Gigli

Starring:Ben Affleck, Terry Camilleri, David Backus, Lenny Venito, Robert Silver, Luis Alberto MartÃnez (III), Justin Bartha, Jennifer Lopez, Christopher Walken, Todd Giebenhain, Brian Sites, Brian Casey (II), Les Bradford, David Bonfadini, Dwight P. Ketchum, Lainie Kazan, Missy Crider, Peter Van Norden, Alex Fatovich, Al Pacino
Director: Martin Brest
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Many critics called Gigli one of the worst movies ever made, but their condemnation isn't entirely justified. The movie's got plenty of problems, such as inconsistent tone, gag-inducing dialogue, and a meandering plot that fails to generate momentum over 124 minutes. And yet, this character-based vehicle for Hollywood sweethearts Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez is not without its charms: To begin with, there's J-Lo, whose beauty and presence flourish despite her ill-conceived role as a lesbian contract killer. Critics were also wrong in saying Lopez lacks on-screen chemistry with her off-screen beau; there are moments when they click, but director Martin Brest's screenplay maintains sexual confusion right up to an ending that's a total cop-out. Affleck (who did the lesbian-love thing in Chasing Amy) plays another good-natured killer, and their joint kidnapping job (involving the mentally disabled brother of a federal prosecutor) is destined to fail for all the right reasons, even as this anti-romantic comedy (featuring scenery-chewing cameos by Christopher Walken and Al Pacino) fails for all the wrong ones. --Jeff Shannon
Average customer rating:
- A Must-Have for Opera Lovers
- Amazing
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The Art of Singing: Golden Voices of the Century [Region 2]
Starring: Magda Olivero , Ezio Pinza , Feodor Chaliapin Sr. , Maria Callas , and Geraldine Farrar
Director: Donald Sturrock
Manufacturer: Nvc Arts
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- Voices of Firestone: The Great Tenors / Bjorling, Corelli, Tagliavini, Tucker, Peerce, Gedda, McCracken, Thomas
ASIN: B00004UF02
Release Date: 2002-09-03 |
Customer Reviews:
A Must-Have for Opera Lovers.......2007-07-02
This is an unbelievable collection of performance footage from some of the greatest singers of all time. I am very grateful to NVC Arts/Warner Music Vision for producing and distributing this DVD. Whether you are an opera singer or an opera lover (or both!), you will love this DVD. This DVD has rare footage that you are not likely to see anywhere else. I particularly recommend this DVD to opera students, as there is so much to be learned from watching and listening to these elite singers, not to mention the insightful commentary from Magda Olivero, Thomas Hampson, and others.
There are 28 artists featured here, and the DVD runs for almost 2 hours. Virtually everything in this DVD was enjoyable, so comments on each and every section would make this review very lengthy indeed. Thus, I'll stick to my favorite sections.
I loved the footage of Enrico Caruso from the early 20th century. It is entirely fitting to begin this DVD with opera's first true superstar. I really enjoyed the commentary of Magda Olivero in the features of Beniamino Gigli and Tito Schipa. She is incredibly charming and insightful. Of course, the peformance footage of these two phenomenal tenors is fantastic, with Gigli singing "Ombra mai fu" from Xerxes, and Schipa singing "M'appari" from Martha. There is the ONLY footage of legendary Luisa Tetrazzini. She is at a retirement party (age 61), and singing along to a recording of Caruso singing "M'appari". It is poignant.
There is rare footage of Rosa Ponselle. You get to see her MGM screen tests, singing "Chanson Boheme" and the "Habanera" from Carmen. She pulls off very committed performances, even though she was all alone in front of the camera. She was 21 at the time, beautiful, and in great voice. You get Kirsten Flagstad singing "Hojotoho!" from "Die Walkure" in a live performance from 1938 introduced by Bob Hope, and accompanied by the Met orchestra.
Being a big "La Boheme" fan, I was flabbergasted to see a live peformance of the final scene from Act I, sung by the dream team of Renata Tebaldi and Jussi Bjorling. It was a live broadcast in 1956, and they were both fabulous.
