roof, the paramedics are trying to save him. On board are Nancy “Naughty” Monahan (Anastasia Griffith), Tyler Briggs (Kevin Rankin, after the failed Bionic Woman a new try to be in a main cast of an NBC series), Reuben “Rabbit” Palchuck (Cliff Curtis, probably the most interesting character in the pilot), Cameron Boone (Derek Luke) and other paramedics who won’t survive the next five minutes. Because after a helicopter crash, seven people die, Nancy loses her boyfriend and flight surgeon Rabbit lands in a coma. The show then jumps forward one year and the characters are still struggling with what happened and are not ready to live a normal life now.
Rabbit is returning to work after one year of abstinence, now with a new partner, the Iraq experienced Marisa Benez (Aimee Garcia), while Nancy, now partnered up with the young paramedic Glenn Morrison (Taylor Kinney), and Boone cannot really understand why Rabbit is returning to work, who might be a more worse character than he was before the crash. And we already see that fact during a rescue mission on a bridge, after several cars crashed into another and a tanker is about to explode.

Trauma isn’t really realistic and just invites the viewers to have an entertaining night with some action with car crashes and explosions, sexy characters with the usual boyfriend/girlfriend experience and an interesting look from the start. And with the fact that the series is shot on the streets of San Francisco it might be better than anyone would have anticipated. The characters are interesting for now (what could anybody expect from an action-filled pilot episode? Much character development isn’t there…), but have the chance to grow throughout the season. They might be stereotype (Boone, the troubled guy with the family; Nancy, who is haunted by her past; Rabbit, who says he can’t die, risks his life, has an open mouth, but deep inside him he has a heart; Marisa, the newbie in the paramedic team; the good-heart guy Glenn), but they are not that boring like in other newcomer TV series out there these last days. The story might be filled with lots of CGI and action, but they accompany the characters and them trying to save lives, being heroes, being patriots. And the story is fast; it barely stops for letting time to breath, instead we see a helicopter crash, five minutes later car crashes on a bridge, seven minutes later an exploding tanker and in the middle of everything the paramedics doing their jobs – sometimes failing, sometimes not.
But the pilot episode has a problem, which could cause other problems for the series itself: Can the producers keep the action in the show, or will it be like in every other show as well: The pilot does bang and boom and the rest of the season is mostly quiet, the writers make space for character development and we have “chaos episodes” for two or three times throughout the series (like in ER)? Or will Trauma be more of a kind like CTV’s Flashpoint, with rescue missions which takes most of the time in the episode, together with character moments in the beginning and at the end of the episode?
For now the pilot was interesting enough to give me a new Third Watch (but without cops and firemen). And hopefully the series will survive on the Monday time slot (which I can’t believe), even though it is just another mainstream drama with nothing new to give to the audience.
I liked the pilot, but the US audience didn’t and NBC won’t have success with the current Monday program. And Trauma won’t change that…
7,5 out of 10 points.

badass paramedics? welcome to san fran.

I just saw trauma.  Whew, there’s honestly only one word to describe it.  “Ewww“.  From what I’ve seen so far, it’s a medical drama that’s going to spiral down extremely quickly.  The first episode left very little room for character introductions and developments due to all the unreal action that they just jammed in.  I mean, two helicopters colliding, oops much?  The astronomically unlikely turn of events suggests that the writers had absolutely no good ideas, and forced the situation in order to pull our “heroes” into the messy scene.

This kind of action is obviously difficult to keep up with, meaning we’ll see some calm drama where our protagonists can finally develop their background stories.  During these uneventful days, the smell the dramatic cliff hanger will hit us the moment we realize that this episode has no action.  Meaning that NBC’s Trauma will be juggling action and no-action in a childish attempt to have both healthy developing characters while supplying a dose of action that the series is hyped up about.  For a show that’s trying to fill the gap ER left, and tailgate the success of House and Grey’s Anatomy, we the audience will soon be disappointed.  If a freak helicopter crash was the best the writers could come up with for the premiere episode, then sorry to say but, expect a lot of familiar scenes from other action and medical shows.

Is she SMILING? at What?

Boom, Obligated Explosion.

