MovieComment

Gangs of New York

Posted by Player under Drama

For many men, Martin Scorsese is one of the few directors that can truly capture the male experience, from the heart broken gambler in Casino, to the average kid turned wise guy in Good Fellas, to even the doubting Christ in The Last Temptation, so you can imagine my own personal expectations for such a grand epic as Gangs of New York, a film based on a novel by Herbert Asbury.

The film depicts the story of the Five Points, a neighborhood in New York which is the home to Irish immigrants and native New Yorkers, if you can truly apply any real signifigance to the word “native”, I guess. The conflicts are many, from religion, to social status, to ethnic background, to politics, and they all personify themselves in two men, Bill The Butcher, played by Daniel Day Lewis and Amsterdam, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Cameron Diaz plays Jenny, the love interest, but not necessarily a very crucial character in the story. The story is a classic tragedy, where The Butcher killed Amsterdam’s father in a gang battle, and 16 years later a grown up Amsterdam returns to The Five Points to avenge his father’s death and ends up becoming the adopted son and apprentice of his father’s killer. Eventually The Butcher learns of Amsterdam’s true history and there ensues an epic battle to the death.

Visually this film appears colorful and very detailed from the costumes to the sets, to even the backgrounds. Even though the film spans two DVD discs, the film seems though incomplete, or should I say disappointing in its ending climax. Gangs of New York simply has so much to tell, that even after a long duration, it still seems to come up short.

However the real center of attraction for this film is Daniel Day Lewis and his performance as Bill The Butcher. No other film captures such a complex and violent man as this, and when you stop to consider how ridiculous The Butcher looks in his costumes and mustache, you will appreciate Day-Lewis for such accurate and perfect execution of some of the best lines ever uttered by a villianous man. It is truly amazing.

Most Scorsese fans will end up watching this film regardless of the critics, because like most other Scorsese films, Gangs of New York depicts history more to true life than most other works. It shows the grit and grime, the blood and sweat, and the faults of men and women who were the foundation of a struggling and conflicted nation in its infancy. While it is more comforting to think that rich and clean men built this nation, Scorsese reminds us that our past is often darker than we care to remember it to be, that for every building that rises in the New York sky, thousands of men died and sufferred on that same very ground years ago.

Jersey Girl

Posted by Player under Drama

Kevin Smith’s Jersey Girl takes a detour from the Jay & Silent Bob antics of his previous films and tries to pull at your heart strings via an eight year-old girl and for the most part it works.

Some critics are calling this a lukewarm success for Smith, as this is the first serious movie he’s directed and written, but what most movie fans won’t care about that, all that they will care about is this a good movie? I want to say yes, because I would like to see more films like Jersey Girl made, but on the whole, Jersey Girl is good, but not great.

Ben Affleck plays Oliver Trinki, a successful guy who has a great life in New York, who has just met the love of his life, Gertrude (Jennifer Lopez). The two hit it off and get married and of course pregnant. At the birth of Jersy Girl, unfortunately, the mother dies and Oli is left to ponder the situation alone. He turns to his father played by George Carlin, who lives in New Jersey. After his father refuses to take care of the baby any longer, Oli takes Gerti to work with him and has the worst workday ever, resulting in the loss of his job. Fast-forward seven years and Gerti is now eight and Oli works with his father, street-sweeping. Father and daughter meet Liv Tyler, a dorky college student working in a video store. This leads to the first real romance in Oli’s life since Gerti’s mother.

Now as to why I liked Jersey Girl as a movie, well one thing is certain, I hate Disney more than I hate the Life Time channel, and Smith’s film is the first real film I’ve seen that talks about parenting without making it sound all perfect and stupid like most Disney films, (pretty much any Disney movie with Eddie Murphy nowadays). Through-out the film the word “shit” comes up and then there is of course Liv Tyler’s “Man cannot live on porn alone” line that you’d never hear in a Disney film. This makes Jersey Girl seem closer to what real life is, at least to me.

Affleck’s acting is good, he is somewhat believable, even when his character seems a little too far fetched. Carso is great as Gerti, and dam-it, maybe too perfect, considering she grew up without a mom. Liv Tyler’s performance is probably the best. Unlike in other films, where Tyler may be the pinnacle of beauty, in this film, she’s rather plain, some might even say ugly. From her non-shiny and boring hair to her nerd glasses, she really does look like the geek girl at the local video store. And that’s exactly why she’s dam hot!

In the end, Jersey Girl is a cute film about a father and his daughter and what parents can relate to. There are no Jay and Silent Bob jokes, there’s only Jersey Girl and Affleck.

Master And Commander

Posted by Player under Drama

During its initial theatre release, Master & Commander was about the only good film out at the time, but still failed to garner the high audiences of Russell Crowe’s previous film, Gladiator. I guess this proves that stories of Rome have a universal appeal, while stories of a British Navy ship just don’t. On the other hand, in college most of my literature classes were in 18 and 19 century literature and I found it fascinating reading material, but as film, it never has ever worked for me, (well except for a couple of renditions of Wuthering Heights).

Master and Commander tells the story of two British friends. One is the caption, Lucky Jack, played by Russell Crowe and the other is the ship’s doctor who is quite an intellectual and a contrast to the military man that is Captain Jack. The epic story is centered on a new French ship that is sinking the British and who the captain has taken upon himself to defeat. Along the way, there are sacrifices from the crew, and even the ship’s doctor which challenge the captain to change his plans and his character.

The supporting cast is both large and well drawn out. There is a clear class system on board between regular men and military commanders. And if the character detail was not enough, the sets and the backgrounds are very rich and very detailed. Visually and audiowise this film is superb, the DTS 5-1 soundtrack of course is the best feature.

However Master and Commander just did not grab me as a great film, it is very good and it is presented even better, but I just was not interested. Perhaps others will disagree, but I think the story fails to appeal to a broader audience. I think women might find the film lacking too, as it is strictly a male world that is presented in the film.

A Beautiful Mind

Posted by Player under Drama

In perhaps what could be Ron Howard’s best film yet (which isn’t saying much), A Beautiful Mind manages to entertain, while at the same time describe the hardships of being an intellectual, and then a mental case, or is it the other way around? The movie won best film at the Oscars, and so it is definitely deserving of being watched in a time when Hollywood really isn’t making many good films. I would argue that this is not a great film, but a good film. Crowe’s performance shows that he deserves more than just the Bruiser stereotype that he has been afforded after doing Gladiator. Connelly’s performance (best supporting actress) is excellent and very deserving as well. The thing to remember about Connelly’s performance is not the lines she has, but the crying scenes. The depth she portrays is what got her the Oscar, not the words, or the smiles.

The film reminded me of what most intellectuals go through, mainly rejection, adoration, and ultimately humility. The movie tells the story of John Nash, a brilliant Princeton math student who tries to create an original thesis, and ends up as a mental case for most of the movie. It is a true story, amazing one at that.

Sound wise, the DVD is formatted with a low soundtrack, and I had trouble hearing the voices. The color is accurate and excellent. Even though Dreamworks co-produced it, DTS Surround was not used, and so the 2 DVD collection seems less than perfect.

On the one hand this is a slow movie where Howard chooses to go for a softer pull than his usual trademark, “Look the character is really emotional now, start crying!” technique so often used in his prior movies like Backdraft and Apollo 13. I’m sure having Crowe’s acting in the scene helps Howard from going straight for the heart strings.