The DVD ends with some legendary Maria Callas performances. You get a clip of the duet "Parigi, o cara" from the famous 1958 Lisbon "La Traviata", sung with Alfredo Kraus. Then, you get the duet and "Vissi d'arte" from the equally famous 1964 Covent Garden performance of "Tosca" with Tito Gobbi. There is intermittent commentary from Nicola Rescigno. Callas was an amazing performer.
In addition to the above, there is some wonderful footage of Martinelli, de Luca, Tauber, Tibbett, Stevens, de Los Angeles, Sutherland, Price, Olivero, Corelli, Vickers, and more. This is a true cornucopia of operatic legends.
Highly recommended.
Amazing.......2005-10-06
Quality rare footage of Great Singers. Excellent commentary by Thomas Hampson and Jerome Hines. Watching the likes of Wunderlich, Bjorling, Callas, Tebaldi, and more...amazing.
Average customer rating:
- Yucky!!!!!!!!!
- Gigli is really bad
- No, Its true!!!
- Too bad I can't give it 0 stars!
- What was so bad about it?
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Gigli
Starring: Ben Affleck , Terry Camilleri , David Backus , Lenny Venito , and Robert Silver
Director: Martin Brest
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: B0000DKDUT
Release Date: 2003-12-09 |
Amazon.com
Many critics called Gigli one of the worst movies ever made, but their condemnation isn't entirely justified. The movie's got plenty of problems, such as inconsistent tone, gag-inducing dialogue, and a meandering plot that fails to generate momentum over 124 minutes. And yet, this character-based vehicle for Hollywood sweethearts Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez is not without its charms: To begin with, there's J-Lo, whose beauty and presence flourish despite her ill-conceived role as a lesbian contract killer. Critics were also wrong in saying Lopez lacks on-screen chemistry with her off-screen beau; there are moments when they click, but director Martin Brest's screenplay maintains sexual confusion right up to an ending that's a total cop-out. Affleck (who did the lesbian-love thing in Chasing Amy) plays another good-natured killer, and their joint kidnapping job (involving the mentally disabled brother of a federal prosecutor) is destined to fail for all the right reasons, even as this anti-romantic comedy (featuring scenery-chewing cameos by Christopher Walken and Al Pacino) fails for all the wrong ones. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
Yucky!!!!!!!!!.......2007-06-09
EEEEWWWWWWW!!! This movie is soooooooooooooooooooo bad!!!! Awful. Terrible. lame. Don't buy this unless you like being bored to death and torchered.
Gigli is really bad.......2007-04-24
Gigli is one of those pitiful knockoffs of the Quentin Tarentino model of filmmaking: Likeable lowlife characters, an offbeat storyline, and quirky dialogue with loads of kitschy humor. Sadly the formula that works so well for Mr. Tarentino doesn't work all for Martin Brest. Awful is an understatement when describing this movie.
Larry Gigli (gee-lee) is a bumbling Southern California mobster assigned by his boss to kidnap the disabled son of a federal prosecutor so they can blackmail him. But his boss doesn't trust him, so he sends a hit woman to help him do the job. Gigli spends most of the movie trying to hit on the hitwoman-but she's a lesbian. In between fights with high schoolers, lesbian lovers, yoga, orders from his boss and arguments, arguments arguments, we're supposed to believe these two try to make us believe there's a romance between them. This must have worked on paper because it doesn't work on the screen. In the end he lets the boy go on the set of Baywatch, his favorite show. (Which was cancelled during the time this movie was made) While he uses pick up lines on an extra, Gigli drives off into the sunset with the hit woman.
I've seen my share of bad movies and this is the new number one worst film I have ever seen in my life. (See some of my other reviews.) Nothing I've endured on a late Saturday Night can compare to how awful this movie is. Not White Chicks. Not Black Samurai. Not even Smurfs and the Magic Flute. The screenplay must have been a collaborative effort between chimps and a box of rocks; they're the only two groups this would make sense to. Perhaps chimps were executives involved in the preproduction too. I mean, how does something this puerile get greenlit for production by a human being? What imbecile would think this script is worth investing millions into? No plot, long rambling monologues, a story that goes round and round in circles, and characters with the personality of wet cardboard decorated with mustard and ketchup. I think a bunch of elementary school kids could come up with a better script than this during arts and crafts.
