Cool News
Segue Zagnut says too much about BRINGING OUT THE DEAD
Well... Things are not looking especially hot for Scorsese's latest in the land of early looks. The film is just a month or so away and I can't say I'm hearing divided word, because frankly... I've had only negative looks at the film recently. Being the eternal optimist I have to hope that 'these reviewers' are just off on this film. It's happened before.. not often... Of course with a filmmaker like Scorsese, I don't care if the movie is being heralded as causing spontaneous eruption of the inner ear... I'll be there. Scorsese's work is always compelling at least on SOME level, and I can't wait to pan for gold with this one. And from these reviews it looks like we'll find some nuggets, but not our fortune.
Head Geek,
This is Segue Zagnut. Every whisper.. every waking hour.. like the hurt.. lost and blind.. I have to say too much. Martin
Scorsese's new film sucks. There I said it. Now because I know every respectable filmgoer reading this thinks I'm an idiot and
will not believe me until they see the film themselves... let me explain.
No one needs me to tell you that he has made some of the best film out there. Even the less talked about masterpieces like
Last Temptation of Christ and King of Comedy are a must see for anyone who loves movies. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, After
Hours, GoodFellas, Kundun, etc... how many directors have that impressive of a filmography? Not many. That's why this is so
disappointing.
'Bringing Out the Dead' is his new film and I understand it is suppose to open in October. It stars Nicolos Cage, Patricia
Arquette, John Goodman, Tom Sizemore, and Ving Rhames. The premise is simple. An ambulance driver desperately tries to
beat his personal demons and find redemption in a world of death and pain. With this talent and that concept, that puts my butt
in the seat.
Cage plays Cage mostly. You know we've seen this before. Crazy and freaky out-of-control Cage falls off the deep end.
Leaving Las Vegas meets Face Off. Con Air meets 8mm. At this point, Cage's range of emotions feels more like a point and
click archive he pulls from to make his performance, then fresh and original. Cage has the same problem now that Eddie
Murphy used to have. He takes himself too seriously on screen. Like he thinks every move is in slow motion. Cage is best
when he is understated.. Raising Arizona, Birdy, Moonstruck, even Red Rock West. What is worse for Cage in BOTD is his
character has no real arch. Nothing really changes for him. He says he finds redemption by the end, but why? How? I guess
I'll get to that problem later.
Patricia Arquette is fine. I don't really know her character. The film jumped all over the place with her emotions and mind set,
never giving us a constant to understand. She was good enough that I cared about her. I wanted to know who she was and
where she was going. Sadly, the screenwriter didn't.
The film is set around three long nights at work for Cage. But the world it is set in doesn't exist. It is suppose to be a dark
view of New York midnight to six, intentionally and unrelentingly dismal. There is not a glimmer of hope or a moment of
beauty. Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore and John Goodman all play other paramedics. They are all great, making strong
supporting characters, but they all need grounding. Too many characters and situations are over the top. At one point one of
the drivers flips the ambulance several times. Cage who has been drinking on the job just gets out and walks away. Next day
he still goes to work and... no repercussions. No one ever mentions it happened. No one gets fired. This is not the way the
real world works.
Not that the movie has to be in the real world, but if it isn't real then it better have something to say. The fakery, the symbolism
have to represent something. Cage is suppose to find a way to forgive himself for his mistakes and learn to live with his
demons. Only I don't see how Cage came to this realization. None of the craziness leads this direction. It does a wonderful
job of helping you understand why Cage gave up, but nothing else.
Unless of course I didn't get it. First time I saw 'Barton Fink' I didn't get it. The difference is that with Fink I could tell the Coen
brothers got it, even if I didn't. BOTD feels more like I got it and Scorsese didn't.
The film has a cold hard look and Scorsese's visual style, both of which are great. But it doesn't make up for the slow pacing.
An hour in I looked at my watch and couldn't believe it was only AN HOUR IN. We quickly get the point and scene after
scene starts to look like the last. Several story lines never go anywhere... the ghost, the homeless crazy guy, the father, the girl..
etc. Many scenes work individually, but together it doesn't tell a story, making it so I can't tell you what is sub plot and what is
main plot.
Since this was a press screening I doubt they will change much, but it didn't have end credits and hopefully it was a temporary
music track. If it wasn't temp then look for the highly out of place use of a Natalie Merchant song. I don't know what they
were thinking.
Okay, I've said too much. Consider This.. Segue Zagnut
-
+ Expand All
-
Scorsese needs to make a movie with a real plot. Gangs of New York might work, and it might even be great if it's violent and hard-edged with good characters. Any word on whether Ovitz has managed to get him of his next-pic obligation at Warners or whatever? Will Gangs be his next film? It should be. Or really, any movie with an actual plot. Scorsese needs to get his act together. And apparently Shrader needs to be flogged for this script.
