La Dolce Vita

I never much liked Federico Fellini until a saw his 8 1/2 projected; Fellini’s work just doesn’t translate well to a television-sized screen. Now’s your chance to see La Dolce Vita, one of the master’s earlier (and maybe less mature) works the way it was meant to be seen. Marcello Mastroianni, perhaps the greatest Italian actor of the 20th century, stars as Rubini, a decadent journalist and roué who uses all his connections and charms to meet famous film star Sylvia (Anita Ekberg). Vita has all the Fellini touches, but the one you’ll be most blown away by is Fellini’s incredibly thoughtful framing and photography (aided by cinematographer Otto Martelli, but it’s really signature Felline stuff). Check it out now, and you’ll see how much better this film is when it’s not cramped into the narrow confines of your 76-inch plasma-screen TV.