list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Down by Law on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Down_by_Law/9641/default.aspx Title: Down by Law
Year: 1986
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Plot: Jim Jarmusch follows his groundbreaking Stranger Than Paradise with another rambling, character-driven film with a twisted sense of humor. Set in a seedy New Orleans summer, Down By Law details the meeting of three unlikely convicts and their just as unlikely escape. Zack (Tom Waits) is an out-of-work DJ who is accused of murder when a body is found in the trunk of a stolen car he was hired to drive across town. Jack (John Lurie) is a pimp set up for a fall by a competitor. These two sullen souls are locked in a cell with Roberto (Roberto Benigni), a cheerful Italian immigrant who happens to have killed a man. The chemistry between the members of this loosely bound "team" is fascinating: Zack and Jack are forever laughing at Roberto, yet they rely on his energy and good will to escape their dire situation. The three mismatched miscreants eventually bust out of jail and head into the Louisiana bayous. Tired and hungry, they separate to search for food: Waits goes one way, Lurie another, and the frightened Benigni decides to risk stepping into a ramshackle diner. Somehow or other, he winds up in the arms of gorgeous Italian girl Nicoletta Braschi -- and is even able to provide new clothes and escape routes for his astonished comrades! ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 23
Number of Lists: 31
Number of blog posts: 2
Number of discussion threads: 16
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:18:06 GMTDown by Law1986Jim Jarmusch<a href="/players/P____95892/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Jim Jarmusch</a> follows his groundbreaking <a href=/films/33181/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Stranger Than Paradise</a> with another rambling, character-driven film with a twisted sense of humor. Set in a seedy New Orleans summer, Down By Law details the meeting of three unlikely convicts and their just as unlikely escape. Zack (<a href="/players/P___115730/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Tom Waits</a>) is an out-of-work DJ who is accused of murder when a body is found in the trunk of a stolen car he was hired to drive across town. Jack (<a href="/players/P___100413/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>John Lurie</a>) is a pimp set up for a fall by a competitor. These two sullen souls are locked in a cell with Roberto (<a href="/players/P____81377/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Roberto Benigni</a>), a cheerful Italian immigrant who happens to have killed a man. The chemistry between the members of this loosely bound "team" is fascinating: Zack and Jack are forever laughing at Roberto, yet they rely on his energy and good will to escape their dire situation. The three mismatched miscreants eventually bust out of jail and head into the Louisiana bayous. Tired and hungry, they separate to search for food: Waits goes one way, Lurie another, and the frightened Benigni decides to risk stepping into a ramshackle diner. Somehow or other, he winds up in the arms of gorgeous Italian girl <a href="/players/P_____8136/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Nicoletta Braschi</a> -- and is even able to provide new clothes and escape routes for his astonished comrades! ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide23Tag Target (>10)312163http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t23463ngy1x.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Down_by_Law/9641/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/risselada/archive/2009/9/23/43991.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Risselada Blog
Post Date: 9/23/2009 5:32:02 PM
Body: This is the fourth feature length film I've seen by director Aki Kaurismäki. I chose to watch this film based on previous good ratings I've given other films by this director and to better my favorite directors by algorithm listing. Ariel I fell in love with the first Kaurismäki film I ever saw, The Man Without A Past. My experience so far has been that Kaurismäki's distinctive style is largely consistent between films. So I believe that if you see one and love it, you'll probably love the rest of them. I'm not really sure what the title of this film means, but the plot is similar with the other films I've seen in that a main character goes through some significant life changing event but doesn't react emotionally. In fact, no one gets over emotional in these films. The lines and movements are often delivered with the deadest of deadpan. I find the contrast it creates to be highly amusing and often profound. You have to take a lot of things for granted in a Kaurismäki film without too much justification. When two characters meet, fall in love, and dedicate their lives to each other forever on the same night, you have to believe it's true. In any other film, if two characters proclaimed such love for each other in such a direct and laconic manner after knowing each other for only one night and about five seconds of screen time, you would take it for a joke. But it's only because this is the way the characters always talk that we believe them. Also, we have to accept things that are never shown and accept that they will never be shown because they are not important for this film. For instance, how many films have characters escape from a prison but never mention or show how they did it. There is just a cut from them in prison, to them running away. The only other movie I can think of it Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law. And you may know that these directors have a good friendship and have worked together and traded actors in the past. If you like Jarmusch as well, that might be another recommendation to check out a Kaurismäki film. Aki Kaurismäki:Total feature length films seen: 4Previous average film score: 9.6667New average film score: 9.5 Rating: 9/10