---MythMaker out -
Casino suck bad, it was an hour too long and repeated itself and sharon stone should stick to being naked in all her movies and joe p played this guy twice before.. That said, it seems that Martin S. may be losing his touch. Kundun was praised for what it tried, not what it did. He has made, IMHO, the best film of the 70,s, Taxi driver, and 80's, Raging Bull, and one of the ten best of the 90's, Goodfellas. Maybe he doesn't have any greatness left, perhaps like Stephen King since he wrote The Stand, he has run out of good ideas. He might have just spent his load and all we have left is the cuddling.
-
Is it Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, King of Comedy, Goodfellas, or Mean Streets? No. Is it compelling stuff and one of the more thought-provoking and entertaining (depending on your taste) flicks this year? Yes. Absolutely, yes. Nobody else could have made this movie - a chaotic mix of over-the-top comedy, grim hyper-reality and redemption all churned together in a Catholic blender. Scorsese will be accused of going-through-the-motions, phoning in a Taxi Driver lite even though this is a fine companion piece to that film. While Travis and Frank occupy a similar world, they are very, very different protagonists and I for one found Cage's desperate search to absolve his guilt very gripping. The structure is choppy, loose (so is life) and for some, probably too repetitious, but it effectively paints Cage's journey as he tries in vain to "save" the life that will give his soul a new slate. I disagree with the above review that there is no resolution, no ephinany/turning point, for Cage's character. It's there, it's just not overblown or underlined in a traditional sense. Cage, I thought, was more effective than he's been in his past several flicks, and even if you don't like him - what about the incredible Ving Rhames performance, or John Goodman's or Tom Seizmore's? Not to mention the amazing visuals. Scorsese paints an incredible reality where tainted, bloody angels ride electric, flashing chariots through the streets of what is best described as a weigh station between life and death. The needle-drop music selections are dead-on. Schrader's dialogue is sharp, often tinged with deeper meaning without being particularly pretentious. No, it's not a perfect movie, but it's got enough kick to show Marty's still got his chops. If you're in tune to it, this is a smart, intelligent journey well worth taking. I'm really plesantly surprised at the laughs that are found here. Actually, while everyone screams "Taxi Driver rip-off", they'll probably never realize the flick's a lot like "After Hours."
-
I run security at a nightclub in New York, CBGB, where Scorcesse spent several days filming the gothic singer's (Harper Simon)overdose scene with Ving Rhames and Nic Cage. We've had a lot of productions use our club as a location, the recently released Summer of Sam spent more than a week there. I've got to say that Marty and his crew were the most relaxed I'd ever seen work there. You usually hear horror stories from the crew about how things have been going wrong and this or that isn't going to work in the film. But, on this shoot, everyone was in good spirits and the crew was going on about how good this was going to be. It was also almost entirely the same crew Scorcesse always uses. I just thought AICN readers might be interested in that tidbit. I'd be really disappointed if this movie was anything less than good. I've always been a Scorcesse fan and I'm rooting for this one to do well.
-
Come on now! Even Marty has had some bad ones: Italianamerica, The Last Waltz, Bad, New York Stories, Age of Inn. The guy is gonna miss sometimes. Don't be so surprised if this turns out to suck. 'Course, I recall a lot of people who didn't like Reservoir Dogs until Pulp Fiction came out.
-
To...I think menothin was your name, CASINO is one of the best pictures of the decade and the best examples of style in filmmaking ever. I know I'll take fire for this, but it is my own OPINION. Pesci is better then he ever has been before. De Niro is wonderfully subtle. The period detail is unparalleled--I still don't know why the movie wasn't nominated for the costume oscar. The perfectly chosen music mirrors the situations. The editing? The acting? Every performance is absolutely perfect to a tee. The film keeps moving and never feels like it is three hours. It is a true epic, and anyone that hasn't seen it should. The entire film has so many layers. Inside this plot of the Tangiers Casino is Ace's relationship with Ginger, Ginger's relationship with Nicky, and Nicky's relationship with Ace. And my namesake, Lester Diamond, is one of the biggest weasels ever portrayed in a movie and is played beautifully by James Woods. It is among Scorsese's best work, not his worst.
-
from the looks of the trailer it seems that this review may be dead on--CAGE seems to have that typical longface-pained-look-hey-im-acting-tortured way about him. maybe he'll temper that (ala LEAVING VEGAS) with spurts of charm and wit. im sure SCORCESE wont make a film as aimless as this book was, but with a script by SCHRAEDER and MARTY on the camera, this could be fantastic. way above average at the very least.
-
what the hell are hells kitchen EMS guys doing on the bowery? is this unusual?
-
dont you agree that a good film cant do without the whole "combat" atmosphere of the dispatcher/EMS relationship? how about the male dispatcher that freaks towards the end and seems to be having a sort-of 'nam flashback? this may be the part scorcese plays, as most of the film should have that bitchy female dipatcher.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 209 total posts 207 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 97 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 144 total posts 77 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 68 total posts 68 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 67 total posts 67 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 64 total posts 60 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 480 total posts 55 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 53 total posts 50 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 118 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 182 total posts 27 posts