Rome Film Festival Diary - Sunday

Sunday like it’s a working day. Interesting. Early rise, but this time car drive instead of metro ride to the Auditorium, makes it feel less worky-ish already. I was in for a movie called Let me in. I found out while lining outside the theater, five minutes before the screening, that it was a horror. I gasped. Looked around for some sign that would suggest me the way. Switch to another movie? Get in?

I’m not too fond of horror movies and here’s why. There’s two categories for these type of films:

First. Very splattery and mostly aiming at you getting sick to your stomach, with blood geysers, black vomits siphoned around the screen and whatnot. Not that much horrific, just stupid, I mean what am I watching? Don’t get me wrong, one of my favorite directors is Quentin Tarantino, I got nothing against blood fountains, it just depends of what use you make of them. I once was so stupid as to agree to watch Silent Hill. Oh come on… The possessed nurses from a Lady Gaga video are supposed to be scary? The men without the heads, the big walking turkeys? What do I make of them? And don’t get me started on The Final Destination 3D. What was that even supposed to be? This guy’s interiors are splattered all over your third dimensional aura and pieces of a vehicle fly over your head, along with knives, nails, drills, snakes and shattered glasses. What is this, Disneyland? What am I, four? How in the world do adult people believe that that could be remotely scary for other adults? I won’t even go into the Saw franchise cause I’ve never seen one of those abominations and nor I plan to, ever.

Second. Dark and eerie, this type of movies plan to have you worried about the littlest swish in the room. They would like to mess with your head, but most of the times just fail miserably as even my couch can predict what’s behind that door, or around that next corner. The only good examples I have for this category are The Blair Witch Project, which I watched when I was 14 and in full hormonal swirl, and Scream, which was still predictable but nicely, ironically done. Other than that we face a full blown dullness. The Ring. What was scary about that? The dirty hair maybe. Should I be worried to answer my phone after I watch it? Yeah right.

Either way the point is these movies are not scary. They are either disgusting, in the first case, or boring, in the second.

I find a lot more adrenaline, and do get scared exponentially more (I’m really just a big chicken shit after all) by thriller movies. More so if they have a spiritual side to them. Let’s try with The Sixth Sense. Not much of an advertised scare but it slowly builds on you; sometimes even after all these years when I wake up in the middle of the night to go pee I’m afraid I’ll meet the dead lady playing with the thermostat in the hallway. Here’s another thing, I bought this cool App from iTunes that records any noise that occurs while you sleep. I have a teeth condition that I want to keep an ear on, also I’ve been told I talk a lot in my sleep and no one ever volunteered to tape me, so I decided I was going to do it myself. Anyhow, I bought the App something along the lines of 10 days ago and I have yet to use it because I’m afraid during the night it’ll pick up noises that I don’t want to ever know were whooshed in my room, like spirits talking, like in the movie.

I say if a story sticks with you for so many years and has you still a little conscious about stuff, than that was a scary story, nothing less.

Well the film I saw Sunday mostly belonged to the first category, kind of sugarcoated though, I mean just the right amount of blood was in it. It tells the story of a teenage girl vampire (not heavily made-up, greatly coiffed, super fit and sparkly) that develops a deep friendship with a troubled kid her same age. It wasn’t scary, not at all, but it was an interesting tale of friendship. Yes, the horror side of the film didn’t impress me, the relationship side did. It comes from Cloverfield’s director and it’s ok to pass a couple hours.

Which is exactly what I did. After that I was out to a bunch of press stuff. First Matt Reeves conferenced about making the movie, and being best friends with J.J. Abrams. I hate you am so happy for you.

Then walking around the Festival I saw Valeria was doing an interview show, so I went in, and ended up staying there for more than an hour.

Finally two well regarded Italian actors, Margherita Buy and Silvio Orlando, were doing a joint symposium to discuss their careers. I was curious about what they had to say, but they actually said close to nothing, except how lovely it was to work with one another. Cut the crap, I’m going home.

Rome Film Festival Diary - Saturday

I had no intention of waking up today, not at least in the spam of one-digit hours. The party for La scuola è finita went on till 3 am and that meant I had been up and running for 21 hours straight.

Just got too much of a glamorous packed day under my belt so with the new morning (afternoon really) I opted for a strictly-film streak. I started at 4 pm with The Freebie and 6 hours later I was sitting at my fourth consecutive screening. Two of them were also premieres, with cast and director attending: Made in Dagenham and Oranges and Sunshine. So I got my little share of razzle-dazzle out of it as well. The last one was an Iranian movie called Dog Sweat.

