Li'l Duce's Reviews Palace

[titoli]

Fiorina the Cow (1972) I had the dvd laying dormant on a shelf for years and I can't remember why I bought it in the first place as I am not  a fan of the "decamerotic" genre. Still I suddenly realize I had to watch it when I realized this was based on the work of Ruzante, a '500 comedy writer who people like Nobel Prize Dario Fo consider better than Shakespeare. Now, I presume people who watched this, did it because of the main reason they watched the other decamerotic flicks: boobs and buns, i.e. And sure they abound here. But, as I have never read Ruzante's original writings (they are hard to come by and are written in a dialect which is uncomprehensible nowadays) I can't tell what the screenplayer did with it. 6\10

[titoli]

Gamlet (1964) Kozintsev's version of Hamlet is probably the best cinematographic version around, though I haven't seen Olivier's since at least 30 years and I don't have any intention to see Branagh's or Gibson's. I can't say what liberties the director took with the original text and I do not particularly like the main interpreter, too old for the part. Still, though almost 2 and half hour long, this was a pleasure to see from start to end, never boring me. Thanx, for the main part, to the director and to Shostakovich musical comment (nothing you would listen to, though, without the images to go with). 8\10

[titoli]

Hamlet (1969) This looks like it was shot not in the "disused train shed" (imdb) it was realy staged in but, except for a couple of scenes, in a closet, as it is all concentrated on the actors faces. A great minus is the fact that the actor playing Hamlet looks older than his mother and his uncle. And, especially in the first scenes, his acting is too hectic: at IMDB I'm glad to note that even mother-tongue english speaking people had some difficulty to follow his speeches. Marianne Faithful looks at her best but her delivery is amateurish. Hopkins is great, though, as said, doesn't look the part, probably because of his looking younger than Hamlet. Judy Parfitt is a parfitt, good-looking queen. 6\10

[titoli]

Im Staub der Sterne (1976) They put a lot of money into this: sets, costumes, good looking girls (some nudes: but not many tits and buns to make this a sexploitation classi, alas) and great colours. Unfortunately the story, at 94', is at least an hour too long. 5\10

[noodles_leone]

lol

[titoli]

I promessi sposi (1941) A good version which has the great disadvantage of being overcome by the definitive version made for tv in 1967 in 8 parts. It is not so much that they had to cut a lot for presentation in theatres, but that the cast can't compare with the one set up 25 years later. Especially the Don Abbondio's part is miserable as portrayed by Falconi: even worse than Sordi's. And Cervi, great actor that he was, doesn't look the part. Only the Innominato played by Ninchi is superior to those of later versions. 7\10

[cigar joe]

nice title change 

[titoli]

Tarantula (1955) This movie has got two attractions: Mara Corday (a beauty of the Ava Gardner brand) and the munster. Each time the creatures gets into action the movie becomes interesting because the special effects are almost perfect. The scene of the attack to the horses is frightnening. The rest of the story is boring. 7\10 

[titoli]

nice title change 

I capitalized on friends' suggestions.

[titoli]

The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) The main interest of this lies in the fact that the monster isn't totally evil and the humans aren't totally good. Actually the "monster" (so it was dubbed in the italian title) is defending its own environment, so I presume most people roots for it. In facts they made two other movies in which it progressively becomes almost human. To not great avail, apparently. 8\10

[titoli]

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) I'd give this not a great rate for the first part: Matheson didn't invent anything an average pulp writer could have devised. But starting from the catfight the movie is an absolute masterpiece. The final thoughts of the hero, both when I read the novel and saw the movie, always made little sense to me. 8\10

[Groggy]

Tarantula (1955) This movie has got two attractions: Mara Corday (a beauty of the Ava Gardner brand) and the munster. Each time the creatures gets into action the movie becomes interesting because the special effects are almost perfect. The scene of the attack to the horses is frightnening. The rest of the story is boring. 7\10 

Not to mention Clint Eastwood's award-worthy role.

[dave jenkins]

the definitive version made for tv in 1967 in 6 parts.

Would love to see it. But what's a poor boy in R1 supposed to do?

[titoli]

But what's a poor boy in R1 supposed to do?

Try to sing in a rock'n'roll band.

[titoli]

Eolomea (1972) Passable sf movie thanx to dialogues and editing, though the story is rather poor. 6\10