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A second look at Scorsese's THE DEPARTED test screening...
Hey folks, Harry here... this is an extremely early test screening for a Martin Scorsese picture. Nearly 5 months out - he's finally putting his film in front of an audience, gauging and taking note of exactly what works and doesn't work with his film. Scorsese is a craftsman and at this stage the two reviews we've received have this film frustratingly close to greatness, but not quite there. Here's a film without final music, not the final edit and the first cut of the film. I'm sure, if you're like me, you have the utmost confidence in Scorsese to pull through on this. As for this being "another worthless remake" - I disagree. INFERNAL AFFAIRS is a GREAT Hong Kong film. Perhaps the best police procedural film that Hong Kong has produced. Scorsese doesn't go into the realm of remakes often. With CAPE FEAR - he brought in more than CAPE FEAR into that wonderfully pulpy high opera retelling of that classic film. With INFERNAL AFFAIRS - he's taking a different tack. Like John Sturges when he remade SEVEN SAMURAI into THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN - he's taking a Hong Kong Cop Action Suspense film and culturally shifting it into a realm he loves and knows. Will the result be great? We can hope - and we can hope he learned what he needed from this test screening. Watch out for spoilers...
So Martin Scorsese's pulling a Quentin Tarantino and remaking Hong Kong crime movies. What's this world coming to, with The Master now imitating his most fervent disciple? Hollywood being Hollywood, a whole constellation of A-listers jumped on board anyway, hitching their star-power to his wagon in the hopes it will finally complete its Oregon-Trail worthy trek to the Oscar podium.
And me being me, I jumped at the chance to attend an advance screening at Pipers Alley here in Chicago. I mean, Goodfellas is probably one of my top five favorite movies ever, a huge influence on my own writing, so like all the A-listers, I was hoping this would be the movie that finally gets Scorsese a little gold statue.
It probably isn't.
The Departed is a fascinating movie, a glorious sloppy mess of a movie that can't quite decide what it wants to be. Is it a Goodfellas-esque epic, with Boston Irish and Irish-Italians standing in for New York Italians and Italian-Irish? In the beginning, it feels that way, and when they started playing "Gimme Shelter" over the opening scenes, I actually felt a little
sad. (I mean, I love Let It Bleed as much as the next guy, but using that just made me compare it unfavorably to the mind-blowingly awesome use of that and "Monkey Man" in the final frantic coked-out days of Henry Hill's mob career. I hope they pick something different for the final cut.) Is it a straight-up pulpy thriller with a few twists thrown in? For most of the movie, yes, which makes all the star power actually seem a little distracting and unnecessary. Is it a Shakespearean drama about lies and ambition and family and all those grand themes? That's what the end seems to be angling for, and although that aspect of it is great, it contrasts with the thriller pulpiness.
Speaking of Oriental, this is a very yin-and-yang movie, with Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio chasing each other around (and chasing the same beautiful police psychologist) in a big vortex of a plot, swirling faster and faster until their inevitable catastrophic collision. Damon plays Colin Sullivan, a smarmy Boston Southie hand-picked by mob boss Frank Costello to infiltrate the Massachussetts State Police from the ground up. (As to why they wanted him to be a state trooper rather than, say, a Boston policeman, I have no idea.) And Leo's William Costigan, another Statie chosen by his superiors to go undercover by doing time (the Underworld equivalent of the Police Academy) and infiltrating Costello's gang. Standing over them are the aforementioned Frank Costello, played with devilish glee by His Satanic Majesty Jack Nicholson, and a white-haired Martin Sheen as Captain Queenan, the closest thing to a God-the-Father-like good guy Scorsese's ever given us.
Damon's great; he slips into this role like it's a comfortable pair of shoes he's been breaking in all his life. His early scenes with police psychologist Madeline are some of the best in the movie, and some of the better romantic scenes Scorcese's ever directed. Alec Baldwin's very effective and convincing as a Beantown G-man; he has some great early scenes with Mark Wahlberg's Dignam, another Statie who basically alternates between being Queenan's lapdog and his attack dog. (Scorsese does cop scenes remarkably well in this movie; surprisingly enough, I liked the cop scenes better than the gangster scenes.) As for Leo, he does a capable job, and Scorsese does a lot with the relative physical similarity between him and Damon. Still, I don't quite like him as either a gangster or as a cop acting as a gangster; playing Howard Hughes in The Aviator was a better role for him, though he was more believable in this than in Gangs of New York.