By the time the clocked ticked midnight I was out of the theatres and a little confused. That had never happened to me, but I was now roaming the dark, empty parking lot mashing up storylines from the different films, like I very much believed that that was the actual very bulky plot I had just seen. So all of a sudden a couple from Teheran decided to sleep with other people while she went on strike from a car factory and children were deported from England to Australia.

Maybe someone should look into this scenario. Just throwing it out there. Consider it a gift from me. And my deranged mind.

Possibly to blame is the fact that I ran this marathon solo. All alone.

I'm not sure about how I feel on going to the cinema by oneself. That has never happened to me outside of press screenings either now at the festival or before during year round previews. Is it somewhat nerdy? Or rather sad? Regular paying-moviegoer cinema I mean. I would think if you do that, it means you have no friends... But then again do you really need other people to enjoy a film? It's not like you can talk through it anyway...

I am personally becoming accustomed to it and I kind of actually like it. I am a solitary beast after all. I very much prefer shopping by myself for example. I feel free when I’m alone. The kind of freedom I only otherwise experience when I skip around the house naked. I would spend my birthday shopping alone, and have the time of my life. Maybe it’s fair I add going to the cinema on my own to the list of favorite fantasy birthday activities. And who knows, one day I might really do it to celebrate.

One thing is sure. I will never be satisfied with just one movie per night ever again. That splendid feeling you get when you come out of a screening and you know you will be immersing yourself in another totally different brand new world in just a while is extremely lushious. Like a big fat righteous asset you get because you’re too cool for no reason. Intoxicating!

The only downside, and this I did miss that night, is being able to discuss what you think about the movie right on the spot when it finishes, when you’re still permeated by its spell. That is most likely why journalists write reviews in the first place. Because they watch the films on their own and afterwards they need an outlet to unleash their thoughts on them. That’s my very poetic view on the matter for tonight (of course in the real world journalists get to know each other preview after preview as there’s always the same people in attendance, and thus the magic of this idea bursts)…

Chasing this train of thoughts though I had the insane idea of revamping my old review blog and starting writing Rome Film Festival pieces on it. It took me a whole day and I’m already behind on so much stuff but I am an instinct follower, what can I say. It’s in Italian and you may speak it or you may be happy to learn it through your reading, regardless, that’s where you’ll find my movie related opinions.

http://cricci-venividiscripsi.blogspot.com

I carved myself the outlet I needed, so when I do go watch a movie alone on by birthday there’s where I’ll be rambling from.

Festival Internazionale del Film di Roma

The first day of my first ever festival is ending. I'm riding the underground home as I write this.

And there's more to this already glorious collection of firsts. The most important and most anticipated one for a person who does my job has claimed a place in the mix, and not just any place, first, obviously!

I just came out of the press preview of "La scuola è finita", my first ever feature film. Of course you're wondering, and the answer is YES. A thousand times yes. I'm in the credits! For the first time!

And yes again, it's intense. I would have cried if someone hadn't sneaked behind my back making me feel uncomfortable. It's like you've won a little prize, though one for which no one else can compete. It's a trophy you snatch from yourself, and that's probably the greatest satisfaction!

Also in this packed day:

I watched an extremely ginormous Sam Wortington from the second closest row in this movie called Last Night. He has all the right freckles in all the right spots let me tell ya. I kind of hoped he would show up for the press conference afterwards but instead he sent forward the Brit with the grit.

While I wanted to slap her continuously on her teeth with my boot, it actually pains me to say that Kiera Knightley showed some wits, whereas, may she not be mad at me, Eva Mendes sounded like her brain was depotted and she was sent to an engineering conference. Oh she was funny, but only to herself.

I know you can't see a thing here but let's pretend you recognize Kiera and Eva in the second and third from the left respectively. Please, for me! It's my grandawesome day!!

I was in a splendid meeting with Kurosawa's Script Supervisor and AD. If you guessed anything about me and my dream job you'll know I was all over the room shushing people by dangling my disgruntled fist in front of their eyes like a Disney character.

I took part in a great protest march against financial cuts to the arts and the audiovisual market. As I'm trying to explain to the people from L.A. that I talk to, the situation here is disastrous. So disastrous the bottom of the bottle is actually above our heads.

Four thousand people walked as one on the red carpet tonight, and then sat on it for two whole hours, discussing tax credits and funds. The Kieras and Eves had to give up strutting their stuff on the parade, instead they came in from the back door and spoke about supporting the cause. That's easy to say from above your Loubs ladies!

I'm stating the obvious by saying this subject deserves its own post, so I will leave it at this for now. You guessed right, I will indeed talk politics in said post. Lower your eyebrows skeptics, that's an exception I'm willing to make for my sweet lover, Monsieur Cinemà.

