Nicole Grimaudo Movies

This ambitious, four-hour cable miniseries stars Jeremy Sisto (taking time off from his regular series Six Feet Under) as Roman general-turned-emperor Julius Caesar. Expensively filmed in Malta and Bulgaria, the production vividly traces Caesar's rise to prominence as a brilliant military tactician (with remarkably accurate battle scenes); his complex relationships with his mentor General Pompey (Chris Noth) and his second wife Calpurnia (Valeria Golino); his ideological tiltings with Senator Cato (Christopher Walken), who advocates democracy over Caesar's dictatorial ambitions; and his bloody (but inevitable) murder at the hands of former friends and allies. Taking some dramatic license with the facts, the film is basically sympathetic to its subject, although Caesar is depicted as a flawed man, both physically and morally. Giving Caesar points for being fundamentally honorable, in full possession of his faculties, and possessing the "common touch" with the Roman citizenry, the teleplay does not shrink away from the man's violent epileptic seizures, his megalomania, his casually calculated cruelties, and his bigamous relationship with Egyptian queen Cleopatra (Samuela Sardo). Interestingly enough, however, the miniseries downplays his notorious bisexuality ("Every man's woman and every woman's man"). In his final performance, Richard Harris appears as Caesar's wily bête noire, Roman dictator Sulla. Caesar was first telecast in the U.S. on June 29-30, 2003, by the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The life and times of Italy's King Ferdinand are played for laughs in this comic historical piece directed by Lina Wertmuller. Set in the 18th century, Ferdinando E Carolina opens with the aging Ferdinand falling ill and being taken to his bed, with his life story told in flashback. A naturally rambunctious and impetuous child, Ferdinand grows to young adulthood and is poised to take over the crown at 16. The powers behind the throne have arranged a marriage with a princess from Austria (despite the fact that Ferdinand has already taken a lover), but she dies of smallpox before the wedding can take place; her sister is next proposed as a fitting mate, but then she dies as well. When a third sister, Maria Carolina, is presented, Ferdinand is decidedly unenthusiastic, given the family's track record on the path to the altar. But when Ferdinand's advisors (and Carolina's mother) start to lean on him, he agrees, and he soon discovers on their honeymoon that he and Carolina get along famously in the bedroom, if nowhere else. While Ferdinand is never quite cured of his roving eye, Carolina soon has the King under her spell, and her political power soon rivals his own. While much of the cast of Ferdinando E Carolina (aka Ferdinand and Carolina) are newcomers, veteran Italian film stars Silvana De Santis and Mario Scaccia appear in supporting roles. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi