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Gаngѕ οf Νеw Yоrк 2002
A dramatic treatment of the origins of gang culture in American urban centers, this operatic period piece's exaggerations are in the tradition of grand guignol-- which makes the film a guilty pleasure of mine. Not that I fault the critics who scathed it and the 12 pages of commentors on IMDB who gave it a * or ** rating and vented copiously about its self-indulgence, bloody repetitious hyper-violence, repellant characters and general pointlessness. I have the same kind of affection for this film as I do a 1960s Technicolor Christopher Lee bloodfest from the Hammer studios. As serious cinematic achievements, I guess they stink on ice too.
"Having seen his father killed in a major gang fight in New York, young Amsterdam Vallon is spirited away for his own safety. Some years later, he returns to the scene of his father's death, the notorious Five Points district in New York. It's 1863 and lower Manhattan is run by gangs, the most powerful of which is the Natives, headed by Bill "The Butcher" Cutting. He believes that America should belong to native-born Americans and opposes the waves of immigrants, mostly Irish, entering the city. It's also the time of the Civil War and forced conscription leads to the worst riots in US history. Amid the violence and corruption, young Vallon tries to establish himself in the area and also seek revenge over his father's death." (garykmcd on IMDB)
Oh by the way, stock the fridge with beer and order a bigger pizza than you usually would, cause this sucker's l-o-o-o-o-o-n-n-g!
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Νеw Υοrk, Νеw Υοrk 1977 Ѕсοrѕеse
Martin Scorsese is a director who takes great risks, and if all you know about a Scorsese film is that it's his latest, you never know what you're about to experience. In my blurb for Taxi Dirver I made reference to the amazing range of genres he has covered, and said "he even did a musical." Well, this is the musical, and it's the one Scorsese movie I've never been able to warm up to. Sure it's "over the top," but that hasn't been a problem for me in a host of other movies. The lead male role is a very unlikable person, but that is even less able to put me off a good film. There is a lot of discussion in print about heavy cocaine use among the director and several others in this project, but I wouldn't reject a movie on those grounds either. I even liked Dennis Hopper's drug-addled directorial mare's-nest of a movie, The Last Movie (not to be confused with Bogdanovich's Oscar-winner, The Last Picture Show).
For whatever reason, I just can't take this movie, and have to admit that in the three or four times I've tried to watch it I've probably not even seen more than half an hour of it. So make of it what you will-- it has plenty of admirers, even ardent ones. All of them dumb as a box of rocks, bat-shit crazy, and terminal casualties of the War on Drugs-- but hey, people like that have a right to enjoy the movies they want, so here it is, all two and a half hours' worth. Maybe I just didn't stick it out long enough to find the good parts.
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Αlісе Dοеѕn't Lіνе Ηеrе Αnуmοrе 1974
It's a commonplace that this "relationship" movie was made because Scorsese was afraid of being typed as a gangster movie maker and wanted to break the mold-- that being said, it's usually conceded that it's a pretty good film. But in a sense it was his first big-studio directorial effort, and Mean Streets was the only mob film he'd made by 1974. It was an indie film he'd finagled Warner distribution for on the strength of Boxcar Bertha-- and that was a Roger Corman production, meaning that Scorsese didn't negotiate a relationship with AIP, and was in effect a foreman in charge of a Corman filmmaking unit.
Now that Scorsese has shown what a range he has, the whole canard about genre is moot, and yes, this is indeed a pretty good film. Seeing it again, I am wowed by the way good direction can overcome the limitations of any genre, and the display of the director's skill becomes what is interesting, eclipsing the subject matter. For my money, casting is key to success here, especially in the secondary roles-- and the kid is as genuine and unobnoxious as possible. I even found myself caring how things turn out for him, and Alice and what's-his-name, sort of.
I take good samurai movies seriously, and understand why some people can't-- with this in mind I think I can look at fans of family and relationship movies without condescention-- for them, I imagine Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is more than a pretty good film.
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Βохсаr Βеrtһа 1972
Most film freaks know that Martin Scorsese's first feature movie was a Roger Corman production, but how many people know what it was? Join the exclusive ranks of the few who not only know, but have seen it. Starring Barbara Hershey in the title role, and David Carradine as her love interest. Carradine patriarch John is also in the movie! How could Roger Corman pass up a bit of casting like that?
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