Somehow this ended up as slightly less than the sum of its parts. There were some collective gasps from the audience at the right moments, but there also was a groan or two, and there's never a good moment for that. The plot was too clever by half; surprisingly enough, given the director, I felt it crowded out the character development to the point that DiCaprio and Sheen and (to a lesser extent) Nicholson and Damon ended up feeling like plot components rather than real people. (I actually haven't seen Internal Affairs yet, so I can't compare it to that, but I hope there's more of a sense of the divided loyalties that cops-as-gangsters and gangsters-as-cops must feel, a la Donnie Brasco; in this movie, neither Damon nor DiCaprio bond with their peers quite as much as one might have expected, although one gets some glimpses of the fallen-angel-kind-of-hoping-for-redemption in Damon's character.) I gotta admit it glued me to the chair, though; even though I knew The Master himself was probably in the back row watching us watch his movie, my fanboy ass resisted the urge to get up for a "bathroom break" and a chance to see him, and I instead stayed until the screen said (Insert Credits Here) and they started passing out the little survey thingys. (Unfortunately, me and my budding-auteur buddies weren't invited to stick around for the post-screening discussion, so we had to stick around for half an hour outside to get our glimpse of Scorsese.)
Anyway, I liked it, but I'm really hoping Scorsese cuts this into something with a more consistent feel, even if that cuts into its epic ambitions. I?m looking forward to seeing the final cut, even though I suspect it won't be quite as good as everyone involved in this probably hoped.
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Seems like itll be a good film ive got faith in scorsesee, one of my fav directors....best mistake not giving him best director at the oscars!
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Donnie Brasco and Heat, directed by Scorsese. I'm juiced and jazzed for it.
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But you probably already knew that.
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Whatever. Insert snarky comment here. I'm sure it'll be good when it's finished. Scorsese's worst is better than most bests.
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We get throgh a movie review with out bringing up Qt?
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Which is a masterpiece and a sign of relief that marty hadn't lost it after the dreadful Gangs of New York. Which was pretty bad on all counts..(Except Daniel Day-Lewis of course). The Aviator made me a firm believer in Scorsese again, and I know this movie will be damn exciting. I mean.. Marty and Nicholson together! are you fuc*ing kidding me!
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It had a good premise, but I still was underwhelmed. Scorcese's a genius though..This could wind up being better than the original. Could happen!
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just gimme a good movie goddammit. if you can keep me solidly entertained, then i wont mind that ive heard the story before
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...because a lot of the same folks who would harp on this being another unnecessary remake are the same folks who will defend everything QT does as somehow innovative and original (or have folks outgrown that indefensible position yet?). Fact is, sometimes good and very worthwhile remakes happen (The Maltese Falcon, The Magnificent Seven, The Thing, Cape Fear, Reservoir Dogs, etc.) so to knee-jerk hate on something just because it isn't "original" (like anything in Hollywood IS original these days?) is just pretty hypocritical (in addition to being hypercritical). See the movie before deciding if it was worth making or not. That's all anyone's asking.
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Forward to this movie... So I hear this is coming out in Oct? Wow, talk about crowded... The Departed, The Fountain, and The Prestige... Notice anything? Looks like Nolan, Aronofsky, and Scorsese are getting my 10 bucks....
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How's about running a search and replace, and getting rid of all the "?"'s that should actually be apostrophe's before you send in (or post) a review? 'kay? Thanks.
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Personally I think he's getting better as a filmmaker as time goes one. But I know that's probably just me. Aviator, Gangs of New York, some of his best IMO. And Casino is one of my favorites too.
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80 times. I'm not joking, 80 times. I didn't much like it at all...mostly because I was expecting Richard Gere, and all I got was a bunch of Chinese people swaggering about double-crossing each other and shit. I guess I'm just not too big a fan of slickness. I did like two similiar films released at the time by Johnny To though: The Mission and PTU. I'm not too interested in this remake, because if there is one thing Hollywood is good at, it's making a film slicker than Steve Buscemi's hair.
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had to chuckle at that one. good one Sepp
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I think he could be hitting a second groove as a director where he could do one great film after another. I LOVED the Aviator. And I hope this Scorsese/Leo collaboration is as good as the last one. Gangs is a flawed film but a good one. Its frustrating to watch it though because I feel it could of been a masterpiece. For whatever reason (studio issues, creative conflicts)it wasn't fully realized (at least for me). Daniel Day Lewis is the saving grace of that film. I look forward to the Departed.
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I think that's editorializing a bit too much. It really doesn't sound like either of the reviewers think that. Both their impressions seemed to be more along the lines of "likely close to mediocrity."
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Give it 20 years. I'm cautiously optimistic about The Departed.
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...like Paul McCartney, Scorsese has brought enough goodies to the table to do whatever the fuck he wants. If McCartney these days wants to make a concept album with finger pianos then he can, if Scorsese wants to try and get that elusive Oscar and work with all the people he hasn't worked with yet then, fuck it. He has Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Mean Streets, Casino, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, The Last Waltz, Cape Fear (not 'prime' perhaps but a bloody good laugh all the same) and After Hours in his back pocket. He can do whatever he likes with Leo and QT and co. can kiss his arse. Wouldn't mind one more classic before he 'karks it', though...where's his western?
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"... and remaking Hong Kong crime movies. What?s this world coming to, with The Master now imitating his most fervent disciple?"
Are you F**KING kidding me? First of all, what outright remake has Tarantino done? Secondly, Tarantino isn't fit to lick dog s**t off Scorsese's shoe. I stopped reading this review after these few sentences. Why do the editors here seem so insistent on posting reviews junior high kids trying to sound witty. -
love or hate GoNY or Aviator, you know it's true.
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is the best Hong Kong police thriller. Much more cinematic, stylish and elegant than Infernal Affairs, which is very good but a bit flat in my opinion.
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I love me some Scorsese... but this won't win the Oscar, doesn't sound like. That'll be his Teddy Roosevelt flick, if anything.
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hey, here's the deal. QT has been ripping off HK films for like forever. Look at his work. Yes it's good, I"m not saying it's not, he's a very good directior, but he wears his influences right there on his sleeve, INCLUDING his devotion to Scoresce. Read John Pierson's book, Spike Mike Slackers & Dykes for complete study on how QT was influenced by Scorese. At least Spike Lee has had the guys to thank him for being an influence. as for being a jr. hig trying to sound witty, personally you sound like a jr high Tarentino fan who doesn't appciate the greatness that is Scorese. well maybe not jr. high, that's harsh but definatly a QT fan who can't look past his prejeduces to appciate a great filmmaker, much like Tarentino himself, who when he first saw Clerks ran to Kevin Smith and wanted to know why he didn't imitate his (QT's) work in it, Smith, to placate him, said "didn't you see the trunk scene" and QT's all like "yeah right, that was cool"...QT the man who tried every possible thing to STOP the production of NBK, INCLUDING calling Stone and threatening him, then had the audacity when NBK premired at Cannes to call the female producer and try and hook up. The man thinks he's invincable and a god, but he's not...he's just a really talented hollywood director and a really crappy actor
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bout the middle of the post should read "everyTHING possible to stop the production of NBK"
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Why can't anyone review a film anymore without explaining the history of film to us before they get to the review. And devoting entire paragraphs of their personal Top 10 favorite movies before getting on with the review?!
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Jackie Brown.
Great movie and fuck ya if ya' disagree.
im so happy the both of them still
make films. i will see them all and enjoy the best parts.
and if i get the whole pie.
I GONNA' EAT IT!
mmmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMM thanks guys!
keep up the good work! -
And Tarantino was put out that such a great director didn't imitate him? Why the hell would he care what Kevin Smith does? Plus if I was in a position to do so, I would have tried to stop NBK from being made too - and I didn't even write (a version of) it.
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ever. Tell me Im not the only one thinks that. let me hear ya.
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I have to once agian refer to John Pierson's Spike Mike Slackers & Dykes pg 216...with some corrections from my earlier post "JP:Point blank question-since you thank [Jim] Jarmusch, Spike [Lee], Rick [Linklaer], and Hal Hartley...KS: When we were at the Munich Film Festivel after Cannes, Quentin finally saw clerks and said 'well you mention those four, you don't even mention me.' JP: He said that? KS: He said that. It's a Quentin quote. And I said 'Well there is an homage in there to you with the car trunk in the opening montage.' and he goes 'right right right right-that's what was cool about it'" Here's a guy who had to know why he wasn't thanked by someone who wasn't really that influenced by him and then when placted says what's cool about it is an "homage" to him. I mean comeon...think about that for a minute...and as for NBK, he had SOLD the rights, tried to buy them back and was refused, he had NO RIGHT to try and stop, threaten, even take to court. He may not be happy about it (because it shows at that point he was pretty one trick, look at Resevior Dogs, True Lies, and NBK...they are well similar, he didn't want to be piegonholed) I don't blame him for not wanting it to be seen, but really after selling the rights, he was screwed and again had no right to try and stop.
