Monica Scattini Movies

The title translates literally as "Faceboom." An omnibus film helmed by seven top-tiered Italian directors, this comedy explores the worldwide Facebook craze of the early 21st century by recounting the adventures of numerous Europeans whose lives are altered by that social networking site. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A woman finds herself wondering if the support of her friends is helping or hindering her progress as a writer in this comedy-drama from Italy. Mara (Laura Morante) is an actress in her late thirties who has broken up with her boyfriend, a film producer (Vanni Corbellini), just as she's trying to complete a screenplay for a film festival, with her deadline only a week away. As Mara tries to find the right tone for her story, she finds herself inundated with visits from her friends, many of whom have problems of their own -- chatty Monica (Monica Scattini), newlywed Tazi (Naike Rivelli), and stable Very (Maddalena Crippa). Before long, the stories of their lives find their way into Mara's project. Film was the directorial debut from Laura Betti, who is well known as an actress in her native Italy. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The heroine of this tragi-comic Mediterranean story is 25-year old Imma, a helpless romantic who lives in a decrepit flat in the old part of Genoa. She has a knack for putting herself in hopeless situations at work and in love, from which she is rescued only by her sense of humor. The film tries to marry the style of Italian comedy with the realism of English cinema. The director takes an ironic point of view of men and women, but from a feminine perspective. In Principio Erano le Mutande was screened as part of the International Forum of New Cinema section of the 49th Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

The English title of this complex Italian film is apt. Featuring 65 main characters and 130 speaking parts (famous faces abound and many of the actors appeared gratis), and ranging in tone from tartly humorous to darkly tragic, it presents 30 interwoven slices from the lives of modern day Romans during a single day. The lone, silent figure of a lone jogger provides a sort of continuity between the vignettes. Beginning at sunset of the previous day, the jogger is seen warming up on his apartment terrace, looking for all the world as if he would like to jump. The rest of the stories seem to be randomly presented. Stories include the robbery of a Chinese restaurant that causes a birthday celebrant to die of fright, two different newlyweds who find themselves attracted to each other, an opportunistic mechanic's plan to capitalize on the death of a rival, a sneaky, sadistic meter maid and others. One uniting feature of the stories is their underlying bitter assessment of modern humanity. People are seen as selfish and basically cruel, still the stories move quickly and the balance between humor and drama, affection and cynicism, and shallowness and complexity is carefully maintained. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this goofy Italian farce a group of Italian tourists head off for a Christmas vacation tour in the Caribbean and end up stranded on a desert isle. Among the castaways are a womanizing plastic surgeon, a homely spinster, her eccentric Neapolitan professor of a brother, a married pair of Roman laborers, and two seductive American models. Bawdy slapstick humor abounds as they attempt to survive in their tropical island nest. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This surreal Italian comedy centers around the circular game of love. After Rosario, a depressed high-school teacher who recently lost his liberal political idealism and his hot-blooded wife Elena, a private detective, he begins to see the Virgin Mary. Apparently his visionary Mary is in love with him. Amelia, a co-worker, and Salvatore, his neighbor the gangster, are also in love with him. In despair, Rosario attempts suicide and fails.He decides that to experience the real world he must become a criminal. He steals a car, gets and gun and goes off the deep-end. He finds great rewards in his new shady life and is doubly rewarded when Elena finally returns. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this Italian romantic fantasy, a has-been rocker finds renewal when on the beach he stumbles across a bottle that contains a beautiful genie who is capable of making all of his dreams come true. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this youth-oriented, standard romantic comedy, Anna (Marina Suma) and Calogero (Jerry Cala) are in love and living together in a low-scale apartment while going to the University of Milan. When Anna discovers she is pregnant, Calogero handles the situation like the moral coward he is, and Anna makes the painful decision to have an abortion. That fateful moment eventually tears them apart, and although Anna comes back for awhile, the relationship continues to flounder, leaving neither very certain about the future. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

After completing Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola initially planned for his next picture to be an intimate romantic musical shot on a low budget in Las Vegas. Three years later, One from the Heart had mushroomed into a big-budget spectacular, shot on strikingly stylized sets at his newly opened Zoetrope Studio and costing a then-massive $27 million. The story concerns Hank (Frederick Forrest) and Franny (Terri Garr), a working-class couple living on the outskirts of Las Vegas; after five years together, their relationship has fallen into a rut, and they both set off in search of new partners. Hank meets up with Leila (Nastassia Kinski), a beautiful high-wire artist, and Franny has a fling with Ray (Raul Julia), a dashing actor-waiter. But Hank and Franny still love each other, and their search for romance brings them back into each other's arms. Singer/songwriter Tom Waits received an Oscar nomination for his widely acclaimed song score, performed with country crooner Crystal Gayle. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi