Toochis
susan olson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
No David I wont, but your review of this film, has sparked some interest,which says a lot for your writing, there havent been many that cause me to want to bust out of myparadigm.I like Scorsese's style and hard edge reality.My introduction to him was the "Last Waltz" ending with my recent viewing of Casino. (all within the last year)(and all of the other good ones in between), I have also come to appreciate Tarrentino who is not veryone's cup of tea andLike with Vincent Gallo's Buffalo 66, the cast was all there to support Gallo and this film which said a lot about both, and it turned out to be an exceptional film, However I learned a valuable lesson in Hero worship andthe long awaited arrival of "The Brown Bunny", where the only thing redeemable was the fact that Gallostated he wished he had never made that dirge.As as an artist and linen backer I can only empathise, I wish they would all turn out as I envision.susan----- Original Message -----From: David KusumotoSent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 5:58 PMSubject: RE: [MOPO] Scorcese's "The Departed"Hi Susan:** As I've told others who've privately written me since last night -- please, don't take my comments as a hearty recommendation to see Scorcese's "The Departed." If you go, bring lowered expectations. This is not "Goodfellas" nor is it as beautifully stylized as Scorcese's better films. Because after a jet rocket opening, about 30 minutes in I started to feel cheated, feeling the film was overrated. It started to bog down and became confusing. I was finally able, around the 60-minute mark, to sort things out and better understand what was going on.** And by the end of the picture, I felt fine. The closing shot isn't subtle and feels contrived. Such contrivances are missing from most of Scorcese's better pictures -- and their absence may explain why he's not a household name among mainstream audiences who don't understand what the fuss about Scorcese is all about. So if you've followed his career, you may walk out disappointed from "The Departed." However, this last shot gives commercial audiences something Scorcese has historically been incapable of giving -- and that's "closure." Not happy ending "closure," but Scorcese's "idea" of what comes close to it.** I feel this is a "B+" movie for Scorcese. It's really gory, almost over-the-top violent with racist and anti-gay and anti-religion comments sprinkled throughout. This is what I meant by forgetting what a Scorcese picture like this is like when you see it on a big screen vs. on home video. Many people will be put off by Scorcese's return to his violent roots. But "The Departed" proves he still has the ability to shock and pull no punches by showing violence for what it is -- dirty, ugly, un-sanitized. I don't care that Scorcese can only do this kind of picture. He's good at it and should stick to what he does best. A good Scorcese film lacks vulnerable emotion, that is, you don't cry for anyone. A good Scorcese picture runs on three emotions: raw anger, getting ahead and getting even. I don't want Scorcese to do melodramas or historical pictures filled with romance.** I believe "The Departed" has enough going for it that it may become the first out-of-the-box commercial hit for Scorcese. He has never, the best I recall, directed a film that has opened #1 at the box office. He has a shot here. The intriguing question then might be: Can Scorcese handle commercial success? You get the feeling nearly everyone in this cast was underpaid just to be directed by him. I just hope "The Departed" puts an end to Scorcese's "experiments" of the last decade which nearly buried him. I'm thinking now of "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator," two films with mega-budgets and overblown praise. "The Departed" looks like it cost pennies to make but is better than both of those films combined.** I think Scorcese owes the extension of his career to Leonardo DiCaprio, who stuck by him and kept mainstream audiences interested. After "Casino," he felt done to me. He got the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. People then started rooting for him to get an Oscar for sentimental reasons, instead of merit. "The Departed" gives Scorcese his most recognizable mainstream cast in ages. And I find it incredible that this film marks the first time that Jack Nicholson, our man from "Easy Rider" to the present day, has worked w/the director from New York.** (BTW, the anti-New York bias continues in Hollywood. The last New York-based director to win an Oscar was Woody Allen, for "Annie Hall" in 1977. New York directors get nominated, but are shut out by the clannish L.A. crowd. I hate this.)-koose.----- Original Message -----From: susan olson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: susan olson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: Fw: [MOPO] Scorcese's "The Departed"
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2006 13:41:12 -0500Great thank you, You have motivated me to get out and see this movie!susan----- Original Message -----From: David KusumotoSent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 12:43 PMSubject: Re: [MOPO] Scorcese's "The Departed"** Hi Shelley -- I have not seen INFERNAL AFFAIRS, and in a way, I'm kind of glad because people who've seen the Hong-Kong original have commented negatively about THE DEPARTED. But I now plan to see INFERNAL AFFAIRS and will compare.** The main gripe I've read from reviewers of both films, is that it takes Scorcese 30 minutes longer to tell the same story about two moles trying to rat each other out, and unless you follow closely, you can get lost. Fans, just remember this going in -- one of the moles is Matt Damon, a squeaky-clean looking kid who's been "groomed-for-crime-since-childhood" -- by Irish mobster Jack Nicholson. Matt Damon infiltrates the Boston police force. The other main mole is an honest cop with a long boyhood rap sheet (Leonardo DiCaprio) -- who grew up on the same bad streets of Boston. As a condition of joining the force, he must go to prison on purpose so that when he gets out -- he can fake psychopathic behavior well enough to infiltrate Nicholson's gang. DiCaprio comes out so scary that you're not sure if he's really a good guy.** The riveting thing is that we soon learn no one is trustworthy. The paranoia level for the audience goes through the roof about an hour into the film. Some critics have said Nicholson chews up scenery in the same foul way that Bette Davis romped through "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?," making "The Departed" unnecessarily longer.** Well you know what people say. Anything that's good in a picture never feels long. And Nicholson is great, Boston accent and all. He is the devil incarnate yet doesn't blow Scorcese's great team of younger actors off the screen. The film's only weak actor is the woman psychiatrist. However, even though she's an annoyance, and I won't give away the ending -- her character is one of many keys that enable a mainstream audience to finally walk out of a Scorcese picture with satisfaction. I don't mean a happy ending, which is so not Scorcese. But you get an ending that settles scores, so to speak. I would've preferred a stronger female lead in that role, the type of woman you see in Scorcese's previous pictures. When you see it, you'll know what I mean.** It's the day after and I'm still washing the blood off of me.-koose.----- Original Message -----From: Shelly Whitworth-King <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: Shelly Whitworth-King <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: Re: Scorcese's "The Departed"
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2006 12:21:16 +0000Hi Koose
Have you seen INFERNAL AFFAIRS, the film that this is 'based' on (although, not a remake)? Just wondering! I thought it was excellent.
Am looking forward to THE DEPARTED.
Thanks for your impressions.
Shelly----Original Message Follows----From: David Kusumoto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: David Kusumoto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: [MOPO] Scorcese's "The Departed"
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2006 00:51:05 -0700
** Before people start falling over themselves proclaiming Martin Scorcese's new film, "The Departed" as being his among his best, it isn't. But when they say it's his best film since "Goodfellas" and "Casino," it's true. After spending more than 10 years trying to "art" it up doing hoity-toity stuff that's unfamiliar to his palate, it's clear Scorcese will be to crime dramas what Alfred Hitchcock was to thrillers. And like Hitchcock, he may never win an Oscar. So what.
** "The Departed" rockets off the screen during its first 30 minutes, then does a baffling stall for another 30, before zooming to a blood-and-gore riveting finish during its last 90. Because of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, i.e., Scorcese's best films -- you might say "The Departed" falls short of greatness. But if you didn't know "The Departed" was directed by Scorcese -- you "might" also say it's one of the best pictures released so far in 2006, with many more potentially great films to be released before Dec. 31.
** People are talking about the stellar turns by Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon and Alec Baldwin, but this picture belongs to Leonardo DiCaprio -- and, in my mind, stolen -- by a surprisingly spectacular Mark Wahlberg, in a secondary role I hope people won't forget. The writing and editing during the film's last 90 minutes are vintage Scorcese.
** Since this isn't a review -- what follows is an impression. I had almost forgotten what Scorcese violence is like on the big screen. This, you may remember, was one of the major raps against "Goodfellas" when it lost the Best Picture Oscar to the politically correct "Dances with Wolves" in 1990 -- and "Taxi Driver" when it lost the top prize to "Rocky" in 1976. In 1995, "Casino" got mixed reviews, with many noting that it was "the same old Scorcese."
** Well "Casino" has become more fondly remembered over time because of what Scorcese has directed since. It still holds up, while the films he's done since "Casino" have not. The body count and gore in "The Departed" is comparable to "Goodfellas," "Casino" and "Taxi Driver." It's so gruesome that even the most ardent Scorcese fans must be warned in advance that what they're about to see on the big screen, 11 years after "Casino" -- that is, the stylish violence they "thought" they adored on the little screen (and I still believe MOST people, judging by box office receipts, first saw "Goodfellas" and "Casino" on video, not in theaters) -- could still jolt them when they see "The Departed."
** There's an "in-your-face, matter-of-fact-brutal-truth" feeling to the violent images in "The Departed," and when you leave the theater -- (hopefully satisfied, which is unusual for most Scorcese films) -- those of you who've followed his career may resign yourself to the fact that really, after 35 years, urban crime dramas are what Scorcese does best. Hitchcock's legend is similarly based on a single genre, and he was better than many other directors who have won Oscars. "The Departed" feels effortless because the guy behind the camera knows the landscape of rats, moles, guns and cops better than anyone.
** You almost get the feeling that "The Departed" works for the very reason that it's not aiming for the fences. Nothing fancy here, very few camera tricks, just fabulous cinematic story telling, especially its convoluted final 90 minutes. Don't bring the kids.
-koose.Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