]]>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:32:02 GMTRisseladaRisselada Blog9/23/2009 5:32:02 PMThis is the fourth feature length film I've seen by director Aki Kaurism&auml;ki. I chose to watch this film based on previous good ratings I've given other films by this director and to better my favorite directors by algorithm listing. Ariel I fell in love with the first Kaurism&auml;ki film I ever saw, The Man Without A Past. My experience so far has been that Kaurism&auml;ki's distinctive style is largely consistent between films. So I believe that if you see one and love it, you'll probably love the rest of them. I'm not really sure what the title of this film means, but the plot is similar with the other films I've seen in that a main character goes through some significant life changing event but doesn't react emotionally. In fact, no one gets over emotional in these films. The lines and movements are often delivered with the deadest of deadpan. I find the contrast it creates to be highly amusing and often profound. You have to take a lot of things for granted in a Kaurism&auml;ki film without too much justification. When two characters meet, fall in love, and dedicate their lives to each other forever on the same night, you have to believe it's true. In any other film, if two characters proclaimed such love for each other in such a direct and laconic manner after knowing each other for only one night and about five seconds of screen time, you would take it for a joke. But it's only because this is the way the characters always talk that we believe them. Also, we have to accept things that are never shown and accept that they will never be shown because they are not important for this film. For instance, how many films have characters escape from a prison but never mention or show how they did it. There is just a cut from them in prison, to them running away. The only other movie I can think of it Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law. And you may know that these directors have a good friendship and have worked together and traded actors in the past. If you like Jarmusch as well, that might be another recommendation to check out a Kaurism&auml;ki film. Aki Kaurism&auml;ki:Total feature length films seen: 4Previous average film score: 9.6667New average film score: 9.5 Rating: 9/10 http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_July_6_The_Song/625/42991/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Smooth_J
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/10/2009 5:57:05 PM
Body: [quote user="Risselada"] I love the "music video" montage in The Naked Gun to the song "I'm Into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits. I always picture it when I hear the song. Jim Jarmusch films were my introduction to Tom Waits music. Love the songs from Rain Dogs on Down by Law. The Coen brothers O, Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack was all individual songs, mostly new recordsings of old favorites, but some classic archives too. The thing won a Grammy for Best Album of the Year! Not that I take much stock in Grammys, but I love the songs and the film because the songs are so critical to the film. And their soundtrack for The Big Lebowski is just as great! From the front and center of Kenny Rogers' "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" to the Creedence Clearwater Revival Permiating the film, to the little songs you catch in the background like "I Hate You" by the Monks playing over bowling lanes speakers in one of the bowling scenes. The Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas soundtrack is just perfect too. I would name every song and what's happening in the film when it comes on, but that would take too long. This is maybe my favorite altogether soundtrack feature individual songs. Many of the songs, like a lot of the best ones used in movies like this are diagetic too, making them so important to the actual story. And I think I heard Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" enough for a lifetime after just seeing Groundhog Day once. The same is true for "California Dreaming" by The Mamas and the Papas in Chungking Express. Although I was just sick of that movie altogether. [/quote] I was going to mention Down by Law because it's so perfect in that movie, with the pseudo-beatnik vibe emanating through that entire movie. I loved it. Nice inclusion of the Coens too--I was planning on mentioning the complete lack of music in No Country because it's a bad habit I have. I agree with you with Chungking--it was a little much. Overall I liked the movie though. The scene where the girl strips in David Lynch's Lost Highway to Marilyn Manson's "I Put a Spell on You" is probably the greatest melding of music and film I've ever seen. It's so perfect. The Doors' "The End" is INCREDIBLE in Apocalypse Now. It's used twice, both times to bone-chilling effect. And what about memorable music in trailers? "Grounds for Divorce" gave me chills in the Burn After Reading trailer. "The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning" was used well in the Watchmen trailer, making the movie seem way more awesome than it turned out to be (although I thought it was awesome). Is Where the Wild Things are doomed to the same fate with the outstanding use of "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire? I sure as shit hope not.
