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From ZERO to 6 ♥s. 100% ad-free. Run on pure love for movies, documentaries and TV-series. April 2024: Countdown to: Top 10: Best heist movies - Upcoming review: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
On an earthy-orange background the title for Ettore Scola's The Family stands forth with grandeur
We follow two brothers, Carlo and Giulio, through the lives they lead in a great big house in Rome, and particularly Carlo's secret relationship with a cousin of theirs.
The Family is the 19th feature from the great Italian co-writer/director Ettore Scola (Passion of Love/Passione d'Amore (1981)). He co-wrote it with Ruggero Maccari (Le Bal (1983)) and Furio Scarpelli (The Dinner/La Cena (1998)), with Graziano Diana (Don Busco (2004, TV movie)) contributing some dialog. It is a minor masterpiece, and if some object that it is a bit banal, I reply that I don't think it is more banal than life itself. It is infused with a warmth, a sensitivity and a nostalgia that is balanced expertly with a kind of wise objectivity. And Vittorio Gassman (We All Loved Each other So Much/C'eravamo Tanto Amati (1974)) acts beautifully here. The Family is a terrific film.
Watch the first couple of minutes of the film here
Cost: Unknown Box office: Unknown = Uncertain (but reportedly an "enormous commercial success") [The Family premiered 20 January (Florence, Italy) and runs 137 minutes. It has been described as Scola's most autobiographical film, as he also came from a big family household in Rome's Prati neighborhood. The film reportedly grossed 346k $ in North America. According to Peter Bondanella in his book A History of Italian Cinema, the film "attained enormous critical and commercial success." It was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, which it lost to Gabriel Axel's masterpiece Babette's Feast/Babettes Gæstebud (1987). The film also competed in Cannes and won 6/12 David di Donatello award (Italy's Oscar) nominations. Scola returned as one of 9 directors of Imago Urbis (1987, documentary) and then with his own film Splendor (1989). Gassman returned in I Picari (1987). 1,697 IMDb users have given The Family a 7.5/10 average rating.] What do you think of The Family?
Frasier and Co. return in high spirits on this poster for the third season of David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee's Frasier
In the third season of creators David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee's (Encore! Encore! (1998-99), all) brilliant sitcom Frasier, the dialog bubbles with delightful wit and originality, while we as viewers feel that something often is actually at stake for the series' beloved characters. In the first episode (She's the Boss), Mercedes Ruhl (Doubt (2013, TV movie)) is introduced as Kate Costas, the refreshing new chief of title lead radio therapist Frasier's (Kelsey Grammer (Boss (2011-12))) workplace, radio station KACL. Following a hot affair with her difficult therapist radio personality employee Frasier, Costas flies away from the station's location in Seattle ten episodes later. Maris (still unseen) decides to leave Frasier's beloved psychiatrist brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce (Isn't She Great (2000))), who consequently breaks Ming vases in a rage, stating, hilariously; "I never cared for that dynasty!" (in episode 8: The Last Time I Saw Marris.) Niles' hibernating fling with his and Frasier's retired cop father Martin's (John Mahoney (The Human Factor (1992), TV-series)) British live-in physical therapist Daphne (Jane Leeves (Room for Romance (1990), TV-series)) moves forward a tiny bit, as they go together to a ball (episode 13: Moon Dance). We meet the woman, Diane, who left Frasier standing by the alter (episode 14: The Show Where Diane Comes Back), and then we seem to return to square one, as Niles and Maris get back together, (episode 16: Look Before You Leap). In the season's last episode (episode 24: You Can Go Home Again), Frasier's radio talkshow celebrates its 3 year anniversary, and the fine subtext of the episode is that family means everything, and (therefore) it can seem awfully depressing. The major part of the episodes of season 3 end in utter humiliation for Frasier, whose colossal ego dictates this somehow infinitely satisfying formula to repeat itself ad infinitum. Besides the magnificent central cast, the season has funny side characters such as Niles' housekeeper Marta (Irene Olga Lopez (The L Word (2006), TV-series)) and KACL's awkward character Noel Shempsky (Patrick Kerr (Domino (2005))), and season 3 features celebrity guest calls to Frasier's show from distinguished names such as Matthew Broderick, Carrie Fisher, Ed Harris, Billy Crystal, Ray Liotta, Jodie Foster, David Duchovny and Tony Shalhoub. There is no way around it: Frasier season 3 is a comedy triumph! Best episodes: Episode 3: Martin Does It His Way - Written by David Lloyd (Brothers (1984-89)); directed by Philip Charles MacKenzie (My Wife and Kids (2001), TV-series) Martin writes a song to Frank Sinatra. Episode 9: Frasier Grinch - Written by Lloyd; directed by MacKenzie We get to meet Frasier's cute son Frederick for the first time. Episode 18: Chess Pains - Written by Rob Greenberg (Bad Haircut (2001), TV movie); directed by Gordon Hunt (Mad about You (1995-99)) A very funny episode in which Martin and Frasier duel in the game of chess, while Niles buys a skinny dog. Related posts: David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee (creators): Frasier - season 2 (1994) - Seattle's sitcom power team return, resulting in many more laughs and good times Frasier - season 1 (1993) - The perfect sitcom arrived
