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Federico Fellini gets Marcello Mastroianni to play him. Yes. Right? Of course. The artistic block is something that Fellini dealt with all his life - Orson Welles once said that Fellini was a great artist with very little to say - that's part of Mastroianni/Fellini's block - He knows where he wants to go but he doesn't know if he has what it takes to get there - then of course the the distractions or excuses whatever you prefer, they are muses, mothers, loves, wives. I was overwhelmed by the access Fellini provides to his own heart and mind and by the audacity and poetry of the film. 8 1/2 stands alone in the virtual mausoleum of world cinema.

I'm converted to the YouTube cause. If it wasn't for YouTube I may never had seen this jewel, with a performance by the extraordinary Charles Laughton that is nothing short of magnificent. The tenderness of the man! Director Robert Siodmak creates a perfect noir without low blows or gimmicks. Ella Raines is lovely as the object of his affection and Rosalind Ivan is priceless as the awful wife. The last shot is pure Laughton and his personal struggle for integrity. Loved it.

Kate Winslet gifts us with another extraordinary creation. She gives the Wonder Wheel its heart and soul. Complex, contradictory, infuriating and deeply human. Kate Winslet goes to the epicenter of her character with fearlessness and honesty. Such a wonderful thing to see. I was reminded that acting , this kind of acting, is pure art. There are at least four moments of hers that I know that I'm going to see again and again. I'm not going to to tell you what they are so you can find them yourself without notice. I was puzzled and a bit put off by the casting of Jim Belushi and Justin Timberlake. Not that they are bad no but Kate Winslet is the personification of truth so when you cut from her to Belushi and/or Timberlake is a bit of a jolt. Am I missing something? I thought that in the 40's it could have been, Bette Davis, Eugene Pallette as the husband and Errol Flynn as the writer/lifeguard. Okay enough of that. I will highly recommend to all lovers of great acting not to miss Kate Winslet in Wonder Wheel..

Agnus Dei that is, Lambs of God. What an extraordinary film.Martin Scorsese confirms his seriousness of intent and his enormous respect for his audience.He rates us so highly that he confides in us, telling us something that clearly comes straight out of his heart. Dry, severe, an intellectual's sensibility that becomes clear and accessible to all as we realize that Scorsese is not trying to sell us something but just to tell us, to share with us something that obsesses him. I was enthralled and moved throughout. The performances in a Scorsese film are always superb but in Silence, Andrews Garfield goes a step beyond superb. He managed to make his priest someone I knew personally even if his reality is far, far away from us in time and space. A masterpiece.

Jean Simmons is sensational as the deeply disturbed beautiful girl. She creates a characters that is both, alluring and terrifying at the same time. She looks at Mitchum asking him "Do you love me?" and we know she's trouble, real trouble but just like Mitchum we're ready to fall into her trap without really knowing or caring what kind of trap we're falling into. Otto Preminger at the helm is not George Cukor. Oh how I wish George Cukor had directed this film. He did wonders with Simmons in "The Actress" and he understood the female heart even one as dangerous as this one. Preminger seems interested in showing us and telling us rather than allowing us to participate in a more organic way. The script is uncertain at best but Jean Simmons makes the film, compelling viewing.