]]>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:57:05 GMTSmooth_JWeekly Theme7/10/2009 5:57:05 PM[quote user="Risselada"] I love the "music video" montage in The Naked Gun to the song "I'm Into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits. I always picture it when I hear the song. Jim Jarmusch films were my introduction to Tom Waits music. Love the songs from Rain Dogs on Down by Law. The Coen brothers O, Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack was all individual songs, mostly new recordsings of old favorites, but some classic archives too. The thing won a Grammy for Best Album of the Year! Not that I take much stock in Grammys, but I love the songs and the film because the songs are so critical to the film. And their soundtrack for The Big Lebowski is just as great! From the front and center of Kenny Rogers' "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" to the Creedence Clearwater Revival Permiating the film, to the little songs you catch in the background like "I Hate You" by the Monks playing over bowling lanes speakers in one of the bowling scenes. The Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas soundtrack is just perfect too. I would name every song and what's happening in the film when it comes on, but that would take too long. This is maybe my favorite altogether soundtrack feature individual songs. Many of the songs, like a lot of the best ones used in movies like this are diagetic too, making them so important to the actual story. And I think I heard Sonny &amp; Cher's "I Got You Babe" enough for a lifetime after just seeing Groundhog Day once. The same is true for "California Dreaming" by The Mamas and the Papas in Chungking Express. Although I was just sick of that movie altogether. [/quote] I was going to mention Down by Law because it's so perfect in that movie, with the pseudo-beatnik vibe emanating through that entire movie. I loved it. Nice inclusion of the Coens too--I was planning on mentioning the complete lack of music in No Country because it's a bad habit I have. I agree with you with Chungking--it was a little much. Overall I liked the movie though. The scene where the girl strips in David Lynch's Lost Highway to Marilyn Manson's "I Put a Spell on You" is probably the greatest melding of music and film I've ever seen. It's so perfect. The Doors' "The End" is INCREDIBLE in Apocalypse Now. It's used twice, both times to bone-chilling effect. And what about memorable music in trailers? "Grounds for Divorce" gave me chills in the Burn After Reading trailer. "The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning" was used well in the Watchmen trailer, making the movie seem way more awesome than it turned out to be (although I thought it was awesome). Is Where the Wild Things are doomed to the same fate with the outstanding use of "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire? I sure as shit hope not. http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_July_6_The_Song/625/42988/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/10/2009 3:20:12 PM
Body: I love the "music video" montage in The Naked Gun to the song "I'm Into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits. I always picture it when I hear the song. Jim Jarmusch films were my introduction to Tom Waits music. Love the songs from Rain Dogs on Down by Law. The Coen brothers O, Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack was all individual songs, mostly new recordsings of old favorites, but some classic archives too. The thing won a Grammy for Best Album of the Year! Not that I take much stock in Grammys, but I love the songs and the film because the songs are so critical to the film. And their soundtrack for The Big Lebowski is just as great! From the front and center of Kenny Rogers' "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" to the Creedence Clearwater Revival Permiating the film, to the little songs you catch in the background like "I Hate You" by the Monks playing over bowling lanes speakers in one of the bowling scenes. The Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas soundtrack is just perfect too. I would name every song and what's happening in the film when it comes on, but that would take too long. This is maybe my favorite altogether soundtrack feature individual songs. Many of the songs, like a lot of the best ones used in movies like this are diagetic too, making them so important to the actual story. Wait, scratch that last statement about Fear and Loathing being my favorite soundtrack. I think I'm going to have to replace it with Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy. Magnolia has a bittersweet little singalong to an Aimee Mann song. Simple Men has a pretty spontaneous dance sequence to what I think is a Sonic Youth song, but I don't know the name. I think anyone who has seen Beetle Juice would think of the movie at least once any time they hear the song O Day Banana Boat Song by Harry Belafonte. And I think I heard Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" enough for a lifetime after just seeing Groundhog Day once. The same is true for "California Dreaming" by The Mamas and the Papas in Chungking Express. Although I was just sick of that movie altogether. I almost wanted to name the amazing musical moments in Tsai Ming-liang's The Hole, but I think then I am getting a little to close to the Musical genre, which is kind of different from what we are discussing here.
