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On top of his work as a chief medical adviser for CORE, an organization combatting the ongoing pandemic, Simonini now stars in Frank and Ava, a movie he produced about the legendary Frank Sinatra. Frank and Ava is an award-winning biopic of the tumultuous love affair between Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner during the downturn of Sinatra’s career. The...

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Italians, and by that I mean both Italians from Italy and Italian Americans from the United States, are stock characters in American film and TV. They are easy to recognize and gaining a familiarity with them is both edifying and entertaining. Let’s take a look at how they have developed over the years. 1940sIn the film It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr an...

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In early 2019, a piece of news threw daydreaming Americans into a frenzy. A small and dilapidated Sicilian town, Sambuca, was hoping to address its dwindling population and flagging tourist economy. As an experiment, it would begin selling off a number of abandoned homes for the titillating price of one euro. There was a catch, of course: to purcha...

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It’s Christmas time in Italian America, and with many of us hunkered down in the house this year, there’s a good chance you’re burning through your favorite holiday movies at a faster pace than normal. What if there was a Christmas movie out there made by and for Italian Americans?  Well, look no further, because in this episode we’re sitting down...

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There’s no denying that it’s been a bit of a strange year for film lovers. It was supposed to be a big one here in Italy: plans were in place to celebrate the centenary of Fellini’s birth, numerous new festivals were due to launch and the release schedule was packed. Sadly, as has been the case for so many sectors, COVID-19 turned these plans upsid...

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Neon’s boutique label Super Ltd has acquired North American distribution rights to Notturno, the feature documentary from Gianfranco Rosi that recently was submitted by Italy to be that country’s submission to the 2021 International Oscar race. No word yet on a release plan for the pic, which bowed at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Super Ltd las...

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As the year draws to a close, it's time to catch up on some great content during the holidays and with the staggering amount of foreign content Netflix boasts of some promising foreign content and one of them is 'Rose Island'. Titled L’Incredibile Storia Dell’Isola Delle Rose', the Sydney Sibilia-directed comedy feature follows the true story of en...

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Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola has said the possibility to make more sequels in his celebrated film franchise "The Godfather" remains open in case Paramount Pictures wants to have another run at it. Paramount, the studio which distributes these film series, also teased that another installment in the popular crime drama franchise can be ma...

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It's always game day at the South Beach Bocce Ball courts on Staten island, where some of the players come twice a day, every day of the week. "I'm 82. It keeps me going I love it," explained Anthony Pucciarelli.Mark Defazio says he's retired like everyone else playing. "I'm the youngest guy here. I'm in my 50s," Defazio said. But on this day, Juli...

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As we move further and further into quarantine with seemingly no hope of making it out to the other side, I’ve found that people are developing new, often bizarre obsessions to stay sane in COVID-induced solitude. For some, these obsessions are healthy—productive even: Learning to cook or knit, or developing an aptitude for woodworking. For me, it’...

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