Mafia: The Old Country review: bleak, brilliant history

I wouldn’t understand how different those worlds were until I watched Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 neorealist classic about a poor father trying to provide for his family in post-World War 2 Rome. It was through that film that I felt like I really saw my father for the first time. The film is an honest portrait of Italian anxiety of the time, depicting how poverty pushed decent men to desperation. Even if he was in America now and doing well for himself, there was still a part of his brain that would always be struggling to scrape by in the hills of Abruzzo.



source https://www.polygon.com/mafia-the-old-country-review/

Commentaires

Enregistrer un commentaire

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

‘I was so tired’: Behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s beloved ‘whee whoo’ scene

Image
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen would be the first to tell you: writing a video game is work . At least writing a novel is a one-person operation for most of the time. At least a screenplay for a film only needs to come in around 120 pages, unless you’re working for Martin Scorsese. But writing a video game? That means filling hours of space, bending the material to fit the play, and usually working with a team of other writers to make it all cohere. Sometimes to hit a deadline, you just need to throw words at the wall. Especially when it’s 3 a.m. That can still result in brilliance. All the Frenchy bits and bobs in Clair Obscur have captured the imaginations of players, but few quite like the character of Esquie, and especially one camp conversation in which the oversized gestral reflects on his friend François with Verso. Verso knows François to be a grump, but Esquie insists that “Franfran used to be all ‘Wheeee!’ But now he’s all ‘Whooo.’” Over about...
Lire la suite

The new Vox Machina book finally gives Shaun Gilmore his due — read an excerpt here

Image
As soon as Random House revealed the table of contents for its short-story collection Critical Role: Vox Machina — Stories Untold (publishing March 4), I knew exactly which story I wanted to read first: Aabria Iyengar ’s “Shaun,” about everybody’s favorite recurring NPC with a crush on a PC, Shaun Gilmore . I always felt like Shaun got a raw deal in Critical Role’s animated adaptation The Legend of Vox Machina : He’s portrayed as a skilled sorcerer, a savvy merchant, and a scheming politico, but he’s also kind of an affection-operated dispensing machine, and a bit of a retro queer stereotype. The original actual play episodes offer some humanizing detail about him, and put his relationship with Vox Machina party member Vax’ildan on a more equal footing. But the animated series makes his long-standing crush on Vax seem both a little oppressive (constant, unreciprocated, gushy flirting; Vax always looking a bit squirmy and constipated around him) and like a weakness that turns him in...
Lire la suite

The best horror movies to watch on Netflix this April

Image
Spring is here, and for some that means it’s time to get outside and start enjoying the fresh air. If that doesn’t sound like you, then Netflix has quite a few great horror movies to fill your time with instead. This month, we handpicked a few of the best horror movies on Netflix that fit the current season. Sometimes they pair well with an upcoming release. Other titles might be new additions to the platform. We’ve put together a list of movies to help you pick which scary movie is right for you, including a fantastic horror film that already feels like a modern classic, an animated movie that looks absolutely gorgeous, and a Thai horror-comedy that will leave you in stitches — one way or another. Editor’s pick: Talk to Me Directors: Michael Philippou and Danny Philippou Cast: Sophia Wilde, Zoe Terakes, Joe Bird In Talk to Me , a group of teenagers finds a magical embalmed hand that can be used to communicate with the dead. So, they do what any group of teens would: immediat...
Lire la suite