]]>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:20:12 GMTRisseladaWeekly Theme7/10/2009 3:20:12 PMI love the "music video" montage in The Naked Gun to the song "I'm Into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits. I always picture it when I hear the song. Jim Jarmusch films were my introduction to Tom Waits music. Love the songs from Rain Dogs on Down by Law. The Coen brothers O, Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack was all individual songs, mostly new recordsings of old favorites, but some classic archives too. The thing won a Grammy for Best Album of the Year! Not that I take much stock in Grammys, but I love the songs and the film because the songs are so critical to the film. And their soundtrack for The Big Lebowski is just as great! From the front and center of Kenny Rogers' "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" to the Creedence Clearwater Revival Permiating the film, to the little songs you catch in the background like "I Hate You" by the Monks playing over bowling lanes speakers in one of the bowling scenes. The Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas soundtrack is just perfect too. I would name every song and what's happening in the film when it comes on, but that would take too long. This is maybe my favorite altogether soundtrack feature individual songs. Many of the songs, like a lot of the best ones used in movies like this are diagetic too, making them so important to the actual story. Wait, scratch that last statement about Fear and Loathing being my favorite soundtrack. I think I'm going to have to replace it with Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy. Magnolia has a bittersweet little singalong to an Aimee Mann song. Simple Men has a pretty spontaneous dance sequence to what I think is a Sonic Youth song, but I don't know the name. I think anyone who has seen Beetle Juice would think of the movie at least once any time they hear the song O Day Banana Boat Song by Harry Belafonte. And I think I heard Sonny &amp; Cher's "I Got You Babe" enough for a lifetime after just seeing Groundhog Day once. The same is true for "California Dreaming" by The Mamas and the Papas in Chungking Express. Although I was just sick of that movie altogether. I almost wanted to name the amazing musical moments in Tsai Ming-liang's The Hole, but I think then I am getting a little to close to the Musical genre, which is kind of different from what we are discussing here. http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/Re_What_is_your_favorite_movie_directed_by_Jim_Jar/657/42072/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 5/6/2009 4:51:21 PM
Body: [quote user="protexblue"] I think I'm the first person to vote for an 80s Jarmusch film so far, that's a little scary. I've actually seen all of Jim's films so this is a really tough poll. Mystery Train would be my personal pick, it's probably not his best film but I can watch it endlessly. I saw The Limits of Control last weekend and I really enjoyed it - but I get the feeling a lot of people won't know what to make of it. Jarmusch is displaying his Antonioni and Rivette influences much more directly than he ever has before, letting location, pace and repetition take precedent over telling a proper narrative. If you've seen the trailer then you've seen just about the whole storyline, and every frame of the film with a gun, but with much of Jim's work it's more about the journey than the destination. I once got the chance to meet Jim at a Broken Flowers promotional event, he was really nice and we talked for almost 20 minutes. I normally feel pretty well versed in films, but next to him I felt like the kid who tries to reference Star Wars in film school. [/quote] Ha! That's a great analogy there at the end. Read or heard Jim rattle off an impromptu list of some of his influences (maybe on the Down By Law DVD special features??). The list was actually gigantic and features as many authors, books, musicians, and other types of artists as it did films and filmmakers. And I felt like he could have kept going for hours naming these things off. I feel like he really absorbs a lot of interesting and diverse art from around the world and history. For a while my favorite was Down By Law, but I think in recent viewings Night on Earth is my new favorite. Maybe it's the Tom Waits musical scores that push them to the very top of my favorites list. And may be Night on Earth the most since Jim just seems very adept at vignette films. Even many of his films with a single narrative feel like little separate moments. I have seen all of his films except for The Year of the Horse. I've just never become a huge Neil Young fan. Not that I dislike him. Would you say that Jarmusch's stamp is on this doc nonetheless?