Moving onto the Cast.  Who are they?  NBC has really put in quite the gamble with its new and improved ER.  How will they be able to express their characters if they go in and out of super emergency mode every other episode.  This jumbo sized cast of “aspiring” actors is going to leave the audience with more questions than answers, as it will not be able to develop them all.  No show, not even Trauma, can mix action and drama And a large cast, AND get something that tastes half decent.  I mean, just look at how cliché the opening is.  Sex appeal via hot blond banging, where have I seen that one?

Six episodes have already been filmed, NBC has raised the table 8 mil.  Now lets just see if they’re stupid enough to follow the pot and lose even more, or just run the episodes and walk away.  I just feel bad for Cliff Curtis, having already slapped his name onto a series like this.

Trauma or Drama? They don’t choose either, just go half and half and suck at both.

Yours Truly,

Batman.

A victim is carried from the wreckage of an exploding oil tanker truck in the first episode of NBC’s ‘Trauma.’

By Amy Chozick– Wall Street Journal

In the first seven minutes of new medical drama “Trauma,” an electrician working on the roof of a skyscraper sustains a huge jolt. An ambulance races through the San Francisco hills, and a rescue helicopter crashes head-on with another chopper tumbling into a busy restaurant in a fiery blast.

This series of calamities may sound like the stuff of a big-budget Hollywood movie, but NBC plans to pull off such stunts weekly in “Trauma,” premiering Monday at 9 p.m. Eastern. The network hopes the action-packed medical show about first-responder paramedics can pick up viewers who watched “E.R.,” which ended in April.

The show is part of television’s growing use of expensive effects. Until recently, the small screen, except for reality series, rarely filmed off the studio set, and shot expensive special effects like multicar crashes or catastrophic explosions even less. Technological advances have made stunts cheaper and less time-consuming to pull off, making them more accessible to budget- and time-strapped TV crews.

Networks now devote about 10% of a show’s budget to both visual effects generated on computers and special effects that recreate live events on-set, up from as little as 1% three years ago, according to industry estimates. Last fall, Fox spent about $10 million on the two-hour pilot of “Fringe,” a science-fiction series about FBI agents investigating mysterious global occurrences loaded with computer-generated visual effects. CBS often uses costly special effects on its popular police series “NCIS” and on crime drama “CSI” about Las Vegas criminologists who solve grisly murders.

Anastasia Griffith as Nancy Carnahan in ‘Tauma’

NBC, ranked last in total prime-time viewers among the four major broadcasters, has recently tried to cut costs. Earlier this month it debuted “The Jay Leno Show,” a nightly 10 p.m. comedy show that is less than a third the cost of producing a scripted prime-time drama. The savings from Mr. Leno’s show let NBC make “Trauma,” its most expensive new program this season, says Angela Bromstad, president of prime-time entertainment at NBC. She calls “Trauma” an “adrenalized version of ‘E.R.’ “

The first episode of “Trauma” also features a multicar pileup that makes an oil tanker truck explode, an effect that required producers to close down part of San Francisco’s Interstate 280 for five days. The episode cost nearly $8 million to make, compared with about $3 million for the average hour-long show. NBC declined to discuss the budget for subsequent episodes.

Almost every episode will feature at least one major accident (or “MCI,” mass casualty incident) that calls into action cocky helicopter medic Rabbit, sexy blonde paramedic Nancy Carnahan and the other members of the team of first responders. In the sixth episode, a drunk speedboat driver in the San Francisco Bay crashes into a party cruiser with a Hungarian wedding on board. “We’re champing at the bit to do an earthquake,” says Dario Scardapane, creator and an executive producer.

While flashy special effects may entertain a movie audience for two hours, television viewers typically tune in each week out of loyalty to characters or suspense on a storyline, not eye-popping effects. “Knight Rider,” a NBC series based on the 1982 show by the same name and packed with effects and on-location scenes ended after a single season due to low ratings.

