thank you for such a detailed responce about il numero 17! In the US, it seems most (myself included) people do not understand the significance of the number 13, but many are simply conditioned to disfavour it. Many believe it represents the 13th attendee at the Last Supper, namely Judas Iscariot the betrayer of Jesus. Oddly enough, Japanese and more predominantly Chinese culture is emphatically opposed to the number 4, since its pronounciation bears a strong resemblance to (you guessed it) death ("shi").
I agree that Maya Sansa was terrific in "Buongiorno, notte".
Even though few remakes exceed the original, I enjoyed "Welcome to Collinwood" in part due to its faithful tributes to the many classic scenes of "I soliti ignoti", including George Clooney in Toto's role as the veteran safecracker, and William H. Macy in Mastroianni's role in the rooftop scene, a small part of which is shown in the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBWjNtMU2PI
My favourite contemporary film is still Tornatore's "Nuovo Cinema Paradiso", with its nostalgic look at il cinema italiano. Am I the only one who has seen this? Sciocchezze! Oddly, I prefer the shorter "US" version because it isn't quite as dark as the director's cut/original, but both are superb, IMHO.
(oh gosh, I've forget, here I am at italianpod101 
) ^__^