]]>Wed, 06 May 2009 20:51:21 GMTRisseladaMovie Polls5/6/2009 4:51:21 PM[quote user="protexblue"] I think I'm the first person to vote for an 80s Jarmusch film so far, that's a little scary. I've actually seen all of Jim's films so this is a really tough poll. Mystery Train would be my personal pick, it's probably not his best film but I can watch it endlessly. I saw The Limits of Control last weekend and I really enjoyed it - but I get the feeling a lot of people won't know what to make of it. Jarmusch is displaying his Antonioni and Rivette influences much more directly than he ever has before, letting location, pace and repetition take precedent over telling a proper narrative. If you've seen the trailer then you've seen just about the whole storyline, and every frame of the film with a gun, but with much of Jim's work it's more about the journey than the destination. I once got the chance to meet Jim at a Broken Flowers promotional event, he was really nice and we talked for almost 20 minutes. I normally feel pretty well versed in films, but next to him I felt like the kid who tries to reference Star Wars in film school. [/quote] Ha! That's a great analogy there at the end. Read or heard Jim rattle off an impromptu list of some of his influences (maybe on the Down By Law DVD special features??). The list was actually gigantic and features as many authors, books, musicians, and other types of artists as it did films and filmmakers. And I felt like he could have kept going for hours naming these things off. I feel like he really absorbs a lot of interesting and diverse art from around the world and history. For a while my favorite was Down By Law, but I think in recent viewings Night on Earth is my new favorite. Maybe it's the Tom Waits musical scores that push them to the very top of my favorites list. And may be Night on Earth the most since Jim just seems very adept at vignette films. Even many of his films with a single narrative feel like little separate moments. I have seen all of his films except for The Year of the Horse. I've just never become a huge Neil Young fan. Not that I dislike him. Would you say that Jarmusch's stamp is on this doc nonetheless? http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/What_is_your_favorite_movie_directed_by_Jim_Jarmus/657/42037/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 5/5/2009 1:56:36 PM
Body: Please reference this thread for the rules of this group. Jim Jarmusch's latest release The Limits of Control is having a limit release very shortly here. I'm quite excited to see it as Jarmusch is one of my very favorite directors. I'm curious to see what he does in the thriller genre. Another of my fovorite directors Hal Hartley who sometimes gets thrown in similar categories as Jarmusch did a fantastic job with his take on the genre with the recent Fay Grim, so I have some hope. Anyone else here a big Jarmusch fan? Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:Broken FlowersCoffee and CigarettesDead ManDown By LawGhost Dog: The Way of the SamuraiMystery TrainNight on EarthPermanent VacationStranger Than ParadiseYear of the Horse
]]>Tue, 05 May 2009 17:56:36 GMTRisseladaMovie Polls5/5/2009 1:56:36 PMPlease reference this thread for the rules of this group. Jim Jarmusch's latest release The Limits of Control is having a limit release very shortly here. I'm quite excited to see it as Jarmusch is one of my very favorite directors. I'm curious to see what he does in the thriller genre. Another of my fovorite directors Hal Hartley who sometimes gets thrown in similar categories as Jarmusch did a fantastic job with his take on the genre with the recent Fay Grim, so I have some hope. Anyone else here a big Jarmusch fan? Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:Broken FlowersCoffee and CigarettesDead ManDown By LawGhost Dog: The Way of the SamuraiMystery TrainNight on EarthPermanent VacationStranger Than ParadiseYear of the Horse http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/20/36532.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/20/2008 6:00:27 PM
Body: This is the first in what will be a series of posts examining the artistic life cycles of Oscar winners who failed to find continued mainstream success after taking home the statuette. If you have suggestions for stars or filmmakers that you’d like to see profiled, let us know in the comments. Roberto Benigni swang from general obscurity in the United States to media darling following his Academy Award for Life Is Beautiful. But what’s happened to him since? He was only the second filmmaker since Sir Laurence Olivier to direct himself in an Oscar-winning performance. That’s a long way to go for someone who had only been seen here in Blake Edwards’ terrible Son of the Pink Panther and as a sex-obsessed cabbie in Jim Jarmusch’s Night on Earth. While we love the underdog success story, we also love the fall from grace, and we’re in search of the crater that Benigni must have left somewhere. Benigni was poised to become an Italian Spielberg (if Spielberg appeared in his own movies) after Life is Beautiful, but in the five years after winning the Oscar, he only appeared as an actor in the comic book adaptation Asterix and Obelix Take on Caesar. That film was never even seen in American theaters, and only an import version of the DVD is available to order. Since then, he’s appeared in a one tiny role, and directed himself in two flops that failed to connect with audiences or