Director Martin Brest lenses a slow tedious movie that goes nowhere over the course of ninety minutes. In his attempt to add his own distinct flavor to the Tarentino formula, he tries to put a Rain Man vibe to it mixed in with a little Tao of Steve. Blending the softer touch with the gritty characters ends up with a bland derivative movie with no personality and no ideas of its own. Outside of the cinematography the entire movie is a mess. I have to ask one question to the director and producers of this film: Who wears leather jackets in the summertime in Southern California?
Ben Affleck is his usual horrible self here. Watch him use the same facial expression for oh- just about everything. Jennifer Lopez is so hammy here she belongs in a sandwich. She has no chemistry with Affleck and is completely over the top in most scenes. I couldn't believe her as a mob hit woman or a lesbian, she's just J.Lo superstar here again. Oscar winners Al Pacino and Christopher Walken are wasted here their cameos add nothing to this mess. Lanie Kazan is the only actress who manages to pull a decent performance out of this mess. In her cameo as Gigli's Mom she steals the scenes she's in with her warm energy and dynamic presence.
Get as far away from this Tarentino wanna-be as you can. If you like films in this genre, get the real deal from the man himself. Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown or the Kill Bill series are far better than this hackneyed mess.
No, Its true!!!.......2006-12-24
I dreamed I saw a worse movie than this one and I woke up and some one had pooped on my head.
Too bad I can't give it 0 stars!.......2006-10-26
This is every bit as bad as you have heard and WORSE if you can imagine that! I found it totally unwatchable and after the 'Gobble, gobble it's turkey time" line I had to turn it off because I was going to barf! I must vote that line as "least sexy line of all time" Whoever allowed that line in the movie needs to have their head examined. There is NO chemestry between Ben and Jen, I don't even know how these two ever hooked up! You really want to smack the both of them. There is no way these two are convincing as 'thugs' especially when you know they are both annoying, spoiled stars with tons of $ who have both let fame go to their heads. The screen is not big enough for their combined egos. The acting is horrible, the script is horrible, the dialogue is pathetic and I never saw the ending but with this much bad going on, I really don't care. I am not going to waste over an hour of my life on such a horiffic movie! Seriously people, does Hollywood really think people are dumb enough to buy something this lame? This movie surpassed bad, surpassed 'so bad it's good' and came back around to bad and formed a whole new catagory, "So bad it needs to be reported to the Movie Safety Commission before someone goes blind" Seriously folks...IT'S REALLY BAD!
What was so bad about it?.......2006-09-26
Usually I cringe with movies with gays or the retarded. This had both, and they were easy enough on the eyes that it didn't matter. There were a few interesting lines, and it fit well together. Oh, and to all who said it was impossible/implausible that she would suddenly turn straight and like him, there were two things: Ben dropped his tough guy act and let her see his real self, and Ben Affleck is that type of guy that it would be believable.
Average customer rating:
- Informative biographies of the three tenors
- Three Legendary Tenors
- Absorbing Documentary
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Three Legendary Tenors (Caruso, Gigli, Bjorling)
Starring: Enrico Caruso , and Jussi Bjorling
Manufacturer: Kultur Video
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- Voices of Firestone: The Great Tenors / Bjorling, Corelli, Tagliavini, Tucker, Peerce, Gedda, McCracken, Thomas
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- Voices of Firestone: Jussi Bjorling
- American Caruso
- Voices of Firestone: The Great Sopranos / Steber, Price, Tebaldi, Sayao, Nilsson, Moffo, Albanese, Peters, Munsel, Traubel, Sutherland
ASIN: B00008DDSQ
Release Date: 2003-04-15 |
Amazon.com
There is some extraordinary singing on this disc, made more attractive by digital reprocessing of pre-hi fi recordings, but that is not the primary attraction. The music is used mostly to illustrate points in the biographical details and critical observations of the documentary's narrator, English tenor and author Nigel Douglas. Besides still photos and film clips of "our original three tenors" (silent films for Enrico Caruso), the visual attractions include striking views of landscapes and architecture related to the tenors' lives.
