{"id":33077,"date":"2026-02-25T16:49:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T00:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=33077"},"modified":"2026-02-25T16:49:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T00:49:16","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-lookin-italian-1994","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=33077","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: LOOKIN\u2019 ITALIAN (1994)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Blu-ray from Severin Films is now available for\npurchase.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We\u2019ve all got to start somewhere. Even the most notable\ncelebrities were once doing bits parts and small roles before landing a major\ngig that made them famous. The cast of the hit mid-1990s TV series Friends<\/em>\nall have several amusing credits to their names prior to appearing in the show.\nCourtney Cox appeared in the Bruce Springsteen video for Dancing in the Dark<\/em>,\nand was the female lead in Cannon Films\u2019 Masters of the Universe<\/em> (1987).\nMatthew Perry did a ton of TV work, also appearing in the films A Night in\nthe Life of Jimmy Reardon<\/em> (1988) and She\u2019s Out of Control<\/em> ()1989).\nThe same goes for Lisa Kudrow, whose film credits include supporting roles in\nthe horror picture The Unborn<\/em> (1991) and the thriller Dance with\nDeath<\/em> (1992). David Schwimmer had a bit part in Flight of the Intruder<\/em>\n(1991), and Jennifer Aniston landed a lead role in Leprechaun<\/em> (1992).\nThe pictures may seem silly today, but these were all important gigs for the\nyoung performers, who were just trying to do good work and get noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week Severin Films is releasing the independent\ncrime\/drama Lookin\u2019 Italian<\/em> (1994). Produced for less than a million\ndollars from writer\/director Guy Magar (who himself was trying to expand his\nhorizons after helming the indie horror flicks Retribution<\/em> and Stepfather\n3<\/em>), the film had considerable trouble lining up distribution. But when Friends<\/em>\ntook off in late 1994 and co-star Matt LeBlanc became a major star, the picture\neventually managed to earn a video release. This week, Severin Films is\npresenting the film\u2019s Blu-ray debut, so interested parties can see this early\nwork from LeBlanc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vinnie Pallazzo (Jay Acovone) was once a mob enforcer. But after a violent and traumatizing event, he quits and eventually ends up in Los Angeles, taking a solitary job in a bookstore run by cantankerous but friendly owner Manza (Ralph Manza). Vinnie\u2019s roommate and co-worker is his young nephew Anthony Manetti (Matt LeBlanc), who is romancing multiple women and going out on auditions in the hopes of landing acting gigs. Vinnie is extremely nervous about his nephew\u2019s impulsive and hot-tempered behavior, trying his best to keep the kid out of trouble, as well as away from mafia don, Dino Dinardo (John LaMotta). The two leads constantly butt heads about unimportant things, but it begins turning serious after Vinnie starts dating Danielle (Stephanie Richards) and Anthony meets Dominique (Nichole Carter). Dominique is a black woman whom the \u201cfamily\u201d doesn\u2019t approve of. After a tragic event involving the death of his date, Anthony seeks revenge. Vinnie is forced to come to terms with his past and protect his nephew. He follows the kid into gang territory, receiving help from local newsstand owner, Willy (Lou Rawls).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Admittedly, the picture isn\u2019t a masterpiece. It\u2019s trying to\ntell a very big story and the characters have been directed to be overly brash,\nfrequently yelling at each other. The focus switches gears between drama and\nlaughs, before eventually honing in on the crime element. Vinnie often walks in\non Anthony in the sack with various women (which is played for laughs), and\nthere\u2019s a lot of joking between the nephew and his pals, followed by more\nserious scenes of criticism and concern from Vinnie. The uncle is hiding a big\nsecret (which isn\u2019t that hard to figure out), also brooding about the violence\nin his past. Truth be told, there isn\u2019t a significant threat to the pair until\nthe final third, when an act of violence brings Vinnie\u2019s dangerous past to the\nforefront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, yes, the tone and pacing of the film is off, with some\nof the drama coming across as over-the-top. It\u2019s particularly amusing when\nVinnie finds a woman who is interested in him. Over a period of seemingly a few\ndays, she becomes fully committed to him, even attending a party run by the\ndon, and hearing a hearting argument between Vinnie and Anthony that results in\na confession and the reveal of various dark secrets, including murder. One\nwould expect the character to immediately back away from the new relationship,\nbut she doesn\u2019t seem all that bothered by Vinnie\u2019s reveal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But at least the cast is remarkably charismatic and they\nmanage to make it all watchable, even if it does come across at times as silly.