Watch the fabulous dance scene and its complicated aftermath from episode 13: Moon Dance here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - TV series
= Uncertain - but certainly a TV hit
[Frasier season 3 was first shown from 19 September 1995 - 21 May 1996 on NBC, and it
spans 24 episodes of an average 22 minutes, totaling approximately 528
minutes. Shooting
took place in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with establishing shots from
Seattle, Washington. The series' cost grew during its run, and the cost
per episode at its closure after 11 seasons was reportedly 5.2 mil. $
(124.8 mil. $ for the 24 episodes), of which 60 % went to its regular
stars, of which Grammer commanded an impressive 1.6 mil. $
(amounting to 38.4 mil. $ for the season). Still, with syndication,
foreign sales, home video etc., the series was likely a great asset for
NBC. The season's rating's lowest (episode 23: The Focus Group) was 24.3 mil. US viewers and its highest (episode 16: Look Before You Leap) was 34.8 mil..
The season climbed its Nielsen ratings ranking from season 2's #15 ranking to #11, closer to the first season's sensational #7 ranking. The season won 2/7 Emmys, 1/3 Golden Globes and many other honors. The fourth season started showing in
September 1996. Grammer at the time also starred in comedy Down Periscope (1996) and in TV movie London Suite (1996). 62,485 IMDb users have given Frasier an 8.0/10 average rating.]
A DVD cover for Phie Ambo and Sami Saif's Family shows a man raising from the sea in a cry
Filmed by his girlfriend, this is the story of Sami Saif's search for his roots; first and foremost his father, who left his family in Denmark, when Sami was 8 years old, after which his mother fell waste to alcoholism and his brother committed suicide. Family portrays an exciting journey and is made by Phie Ambo (Free the Mind (2012), documentary) and her partner Sami Saif (Paradis (2009), documentary). It is rife with emotions, and it becomes especially meaningful, when Saif meets his big brother in Yemen. But as Saif and at least I as a Danish viewer realized; he is a Dane, mostly, although the physical similarities with his Arabian family are striking. Family is a liberating and extremely fine documentary of personal, highly intimate identity exploration.
In lieu of anything related to this documentary, which is not immediately to be found at Youtube, here is a trailer for a later documentary by Ambo called Free the Mind
Cost: Unknown Box office: Unknown = Unknown (but appears to have been a theatrical flop) [Family premiered 9 November (Denmark) and runs 90 minutes. The film sold 2,346 tickets in its production country Denmark. It was shown at a handful of European and North-American film festivals and also had a general release in the Netherlands. There is nothing to indicate that it could possibly be anything but a theatrical flop of some sort. It won an AFI Fest award, a Bodil award nomination and a Robert award (Denmark's Oscar) for Best Documentary. Ambo returned with documentary short Growing Up in a Day (2002) and theatrically with Nicolas Winding Refn bio-documentary Gambler (2006). Saif returned with documentary Dogville Confessions (2003). 166 IMDb users have given Family a 7.6/10 average rating.] What do you think of Family?
A colorful, chaotic poster for Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, which captures the heightened fever dream sensation that the film portrays
Don Fitzcarraldo is an Irishman in Peru early in the 20th century, a man with a plan: The jungle around the continent's Amazon river desperately needs an opera! In this imaginary cultural hot-spot his great hero, Enrico Caruso is meant to give a concert. Fitzcarraldo is the 9th feature from great German writer-director Werner Herzog (Rescue Dawn (2006)), based on real-life Peruvian rubber baron Carlos Fitzcarrald. Klaus Kinski (Heroes in Hell/Eroi all'Inferno (1974)) shines with madness in the title role and stands out as a prototype of the crazy but visionary, morally unscrupulous imperialist. As fascinating, intriguing and charismatic as Fitzarraldo is, as ruthless, deeply repelling and obviously amoral (rainforest was chopped down and indigenous peoples exploited for his megalomanic project) is he at the same time. Claudia Cardinale (La Révolution Française (1989))
is surprisingly good as Fitzcarraldo's German brothel owner lover and
madwoman. - Kinski's Fitzcarraldo also seems very German, but his
announced Irish heritage really doesn't seem too important at all. The last half hour of the film drags in my opinion, which is my only real complaint against it. Thematically, the drive of intense spite and the baffling extremes of human endeavor radiate from the fantastic images (cinematography by Thomas Mauch (Die Hitlerkantate (2005))) down the mighty river and up the jungle mountain, where Fitzcarraldo orders his colossal steamship to be pulled with ropes. - Just about everyone in this deeply perplexing film seem mad. Fitzcarraldo also metaphorically stands as a cinematic monument over the destruction that lies behind the development of Western civilization.