Douglas's remarks are accurate, precisely observed, and carefully calculated to provide the information most fans will want. Discussing Caruso, he mentions the "chiaroscuro" (control of light and dark shading) in his voice, his talent as a cartoonist and fondness for practical jokes, and a music teacher's verdict that Caruso's voice "is too small and sounds like the wind whistling through the windows." Among many other acute observations, he discusses the emotional intensity of Benjamino Gigli's singing, and the contrast between Jussi Bjoerling, a moody, complex, "northern" singer whose voice was "heavy with unshed tears " and his sunnier, Mediterranean colleagues. --Joe McLellan
Description
A singer's voice is not simply a sound he or she happens to make, but a reflection of the singer's life. An understanding of who a singer is can only increase one's understanding of their art. That is the starting point for this biographical documentary in which the roots of the greatest tenors who have ever lived are discovered: Enrico Caruso, Benjamino Gigli, and Jussi Björling. Filmed entirely on location in Italy, Sweden, and London, this program contains extensive archival footage of all three singers, taken from newsreels, feature films and concerts; extensive examples of their singing; and interviews with people who knew and worked with them, some of whom have never before spoken on camera. By the end of this absorbing documentary--hosted by internationally renowned tenor Nigel Douglas--one knows not only something of their lives, but why these three tenors are legendary singers.
Customer Reviews:
Informative biographies of the three tenors.......2007-01-10
This was a very informative and enjoyable biographical DVD on the three famous tenors from their humble beginnings to the end of their lives. The narrator waltzes you through with the tenor's enchanting voices along with the beautiful scenes of Italy including the quaint villages where each tenor had lived and how they became famous. It was quite interesting to know some things about them and how they looked at life in a big way.
If anyone is interested in opera and wants to know some history, this is a DVD to hold onto for your library collection. It was well done.
Three Legendary Tenors.......2004-02-06
The singing is great, the historical data is enlightening, but
there is just too much talking. Only one or two arias are sung completely. I would much rather hear exerpts from various operas where these three tenors performed. I would give this DVD a new name. Three Legendary Tenors, Lite.
Absorbing Documentary.......2004-01-04
This is an absolutely wonderful look into the lives of the "original" Three Tenors. Some complaints that I have are that they don't have enough footage of the three tenors performing (especially Bjorling) and the sound quality of Gigli and Caruso is mediocre at best. Nevertheless, this is a truly worthy tribute to these three great tenors Highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
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Beniamino Gigli - Ridi Pagliaccio
Starring: Beniamino Gigli , Luigi Ricci , Alida Valli , Adriana Perris , and Leone Paci
Manufacturer: Bel Canto Society
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- Gigli: Non Ti Scordar Di Me
- Gigli, Schipa: Mad About Opera
- Donizetti - L'elisir d'amore / RAI
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- Three Legendary Tenors (Caruso, Gigli, Bjorling)
ASIN: B00067HP8M
Release Date: 2005-02-15 |
Description
RIVETING! The best plot of any Gigli movie.
The powerful plot concerns Canio after prison, and the composition and premiere of Pagliacci. Paul Hoerbiger movingly portrays the real-life Canio. In the opera's premiere, Gigli is the Canio. To express the drama, he colors his voice far more than any other Canio on film or record.
In Ridi, pagliaccio Gigli's voice is more mature--and more appropriate for the part--than in his 1934 recording, on EMI. On the recording he is less secure rhythmically and colder and less detailed interpretively. It was made before he had stage experience with the role, whereas the film was produced a month after he sang a run of Canios at the Rome Opera. (A live version, from 1952, is exciting, but the CD transfer, on Eklipse, has pitch problems so severe that his voice is hard to recognize.)
Gigli's mezza voce remained ravishing to the end of his career. In Ridi pagliaccio he purrs "Prendi: l'anel ti dono," from Sonnambula, with surpassing sweetness.
