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Roman Polanski’s black comedy “The Palace” was given a tepid three-minutes of applause when it world premiered in the Palazzo del Cinema’s Sala Grande on Saturday night.

Producer Luca Barbareschi, French star Fanny Ardant and other key cast members including German actor Oliver Masucci (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”), Portugal’s Joaquim de Almeida and Italy’s Fortunato Cerlino (”Gomorrah”) stood up and took a bow, but the audience’s response seemed to be more polite than exited, though there were occasional bursts of laughter during the screening.

Before the film’s premiere “The Palace” set designer Tonino Zera received Venice’s Campari Passion for Film prize from artistic director Alberto Barbera.

Polanski directed the black comedy from a screenplay he wrote alongside Jerzy Skolimowski and Ewa Piaskowska. “The Palace” takes place during New Year’s Eve in 1999, when a dinner party at Switzerland’s Gstaad Palace hotel takes an unexpected turn.

Roadside Attractions will release Pinocchio only in St. Louis theaters on December 25th, 2020.

Here’s the spectacular trailer:

Shot in stunning Italian locations, Matteo Garrone’s rich world of mystery and wonder stars Academy Award® winning actor Roberto Benigni as Geppetto, the old woodcarver whose puppet creation, Pinocchio, magically comes to life with dreams of becoming a real boy. Easily led astray, Pinocchio (nine-year-old Federico Ielapi) tumbles from one misadventure to another as he is tricked, kidnapped and chased by bandits through a wonderful world full of imaginative creatures – from the belly of a giant fish, to the Land Of Toys and the Field Of Miracles.

Pinocchio stars Starring Federico Ielapi, Roberto Benigni, Gigi Proietti, Rocco Papaleo, Massimo Ceccherini, Marine Vacth, Alida Baldari Calabria, Maria Pia Timo, Massimiliano Gallo, Gianfranco Gallo, Davide Marotta, Teco Celio, and Enzo Vetrano

In St. Louis, Pinocchio will be playing at the following theaters:

The...

Acclaimed Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone has released the new trailer for his upcoming live-action adaptation of the classic children’s story, Pinocchio, which is set to open in theaters on December 25th.

The film stars Oscar-winning actor Roberto Benigni as Geppetto, the woodcarver whose puppet magically comes to life and dreams of being a real boy. Nine-year-old Federico Ielapi plays Pinocchio, with some CGI assistance giving him a wooden frame and, of course, allowing his nose to grow exponentially whenever he lies.

“Easily led astray, Pinocchio tumbles from one misadventure...

In the Italian provinces, the Virgin Mary appears to a directionless woman who tries to reject her commands in Gianni Zanasi’s unremarkable “Lucia’s Grace.” Perhaps it’s cynical to suggest, but the film’s Europa Cinema Label prize in Directors’ Fortnight says more about the movie’s expected chances at the box office, where its sunny and unchallenging cuteness will translate to robust sales, rather than any intrinsic cinematic merits. Lazily constructed and stocked with familiar caricatures, “Lucia’s Grace” can generously be called a pleasant comic bauble whose extremely mild ecological message will make multiplex audiences feel good without inspiring them to action.

It’s not easy for single mom Lucia (Alba Rohrwacher) to find regular employment as a surveyor, maybe because she’s a little too nervy and a little too honest. Brash local businessman Paolo (Giuseppe Battiston) hires her and assistant Fabio (Daniele De Angelis...

Title: La felicità è un sistema complesso (Happiness is a complex system) Director: Gianni Zanasi Starring: Valerio Mastandrea, Giuseppe Battiston, Hadas Yaron, Paolo Briguglia, Teco Celio, Maurizio Donadoni, Filippo De Carli and Chiara Martini. Criticism on capitalism is at the core of Gianni Zanasi’s new flick: La felicità è un sistema complesso (Happiness is a complex system). Enrico Giusti (Valerio Mastrandrea) has a very peculiar job: he convinces irresponsible entrepreneurs to sell their companies, in order to make them competitive again through arguable mechanisms he is not fully aware of. But he will start to question what he does through a Deus ex machina: the arrival of Achrinoam, an Israeli [ Read More ]

The post La felicità è un sistema complesso (Happiness is a complex system) Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Hong Sang-soo's Right Now, Wrong Then.The lineup for the 2015 festival has been revealed, including new films by Hong Sang-soo, Andrzej Zulawski, Chantal Akerman, Athina Rachel Tsangari, and others, alongside retrospectives and tributes dedicated to Sam Peckinpah, Michael Cimino, Bulle Ogier, and much more.Piazza GRANDERicki and the Flash (Jonathan Demme, USA)La belle saison (Catherine Corsini, France)Le dernier passage (Pascal Magontier, France)Der staat gegen Fritz Bauer (Lars Kraume, Germany)Southpaw (Antoine Fuqua, USA)Trainwreck (Judd Apatow, USA)Jack (Elisabeth Scharang, Austria)Floride (Philippe Le Guay, France)The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, UK/USA)Erlkönig (Georges Schwizgebel, Switzerland)Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre (Philippe Falardeau, Canada)Bombay Velvet (Anurag Kashyap, India)Pastorale cilentana (Mario Martone, Italy)La vanite (Lionel Baier, Switzerland/France)The Laundryman (Lee Chung, Taiwan)Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, USA) I pugni ni tasca (Marco Bellocchio, Italy)Heliopolis (Sérgio Machado, Brazil)Amnesia (Barbet Schroeder,...