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It had a great premise, Chirs Doyle as DP, and two kickass leads (Andy Lau & Tony Leung). But I always felt that it failed to become more than the sum of it's parts.
What I'm more curious about isn't how the source will be adapted, but rather the kind of film Scorsese will make next.
GONY was entertaining, The Aviator was hillarious, but his best recent film was No Direction Home. I'll definatly be sure to see what he does with his latest. -
Hey Everett, did you actually read my post you knob? It's very pro-Scrosese. While I think Tarantino is mediocre at best, at least I know how to spell his name. Think before you type moron.
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You're right and I apologize, I misread you're post, I thought You were saying that Scrosese wasn't fit to lick dog s**t off Tarantino's shoe, I apologize, my mistake. And I'm sorry I misspelled Tarantino and Scrosese's names, I was in a hurry was just typing and not spell checking, sorry didn't relieze it was such a big deal
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I think the exact same thing. I love those One Night of Hell movies (it's a bigger genre than you'd think), and any movie that gives Griffin Dunne a job is A OK with me. I'd probably put After Hours up there in my top 3 Scorsese movies.
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It wasn't a big deal until you insulted me for something I didn't even say. Still not really a big deal.
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I just noticed I spelled Scorsese wrong. Removing foot from mouth now.
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scrotum-like by calling him Scrosese.
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Er, no. This is a legal remake. Scorsese is doing it by law. Tarantino just "remakes" by stealing and plagiarizing, from the whole "City on Fire" to... oh, hell, every scene from every movie.
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... It was his first truly great film since "Goodfellas." And say what you will about DiCaprio, the man makes damn good movies.
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That Scorsese was slated for what I consider the Golden God of Film Ideas--Hyperion the movie?
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Yeah, it kind of fizzled out at the last act, but it still was a great chink of cinema. THe Aviator was awesome. I am really looking forward to this one as well. Unlike most people, I was not too enamored with the original.
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did they have a 2nd cop that was another mole inside the
academy/police?
did they have this 2nd cop/mole kill off leo's character and
thereby letting matt damon's character free to continue to be a crook/mole but now he doesn't want to cause his fake cop life is "jes right" and might be even better than being a mole? i would highly doubt that leo will be killed off, and
if you watched the ORIgiNAL IA,
you will see that. and that ladies and gent, was the essence of the movie...kinda hard to critque a remake if you have NOT seen the original. it's like the pop songs out now that samples OLD songs, and the i-gen thinks it's a New song and think it's cool. my goodness....
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Julia Roberts has one, and lots of other low talent whores. I hope Scorcese doen't care about awards and just concentrates on making good movies. I am actually not a fan of much of his work, although I really enjoyed The Aviator. At least the guy is a genuine artist.
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And used their own talents and judgement about what works and what doesnt work in a film. No wonder greats such as spielberg and scorcese are having trouble if theyre being influenced by a random group of yahoos. I mean fuck the test screening, they should make the film their way. I mean thats the whole point of art isnt it? Doing test screenings will break the directors confidence in himself because itll stop him doing something unique or different. due to the fact that when he does the dipshits in the test screening will make him take it out. A lot of films are only appreciated long after theyre released. Making a film to pander to the whims of some showings is insane. And goes back to the whole "must have biggest opening weekend we can" syndrome thats fuckign up hollywood
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I'm a little surprised that Scorcese would test screen a film. Then again, the Scorcese we all loved pretty much died after Goodfellas. Casino? Decent, but derivative...Gangs...Okay, I guess...Aviator...Pretty good, but 70% of what it could have been. Personally, I'd love to see a Mean Streets type gritty drama from the guy...Maybe that's what this will be, but there's a bit too much "Star" factor in this one for my taste. Maybe he just needs to go back to sniffing coke.
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Goodfellas was test-screened, my friend. And by "friend," I mean slow friend.
"i would highly doubt that leo will be killed off, and if you watched the ORIgiNAL IA, you will see that."
Errrrrrr... whaaaaa???
BTW, why didn't Harry give proper credit to the reviewer? -
Not only did you manage to make a nonsensical post, you called me a "slow" person without provocation, and misspelled Scorcese's name. Personal attack...Check...Inability to master the language...Check...Overuse of internet abbreviation...Check...Add a vulgar word or two, and you hit the fifteen year old, 85 IQ jackpot. Tell me how great Joss Whedon is, and you become every poster this site has ever had.
