Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The Last Kiss remake, saying good-bye

I finally saw most (I turned it off) of THE LAST KISS, the remake of the Italian film L'ULTIMO BACIO. Let me go on the record and say Zach Braff is no Stefano Accorsi. I don't know why this remake was done. There are cultural differences that did not translate at all.

Anyway, an adaptation should be able to stand alone from the source material. This did not. I really disliked this movie. I could not get into these selfish characters at all. Can someone please explain why Zach Braff is in movies? I liked GARDEN STATE but Mr. Braff is not a leading man.

Here is the Spanish trailer for the original version. It had the clearest picture.



I have good-bye lunches and dinners every day until I leave on Monday. The other night I went out with three friends. We all worked at one of the most dysfunctional companies ever. We were cracking up as we talked about some of the crazy things that went on in that office. I was exhausted and they were stayed at the restaurant to keep talking. As I hugged the three of them good-bye I felt the tears coming. I received an email from them saying it was best that I didn't come back to the table or we all would have started crying.

My three friends from Italian class gave me cards filled with euros. One friend didn't get a chance to exchange the money so she gave me the amount in dollars. Since the dollar kept dropping she said she had to keep adding money to the card. Ha.

The co-host of the big good-bye party took me to lunch yesterday and gave me stationary (which I so needed because the movers packed mine) and this great walking guide book to Rome. There are fifty cards so you just take out what you want for the day. One of my former co-workers took me to Jar for dinner last night...amazing food.

I don't believe this time next week I will be in Rome. It does not seem real to me at all. Maybe once I land at Leonardo da Vinci (Fiumicino) Airport it will.

15 comments:

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

If you're anything like me, it didn't feel real for me for a couple weeks--until I realized I wasn't on vacation, wasn't packing up to go home, that I was already here....

I'm *so* excited for you.

I just saw this, if it helps:

Finalmente Free Wifi in Rome

Anonymous said...

I LOVED the original movie, and I agree with your comments.

As for your near future: buon viaggio ed in bocca al lupo! You are about to begin an adventure that a lot of us only dream about. I simply cannot wait to read your first post from Roma!

~Rose in Cali (currently in NYC!)

Jessica said...

I have those walking tour cards (in Italian)and they are great! One of my friends has the English version so we try to do the tour in Italian first then peek at English one if we don't understand. They are really cool and have taken me to quite a few interesting places! enjoy!

Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy said...

I just got a "hold of" the original this weekend - I can't wait to see it.

And I can't believe you're finally here, girl. I can remember almost two years ago talking to you about your dream.

Here's to our next glass of wine together....Florence, April 19th!

Anonymous said...

Zach Braff in Accorsi's role? No comment. He (Accorsi) was recently in Milan acting in a play directed by Castellitto. Too bad I didn't get to see it.

It's so exciting reading your countdown to Rome!

Jen said...

The trailer looked far hotter than anything that would have Zach Braff even near it. Is the original dubbed or with subtitles in English, do you know?

I'm so excited for you in terms of your upcoming adventure. Enjoy, enjoy.

Texas Espresso said...

I am excited for you! sounds like a really nice, albeit sad, last week =) just keeping up with the move thru your blog, it seems to be here all at once. (though maybe not to you. hehe)

best of luck - I look forward to hearing about all your new adventures.

in bocca al lupo!
stacy

Anonymous said...

I remember the first day I woke up in Rome (I was moving to Perugia). I felt like I had just taken over the world. It was great. I look forward to reading what you have to say when you get there! :-)

I can't believe my arrival date (re-arrival date?) is in six months from now. Exactly six months. Wow! :-)

Alyson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alyson said...

I am so cracked - I thought LAST Wed was the 26th, so I thought you were already here, duh!

Have a great last week. Can't believe you will soon be here - I haven't been reading your blog long but it always felt like it was such a long way off your coming over. Hope the weather has improved - THIS Monday in Rome was s**te! I could have been back in the UK ;)

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

bleeding espresso - Thank you for the link. The first two weeks I'm in a vacation rental (my place is being renovated) so I might feel unsettled for a while.

rose in cali - grazie. the original was also funnier. I don't know what the heck happened with this one.

jessica in rome - I can't wait to use them. I'm tempted to open the box now.

sara - it's nuts really. ha!! You have always been very encouraging about this move. See you in a couple weeks. (it felt strange to type that.)

linda - it was a travesty. :)

jen - the original has subtitles. You can Netflix or try Blockbuster. My crappy branch down the street even had it.

stacy - grazie. It did seem to just fly by. I feel like I was just in Venice a few weeks ago.

tina - Those six months will be here before you know it.

alyson - The movers took all my winter clothes. It has been in the 80s here in Los Angeles. I hope by next week it warms up a little in Rome. I am such a wimp after living in So. California for 10 years, 55 degrees is freezing to me.

Anonymous said...

I hated both the original movie (Muccino is a worthless, predictable director) and the American remake. The only reason why "Pursuit of Happyness" was good was because I;'m sure WIll Smith was acting more like the director than Muccino!

Liane Spicer said...

This is so exciting - almost as good as going myself! Bon voyage - in Italian!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

anon - worthless? really? ouch.

wordtryst - grazie!

Anonymous said...

l am so so so excited for you! l can't wait to read all about it.

Wishing you all the best and a safe trip.

BTW, l still had to pinch myself even months into living on the amalfi coast, at times it was so normal and other times so surreal!