The filmmaker Catherine Hardwicke (“Thirteen”, “Twilight”) returns to Filmwax after 8 years. She brings with her a new film, a fish out of water comedy starring Toni Collette and Monica Bellucci called “Mafia Mamma“. While seeing to her long estranged (and now deceased) grandfather’s affairs in Italy, Collette, a mild mannered suburban mom, unexpectedly inherits his mafia empire and finds herself stuck in the middle of a deadly mob war. Guided by the firm’s trusted consigliere (Bellucci), she hilariously defies everyone’s expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business. “Mafia Mamma” opens theatrically on Friday, April 14th.
The documentary filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn (“The Price of Everything”) returns to the podcast with a 20th anniversary restored version of his highly personal film “My Architect”. Kahn barely knew his father, but many throughout the world did. He was renowned architect Louis Kahn, who designed noteworthy buildings in California, Texas and even Bangladesh. Nathaniel explores his father’s past, interviewing architects such as Frank O. Gehry, as well as members of the multiple families started by the philandering Louis. What emerges is a portrait of a brilliant but unreliable man whose creations, which are featured prominently in the film, still astound. The restored film just had a theatrical at Film Forum in NYC and is currently available on the Criterion Channel.