The music in the film breathes beautifully, presumably thanks to the conducting of the legendary Luigi Ricci. This is a rare recorded example of his work. (He is remembered as a coach to Gigli, Olivero and others and was a composer in his own right.)
For all these reasons I watch the film again and again.--Stefan Zucker
Average customer rating:
- You'll Enjoy This Movie!
- ok melodrama
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Gigli: Non Ti Scordar Di Me
Starring: Beniamino Gigli , Gaetano Donizetti , Giacomo Meyerbeer , Ernesto De Curtis , and Giuseppe Verdi
Manufacturer: Bel Canto Society
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- Gigli, Schipa: Mad About Opera
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- Voices of Firestone: The Great Tenors / Bjorling, Corelli, Tagliavini, Tucker, Peerce, Gedda, McCracken, Thomas
ASIN: B00079W8RW
Release Date: 2005-02-01 |
Description
What sets Gigli apart from nearly all other 20th-century tenors? His singing is full of contrast. Such 19th-century holdovers as De Lucia varied dynamics, tone color, rhythm and, sometimes, notes. Most singers since at best have had or have created one sonority of individual character, at one dynamic level. Caruso and those who followed him mostly sang at full voice. Pavarotti and company do little varying of dynamics and seldom shade their tones, using the same color to express both happiness and sadness.
Gigli had many sonorities and two basic dynamic levels, loud and soft. Non ti scordar di me finds him in peak form and provides a key to some of his best art, making clear that it was based on chiaroscuro--the contrasting of tone colors, usually in response to words, and of soft passages with loud. He repeats the title song, singing it differently.
Gigli made extensive use of a vocal technique known as "covering," involving darkening the tone and modifying vowels, almost as if some were schwas (like the "uh" sounds in "America"). Early in the film he sings a song, "Mille cherubini in coro," "closed"; repeating it later, he covers so heavily that if you aren't sure to what the term refers, you'll know after hearing him do it.
For this film, one of Gigli's accompanists, composer Ernesto De Curtis, wrote "Non ti scordar di me" and "Addio bel sogno," while Alois Melichar fashioned Schubert's "Wiegenlied," into "Mille cherubini in coro." - Stefan Zucker
Customer Reviews:
You'll Enjoy This Movie!.......2006-07-31
This movie was made in the 1930's. It features the acting and voice of one of the greatest tenors and singers of all time, Beniamino Gigli. It is a rare treat to be able to hear and see such a wonderful artist who left the scene over 50 years ago! The story is VERY good. I won't go into details----just trust me on this one. It "gets to your heart". For a "mere pittance" that is less than the price of two movie tickets you can have one of the greatest singers of all time right there on your TV screen. And, you don't even need a "seance" to bring Gigli back! This movie is well worth the cost for the experience it provides. Buy it, you'll like it! :o) Email:boland7214@aol.
ok melodrama .......2005-10-07
Non Ti Scordar Di Me is an old melodramatic movie that stars the opera star Beniamino Gigli. A woman marries a lonely widowed father (Gigli) on a rebound. When the old lover enters back into her love she has to choose between responsiblity and love. The plot of the movie is generic but the music makes up for it. Gigli doesn't have much of a movie persona here, but then this was his first role. He makes up for it with his amazing tenor. The movie is in English, though the songs are in Italian and not subtitled. 2.5 rounded to 3.
Average customer rating:
- Recommended
- So much to enjoy; so little time allowed
- Rare Footage and Recollections of Great 78 Era Tenors
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Belcanto - Tenors of the 78 Era, Part One / Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Tito Schipa, Leo Slezak, Joseph Schmidt, Richard Tauber
Starring: Enrico Caruso , Beniamino Gigli , and Belcanto Opera
Manufacturer: Euroarts
ProductGroup: DVD
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Similar Items:
- Belcanto - Tenors of the 78 Era, Part Two / Jussi Bjorling, Ivan Kozlovsky, John McCormack, Lauritz Melchior, Helge Rosvaenge, Georges Thill
- Three Legendary Tenors (Caruso, Gigli, Bjorling)
- Voices of Firestone: The Great Tenors / Bjorling, Corelli, Tagliavini, Tucker, Peerce, Gedda, McCracken, Thomas
- Enrico Caruso - Voice of the Century / My Cousin (1918) (With Audio CD)
- Renata Tebaldi & Franco Corelli
ASIN: B0007XHKS0
Release Date: 2005-05-17 |
Customer Reviews:
Recommended.......2005-09-27
Yes, there is one contributor whose way of speaking English is quite unbearable. Had he met with some accident with his voice or his lung, or was he a counter tenor before or what? Other than this contributor, it is also difficult for those who speak little other European languages, especially German and Italian, we have to rely so much on subtitles when we should concentrate on the picture...
