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Rome Arts & Culture:
Movies in English + Museums & Galleries + Music + Opera, Dance & Theater

The Best of Rome:
MOVIES IN ENGLISH

Friday, February 5 - Thursday, February 11, 2010

Warner Village Moderno
Piazza della Repubblica 44. (in the Esedra Hotel)
tel 892 111

Nine
Inspired by Fellini's masterpiece "8 1/2", in one of those weird entertainment world twists, the musical based on the film is now a film based on the musical. "Nine" was a huge hit and Tony award-winner on Broadway, where it starred Antonio Banderas, as the tormented filmmaker, a role made immortal in Fellini's film by Marcello Mastrioiani. Here Daniel Day Lewis takes the lead, with a galaxy of stars playing the women in his life — Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson. Directed by Rob Marshall ("Chicago"). Reviews have been decidedly mixed. A.O. Scott wrote in the New York Times, "Straining to capture artistic frenzy, it descends into vulgar chaos, less a homage to Federico Fellini's "8 ½" (its putative inspiration) than a travesty." In the Washington Post, Ann Hornaday wrote, "It's a film within a film about a film within a film, and seems to lose layers of authenticity with each iteration, finally becoming a profoundly alienating experience." And in the New York Observer, Rex Reed was no less critical, writing " Onstage, there was so much glamour I couldn’t decide whom to concentrate on. In the movie, they’re so obnoxious I just wanted them to shut up and go home." On the positive side, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, wrote "Rob Marshall's flawed but frequently dazzling Nine is a hot-blooded musical fantasia full of song, dance, raging emotion and simmering sexuality." And Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal called the film "Loud, brash, brassy, sexy and sometimes tacky or silly, but always entertaining." Penelope Cruz won an Oscar nomination for her role, and the film was nominated for Best Song, Art Direction and Costume Design.
4:40, 7:10, 9:40 pm
trailer
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Metropolitan
Via del Corso 7 (near Piazza del Popolo)
tel 06 320 0933

Up in the Air
George Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham, an expert at firing people, who flies constantly around the country, visiting companies who are downsizing in the recession. His lifestyle suits his philosophy of the "empty backpack," which means no encumbrances, no close personal ties, no home, few possessions. His world begins to crumble when his compan decides to go virtual, firing over the internet, and his "backpack" begins to fill up when he falls for a fellow traveler. Directed by Jason Reitman (Juno), adapated from the novel by Walter Kirn. The film won a Golden Globe for its screenplay, as well as five other nominations, and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In the New York Times, Manhola Dargis called the film, "An assertively, and unapologetically, tidy package, from its use of romance to instill some drama into the narrative (the book introduces disease instead) and the mope-rock tunes that Mr. Reitman needlessly overuses." In Rolling Stone, Peter Travers wrote, "One-word reaction: bravo." And in The New Yorker, Anthony Lane wrote, "The tension between the bleak and the blithe, the prime source of this movie's strength, is sustained by Reitman to the end."
On two screens at 4:15, 5:15, 6:20, 7:30, 8:25, 10:30 pm
trailer

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Nuovo Olimpia
Via in Lucina 16 (Off via del Corso)
tel 06 686 1068

A Single Man
The directing debut of the fashion designer and former director of Gucci, Tom Ford, who also produced and co-wrote the screenplay. Based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood, it is the story of a British college professor's struggle to find meaning in his life after the death of his long time partner. The story is set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, at a time when many homosexual men still suffered from the tyranny of "the closet." In the New Yorker, Anthony Lane wrote, "The film is slowed by its own beauty, but it is salvaged by two majestic scenes. In one, George learns of Jim’s death in a phone call from a relative, during which his voice (this being 1962) must betray nothing, leaving his face (on which Ford is smart enough to keep the camera) to do all the work; in another, George goes around for a long evening with his friend Charley (Julianne Moore), who likes to start boozing as she puts on her face in the morning. Two characters trying and failing to drown their hopes and regrets, and two strong actors refusing to be tight-laced by a director’s exercise in style: here is a mood piece looking for a fight." And in the New York Times, Manohla Dargis wrote, "That Mr. Ford has placed so much weight on Mr. Firth suggests that he knows how valuable his actor is to his first effort. And while 'A Single Man' has its flaws, many of these fade in view of the performance and the power of Isherwood’s story. Part of the radical importance of Isherwood’s novel is its insistence on the absolute ordinariness of George’s life, including with Jim, whose relationship together is pictured only briefly in both the novel and the film, and yet reverberates deeply (then as now). Mr. Ford’s single man might be less common than Isherwood’s, a bit too exquisitely dressed. But with Mr. Firth, Mr. Ford has created a gay man troubled by ordinary grief and haunted by joy, a man apart and yet like any other." Firth won Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar nominations for his role. Julianne Moore was nominated for a Supporting Actress Golden Globe.
trailer
4:30, 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm

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Alcazar
Via Merry del Val
Trastevere- Movies in English on Monday only
tel 06 588 0099

An Education
Novelist Nick Hornby wrote the screenplay for this sweet coming-of-age film, based on a short memoir by journalist Lynn Barber, set in suburban London, circa 1961. Sixteen year-old Jenny Carey Carey Mulligan), is full of talent, and being groomed by her domineering father (Alfred Molina) for a place at Oxford University. But her outlook on life changes when an older man (Peter Sarsgaard) sweeps her off her feet, showing her a world she only dreamed about. Directed by Lone Scherfig ("Italian for Beginers" and co-starring Rosamunde Pike, Dominic Cooper, Olivia Williams, and Emma Thompson. The film has garnered multiple nominations, including Best Leading Actress and Best Picture Oscar nods, and eight BAFTA nominations. In the New York Observer, Rex Reed wrote, "Captivatingly written, directed and acted with sensitivity and nuance, this is one of the best films of the year. It lives up to its title in more ways than one." In Rolling Stone, Peter Travers called the film "A quiet miracle of a movie that quickly disabuses you of the idea that you've seen it all before." And in the Wall Street Journal, Joe Morgenstern wrote, "No movie I've seen in a very long time has touched me so deeply, or bestowed so much pleasure."
Monday only 4:30, 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm
trailer
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Barberini
Piazza Barberini

Avatar
The buzz movie of the year, perhaps the decade, James Cameron's post-Titanic blockbuster, and the most expensive film ever made. See it in the awesome new digital 3D if you can. Earth is running out of time as a viable life-supporting planet. But wait! Another planet, Pandora,has the very element earth needs to keep running. Off goes the space ship, a paraplegic ex-Marine will become an avatar, his mind in the body of the planet Pandora's local life form, a humanoid creature with blue skin, a tail, and staggering physical abilities. But wait! The Marine falls in love with planet's beautiful princess, gets converted to their life style and, yeah, there are some hostilities. Starring Sigourney Weaver, Sam Worthington and a lot of other actors you won't recognize in their alien gear. Reviews were champagne-bubbly. In the New York Times, Manohla Dargis wrote, "James Cameron has turned one man's dream of the movies into a trippy joy ride about the end of life -- our moviegoing life included -- as we know it." A.O. Scott of At the Movies opined, " I had the feeling coming out of this movie that I haven't felt since maybe I was eleven years old in 1977 and I saw Star Wars for the first time." Even David Denby of The New Yorker succumbed, writing, "James Cameron's Avatar is the most beautiful film I've seen in years." Nine Oscar nominations including Best Picture, eight BAFTA nominations, and Golden Globe awards for Best Picture and Best Director.
trailer
In English AND 3D, Tuesday-Sunday, 1 pm only


The Casa del Cinema is located in a villa on the grounds of the Borghese Gardens. Inside you'll find projection rooms, a library, a cafe, and a 2,500 DVD library with 24 Toshiba laptops available for viewing movies in private cubicles. The auditorium shows both new and vintage films, sometimes in English. It's possible to purchase an "Amici Casa del Cinema" card, which gets you into the screenings and gives you preferred treatment when reserving space to view DVD's. To get there, enter the Borghese Gardens at the top of Via Veneto (Piazzale del Brasile) and proceed to Largo Marcello Mastroianni. For info call 06 423601.
www.casadelcinema.it

In Rome Now Travel Guide: Rome, Italy, Movies in English