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Because the one I read wasn't saying anything like 'frustratingly close to greatness'. A wee bit of wishful thinking there.
It sometimes feels very lonely being objective about Scorceses - ie liking and admiring his good, indeed great stuff - and not acting as a blinkered apologist for the rest. -
Accept that fact and you'll all be much happier.
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....
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"you called me a 'slow' person without provocation, and misspelled Scorcese's name."
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Yup, I hit the wrong button. Bully you for catching that. Your ad hominem attacks and sophmoric post still stand. I'll just sit here and wait for you to call me a "faggot" or "noob", or whatever it is your kind like to say.
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You equated test-screening with his "death" after Goodfellas. But since Goodfellas was tested itself, your post had no point. Plus you used the word "gritty." Never good.
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I used the term "gritty" when describing Mean Streets. I also use the word "water" when describing Jaws, and "boxing" when describing Raging Bull. Even worse, I've used the word "sand" when talking about Lawrence of Arabia. "Gritty" may be an over used adjective, but completely applicable when talking about Mean Streets...It's a pretty great movie, maybe you should see it.
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"me and my budding-auteur buddies". -- it says in your review.
I've been making films professionally for 25 years, so you and your budding auteur buddies (you mis-used the hypen there, by the way) can fuck off. -
Please just chill out. This is turning into some bizarre internet grammar slag off match. Anyway. Am I the only one who likes the ambulance movie - bringing out the dead? That was quite ***insert alternative word for gritty here*** and it's one of the only times I could stomach Nick Cage. I can't wait to see this buppy, and it's great to finally see Damon move out of his afflecktation and live up to his potential. I've had Infernal Affairs sitting on my shelf for years and saved it til after I see this.
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Buppy?! Buppy?! Where the blithering blue blazes did that word come from?
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Saw some driving stunt work for this while in Boston on holiday (from Ireland) took some low rez video (treo 650) of the car speeding through a red, through traffic, will post em up if someone tells me how :)
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Hey what happened to the Dean Martin biopic Scorcese was supposed to be doing?
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Very, very darkly funny, beautiful Kafka references. On another subject: to my mind, the last flat-out great film Scorsese made was THE AGE OF INNOCENCE. Aside from some horrible old age makeup there at the end, it's perfect. GONY, to me, is his only truly bad movie, which is shame, because the sets, costumes, and Daniel Day Lewis were fantastic.
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Have you ever written a review for this site? Because, based on your comments earlier, if you haven't, you're really not in a position to criticize anyone else's review. Just like someone who hasn't shot, edited and scored a film is in no position to review it. Or watch it, for that matter. After all, "movies are not a spectator sport".
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Not only do I agree with you about AFTER HOURS, but I'd rank it in my top ten list of all time. I saw it well after going through the classics -- TAXI DRIVER, MEAN STREETS, GOODFELLAS, and the rest -- and was blown away. It's a great, great flick and I'm off to put it in my Netflix queue right now!
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http://movies.about.com/od/directorinterviews/
a/dnmartin122004.htm -
...take the space out of there and you'll have a functional url.
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that anecdote makes more sense now that you went a little more in depth. thank you for that. i still contend, though, that even had tarantino been paid a shipful of gold bullion and given 70 virgins, i excuse him trying to stop NBK. i don't know the details or anything, i'm just saying that movie is an abortion. except for rodney dangerfield.
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I've said it before and I'll continue to say it again!
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I wasn't even aware there was a "Police Procedural" genre, let alone one from fucking Hong Kong. That's what i fucking love about this site..just when you think you've hit geek bottom..you always find there's another level to which you can descend.
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...Frankie Muniz? He's a better actor than Leo and has an even skinnier girlie body.
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What a let down. Major dissapointment to this film fan. Felt like Speilbergs HOOK in all the same wrong ways.
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can't think of a better movie to apply 'gritty' to myself. and no love for bringing out the dead? thought it was quite stellar myself. although i have to agree with everyone, GoNy is by far his worst, only shit film. granted i haven't seen boxcar bertha, but whatever. oh yeah, i didn't particularly care for who's that knocking at my door? either, but i'm sure i'm the only one who thinks that.
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it slumped around towards the middle and then at the last few scenes it kicked ass. i liked the end alot. i hope MS does well, as I will definately be paying my $6 opening night to check it out. Good luck Martin!
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You and Jasper Stillwell should have a debate.
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