i have a tiny crush on roberto benigni

After posting the trailer for the movie yesterday I decided to look up vintage Roberto Benigni clips on YouTube. I'm officially obsessed with this guy.

Here is a clip from a trip to David Letterman.

And here is a video from when he won the Oscar for best foreign film (picture takes you to YouTube). If you are having a bad day this clip will instantly cheer you up. Honestly, I wish more actors and actresses felt comfortable expressing their sheer gratitude and love in this way.

I was surprised in the video above that people laughed when he thanked his parents for giving him his "greatest gift: poverty." I actually found it to be a very genuine, thought-provoking sentiment.

And here is a video (picture takes you to YouTube) from when he won the Oscar for best actor the same night -- the commentator mentions that only he and Sophia Loren have ever won acting Oscars for work in a foreign language film. If you haven't seen the movie and aren't sure it's worth the rental fee, I suggest watching this clip to see who else was nominated for best actor that year -- some of the greatest performances in film…ever.

io sono l'amore

This past weekend Rob was away for a bachelor party and I decided to use my alone time to watch a movie I'd been dying to see: Io Sono L'Amore (I Am Love), an Italian film starring Tilda Swinton.

To be honest, I'm still trying to process the movie, but I'm pretty sure I loved it. That's an odd thing to say, isn't it? But, if you've seen the movie you know it's intense, passionate, emotional and intriguing to say the least. It's beautiful and also slightly upsetting. But, definitely beautiful. Most of the great Italian films I've seen have left me with this feeling. Italiams films just stick with you in ways that modern American cinema does not.

P.S. We are off to Italy tomorrow to apartment hunt. Say a prayer for us!