Movies with Fabs (i film con Fabs)

I would like to begin with a brief list:

Movies that Fabio likes
Behind Enemy Lines
The 300
The Fugitive
The Jackal

I know there are others that could be added to this list, such as The Godfather which he has on special edition DVD. By the by, I am hoping to work up the nerve to casually bring it into conversation and then ask him if we can please please please watch it together. Because can a situation really get more Italian than that? (Well, there was the Michael Jackson impersonator dancing in front of the Colosseum, but that's neither here nor there.) Fabio reacts so wonderfully to the movies that are played on Rai 5 Grande Fiction. "Ooooh, bellissimo," he will sigh, watching the commercials longingly. And then, as though fate couldn't have planned it any better, the commercial informs him that YES this movie is on tonight! Instead of turning in early, Fabio always takes up his usual spot on the couch and watches a movie he has seen numerous times, reacting as though it is all a surprise.

Personal favorite reactions include, but are not limited to:
-A scene in the 300 in which a pile of dead bodies is displayed on the screen. Two soldiers exchange a few words. I  can't remember the words. Fabio grins, literally ear to ear and exclaims, no, guffaws! "Bellissimo! Ohh, Katie, Katie, guarda, bellissimo." And then he laughs for a very long time. I just assume that because the 300 is about his people, he is more "in" on the jokes.
-The other night after watching a show about great white sharks, Fabio was flipping through the channels. Suddenly, Harrison Ford's grizzled face appeared on the screen. HELL YES THE FUGITIVE. Fabio and I looked at eachother and exclaimed, "HARRISON FORD!!" And then, "Oh, conosci questa film? Katie, you know? Conosci? Ohhh, bellissimo, bellissimo!" When Fabio is watching a movie he really likes, he sits, grinning and shaking his head, amazed that a movie like this could ever be made. The only con to this particular scenario: The infamous Tommy Lee Jones "I don't care!" was lost because, well, it's dubbed. I miss American voices.
-A preview for the Expendables came on a few months ago. He literally stopped whatever it was he was doing, probably tending to a child, and he stared at the screen with his mouth wide open. Once the preview was over he turned to me very slowly and said, in English, "This....this is my film." I have no idea if he ever got the chance to see it.
-One time we were watching War of the Worlds. After an especially heroic scene in which Tom Cruise is literally the only human being still alive, Fabio very calmly says, "This is what it will be like in 2012." And then he continued to laugh laugh laugh at Tom Cruise, because why would he be the only person still alive? Of all the people in the world, WHY Tom Cruise? That seemed to be Fabio's biggest concern. And, come to think of it, that might be mine as well.

Tonight, Rai 5 is showing The Jackal ("con Richard Gere e Bruce Willis!"). I know that it is still on because I can hear it through my bedroom wall. When the preview came on during dinner, Fabio began to smile and shake his head, alerting me that I should turn around and see which movie would be played later. And of course..."Katie, conosci? The Jackal! Richard Gere e buono ma...Bruce Willis...cativo. Oh, bellissimo." And that's true, because that Bruce Willis really is quite cativo in all of his swarmy disguises. I hadn't originally planned to watch the movie with Fabio because it was coloring and balloon time with Margherita-this happens alot. She tells me what to do so I do it. I was peacefully sketching my rendition of a classic Christmas scene, complete with a "Natale in 33 giorni!!!" caption when a stray balloon from Arianna landed on the table, knocking a lamp to the floor causing it to crash into millions of pieces. Margherita and Arianna looked at each other. Then they looked at me. I really was of no help because at that point I was drawing a sleeping Chester in front of a fire place. Fabio called to Barbara and as soon as the three of us realized she was coming, we went into bat-shit-I-swear-I-didn't-do-it-please-still-love-me-mode. Possibly me more than the others. Sure enough it was an absolute epic show down, with LOTS of tears and LOTS of screaming. Meanwhile, I had managed to silently slide out and slink onto the couch. And, sure enough, The Jackal was playing. The arguing and yelling and crying (sooooo much crying) went on for quite some time. I sat awkwardly on the couch, feeling guilty for nothing but wondering if I should have stepped in at some point and put a stop to the ballooning. (Easier said than done, I assure you.) Once the girls were in their rooms, screaming and kicking and crying and throwing and God knows what else, Fabio turns to me and says,

"The Joh-kal. Jah? Joh-kal? Come se dice?
"Jah? Yeah like this. Jah? Kol. Like. The Jackal."
"Jackal?"
"Yeah, Jackal."
"Jah-kol? Theee Jackal! Bruce Willis, molto cativo..."

And that's how I avoided getting in trouble for not actually doing something but totally feeling like an accomplice in the Great Lamp Debacle of 2010.

Hey I went to Rome. It was ok. I'll write about that when Fabio stops being hilarious. (AKA never)

Lesson: Maybe I should stop riling up the girls before bed. On the other hand, that Rai 5 sure plays great movies.