Producers say more dialogue and character-driven scenes have been added to “Trauma” with a conflicted young hospital intern and a rookie paramedic on a steep learning curve. The ensemble cast includes Cliff Curtis, who’s had roles in such films as “Three Kings” and “Training Day”; “Notorious” star Derek Luke; and Anastasia Griffith, best known for playing Katie Connor on the FX drama “Damages.” “We’re very concerned that it just doesn’t become the ‘pileup of the week,’ ” says director and executive producer Jeffrey Reiner.

• Regia: Spike Lee
• Interpreti: Derek Luke, Laz Alonso, Pierfrancesco Favino, Valentina Cervi
• Genere: storico
• Durata: 144’

Quante polemiche! Politiche, sociologiche, giudiziarie, di parte, inutili. Poche in rapporto al prodotto cinema e alla capacità della produzione italiana di seppellire anche uno dei più grandi cineasti di un certo cinema americano, Spike Lee.

A due anni di distanza dallo straordinario documentario, When the Levees Broke (presentato a Venezia e lì confinato), che documentava, dopo appena un anno dalla catastrofe dell’uragano Katrina a New Orleans, ciò che ha immediatamente preceduto e seguito tale catastrofe, Spike Lee, prendendo spunto dall’omonimo romanzo di James McBride, nel film anche sceneggiatore, ha riaperto una pagina di storia, in realtà mai conclusasi. Almeno per quanto concerne la giustizia.

I fatti sono quelli dell’agosto del 1944, in cui quattro compagnie di SS compirono un massacro, pari a quelli di cui solo oggi ce n’è in giro, nel paese di Sant’Anna di Stazzema, in provincia di Lucca. Furono trucidate 650 persone, fra cui donne, bambini e anziani, intere famiglie furono cancellate per sempre.

Tante le tesi, intorno agli avvenimenti: chi sostiene che l’eccidio sarebbe stato compiuto dalle SS come rappresaglia in risposta ad azioni partigiane, e in modo particolare, di  partigiani di cui erano a caccia le SS, non appena giunsero nel paese; altri sostengono che fu un atto di terrorismo, premeditato e privo quindi di motivi scatenanti, come ha sentenziato il tribunale militare de La Spezia due anni fa. Motivazione che in questo caso, pur lasciando immutata l’orribile vicenda, cambia di molto la storia.

Lee abbandona la guerriglia urbana e si misura per la prima volta con la guerra, quella vera. In realtà, l’unica certezza è che Miracolo a sant’Anna non è affatto un film sui partigiani, sui nazisti, sulla Resistenza o quant’altro. Esso ha come tema principale la questione razziale, quella dei neri mandati a morire come soldati. Lo stupore è anche il modo attraverso il quale il regista newyorkese racconta, eccedendo nel sentimentalismo, veramente imbarazzante. I 144 minuti dell’estenuante film si avvale di una pessima messa in scena e di un didascalismo pesantissimo, che sovrabbonda da ogni parte. La stessa forza ipnotica e stancante ha il commento sonoro del film: anch’esso stufa e dura 144 minuti. Non uno di meno.

Un commento a parte meritano gli attori: il piccolo protagonista, Angelo, interpretato dall’esordiente Matteo Sciabordi, è una sintesi riuscita malissimo tra il figlio del Benigni de La vita è bella e di Marcellino, pane e vino, finanche Luigi Lo Cascio qui è poco più di una macchietta.

In sostanza, un’opera alquanto deludente, con un finale ridicolo, difficile da considerare fatica del regista di grandi capolavori, basterebbe citarne solo due: 25 ora e Fa la cosa giusta.

Tuttavia, uno spettatore preparato, alla citazione di un film eccezionale, con John Wayne, posto all’apertura del film di Lee, avrebbe giusta ragione di considerarla una sorta di premonizione, trattandosi del titolo Il giorno più lungo. Ma anche lo spettatore non attento, alla fine, aggiungerebbe: …e più noioso.

Giancarlo Visitilli

Okay, so it’s almost Fall, the days are getting shorter and I’ve noticed an unusual amount of women wearing leggings and boots – Which I have so say “You’re kidding right?  It’s like 90 degrees still!”  Which brings me to my point-It may be almost Fall and you’ll have received VOGUE’s September Issue heralding the advent of Fall, but sistahs it’s seriously still summer hot!

