Li'l Duce's Reviews Palace

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La fièvre monte à El Pao (1959) This could have been much better if the finale had respected the developing of the story of an idealist and at the same time opportunist man. I don't know if Bunuel wanted the too redeeming end (i presume the finale was taken from the novel) but it doesn't rhyme with the rest of the movie, too simplistic. 7\10

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Le mépris (1963) A movie which concentrate so much on BB nude backside can't be bad. But apart from the too long sequence in the apartment I really liked this movie, even more than the first time (of course: the italian version was cut). Godard isn't good as Fellini at portraying the circus-like activity in the making of a movie, but helped by the marvelous photography and Lang's presence gets very near to that unsarpassable model. Palance is a bit too stiff for the part of the producer, a slicker actor would have been better. 8\10

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The Man Who Would Be King (1975) I saw it when released and considered it one of the best adventure movies ever. Don't understand why the dvd is cut, though. 9\10

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Mysterious Island (1961) Another good movie from Harryhausen. The plot is rather unoriginal but the special effects are top notch: the beehive sequence is among the best ever in the genre. 7\10

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Kriminal (1966) I saw this when released and though I liked it I was rather put down by the unfaithfulness to the cartoon source as to the character evilry. Now, I don't even like the story which is rather boring, unoriginal and full of amateurish plot turns. But it has the originality of having cartoons substituting film images well before Creepshow did the same. 4\10

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The Mark of Kriminal (1967) I liked this better than the first. Which is not saying much. The plot, absolutely unoriginal, moves faster than the first one, the protagonist is shown a little more amoral than in the first episode and the finale is unexpected. 6\10

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Satanik (1968) The great disappointment comes from Konopka, whose bovine face doesn't look like the cartoon model and is not particularly attractive. The plot moves slowly and uninterestingly, the only point of interest was watching Gepy sing. But that was for me only. 4\10

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Il boom (1963) This is maybe the bitterest italian comedy ever, a genre which already is renown for putting harsh ingredients in a supposedly light genre. I had not seen the movie in its entirety till now, having caught snippets of it now and then on the small screen. This is probably De Sica's best movie after his masterpieces of a decade before. I give it 9\10 only because I think the could have put more comedy into it.

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A Difficult Life (1961)  This is a movie which has been much praised but I think that is not up to its fame. It has memorable scenes but it is not entirely convincing if not in the measure that Sordi persuades you. The historical parts are too emphatic, much more interesting those dealing with Sordi's  private life, especially the famous scene outside the night club. The finale has been reneged by the director himself. 7\10

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Dog Day Afternoon (1975) As a movie I prefer Serpico, this is rather a series of great single bravura scenes, though I think this is not Pacino's finest hour. He's predictable. Effective, but predictable. Maybe when released his performance was more effective, you weren't used to it. Rewatching this kind of movie I wondered though why they were made only in the '70's. 8\10

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Dog Day Afternoon (1975) As a movie I prefer Serpico, this is rather a series of great single bravura scenes, though I think this is not Pacino's finest hour. He's predictable. Effective, but predictable. Maybe when released his performance was more effective, you weren't used to it. Rewatching this kind of movie I wondered though why they were made only in the '70's. 8\10

I far prefer DDA to Serpico. Pacino is always great; I found the supporting cast in Serpico to be awful.

I LOVE Sidney Lumet. But I think he made a terrible mistake with the casting of both Serpico and Prince of the City (with the exception of casting Pacino in the lead role of Serpico). I saw separate interviews with Lumet, describing Serpico and POTC, and in each interview he mentioned that he specifically wanted all newcomers (I guess so the viewer would be able to believe anything about the characters or whatever. Even though Pacino had recently made it big with The Godfather, that was still a supporting role, and it was the first movie he got big reviews for,  and he wasn't the huge star yet, so Lumet considered Pacino as a newcomer). And the rest of the cast are nobodies. And with POTC, everyone was a nobody including Treat Williams in the lead. Well, IMO, with the notable exceptions of Pacino in lead as Serpico; and Tony Roberts and Jerry Orbach in supporting roles in Serpico and POTC respectively, the cast for those 2 movies was absolutely atrocious. Looked like the Gypsys Leone would use for the gang members in his dollars films. I mean, not that I give a damn about a guy looking good, but these were guys who couldn't talk straight, who were painful to listen to, and sometimes painful to look at. Just atrocious casting all around. Treat Williams delivered one of the worst leading performances in movie history -- and he was given a damn good role. It's a shame because both scripts were good and had the potential to be terrific movies. And Sidney Lumet was such a good director, made so many wonderful films. if he could do it over again, same movie but with a different cast, I think those movies would have been amazing. As it is, with the exception of Pacino, Roberts, and Orbach, these movies may have had the worst casts of all-time.

After seeing this, if I was a director I would think twice before ever deciding to make a movie with all newcomers. (Please don't respond "well what about Citizen Kane?" The answer is obvious: Welles had worked with all those guys before; they may have been newcomers to Hollywod, but they weren't newcomers to him. But for a director to just go specifically for a bunch of nobodies across the board, who he's unfamiliar with, is just a very, very dangerous proposition.
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btw, one of my law professors -- he works in a big law firm in private practice; but teaches one class in Law School, it's a required Law and Ethics class -- told us a whole long story that he'd been involved in when he was an Assistant US Attorney, and mentioned as a side comment, "oh, btw they made a movie about that case, it was called Prince of the City. That's when I decided to see the movie. I am not sure which characters in the movie (if any) are playing him; but I'd always been tempted to email him and find out. That movie involved so many different cases which resulted from Treat Williams's informing, so who knows whether my professor really was depicted in the movie, or if perhaps his case just touched this movie peripherally. He did mention, "this was the only case I ever lost as a prosecutor."

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Save the Tiger (1972) Terrific script, practically perfect except for some minor complaint (too sweety scene with the girl, the memories about war). I think it is even more actual nowadays than 40 years ago. 9\10

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Razzia sur la Chnouf (1955) Police thriller set in drug scene of Paris. Which I don't believe was anything like that:  too many drugged people to be credible. And then all those mthods of dealing: too elaborate, probably it was more simple. There's an opium den like one could believe existed 20 years before, not in 1955. But there's also a gang bang of Lila Kedrova with a horde of black people (nothing graphic, of course)! The plot is not memorable but the movie is worth at least watching considering that Magali Noel is attractive (I presume she had nose surgery in the following years) and Bozzuffi sports some hair. 7\10

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Grand Slam (1967) Too long (almost 2 h) especially in the first part, but once the caper part starts is excellent, one of the best I saw. Music by the Maestro (only the main theme is worth mentioning). 7\10 

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Grand Slam (1967) Too long (almost 2 h) especially in the first part, but once the caper part starts is excellent, one of the best I saw. Music by the Maestro (only the main theme is worth mentioning). 7\10 

one of the best caper movies ever