Salve ragazzi,
We clearly need to talk about Netflix, but first, some BIG NEWS.
Variety just announced that Disney+ is going to make a series by Director Paolo Genovese set in Sicily. Now, Genovese is the director of the VERY successful (so why didn’t ever become available in the USA???) Perfect Strangers (Perfetti Sconosciuti).
Here’s a FUN FACT: Genovese’s Perfect Strangers has made history for the most remakes in cinema history, with 18 in total, so far.
And we can’t watch it in the USA. WTH??? 😤 It’s a very clever story of a dinner party with friends and a inoccuous sounding but ultimately dangerous party game.
I’ve been trying to get it for our Insider movie, and I will keep trying!
Disney+ has commissioned a still-untitled TV series on Sicily’s Florio family who during the 19th century built an economic empire on the island and became known as the merchant princes of Europe.
The series is based on a bestselling book The Lions of Sicily, by Stefania Auci, and called by some “the Sicilian Downton Abbey. So that’s fun!
Disney + was supposed to release the series based on the Ferzan Ozpetek movie Le Fate Ignoranti (The Ignorant Fairies) on April 13th, but I can’t find it there! If anyone has information about this one, let me know! Is it going to be available in Italy but not in the USA? If so, BOO!
It’s about Antonia (Cristiana Capotondi) whose husband is killed in an accident. She later discovers he was having an affair with a man.
The cast is awesome, with:
So now let’s talk about Netflix. Are YOU one of their 200,000 UNsubscribers?
I have such a love/hate relationship with Netflix because they have put out so much Italian language content, a lot of it amazing stuff. I am very grateful for È Stata La Mano Di Dio (Hand of God), Suburra, and Sulla Mia Pelle (On My Skin), but there are a lot more Netflix productions that are just kind of “meh”. OK. Frankly, I was really getting tired of the rapid fire releases of their own mediocre original movies and series when they could have been acquiring first rate stuff from great Italian directors.
Still, I hope this doesn’t turn off the facet completely. We’ll have to wait and see if there are more Italian projects in the works.
Just a reminder about Amazon Prime… don’t miss their very cool series Bang Bang Baby.
Bang Bang Baby is a crime drama set in Milan in 1986 about a teenager who discovers that her father, who she believed had been murdered, is actually still alive.
Speaking of Amazon Prime, I am IMPATIENTLY waiting for their original series, Bad Guy, starring MY FAVORITE, Luigi Lo Cascio! This morning I reached out to one of the directors, Giancarlo Fontana, and asked him if he could give us any information about when it will arrive in the USA. He answered right away and told me that it will be for sure later this year. We are Facebook friends now and so I will be stalking his page for news about this. 😄
Bad Guy combines crime with dark comedy and tells the incredible story of Nino Scotellaro, Sicilian public prosecutor who gets accused and found guilty of of being a mafioso.
It was just announced that Italian actress Valeria Golino will serve as president of ‘Un Certain Regard’, a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection.
I’d like to, just for a minute, talk about Valeria, a pretty amazing woman, and just maybe Italy’s most important woman in Italian Cinema.
If you know her well, you’ll remember her from the Tom Cruise/Dustin Hoffman movie Rain Man. She had a real potential for becoming a big Hollywood star, but even though she went on to other American made movies, she made a bigger splash in Italy than in the USA. Recently, however, you’ll have seen her in the American TV series The Morning Show, as the documentary filmmaker, Paola Lambruschini.
If you don’t know her, you should. She’s one of the most amazing looking 56 year old women I have ever seen, and I’ve seen her up close. She really doesn’t look she’s had any “help”, if you know what I mean. She’s just a gorgeous Italian woman who is also a gifted actor and director.
My favorite of her roles is probably playing Tina in Laura Bispuri’s Figlia Mia (Daughter of Mine). If you haven’t watched this one, I really encourage you to. It also stars Alba Rohrwacher and it is set in beautiful, sunny Sardinia.
It’s about a 10-year-old Sardinian girl who starts to question the relationship between her mother and a women who…well, she’s kind of the town drunk. That’s such a terrible synopsis 😂. Just take my word - It’s a beautiful story.
Alla prossima!
Un bacione 💋,
Cheri
America’s Cheerleader For Italian Cinema
...But You're Gonna Still Make Italian Movies For Us - Right Netflix?
Thanks for the inside tip on Valeria Golina. I did not know of her, but I knew seeing her in "The Morning Show," I liked her. She is a talented actress for sure, so now she is a new fave!
Also, thanks for encouraging us to watch "Daughter of Mine." I had started it previously, but shut it down - seemed like too much of a downer. I gave it another go and really enjoyed it. Wow, just beautifully filmed - authentic primitive, and the acting isjust superb. Alba Rohrwacher continues to amaze me with the diversity of roles she plays; so talented. Alba makes a cameo in Netflix's recent "The Lost Daughter" daughter movie, which is dark and wacky - did not like it.
Valeria, Alba, and the young actress all deserve awards - maybe they did, for "Daughter of Mine," albeit the film is a gut wrenching. Thanks again for the recommendation!