Having said that, most footages are thoroughly enjoyable for some people like me who don't have sufficient background for singing. Without this DVD, great singers as Slezak and Schimdt, and their unique way of expression, would have escaped my attention. For the general audience without much operatic background like me, the contributors are professional enough. Very often they are able to draw our attention to the essential characteristics of these singers and the nuances of their singing. I'm very thankful for their contributions.
So much to enjoy; so little time allowed.......2005-08-23
The really infuriating thing about documentaries of this kind is that it is painfully and frequently obvious that so much material has been left out to allow prattle from commentators on the singers and the singing to intrude. Whoever edits these things seems to be a sadist who enjoys blotting out the subject singer and his art with some fairly inane twaddle. It is like having a beautiful and interesting painting on the wall ready to be admired, only to have some boring child stand in front of it and drivel on without letting the painting show its own value.
Nevertheless, there are so many fascinating glimpses of vocal gold to be caught that it's even worth playing the game "Dodge the little people" to see and hear greatness.
Somehow, there are splendid things that may be heard and seen from Caruso and his colleagues on this mixed blessing.
Rare Footage and Recollections of Great 78 Era Tenors.......2005-05-25
This DVD was released as a VHS tape around ten years or so ago, but I did not see it them. It features separate thirty minute segments, made for European television, on six great tenors of the 78rpm era: Caruso, Gigli, Schipa, Tauber, Leo Slezak and Joseph Schmidt. It has some rare and often delightful footage of each of them and features recordings of some of them which are not otherwise easily available. The film footage often is of the singer noticeably singing something other than the recording being played, but it is actually fairly startling how often the synchronization of the film almost matches the recording. And some of the clips actually do include singing because they are taken from German-language theatrical films from the 1930s.
There is an attempt, via voice over narration and interviews with people who knew the singers (as well as with experts like the insufferably precious, but admittedly knowledgeable, Stefan Zucker). Particularly outstanding in this regard is the German writer on singers, Jürgen Kesting, who also wrote the booklet notes. All the people who knew the singers are, of course, quite old themselves at the time of filming. They share recollections of the singers performances as well as personal tidbits about them. The interviews take place all over the world--including a some done with people associated the Teátro Colón in Buenos Aires and with the Met.
I suspect this DVD is primarily for genuine fanatics for the history of singers and of opera. It is not a performance DVD by any means, so don't go looking for long musical excerpts. Still, it was done with loving care and does not, as so many operatic recollections do, err either in being sycophantic or unduly caustic. That said, I will add that I enjoyed it thoroughly.
TT=170 minutes; Dolby Digital 2.0 sound; subtitles in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. Booklet notes in English, German and French.
Scott Morrison
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Gigli, Schipa: Mad About Opera
Starring: Tito Gobbi , Maria Caniglia , Beniamino Gigli , Gino Bechi , and Tito Schipa
Director: Mario Costa
Manufacturer: Bel Canto Society
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Similar Items:
- Beniamino Gigli - Ridi Pagliaccio
- Gigli: Non Ti Scordar Di Me
- Tito Gobbi In Pagliacci & Hlts From Guglielmo Tell
- Andrea Chénier
- Belcanto - Tenors of the 78 Era, Part One / Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Tito Schipa, Leo Slezak, Joseph Schmidt, Richard Tauber
ASIN: B000B8QFBE
Release Date: 2005-11-22 |
Description
Bechi, Caniglia, Gigli, Gobbi, Schipa; Nives Poli and the La Scala Ballet; Ornella Santoliquido and Franco Mannino; Lollobrigida; Costa, dir. Barbiere (2), Carmen, Chenier, Norma, Pagliacci, song, plus "Invitation to the Dance" (Weber) and "La campanella" (Paganini-Liszt). (1948) 95m. Italian, with non-optional English subtitles. B&W.
