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

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'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.]

What do you think of Nine?

Gods and Monsters (1998) or, Whale

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Ian McKellen's face in a close-up before a strip of film on this regrettably fold-marked poster for Bill Condon's Gods and Monsters

Great American filmmaker Jimmy Whale's new gardener catches his interest in 1957, when the aging master is troubled by the effects of a heart attack. While he draws, he recalls episodes and highlights from his exciting life.

 

Gods and Monsters is written and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Bill Condon (Sister, Sister (1987)), adapting Christopher Bram's (Hold Tight (1988)) Father of Frankenstein (1995), a semi-fictional account of the life of filmmaker James Whale (Frankenstein (1931)).

Condon succeeds in getting a vivid film from this setup about Whale, which could have easily become a too passive, backwards-oriented item. This is avoided with a solid base in Ian McKellen's (Stardust (2007)) brilliant performance as Whale, with competent support from Lynn Redgrave (Shine (1996)) and Brendan Fraser (Blast from the Past (1999)), who are delightful here in each their own way. 

Gods and Monsters serves a sentimental story filled with tenderness and a defense against the very sentimentality from the collapsing master's own sense of personal record. The score by Carter Burwell (Carol (2015)) is terrific, and the film is mighty entertaining. A minor reservation is that it in fleeting moments is too film and studio-like, SPOILER including in the last shot of Fraser, in which he acts as a monster in the rain.

 

Related posts:

 

Bill Condon:  The Greatest Showman (2017) - Brace for an infectious musical show (co-writer)

Dreamgirls (2006) - Rousing star turns in unreal and sentimental musical

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 10 mil. $ 

Box office: 6.4 mil. $ - North America alone

= Uncertain - but likely a big flop

[Gods and Monsters premiered 21 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 105 minutes. Shooting took place in 24 days from June - July 1997 in California. The film opened #19 to a 75k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #17 and in 149 theaters (different weeks), grossing 6.4 mil. $. Regrettably the international gross numbers are not released online. If we assume a likely 13 mil. $ total gross, the film would count as a big flop. It was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning for Best Adapted Screenplay. It lost Best Actor (McKellen) to Roberto Benigni in Life Is Beautiful and in Supporting Actress (Redgrave) to Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love. It also won 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a BAFTA, 3/4 Independent Spirit awards, 3 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Condon returned with The Others (2000, TV-series) and theatrically with Kinsey (2004). McKellen returned in Apt Pupil (1998); Fraser in The Simpsons (1998, TV-series) and theatrically in The Mummy (1999); and Redgrave in White Lies (1998, TV movie) and theatrically in Strike! (1998). Gods and Monsters is certified fresh at 95 % with an 8.50/10 critical average.]

 

What do you think of Gods and Monsters?

The Barefoot Contessa (1954) - Old Hollywood sophistication with Bogart, Gardner

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Spry, full colors and sensual life stirs from this elegant poster for Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa

Humphrey Bogart (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)) is Hollywood director Harry Dawes, and Ava Gardner (The Killers (1946)) is the stunning Spanish beauty Maria Vargas, who gets discovered by him. Her life as the 'barefoot contessa' is a life of fairy tale complexes and solid baggage, leading up to her premature death, which we know about right from the beginning of the film.

 

The Barefoot Contessa is written, produced and directed by great Pennsylvanian filmmaker Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Dragonwyck (1946)).

If you haven't seen The Barefoot Contessa, oh, do you have a wonderful and sad movie waiting for you here. It is a story about a lot of jet-set characters, who struggle with life's dark sides just as every other person. Mankiewicz's dialog is especially sharp and incredible. The Barefoot Contessa is one of the Hollywood giant's most splendid works.
Bogart and in even more so Edmond O'Brien (White Heat (1949)), who plays the perspiring PR-agent, are great in the film.
The Barefoot Contessa is a sophisticated, enchanting and deeply melancholic tragic drama.

 

Watch the lovely trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown, projected 2 mil. $
Box office: In excess of 3.25 mil. $ (North-American rentals alone)
= Uncertain but likely a box office success (projected return of 2.5 times its cost)

[The Barefoot Contessa premiered 29 September (New York) and runs 130 minutes. Shooting took place in Italy, including in Rome, from January - March 1954. A 1955 Variety article lists its North-American rentals as 3.25 mil. $. The projected cost of 2 mil. $ and world gross of 5 mil. $ would make it a box office success. It was nominated for 2 Oscars: It won Best Supporting Actor (O'Brien) and lost Best Writing, Story and Screenplay to Budd Schulberg for On the Waterfront. It also won a Golden Globe, among other honors. Mankiewicz returned with Guys and Dolls (1955). Bogart returned in Producer's Showcase (1955, TV-series) and theatrically in We're No Angels (1955); Gardner in Bhowani Junction (1956). The Barefoot Contessa is fresh at 100 % with a 7.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Barefoot Contessa?