Cost: 14 mil. DM Box office: Unknown = Unknown [Fitzcarraldo was released 4 March (West Germany) and runs 157 minutes. The production of the film has become cinema folklore; it is chronicled a bit in Herzog's autobiographical Portrait Werner Herzog (1986), in his Klaus Kinski documentary My Best Fiend (1999) and in most depth in Les Blank's terrific behind-the-scenes documentary Burden of Dreams (1982). Initially proposed star Jack Nicholson was thrilled with the script but wanted too much money to play the lead. Herzog then shot roughly 40 % of the film with Jason Robards in the title role and Mick Jagger as a later deleted character. Robards contracted dysentery and was told by his doctor to not return to film in the Amazon. Herzog also inspired anger from the many jungle Indians hired to the production, who burnt down the set in December 1979. Recasting the lead with Kinski, whom Herzog feared would go bananas in the jungle, the film was reshot from scratch. Shooting took place from January - November 1981 in Brazil and Peru. A Catholic priest urged Herzog to hire prostitutes for the production's hired local men to keep them calm during the ordeal, which was subsequently done. Herzog insisted that the 320 ton steamship be actually pulled over the mountain manually and named himself the 'Conquistador of the Useless'. Cinematographer Mauch's hand was split open during filming of this, and he suffered through a 2½ hour operation without anesthetics. During a scavenger attack on the film camp by the tribespeople, a woman was shot in her abdomen with an arrow. Herzog assisted in the 8-hour emergency surgery and subsequently decided against a revenge attack. Filming of the ship's going through the river rapids was also dangerous, and 6 besides Herzog volunteered for the shoot, of which three were harmed in the mission. The film mixes footage from this endeavor with a miniature ship model shot in a studio. Kinski threw tantrums regularly on the set, screamed and even attacked people, it is said. One famous anecdote is that Herzog was offered by one of the Indians that they would kill Kinski for him, as they hated the actor vehemently. - Herzog declined the offer, as he needed his film in the can. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, equal to a notch better than this review. The film was West Germany's Oscar entry but was not nominated. It was nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and won Herzog the Best Director prize in Cannes as well as 1/2 German Film Award nominations. Herzog was also accused of exploiting the indigenous tribespeople for his film; upwards of 1,000 of them worked on the film for about 2 $ a day under poor conditions, (which Herzog claimed were worse for them, when they were not working on his film.) Herzog returned with Where the Green Ants Dream/Wo die Grünen Ameisen Träumen (1984). Kinski returned in The Soldier (1982); Cardinale in Bankers Also Have Souls/Le Cadeau (1982). Fitzcarraldo is fresh at 77 % with a 7.4 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Fitzcarraldo?
+ Returning TV-series of the Year + Best Sitcom of the Year + Best Washington State Movie
Your favorite TV family, the Cranes, return under a black umbrella on this poster for David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee's Frasier season 2
Frasier season 2 follows the masterpiece first season from creators David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee (Wings (1990-97), all).
The second season paddles around in the same waters that were stirred up during the first 24 episodes. Some new corners of the lake are explored here and there, but nothing really changes for our leads, despite psychiatrist Niles Crane's (David Hyde Pierce (Wet Hot American Summer (2001))) verbalized wish for an affair with his father Martin's (John Mahoney's (Tracey Walks On... (1997), TV-series)) live-in physical therapist Daphne (Jane Leeves (Phineas and Ferb (2009-13))), which, however, doesn't go anywhere, even as Niles' wife Maris (who, amusingly, remains unseen) has an affair with her fencing instructor (in episode 21, An Affair to Forget.) I find it a little sluggish - for a considerable 24-episode season - and I find that as viewers of this terrific sitcom, we'd like to see a bit of development in each season, - and a bit more than we get here in season 2. Also, and maybe it's a related issue, some of Niles' Daphne-jokes get to be a little wearying here. The series' protagonist, Seattle's top radio therapist Frasier's (Kelsey Grammer (Modern Family (2017), TV-series)) son Frederick could have been a welcome break, if he was introduced, but - perhaps symptomatic for the yuppie shrink, - the son is wholly absent. The season nevertheless still has so many bright moments and great episodes (see the long list of them below here) that Frasier continues as an absolute hit in its second run, wherein Frasier again and again makes a fool of himself on and off the air. Episode 12 (Roz in the
Doghouse) has a radical style shift with a montage of awful producers
that Frasier goes through, as he is attempting to replace his producing partner Roz (Peri Gilpin (Stars in Shorts: No Ordinary Love (2016))). Ted Danson (CSI: Cyber (2015-16)) turns up in one episode (episode 16: The Show Where Sam Shows Up) as Sam from Cheers (1982-93), the sitcom that Frasier is a spin-of from. Unfortunately the season's last episode is a mediocre round of arguments following Martin's birthday in Seattle, as the city suffers a power outage. Guest stars and callers in the second season include James Spader, Lili Tomlin, Sydney Pollack, Art Garfunkel, Kevin Bacon, Macaulay Culkin, Nathan Lane, Tea Leoni, Gary Sinise, John Lithgow, Shelley Duvall and Harriet Sansom Harris (Robot and the Monster (2012), TV-series) as Frasier's agent Bebe, who proves that Frase does have a sex life by getting him into bed.