DVD Region 0 (all regions) PCM audio.
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Gigli
Manufacturer: Columbia Tri-Star
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- Enough (Ws)
- Shall We Dance? (Widescreen Edition)
- The Sum of All Fears (Special Collector's Edition)
- Daredevil (Director's Cut)
- Intolerable Cruelty (Widescreen Edition)
ASIN: B000H5LGL0 |
Product Description
Small-time street hood Larry Gigli (Ben Affleck) has a reputation for big-time screw-ups. Ricki (Jennifer Lopez) is a tough gal gangster. When they're paired together on an assignment that careens wildly out of control, will they find a way to work through their personal differences and work out their mutual attraction?
Directed by Martin Brest (Scent of a Woman), GIGLI is a high-octane romantic comedy that packs serious heat!
Average customer rating:
- Yucky!!!!!!!!!
- Gigli is really bad
- No, Its true!!!
- Too bad I can't give it 0 stars!
- What was so bad about it?
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Gigli [Region 2]
Starring: Ben Affleck , Terry Camilleri , David Backus , Lenny Venito , and Robert Silver
Director: Martin Brest
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ASIN: B00008KDHT |
Amazon.com
Many critics called Gigli one of the worst movies ever made, but their condemnation isn't entirely justified. The movie's got plenty of problems, such as inconsistent tone, gag-inducing dialogue, and a meandering plot that fails to generate momentum over 124 minutes. And yet, this character-based vehicle for Hollywood sweethearts Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez is not without its charms: To begin with, there's J-Lo, whose beauty and presence flourish despite her ill-conceived role as a lesbian contract killer. Critics were also wrong in saying Lopez lacks on-screen chemistry with her off-screen beau; there are moments when they click, but director Martin Brest's screenplay maintains sexual confusion right up to an ending that's a total cop-out. Affleck (who did the lesbian-love thing in Chasing Amy) plays another good-natured killer, and their joint kidnapping job (involving the mentally disabled brother of a federal prosecutor) is destined to fail for all the right reasons, even as this anti-romantic comedy (featuring scenery-chewing cameos by Christopher Walken and Al Pacino) fails for all the wrong ones. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
Yucky!!!!!!!!!.......2007-06-09
EEEEWWWWWWW!!! This movie is soooooooooooooooooooo bad!!!! Awful. Terrible. lame. Don't buy this unless you like being bored to death and torchered.
Gigli is really bad.......2007-04-24
Gigli is one of those pitiful knockoffs of the Quentin Tarentino model of filmmaking: Likeable lowlife characters, an offbeat storyline, and quirky dialogue with loads of kitschy humor. Sadly the formula that works so well for Mr. Tarentino doesn't work all for Martin Brest. Awful is an understatement when describing this movie.
Larry Gigli (gee-lee) is a bumbling Southern California mobster assigned by his boss to kidnap the disabled son of a federal prosecutor so they can blackmail him. But his boss doesn't trust him, so he sends a hit woman to help him do the job. Gigli spends most of the movie trying to hit on the hitwoman-but she's a lesbian. In between fights with high schoolers, lesbian lovers, yoga, orders from his boss and arguments, arguments arguments, we're supposed to believe these two try to make us believe there's a romance between them. This must have worked on paper because it doesn't work on the screen. In the end he lets the boy go on the set of Baywatch, his favorite show. (Which was cancelled during the time this movie was made) While he uses pick up lines on an extra, Gigli drives off into the sunset with the hit woman.
I've seen my share of bad movies and this is the new number one worst film I have ever seen in my life. (See some of my other reviews.) Nothing I've endured on a late Saturday Night can compare to how awful this movie is. Not White Chicks. Not Black Samurai. Not even Smurfs and the Magic Flute. The screenplay must have been a collaborative effort between chimps and a box of rocks; they're the only two groups this would make sense to. Perhaps chimps were executives involved in the preproduction too. I mean, how does something this puerile get greenlit for production by a human being? What imbecile would think this script is worth investing millions into? No plot, long rambling monologues, a story that goes round and round in circles, and characters with the personality of wet cardboard decorated with mustard and ketchup. I think a bunch of elementary school kids could come up with a better script than this during arts and crafts.