\nLou Rawls is quite good in a supporting role, and there are also cameo\nappearances by Denise Richards and Lori Butler (mother of future star Austin\nButler), who play females on Anthony\u2019s radar. Overall, I was amused by the\nmovie and it was fun seeing so many notable performers in the picture\ndeveloping their craft and gaining experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The picture quality on the Blu-ray is perfectly acceptable.\nThis is a low-budget production, which means that it was never going to look\nlike reference material for your home video system, but it\u2019s certainly a\nsignificant improvement over previous formats like VHS. Apparently, the\noriginal camera negative was given a 4K scan for this release. There\u2019s plenty\nof natural grain, but nothing very distracting and some of the brighter-lit\nsequences look quite appealing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As far as bonus material, there is also a fun interview with\nwriter\/director Guy Magar, who talks about raising the funds for the production\nindependently. The cost of the film varies depending on what extra you happen\nto be watching, but I tend to believe the filmmaker in this chat when he states\nthat the actual budget was $350,000 (It\u2019s normal for indie moviemakers to\ninflate numbers when they\u2019re trying to sell a movie to a distributor, so that\neveryone can walk home with a bit of cash in their pocket). Magar notes that he\nwas inspired by the films of Martin Scorsese, and talks about the cast.\nApparently, LeBlanc was at a period in his career where he was ready to give up\nthe business before landing this feature and, shortly afterwards, Friends<\/em>.\nHe also notes that funding was so low that he rented a helicopter for a couple\nof hours in order to shoot the aerial footage for the opening credits. It\u2019s an\nenjoyable talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a great many archival cast and crew interviews\nwith everyone involved that appear to be taken off of a videotape master. They\ndon\u2019t look wonderful, but it is entertaining to see the writer\/director and\ncast discuss this indie film and how they approached their jobs. Another\ncurious bonus is shaky videotape footage from the Palm Springs Film Festival\ndebut of the movie. There are also clips of the group standing and talking to\nattendees in the lobby and going out for dinner afterwards. A behind-the-scenes\nfeaturette is also included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of my favorite bits on the disc is a segment about the\nmovie that aired on the program Inside Edition<\/em> (which used to run in the\nearly evenings around the same time as shows like Entertainment Tonight<\/em>).\nThey talk about Friends<\/em> being a smash hit and this lost movie that is\nnow attempting to find distribution once again because of LeBlanc\u2019s newfound\nfame. This is clearly just recorded on VHS off of the TV, but it\u2019s amazing to\nwatch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A lengthy gag reel is also included. Actually, the reel also\ncontains scene extensions and other bits (it also looks like it has been\ndirectly transferred off of a VHS tape), which are interesting. A trailer is\nalso included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With movies like these, it\u2019s all about watching a future\nstar develop their skills and see how clear it might have been that they were\ngoing to make it big. Lookin\u2019 Italian<\/em> isn\u2019t a great movie, but it is\ninteresting and fun to watch as we witness LeBlanc and a lot of other familiar\nfakes doing their best on a small movie with a limited budget. If you enjoyed\nVinegar Syndrome\/Canadian International Pictures recent release of Keanu\n& Co.<\/em> (which marked an early role in Canada for Keanu Reeves), then\nthis Blu-ray will likely amuse you as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Blu-ray from Severin Films is now available for purchase. We\u2019ve all got to start somewhere. Even the most notable celebrities were once doing bits parts and small roles before landing a major gig that made them famous. The cast of the hit mid-1990s TV series Friends all have several amusing credits to their names […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[128,2933,2956,4910,6251,9774,12602,12603,12604,13427,18083],"class_list":["post-33077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-128","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-lookin-italian","tag-crime","tag-drama","tag-independent","tag-lookin-italian","tag-lookin-italian-blu-ray-review","tag-lookin-italian-review","tag-matt-leblanc","tag-severin-films"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33077\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}