critics, and is now touring in a one-man show based on Dante’s Divine Comedy. The comic actor didn’t return to the other side of the camera until 2002’s live-action Pinocchio, which has the dreaded distinction of being both the most expensive Italian film ever made, and one of its biggest critical failures. It grossed just over three and a half million dollars in the States, a far cry from Life’s $57 million. Critics said that the film had wonderful sets and costumes, but that no one could swallow Benigni in the role of a little puppet boy who wishes to be real. Especially since he was 50 years old at the time. But can one enormous flop really turn audiences off for good? With Benigni it’s more of a case of the curtain being drawn back to reveal The Wizard, and The Wizard not being what he’s cracked up to be. Benigni’s followup to Pinocchio was 2006’s The Tiger and the Snow, a comedy about an Italian poet stuck behind enemy lines during the Iraq war. The film received some of the worst reviews of the year. Jeannette Catsoulis at the New York Times said, “Roberto Benigni’s film is a scorching affront to Italians, Iraqis and the intelligence of movie audiences everywhere.” Prior to that, Benigni was in 2003’s Jarmusch’s short film mashup Coffee and Cigarettes, which oddly pairs him with narcoleptic comedian Steven Wright, although both of them seem highly caffeinated in this scene. This scene had been filmed as a short in 1986, and it’s a big departure from his dialogue heavy role as the chatty taxi driver in Night On Earth. In Coffee, he just looks manic and nervous, and check out that hairstyle. For someone as chatty and witty as Benigni seems to be, he’s fairly silent in this clip. Looks like a bad day at the Improv. A few years before Life is Beautiful, Benigni starred in Blake Edwards’ last theatrical film (to date) in an attempt to reboot the Pink Panther series. Despite Benigni’s pratfalls and enormous smile, it failed with audiences and critics, and mostly just underscored the fact that Peter Sellers was no longer with us. How they could possibly be making a sequel to Steve Martin’s The Pink Panther is still beyond me. Regardless, Son has been relegated to this discard bin, and is not considered part of the official Panther canon and has quietly been swept under the rug. What’s interesting is the fact that Benigni’s early Italian television career is just as colorful as some of his roles. He starred in a television show called Onda Libera, where he sang a hymn about the joys of defecation entitled “L’inno del corpo sciolto,” which was later censored. He’s also been a constant political figure in Italy as well, publicly criticizing the former Pope (which was also censored) and demonstrating for the Italian Communist Party. His outspoken nature and eccentric acting style brought him a lot of infamy in Italy, and before long he was starring in feature films, including 1985’s Nothing Left to Do But Cry, where he plays a modern day schoolteacher who time travels to the 15th century and plays cards with Leonardo da Vinci while trying to keep Columbus from discovering America. He starred in more than a dozen films from 1977 until Jarmusch put him in a short segment in Coffee and Cigarettes in 1986, just before giving him a larger role in Down By Law, which is still his highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes. So what is this Oscar winning actor/director doing now? For the past few years since directing and starring in The Tiger and the Snow he’s been starring in TuttoDante on stages across Europe. It’s a one-man show based on The Divine Comedy, and is supposed to be coming to America next year. It wouldn’t be surprising if he tries to make a feature film out of it. But would audiences even turn out for it? Based on his quickly plummeting box office appeal, it’s doubtful. Benigni was once hailed by the press as an Italian Charlie Chaplin, but it’s a name he hasn’t lived up to. Not to slight Life is Beautiful, which is a very touching film and Benigni’s performance is endearing, but he’s a one-note actor who thrives on slapstick comedy. Audiences quickly tired of repeated gags and pratfalls, and he was left exposed like the Emperor in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Studios didn’t want to dismiss him so quickly, since surely someone who has won an Oscar knows what they’re doing, but Pinocchio and The Tiger and the Snow both show that he was probably highly overrated as a director. Perhaps he needs to work with Jarmusch again, or try more serious roles. Although for a terrific example of Benigni’s comedy in a darker setting, go rent his 1994 movie The Monster, which is probably one of the funniest films about a serial killer you’ll ever see. