ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[memento]

From IMDB: Perhaps, one of the most important and enjoyable Greek films i've seen in the last ten years..Excellent performances(especially yiannis zouganelis is great), well-written script and effective direction from a very special, for the Greek very average standards, auteur. A film, obviously influenced by Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs, that could be a masterpiece if it avoided some evident and exaggerative situations and symbolizations in the end. Nevertheless, this is a movie which deserves our attention and belongs to that rare category of Greek movies which should be watched outside Greece. It's a shame that in Greece didn't work commercially, in addition with other fake and cursory big productions like Politiki Kouzina..

[Fran]

From IMDb:  Steve liked Celia from the moment they met. But following a clash with her boss, Raelene Beagle-Thorpe, minister for employment, he finds himself on national television, branded as Australia's biggest dole bludger. Now Steve has to prove to Celia, to himself, and to the whole country, that there's more to him than meets the eye. With a little help from his friends, he might just do it.

Also from IMDb:  I bought this DVD in the spur of an impulse since it was on sale and the storyline seemed to promise something different. I didn't know anyone from this production, so I was pleasantly surprised. This is a solid and very funny movie that even deals with some noteworthy issues, like the prejudices against immigrants and against people who live off welfare and the lack of integrity of the establishment. As I write those issues down I feel that it sounds much too heavy for what this movie brings because all this is handled with much fun and light-hearted irony.

Okay, Nick Giannopoulos may not be the world's greatest actor, but he is exactly right for the part of the macho, self-absorbed, loitering-about wog boy. With the help of an excellent script and a subtle direction he portrays the wog boy with conviction: his face and belly a bit too puffy, his trousers too tight, his hair too long and slick, his grins and winks too heavy, yet with a schoolboy's charm that can be easily understood to win the heart of his loveinterest. I was impressed by the way in which this actor, obviously from Greek descent himself, thus dared to more or less parody himself.

[HerrKaiser]

Greek actress Melina Mercouri starred in this fun filled filmed that was the genesis to the TV series and later movies, Mission Impossible.

[memento]

After much searching for a "Y" without any luck, I'm breaking the rules and making it a wildcard so we can move the game along.

Plot: Hecuba and the other women of Troy rise to find their city in ruins and their cause lost. The city has fallen into Greek hands and it is likely their lot to become slaves of Greek soldiers. A messenger approaches to inform them that the lots have been drawn and each woman will be taken to the man who drew for her. Of particular interest is Hecuba's daughter, Cassandra, who is chosen for the Greek kings bedchamber. She has received word of this news already and is in hiding because she has sworn an oath to the gods that she will live as a virgin. When she is found she has some particularly nasty things to say about treatment at Greek hands.

[Fran]

From GreekShops.com:  Professional obligations force the soap manufacturer Poti to ignore his wife Lela. Lela quickly seeks the advice of her cousin who suggests she win her husband's attention by trying to make him jealous. Soon, Lela's efforts bear fruit as Poti begins to suspect the neighbour and hilarious run-around ensues as the plots and subplots play themsleves out.

Greek comedy with Vasilis Logothetis, Ilia Livikou, Smaro Stefanidou, Keti Lambropoulou, Nikos Rizos, Vaggelis Protopappas, Kiveli Theohari.

In Greek without English subtitles.
105 min.

[memento]

The "Now That's Italian" Round  

 

Featuring movies with a connection to Italy 

[Lynne]

From Wiki:

Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti also known as Fiasco in Milan or Hold-up à la milanaise) is a 1960 Italian comedy crime film directed by Nanni Loy. The film stars Vittorio Gassman, Renato Salvatori and Claudia Cardinale.

It is the sequel of Mario Monicelli's I soliti ignoti.

A Milanese gangster contacts Peppe (Gassman); he has identified him and his accomplices as the perpetrators of the bungled attempt at the Madonna street pawn shop.  His offer: to reunite the same men for a daring robbery in Milan, where the local offices of football betting pool Totocalcio shift the weekly revenue on Sunday afternoon via a common car with just an accountant and a driver in it.  The gang would have to travel north from Rome disguised among the supporters of A.S. Roma going to Milan for a football match, commit the robbery and then flee to Bologna via a souped-up car there to rejoin the returning sport fans.  The milanese seems tough and smart and his proposal sounds very inviting for the small-time crooks who all have their problems trying to lead an "honest" life, but...

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

Never mind! Sorry! Carry on....

[memento]

From IMDB: The plot, if you can call it that, concerned a group of six stranded adventurers in an Italian port whose plan is to buy up some East African land that supposed1y contains uranium… Double-crossing quickly becomes the name of the game as Bogart and his fellow conspirators (including Robert Morley, Peter Lorre, Gina Lollobrigida, and a seemingly endless parade of bizarre characters) outdo each other in inspired crazy way…

Bogart, trying desperately to maintain his composure, delivered such priceless lines as: 'I'm only in on this because the doctor told me I needed plenty of money. Without money I become dull, listless, and have trouble with my complexion." But his lines weren't the only offbeat ones… In a room where he's being questioned after being captured, while a firing squad goes about its routine work outside, he is asked straight-faced, "Now tell me, do you really know Rita Hayworth?"

The film is one of those rare items that viewers either seem to love or hate, no middle ground accepted… and declared that only the "phonies" thought it was really funny… Many reviewers thought the whole thing was a tasteless joke and decried the waste of time, talent, and money…

In any case, Bogart gave an immensely satisfying performance in his tongue-in-cheek role and the film itself has now become a regular attraction in Bogart film retrospectives… It is also an excellent example of how much Bogart had matured as an actor, since it is not easy to overcome apparently inept material and still give a performance with some meaning and substance…

[Fran]

From IMDb:  CIAO BELLA is a film about yearning for the big love and the insane roller coaster ride of pain, tears and butterflies that comes along with it. In classic Hollywood fashion, we get to follow two teenagers on their journey... straight into each others arms. But there isn't enough time. Just one week. Sometimes life's greatest decisions have to be made at the age of sixteen. Mustafa Moradi is aching to find a girlfriend. The trouble is, girls just want him as their friend. Then suddenly he's struck by a brilliant idea: he'll simply pretend to be Italian. At Gothia Cup. And finally, a world of possibilities presents itself. On the other end of the city, Linnea is desperately searching for a guy with style, courage and a burning passion. Not an easy task for a girl living in Sweden's most tedious and ugly suburb. Who knows what would have become of her, had she not met Massimo, the most romantic Italian in the world.