So let me dive into a summer wardrobe discussion.  Every woman’s summer wardrobe should consist of tanks, shells, tees, shorts (these really depend on your lifestyle and age, as not everyone can really wear shorts and not get a fashion disaster ticket), skirts, rompers (again, caution on the age and occasion appropriate), and various styles of dresses including maxi dresses.  And I’m indulging in a Summer wardrobe discussion for two other reasons, I’m heading off to the uber hot heat of the beach for my honeymoon so I want to think about what to pack and with Summer coming to an end, this is the time to shop at serious discounts….Get ye shopping!

When selecting summer outfits, choose breathable and light materials.  For instance, fabrics such as cotton, jersey or silk organza give you the impression of barely being there, which in this heat, is a sensation I long for. 

Summer also calls for a declaration of color.  Trendy colors come and go every season, so when investing in summer basics spend more money on true and tried basic colors and stick to less pricey options in the trendy colors.  As with any wardrobe investment, choose items that are age, occasion and lifestyle appropriate.  Consider light and soft hues-White is a prominent color during summer seasons; it’s a particularly chic and regal color (I’m all for looking like a Princess). 

Chic White Pants

Maxi dresses, rompers, and one-pieces are another fabulous way to remain cool and comfortable. These ultra chic options can be worn day or night.  Accessorize with provocative statement pieces and you’ve an outfit that looks like it’s stepped out of the pages of Harper’s.

For a casual weekend look, tees and tanks are the easiest to pair with skirts and pants.  Now, just because it’s hot doesn’t mean I’m promoting that you look like you just rolled out of bed so when you wear tanks and tees, dress them up by layering several gold chains or silver chains (layering is so chic), throw on a cocktail ring, grab your favorite statement handbag and some leather sandals and you’ve a causal, cool yet put together outfit.   After all, we always want to seem as if our fashion perfection is effortless, just like a MOD (Model Off Duty). 

Ieri sono inaspettatamente riuscito a vedere “Notorious”, il film basato sulla vita del noto rapper di Brooklyn, morto nel ‘97 all’età di 24 anni. Prima di parlare di questo film però, una nota positiva: avevo sentito che, in virtù di un contratto stipulato con i distributori del film, la proiezione del film sarebbe stata preceduta dal video del singolo dei Club Dogo, “Sgrilla”. Bene, così non è avvenuto. Ora passiamo al film. Che è bello, eh. Ci si aspettava una merda, si era detto che era una merda, ma non è una merda. E smettete di fare i cazzo di passatisti nostalgici, che ne voi ne io c’eravamo ai tempi di Notorious. Che nel post verrà indicato con i seguenti nomi: Big, Biggie Smalls (anche solo Biggie), Big Poppa, B.I.G., Business Instead of Game. No, giusto per dovere di cronaca. Dicevamo, il film. Il film è bello perchè ci prova, ad essere un film veritiero (almeno all’inizio). Solo che non ci riesce, un po’ per l’effettiva mancanza di notizie sulla vita di Biggie, che prima di essere un rapper, voglio dire, era uno spacciatore di crack, mica teneva i libri contabili. Un po’ non ci riesce per l’ingombrante Puff Daddy alla produzione del film. Ora, per chi non sapesse effettivamente un cazzo di Notorious B.I.G., Sean Combs detto Puff Daddy è stato il produttore che ha lanciato Biggie, facendogli ottenere il contratto con la Uptown Records per poi annoverarlo tra le stelle della sua Bad-Boy Records. Comunque sia, Puff Daddy è stato uno dei maggiori promotori del progetto di realizzare un film sullo scomparso rapper newyorkese, e la sua impronta è palese. In pratica, lui ne esce come un mormone. Ora, io non pretendo che Puff Daddy sia un completo figlio di puttana eccetera, in effetti non ho nemmeno i mezzi per dire che lo fosse, figurarsi pretendere che venga così raffigurato in un film di cui è produttore. Però, voglio dire, era sempre un gangster. Un gangster in un mondo di gangster, ma un gangster. Invece no, lui è Don Puffy, che elargisce prediche a destra e a manca, è sempre il primo a voler fermare gli altri quando le cose diventano pericolose perchè oh, non è perchè siamo negri di Brooklyn che non dobbiamo usare il cervello. Credete a me, la cosa fa parecchio ridere. Altra cosa non gestita benissimo (ce lo si poteva tranquillamente aspettare) è il rapporto con Tupac. L’attore che lo interpreta m’è piaciuto, è perfino somigliante (nei limiti del possibile), ma 2Pac ne esce troppo come una macchietta, come un esaltato. Per lo meno, una scena come quella della sparatoria a Pac in quel di New York meritava più cura, anche per l’importanza che ha rivestito nella faida tra East e West Coast. Un altro personaggio trattato di merda è stato Lil’ Kim, che per quanto sarà stata anche una scoppiata, qui c’è solo quando lui è preso male, così la tratta da puttana (litteraly). Invece la madre di Notorious, anch’essa collaboratrice stretta di Puffy nel progetto del film, ha un ruolo di prim’ordine e un po’ scassa il cazzo, ma convince. Per il resto, anche sulla scelta delle canzoni ci sarebbe un po’ da dire, ma alla fine era comunque molto gradevole. Per farla breve, hanno scelto due o tre singoli e poi tutti pezzi più underground.
Insomma, diciamocelo, era un film difficilissimo da fare, per tutte le menate che comportava. Il prodotto che ne viene fuori è assolutamente godibile, un film guardabile anche chi della storia non sa davvero niente, che regala perle di negritudine nei freestyle per la strada o nello studio e che innegabilmente diverte. Poco altro. L’insegnamento lo conoscete, il cielo è il limite…