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:00:27 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/20/2008 6:00:27 PM This is the first in what will be a series of posts examining the artistic life cycles of Oscar winners who failed to find continued mainstream success after taking home the statuette. If you have suggestions for stars or filmmakers that you’d like to see profiled, let us know in the comments. Roberto Benigni swang from general obscurity in the United States to media darling following his Academy Award for Life Is Beautiful. But what’s happened to him since? He was only the second filmmaker since Sir Laurence Olivier to direct himself in an Oscar-winning performance. That’s a long way to go for someone who had only been seen here in Blake Edwards’ terrible Son of the Pink Panther and as a sex-obsessed cabbie in Jim Jarmusch’s Night on Earth. While we love the underdog success story, we also love the fall from grace, and we’re in search of the crater that Benigni must have left somewhere. Benigni was poised to become an Italian Spielberg (if Spielberg appeared in his own movies) after Life is Beautiful, but in the five years after winning the Oscar, he only appeared as an actor in the comic book adaptation Asterix and Obelix Take on Caesar. That film was never even seen in American theaters, and only an import version of the DVD is available to order. Since then, he’s appeared in a one tiny role, and directed himself in two flops that failed to connect with audiences or critics, and is now touring in a one-man show based on Dante’s Divine Comedy. The comic actor didn’t return to the other side of the camera until 2002’s live-action Pinocchio, which has the dreaded distinction of being both the most expensive Italian film ever made, and one of its biggest critical failures. It grossed just over three and a half million dollars in the States, a far cry from Life’s $57 million. Critics said that the film had wonderful sets and costumes, but that no one could swallow Benigni in the role of a little puppet boy who wishes to be real. Especially since he was 50 years old at the time. But can one enormous flop really turn audiences off for good? With Benigni it’s more of a case of the curtain being drawn back to reveal The Wizard, and The Wizard not being what he’s cracked up to be. Benigni’s followup to Pinocchio was 2006’s The Tiger and the Snow, a comedy about an Italian poet stuck behind enemy lines during the Iraq war. The film received some of the worst reviews of the year. Jeannette Catsoulis at the New York Times said, “Roberto Benigni’s film is a scorching affront to Italians, Iraqis and the intelligence of movie audiences everywhere.” Prior to that, Benigni was in 2003’s Jarmusch’s short film mashup Coffee and Cigarettes, which oddly pairs him with narcoleptic comedian Steven Wright, although both of them seem highly caffeinated in this scene. This scene had been filmed as a short in 1986, and it’s a big departure from his dialogue heavy role as the chatty taxi driver in Night On Earth. In Coffee, he just looks manic and nervous, and check out that hairstyle. For someone as chatty and witty as Benigni seems to be, he’s fairly silent in this clip. Looks like a bad day at the Improv. A few years before Life is Beautiful, Benigni starred in Blake Edwards’ last theatrical film (to date) in an attempt to reboot the Pink Panther series. Despite Benigni’s pratfalls and enormous smile, it failed with audiences and critics, and mostly just underscored the fact that Peter Sellers was no longer with us. How they could possibly be making a sequel to Steve Martin’s The Pink Panther is still beyond me. Regardless, Son has been relegated to this discard bin, and is not considered part of the official Panther canon and has quietly been swept under the rug. What’s interesting is the fact that Benigni’s early Italian television career is just as colorful as some of his roles. He starred in a television show called Onda Libera, where he sang a hymn about the joys of defecation entitled “L’inno del corpo sciolto,” which was later censored. He’s also been a constant political figure in Italy as well, publicly criticizing the former Pope (which was also censored) and demonstrating for the Italian Communist Party. His outspoken nature and eccentric acting style brought him a lot of infamy in Italy, and before long he was starring in feature films, including 1985’s Nothing Left to Do But Cry, where he plays a modern day schoolteacher who time travels to the 15th century and plays cards with Leonardo da Vinci while trying to keep Columbus from discovering America. He starred in more than a dozen films from 1977 until Jarmusch put him in a short segment in Coffee and Cigarettes in 1986, just before giving him a larger role in Down By Law, which is still his highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes. So what is this Oscar winning actor/director doing now? For the past few years since directing and starring in The Tiger and the Snow he’s been starring in TuttoDante on stages across Europe. It’s a one-man show based on The Divine Comedy, and is supposed to be coming to America next year. It wouldn’t be surprising if he tries to make a feature film out of it. But would audiences even turn out for it? Based on his quickly plummeting box office appeal, it’s doubtful. Benigni was once hailed by the press as an Italian Charlie Chaplin, but it’s a name he hasn’t lived up to. Not to slight Life is Beautiful, which is a very touching film and Benigni’s performance is endearing, but he’s a one-note actor who thrives on slapstick comedy. Audiences quickly tired of repeated gags and pratfalls, and he was left exposed like the Emperor in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Studios didn’t want to dismiss him so quickly, since surely someone who has won an Oscar knows what they’re doing, but Pinocchio and The Tiger and the Snow both show that he was probably highly overrated as a director. Perhaps he needs to work with Jarmusch again, or try more serious roles. Although for a terrific example of Benigni’s comedy in a darker setting, go rent his 1994 movie The Monster, which is probably one of the funniest films about a serial killer you’ll ever see. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/risselada/archive/2008/9/17/35262.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Risselada Blog
