Bicycle Thieves

I was falling in love with criticism.

I was bonding with my dad over films and watching lots of classic, you know, my dad would tell me stories about seeing Bicycle Thieves, which is still one of my favorite movies back in like, I think it was either Hong Kong or Shanghai.

I can't remember.

um but in the 50s and how like literal not a dry eye in the house type of story at you know vittoria de sica's masterpiece of neorealism and so it was even then i hadn't seen that movie i watched it with my dad years later but it was kind of like oh

But okay, go on, go on.

The Bicycle Thieves.

Well, that's a film, obviously.

Yeah.

That's a great question.

I've never really thought about the relationship between the French and the Italians in that way because the Italians, right after the war, they had this whole style called neorealism, which the Bicycle Thieves, you love that movie.

Love it.

Spaghetti Westerns are nothing like that.

Okay.

Oh, I was gonna say non-viral Burner posts where a guy is holding, like, a Mike's Hard Lemonade, and he's like... like, Bicycle Thieves Friday.

Yeah,

yeah, I was just thinking the Burniverse guy who's, like, really into wine and stuff.

honestly, I gotta go back.

I haven't seen Bicycle Thieves in probably since college.

I should just do a De Sica-like watch because besides the talent, I do think the Fitzy Comtini movie we watched was a very impressive film.

Like, he's just a master, you know? Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, he is.

And I haven't, I also, I saw Bicycle Thieves a very long time ago, and I don't know that I've seen much else.

And I haven't seen Shoeshine.

Josh, of Shoeshine, Pauline Kael said, if people cannot feel Shoeshine, what can they feel?

I was like, "What is the post-cr- I don't remember the post-credit scene in Fate." And I was like, "Oh, but it doesn't fucking matter," but yes, sure.

So, like, stuff like that, I was just like, if you're gonna build this whole thing around, like, I know that it's Bicycle Thieves and like the...

You know, but you could do anything.

It's like Avengers, like some kind of like, you know, team up and, you know, some old, like the Magnificent Seven or whatever.

I mean, it's a nice, you know...

Austin wrote in his Substack, which was very funny, just like, I don't know if it's saying that there's room for both, which, like, I agree with.

Even though Bicycle- Bicycle Thieves sucks, he's like, "I hate Bicycle..." Like, just Fast and Furious is better.

Well, Au- Au- Austin, Austin does?

One film everyone should see before they die.

Yes, uh, I would say Bicycle Thieves would be-

Yeah

... and that this could also be my, my answer for emotionally devastating as well.

Hmm.

That is.

Um, but Bicycle Thieves was a film, it remains really important in my life and another one of those movies that I felt opened the door to international cinema for me, especially to Italian neorealism.

Yeah.

Phenomenal film.

And then Bicycle Thieves, which of course... uh wasn't gonna get nominated uh you know a super hollywoodized academy here they're probably not gonna nominate bicycle thieves but that came out this year too just the 1948 something was cooking this year like just a phenomenal year of film like honestly i think this is like probably the best year of the 40s i didn't realize that going in but what what a great year of film

It's pretty impressive.

I mean, there's a few in here that I really like as well.

We're not persuaded by money.

We're going to vote for the random, independently owned production of Hamlet.

Maybe this is the perfect time for Bicycle Thieves.

Maybe they could have snuck in and got that win with that same excuse.