World premieres for new films by Athina Rachel Tsangari, Hong Sangsoo, Ben Rivers; Southpaw, Trainwreck among Piazza Grande titles.

The 68th Locarno Film Festival (August 5-15) will open with Jonathan Demme’s musical comedy-drama Ricki And The Flash, in which Meryl Streep stars as a musician who tries to make things right with her family after giving up everything to pursue her dream of rock-and-roll stardom.

Written by Diablo Cody, the film gets a Piazza Grande berth alongside Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me And Earl And The Dying Girl, Catherine Corsini’s La Belle Saison and Antoine Fuqua’s Southpaw.

Also playing is Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter. Cimino is being honoured with a Pardo D’onore Swisscom and will be taking part in an onstage conversation.

14 of the 18 films competing in the festival’s International Competition section for the Golden Leopard Award are world premieres including Andrzej Zulawski’s Cosmos, Ben Rivers’ The Sky...

Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, The Ides of March Tomas Alfredson – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy UK, Germany, 127' Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt Andrea Arnold – Wuthering Heights UK, 128' Kaya Scodelario, Nichola Burley, Steve Evets, Oliver Milburn Ami Canaan Mann – Texas Killing Fields USA, 109' Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jeffrey Dean Morgan George Clooney – The Ides Of March [Opening Film] USA, 98' Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood Cristina Comencini – Quando La Notte Italy, 116' Claudia Pandolfi, Filippo Timi, Michela Cescon, Thomas Trabacchi Emanuele Crialese – Terraferma Italy, France, 88' Filippo Pucillo, Donatella Finocchiaro, Giuseppe Fiorello, Claudio Santamaria David Cronenberg – A Dangerous Method Germany, Canada, 99' Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Vincent Cassel Abel Ferrara – 4:44 Last Day On Earth USA, 82' Willem Dafoe, Shanyn Leigh, Paz de la Huerta, Natasha Lyonne William Friedkin – Killer Joe USA, 103' Matthew McConaughey,...

Director Dominique Othenin-Girard's 2008 French feature "L'Infiltré" (aka "Dirty Money"),will be available on DVD, April 19, 2011 from eOne :

"...'Dirty Money' , follows a Swiss policeman who infiltrates an international money laundering business, moving millions of Swiss Francs between Switzerland and Turkey.

" The dark thriller is an uncompromising account of money laundering and white-collar crime..."

Cast includes actors Antoine Basler, David La Haye, Lucie Laurier, Uygar Tamer, Rosalie Julien, Pascal Vincent, Carlos Leal, Michel Voita, Andrea Ferreol, Jf Stevinin, Alexandra Tiedemann, Caroline Gasser and Teco Celio.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Dirty Money"...

ROME -- Nine months, two distributors, several prizes and much positive word-of-mouth later, Gianni Zanasi's 2007 Venice hit comedy "Don't Think About It" has finally made it to Italian screens. Zanasi's last film was 1999's "Beside Myself", a much smaller and more intimate effort. Bubbly and smart, the new film was branded the first worthy "commedia all'italiana" in years. It has sold to 17 territories and the appeal of its broadly recognizable theme and humor could push it beyond the arthouse niche in some venues.

Failed 35-year-old punk rock musician Stefano (Valerio Mastandrea) returns to his small hometown from Rome after catching his girlfriend cheating on him. Seeking refuge, the prodigal son nevertheless freely criticizes his family and their "bourgeois facades." But things are never as simple as they seem: His older brother is running the family business into the ground and falling for a call girl, his sister has dropped out of college to work with dolphins, his mother does nothing but frequent New Age classes and his father plays golf all day long.

When skeletons start popping out of closets (even about the identity of his real father) and the house is foreclosed upon, Stefano is the least equipped of all to handle it. With a tinge of melancholy, he realizes he craves the safety nets he fled, which the others, however, have outgrown.

Zanasi shoots in bright, sunny colors with a style that is classic yet loose. He allows his actors to perform with naturalistic ease. They are fun to watch -- from the ever-dependent Mastandrea to stars Giuseppe Battiston and Anita Caprioli, as well as Gisella Burinato and Teco Celio as Stefano's parents.

While the subject matter may not be entirely original -- and The New Age and golf touches smack more of American than Italian families -- the film is solidly entertaining and features a great soundtrack with songs by Merci Miss Monroe, Les Fauves and Atomik Dog.

DON'T THINK ABOUT IT

ITC Movie, Pupkin Production in collaboration with La7

International sales: Pyramide International

Credits:

Director: Gianni Zanasi

Writers: Zanasi, Michele Pellegrini

Producers: Beppe Caschetto, Rita Rognoni

Director of photography: Giulio Pietromarchi

Production designer: Roberto De Angelis

Music: Merci Miss Monroe, Les Fauves and Atomik Dog

Costume designer: Valentina Tavia

Editor: Rognoni

Cast:

Stefano: Valerio Mastandrea

Michela: Anita Caprioli

Alberto: Giuseppe Battiston

Mamma Nardini: Gisella Burinato

Walter: Teco Celio

Nadine: Caterina Murino

Paolo: Paolo Briguglia

Stefano: Dino Abbrescia

Running time -- 105 minutes

No MPAA rating...