Post Date: 9/17/2008 5:20:11 PM
Body: Das Fidele Gefängnis (The Merry Jail) This was on the Criterion Collection release of Trouble in Paradise that I rented. It's an earlier silent film that Lubitsch made in Germany, and I actually preferred it to the primary movie on disc! Here we also see Lubitsch the actor as well as a wonderful comedic part from the legendary Emil Jannings as a drunk jailer. I found it to just be a lot more fun and goofy than the other film which seems to be trying for some kind of sophisticated comedy that was a bit more difficult for me to enjoy. You also get a glimpse of some jail cell wall graffiti that rivals some of what you see in Down By Law. I'm mesmerized by jail cell wall graffiti. Anyone know of any other places to see some? Rating: 8/10
]]>Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:20:11 GMTRisseladaRisselada Blog9/17/2008 5:20:11 PMDas Fidele Gef&auml;ngnis (The Merry Jail) This was on the Criterion Collection release of Trouble in Paradise that I rented. It's an earlier silent film that Lubitsch made in Germany, and I actually preferred it to the primary movie on disc! Here we also see Lubitsch the actor as well as a wonderful comedic part from the legendary Emil Jannings as a drunk jailer. I found it to just be a lot more fun and goofy than the other film which seems to be trying for some kind of sophisticated comedy that was a bit more difficult for me to enjoy. You also get a glimpse of some jail cell wall graffiti that rivals some of what you see in Down By Law. I'm mesmerized by jail cell wall graffiti. Anyone know of any other places to see some? Rating: 8/10 http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_July_29_Locked_Up/625/33317/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: estela
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/31/2008 7:31:16 AM
Body: I am intrigued just watch the trailer have put it down on my want to see list. Great quote can imagine it was improv by Benigni himself. thanks for bringing this film to my attention. [quote user="leeroy711"] [quote user="Risselada"] Favorite prison scene that first jumped to mind was from Down By Law Roberto Benigni's character manages to get the entire wing of that prison to chant "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream" [/quote] I freakin' loved that scene. I think Benigni is flat out one of the funniest people to watch and it was a very bold move for Jarmusch to cast him way back in '86 in an American movie. [/quote]
]]>Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:31:16 GMTestelaWeekly Theme7/31/2008 7:31:16 AMI am intrigued just watch the trailer have put it down on my want to see list. Great quote can imagine it was improv by Benigni himself. thanks for bringing this film to my attention. [quote user="leeroy711"] [quote user="Risselada"] Favorite prison scene that first jumped to mind was from Down By Law Roberto Benigni's character manages to get the entire wing of that prison to chant "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream" [/quote] I freakin' loved that scene. I think Benigni is flat out one of the funniest people to watch and it was a very bold move for Jarmusch to cast him way back in '86 in an American movie. [/quote] http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_July_29_Locked_Up/625/33301/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: leeroy711
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/30/2008 3:56:26 PM
Body: [quote user="Risselada"] Favorite prison scene that first jumped to mind was from Down By Law Roberto Benigni's character manages to get the entire wing of that prison to chant "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream" [/quote] I freakin' loved that scene. I think Benigni is flat out one of the funniest people to watch and it was a very bold move for Jarmusch to cast him way back in '86 in an American movie.
]]>Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:56:26 GMTleeroy711Weekly Theme7/30/2008 3:56:26 PM[quote user="Risselada"] Favorite prison scene that first jumped to mind was from Down By Law Roberto Benigni's character manages to get the entire wing of that prison to chant "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream" [/quote] I freakin' loved that scene. I think Benigni is flat out one of the funniest people to watch and it was a very bold move for Jarmusch to cast him way back in '86 in an American movie. http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_July_29_Locked_Up/625/33269/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/29/2008 7:12:19 PM
Body: Favorite prison scene that first jumped to mind was from Down By Law Roberto Benigni's character manages to get the entire wing of that prison to chant "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream"
]]>Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:12:19 GMTRisseladaWeekly Theme7/29/2008 7:12:19 PMFavorite prison scene that first jumped to mind was from Down By Law Roberto Benigni's character manages to get the entire wing of that prison to chant "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream" http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/brilliant/MemberTagFilms.aspxbrilliant
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