Best episodes: Episode 1: Slow Tango in South Seattle - Written by Martin Weiss (8 Simple Rules (2002-04)); directed by James Burrows (Romantically Challenged (2010-11)) The first episode is about the time when Frasier lost his virginity to his piano teacher Episode 2: The Unkindest Cut of All - Written by Dave Hackel (Wings (1990-93)); directed by Rick Beren (House Rules (1998), TV-series) Martin's dog Eddie gets neutered, and Niles later gets lost in a Seattle park. Episode 3: The Matchmaker - Written by Joe Keenan (Out of Practice (2005-06)); directed by Lee A farcical mix-up episode in which Frasier by an accident gets to date his new station manager boss Tom! Episode 5: Duke's, We Hardly Knew Ye - Written by Linda Morris, Vic Rauseo (Roomies (1987), TV-series, both); directed by Burrows Martin's regular hangout Duke's bar is closing to be torn down, and Daphne hooks up in a park. Episode 6: The Botched Language of Cranes - Written by Keenan; directed by Lee Frasier ends up in a storm because of his on-air rant about Seattle's less-than-stellar weather, and columnist Derek Mann is again the nemesis. Episode 8 and Episode 9: Adventures in Paradise: Part 1 and Part 2 - Written by Ken Levine, David Isaacs (Becker (1999-03), both); directed by Burrows A two-parter in which Frase's love vacation to Bora Bora is spoiled by the second coming of his icy, bitchy ex-wife Lilith. Episode 15: You Scratch My Book... - Written by Keenan; directed by Andy Ackerman (Superstore (2016), TV-series) Frasier falls for a trite psychologist writer and is again forced to choose between his personal and professional integrity - and his animal instincts. Episode 17: Daphne's Room - Written by Morris, Rauseo; directed by Lee Daphne is close to leaving the Crane family, because they constantly and unintentionally barge into her room. Episode 20: Breaking the Ice - Written by Steven Levitan (Stacked (2005-05)); directed by Philip Charles MacKenzie (Normal, Ohio (2000), TV-series) The Cranes go ice fishing, and Martin, who can be a bit paradoxical with his almost schizophrenic sentimentality, finally says that he loves his sons. Episode 23: The Innkeepers - Written by David Lloyd (Cheers 1982-93)); directed by Burrows Frase and Niles open a restaurant called The Happy Brothers (in French, of course), and EVERYTHING goes wrong. Related post: David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee (creators): 1994 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Watch a delightful 5 minute clip from episode 23: The Innkeepers here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - TV series
= Uncertain - but certainly a TV hit
[Frasier season 2 was first shown from 20 September 1994 - 23 May 1995 on NBC, and it
spans 24 episodes of an average 22 minutes, totaling approximately 528
minutes. Shooting
took place in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with establishing shots from
Seattle, Washington. The series' cost grew during its run, and the cost
per episode at its closure after 11 seasons was reportedly 5.2 mil. $
(124.8 mil. $ for the 24 episodes), of which 60 % went to its regular
stars, of which Grammer commanded an impressive 1.6 mil. $
(amounting to 38.4 mil. $ for the season). Still, with syndication,
foreign sales, home video etc., the series was likely a great asset for
NBC. The season's rating's lowest were 21.3 mil. US viewers and its highest were 36.4 mil., which was on the show with Danson. The season fell in the Nielsen ratings ranking from the first season's #7 to #15. The season won 5/9 Emmy nominations, was nominated for 4 Golden Globes and many other honors. The third season started showing in September 1995. Grammer at the time also acted in an episode of the TV-series documentary Biography (1995) as George Washington and voiced a character in the animated short Runaway Brain (1995). 62,444 IMDb users have given the show an 8.0/10 average rating.]