Last but not least this is me in one of the happiest, most fulfilling throw onto bed ever!

Tomorrow we start it all over again at 9.00 am sharp. Alarm clock says 6.30. I say "what da---?!". Goodnight movie lovers!

A long long time ago in a country far far away… (Episode I)

It is a period f civil war. Rebel children, striking from a hidden base, have learned to turn the TV on by themselves. It’s 1995, I hit puberty and discover the great world of teen shows. I watch them all and I start the infamous path that leads me to being a hopeless romantic. Also I’m fascinated with the backdrop of all these stories. I’m Italian, and half my family is from Naples. A country that offers you lockers in schools’ hallways to let you organize your things feels like an alien sorcery.

It may also be that I’m a child at heart and I recently discovered through the worst year of my life that that is who I am, and it doesn’t make me a lesser person or stupid or anything, and I have to accept it. A lot of people have tried to convince me that being a bit of a child is bad for you, and I believed them for a while. But you can change your outlook on life just for so long. I know now that you can learn and upgrade what you are but you can’t change it. I am, will remain and want to remain a free, optimistic, childish spirit, and I am now sure there is nothing wrong with that.

If the United States were a person they’d be my soulmate, because they are free and young and light hearted. I know I shouldn’t get the optimism in me take over and that bad shit happens, I watch the news for crying out loud, but in the midst of the filth that fills the world everywhere, you can’t choose who you love. US of A chose me.

Years go by and I get to learn more and more about the country. I should specify I am not a politic person, I just don’t do it. I like culture, and traditions, I’m a humanist.

Press pause.

Back in 1995 my habit of watching TV shows grew in a habit of watching films. Stories, tales, take my mind away, they make me live things that I wouldn’t even imagine. Books, movies, any sort of storytelling is the very core of being human. Escaping, being inspired, learning. Everything and anything can be in a story. That’s just how powerful that is.

It was this one movie that started it all. Back to the future. I was never tired of learning new facts on how they made it.

Flash forward to some years later. I’m in high school, I was a good student, and then I spent the rest of my time on rented DVDs or on Coming Soon Television watching films’ making-ofs. I would shed a couple of tears sometimes. A perfectly engineered shot, a swift dolly, balanced framing move me.

Graduation comes and I’m asked where I want to go to College. There really wasn’t any choice to be made. That’s when cinema met homework and it all became fucking good!

Here you have a young woman who just made the first real decision of her short life. And you remember how she was a humanist.

So she takes off and goes to live in Omaha, Nebraska for the summer…


Go to Episode II

Night Brings Advice

I feel like I’m always running after something. Most of the times I swear it’s like I’m constantly doing the one thing I really don’t want to do, whishing I could be doing something else. Like I don’t know maybe Hurley walking to get to a Dharma dressing jar wishing he was already there.

When I was back in college I was studying all the time while all I wanted to do was watch movies. Once I graduated I could watch movies all the time but opted for intensifying my acting classes (which I loved btw) and wishing I was watching movies the whole time I was there. Then I finished film school and basically had nothing on my plate, which meant (I did this math) at least 5 movies a day, but instead I bought a lot of books and started playing soccer, which all in all takes up three and a half hours of my time three days a week. This past summer I packed a shitload of divx for my three weeks secluded stay at the beach and I ended up reading the fucking Twilight saga. This past month I was going to catch up on the movies Edward Cullen had me miss but got lost on creating blogs and learning how to RT and what the hell the pound sign means on twitter. Also decided to get excellent at taking pictures with reflex cameras and master the great p, Photoshop, awesome but still time consuming. Oh yeah and I went Extreme Makeover Home Edition on myself and devoted my perfectly movie-filled life to a couple of projects. Right now I was going to watch Sucker Free City by Spike Lee but actually saw the clock ticking while working my way in to the circle of trust of my brand new iPhone 4 who at the end of the day will have to love me back just as much as I love him!

And so I find myself disgruntled about another movie-less night where I actually did nothing, like Hurley sitting on his fat ass refusing to keep walking although he really badly wants the ranch dressing.

This not only happens with movies you know… It’s a pattern to my life. I constantly avoid the GOOD things and opt for the less good things because I want to save the firsts for later, in order to enjoy them more. And then later becomes really late at night and I find myself here like right now, in bed, with my favorite Tinkerbell PJ, laptop sparkling and fingers ranting on keys, wishing I had a couple more hours to watch moving pictures fill up the screen. But then again if I had those two hours I would probably resume reading the Harry Potter series where I left off…

Does this happen to other human beings???