John Turturro
☼ Born on 28 December 1957, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
BiographyHighly talented, lightly built American actor who always looks unsettled and jumpy has become a favourite of cult/arthouse film aficionados with his compelling performances in a broad range of cinematic vehicles.
Turturro was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian-American parents, Katherine (Incerella), a jazz singer, and Nicholas Turturro, a construction worker and carpenter, who was born in Giovinazzo. His brother, also named Nicholas Turturro, is an actor, and actress Aida Turturro is his cousin.
Turturro has become a regular in the thought provoking films of Spike Lee and the off the wall comedies of Joel Coen & Ethan Coen. His wonderful performances include as the highly agitated "Pino" in Do the Right Thing (1989), as an intellectual playwright in Barton Fink (1991), a pedophile tenpin bowler in The Big Lebowski (1998), a confused boyfriend in Jungle Fever (1991) and as the voice of Harvey the dog in Summer of Sam (1999).
Turturro has continued to appeal to audiences despite his unconventional looks and the often annoying onscreen mannerisms of his characters which he used to great effect in films such as his blue collar tale of warring brothers in the construction business, Mac (1992), as the irate, dumped game show contestant, Herbie Stempel, in Robert Redford's dynamic Quiz Show (1994). One of modern American cinema's gems of acting, Turturro remains in strong demand for his high calibre thespian talents.
In the role of actor
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (14/11/2022)
Guillermo del Toro co-directed a new stop-motion version of the classic story with Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. Distraught over the death of his young son Carlo, wood-carver Geppetto (David Bradley) carves a pine tree into a puppet made in Carlo’s likeness before collapsing into a drunken stupor. Feeling sympathy for the grieving man, a Wood […]
The Batman (03/03/2022)
The saga of the Dark Knight is rebooted as a brooding noir mystery with The Batman. For the last two years, reclusive millionaire Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) has been enacting vigilante justice as The Batman and he found an alley in Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright). Batman’s biggest challenge arises when a serial killer named […]
Premium Classics: Do the Right Thing (30/06/2020)
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The Jesus Rolls (28/02/2020)
John Turturro writes and directs a new adventure for his character from The Big Lebowski in The Jesus Rolls. Jesus Quintana (Turturro) is released from a stint in prison and greeted by his good friend Petey (Bobby Cannavale). It isn’t long until Jesus decides to steal a sports car owned by hotheaded hairdresser Paul Dominique (Jon Hamm), […]
Transformer (25/04/2018)
A world champion powerlifter’s transition from male to female is documented in Transformer. Matt “Kroc” Kroczaleski was a world record holding bodybuilder and marine veteran, who was outed as transgender by a 2015 YouTube video. The outing effectively ends Kroc’s powerlifting career, though she begins the process to transition into Janae Marie Kroczaleski. However, with Janae sporting […]
The Door (31/10/2014)
Indie Spotlight is a series focusing on reviews of independent films After saving a wealthy Japanese gentleman from a mugging, Owen (Sam Kantor) is offered a job at one of the man’s family businesses. Owen arrives at an old abandoned meat-packing plant and is told to put on a security uniform, sit at a desk, […]
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (03/07/2011)
So here is the second part of my IMAX contrast, with this one centering on the habit of using the format as a premium way of seeing major blockbuster films. With at least one major film released in IMAX every month, it’s hard to believe that this is a habit that only really began a decade ago. […]
Cars 2 (29/06/2011)
If the main critical consensus is to be believed, Cars 2 is by and large the worst animated film Pixar has made in their entire (25 year) career. However, I didn’t really see anything wrong with the movie. I believe that critics are so used to films from Pixar that resonate with adults just as much of kids, […]
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (27/06/2009)
Just like the first movie, I am going to go straight to the point here. This film is definitely not perfect and 2 1/2 running time may get to some people. However, I also found that it succeeded in being quite entertaining. And that’s all I’m going to say about that. 8/10 (Read an extended […]
the Taking of Pelham 123 (13/06/2009)
I always believe that a good thriller can be a quite entertaining film that you don’t have to put too much thought into. That’s what this film happens to be. The only Tony Scott film I really saw before this was Top Gun, however I may now be willing to check out some of the […]
You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (07/06/2008)
Adam Sandler’s comedies have always been hit or miss. However, for the last few years, he has been doing some different types of rolls, which did not really fit his character. Some of the magic came back last with with I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry and it’s back in full force with this […]
Transformers (08/07/2007)
So, what did I think about this film that had fans of the show cringing at the differences? I really liked it and I was a fan of the show. That’s all I am going to say.
In the role of director
The Jesus Rolls (28/02/2020)
John Turturro writes and directs a new adventure for his character from The Big Lebowski in The Jesus Rolls. Jesus Quintana (Turturro) is released from a stint in prison and greeted by his good friend Petey (Bobby Cannavale). It isn’t long until Jesus decides to steal a sports car owned by hotheaded hairdresser Paul Dominique (Jon Hamm), […]