Director Martin Brest lenses a slow tedious movie that goes nowhere over the course of ninety minutes. In his attempt to add his own distinct flavor to the Tarentino formula, he tries to put a Rain Man vibe to it mixed in with a little Tao of Steve. Blending the softer touch with the gritty characters ends up with a bland derivative movie with no personality and no ideas of its own. Outside of the cinematography the entire movie is a mess. I have to ask one question to the director and producers of this film: Who wears leather jackets in the summertime in Southern California?
Ben Affleck is his usual horrible self here. Watch him use the same facial expression for oh- just about everything. Jennifer Lopez is so hammy here she belongs in a sandwich. She has no chemistry with Affleck and is completely over the top in most scenes. I couldn't believe her as a mob hit woman or a lesbian, she's just J.Lo superstar here again. Oscar winners Al Pacino and Christopher Walken are wasted here their cameos add nothing to this mess. Lanie Kazan is the only actress who manages to pull a decent performance out of this mess. In her cameo as Gigli's Mom she steals the scenes she's in with her warm energy and dynamic presence.
Get as far away from this Tarentino wanna-be as you can. If you like films in this genre, get the real deal from the man himself. Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown or the Kill Bill series are far better than this hackneyed mess.
No, Its true!!!.......2006-12-24
I dreamed I saw a worse movie than this one and I woke up and some one had pooped on my head.
Too bad I can't give it 0 stars!.......2006-10-26
This is every bit as bad as you have heard and WORSE if you can imagine that! I found it totally unwatchable and after the 'Gobble, gobble it's turkey time" line I had to turn it off because I was going to barf! I must vote that line as "least sexy line of all time" Whoever allowed that line in the movie needs to have their head examined. There is NO chemestry between Ben and Jen, I don't even know how these two ever hooked up! You really want to smack the both of them. There is no way these two are convincing as 'thugs' especially when you know they are both annoying, spoiled stars with tons of $ who have both let fame go to their heads. The screen is not big enough for their combined egos. The acting is horrible, the script is horrible, the dialogue is pathetic and I never saw the ending but with this much bad going on, I really don't care. I am not going to waste over an hour of my life on such a horiffic movie! Seriously people, does Hollywood really think people are dumb enough to buy something this lame? This movie surpassed bad, surpassed 'so bad it's good' and came back around to bad and formed a whole new catagory, "So bad it needs to be reported to the Movie Safety Commission before someone goes blind" Seriously folks...IT'S REALLY BAD!
What was so bad about it?.......2006-09-26
Usually I cringe with movies with gays or the retarded. This had both, and they were easy enough on the eyes that it didn't matter. There were a few interesting lines, and it fit well together. Oh, and to all who said it was impossible/implausible that she would suddenly turn straight and like him, there were two things: Ben dropped his tough guy act and let her see his real self, and Ben Affleck is that type of guy that it would be believable.
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Pavarotti and Levine in Recital / The Italian Tenor
Starring: Enrico Caruso , Beniamo Gigli , Tito Schipa , and Metropolitan Opera
Manufacturer: Decca
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Similar Items:
- Pavarotti in Central Park / Luciano Pavarotti, Leone Magiera, Philharmonic Opera Orchestra
- Metropolitan Opera Gala
- Puccini - La Boheme / Pavarotti, Scotto, Niska, Wixell, Plishka, Levine, Metropolitan Opera
- Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore / Pavarotti, Battle, Pons, Dara, Upshaw, Levine, Metropolitan Opera
- Verdi - Don Carlo / Placido Domingo, Mirelli Freni, Grace Bumbry, Louis Quilico, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Ferruccio Furlanetto, James Levine, Metropolitan Opera
ASIN: B0002W19Q0
Release Date: 2004-09-14 |
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