Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Nine (2009) - Stars and robes save Marshall's Italian fantasy

10/25/2021

Nine (2009) - Stars and robes save Marshall's Italian fantasy

♥♥♥

'Be Italian' lures a swanky cast of five non-Italian stars from this glamorous poster for Rob Marshall's Nine

Guido Contino, the leading Italian filmmaker and artiste, is poised to start production on another film, his ninth. But he is blocked from writing its screenplay, and his wife is leaving him. SPOILER Only when he rediscovers the boy within himself can he return to the work.

Nine is written by Anthony Minghella (Women (1983, TV-series)) and Michael Tolkin (Deep Cover (1992)), adapting the same-titled 1982 Broadway musical by Maury Yeston (Grand Hotel (1989)) and Arthur Kopit (Phantom (1992)), and directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago (2002)).

It is naturally regrettable to any admirer of Italian cinema that the country's artists don't conquer the world themselves with this musical based on cinema icon Federico Fellini's situation following his 8½ (1963). Yet Marshall has mixed a fiery cocktail with a delectable cast of Daniel Day-Lewis (The Age of Innocence (1993)), Penélope Cruz (All the Pretty Horses (2000)), Sophia Lorén (Angela (1977)), Judi Dench (Quantum of Solace (2008)), Marion Cotillard (The Immigrant (2013)), Nicole Kidman (The Railway Man (2013)) and others and marvelous costumes, so that Nine transports us to an Italian wonderland in its best sequences nonetheless. Fergie's (Marmaduke (2010)) number as Saraghina is very good.

Marshall talks about the movie in this 4-minute clip

Cost: 80 mil. $

Box office: 54 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.67 times its cost)

[Nine premiered 3 December (London) and runs 118 minutes. Cotillard was paid 1 mil. $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from October 2008 - January 2009 in Italy, including in Rome, and in England, including in London. The film opened #21 to a 257k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #8 the following weekend in 1,412 theaters, grossing 19.6 mil. $ (36.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 7.5 mil. $ (13.9 %) and the UK with 4.5 mil. $ (8.3 %). The film was nominated for 4 Oscars: Best Supporting Actress (Cruz), lost to Mo'Nique in Precious, Art Direction, lost to Avatar, Costume Design, lost to The Young Victoria, and Song (Take It All by Yeston), lost to The Weary Kind from Crazy Heart. It was also nominated for an Oscar, 5 Golden Globes and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Marshall returned with Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011). Day-Lewis returned in Lincoln (2012); Cotillard in 3 shorts prior to her theatrical return in Inception (2010); and Cruz in Sex and the City 2 (2010). Nine is rotten at 39 % with a 5.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

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Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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10/25/2021

Nine (2009) - Stars and robes save Marshall's Italian fantasy

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