skyliuker

Found these on Youtube:

Hm, think NBC wants this show to be seen as dramatic?

This can be found in the show description on the official NBC site:

“Like an adrenaline shot to the heart, Trauma is an intense, action-packed look at one of the most dangerouns medical professions in the world: first responder paramedics.  When emergencies occur, the trauma team from San Francisco General is first on the scene, traveling by land, by sea or by air to reach their victims in time.  From the heights of the Transamerica Pyramid to the depths of the S.F. Bay, our heroes must face the most extreme conditions to save lives , and give meaning to their own existence in the process.”

Oh boy.  Can someone pass me some wine to wash down this cheese? 

Anyone been to the official site yet?  You’re greeted with the ever-dramatic sound of a thumping heartbeat, then it opens to a picture of a disaster car crash scene, complete with flickering flames and a smoking car.  The videos are just as corny, with the main characters declaring their passion for the job, and extra emphasis on how these are all life and death, dangerous situations.

Then you’ve got the list of characters…which actually kind of reminds me of the Scrubs cast.  There’s the hard-ass, ”don’t mess with me” woman Marisa Benez (Aimee Garcia), who’s good with all things technological.  Blonde MD  Nancy Carnahan(Anastasia Griffith) is the “caregiver and lifesaver” who “has the gift for medicine.”  Dr. Joseph Saviano (Jamey Sheridan) is an older paramedic who is extremely detached from his patients but treats the crew like family.

A.k.a. Carla, Elliot, and Dr. Cox respectively, with a few character tweaks. Am I the only one who sees that?  This is based on the character descriptions though, as I’m sure they’ll seem much more different when the show begins.

Anyway, four others make up the team. Reuben “Rabbit” Palchuck (Cliff Cutis) is a slightly crazy but skilled medic who barely survived a disaster a few years ago.  Cameron Boone (Derek Luke) is trying to find the balance between family and work.  Tyler Briggs (Kevin Rankin) has been on the team forever and has a bromance going on with Boone (ah ha! Like Turk and JD!).   Rounding out the group is eager newbie Glenn Morrison (Tyler Kinney) who hopes to turn his experiences into a book one day.

So, seven main characters, one of whom is going to be gay (from an article on IMDB).  Throw in the predicted “emergency of the week,” and this could get messy.  And as in “messy,” I mean forget plot A and B – we’ll probably get through to F or G each week at least. 

But still, with everything said about the promos…it does look like it could be a good show, especially for someone who doesn’t know medical drama cliches.  Who knows, maybe I’ll have to forgive NBC for how they treated Medium and give this a try.