THE HAPPENING, M. Night Shyamalan 2008

After the bad taste The Village left, and not forgetting I thought Signs was a piece of crap, I reluctantly  attacked Shyamalan’s latest work, and have to admit, it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

The director  again deals with something shocking able to make people feel weak and scared, looking for an explanation for the chain of events they are witnessing involving death on massive scale.

Any given day, starting in Central Park, what  first declared as a terrorist chemical attack strikes population causing them to self-inflict pain up to death. Extreme scenes occur one after another, and bulletins advise people to move westwards as mostly east coast largest cities have been the targets.

After explaining  theories on  the bees mysterious disappearance in science class , high school teacher  Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), together with his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), his colleague Julian (John Leguizamo) and little Jess catch a train to get away from Philadelphia. After a while, people start receiving news via cell phones also confirming mayhem in Philadelphia. To make things worse, trains stops for communications have been interrupted, leaving passengers at their own fate in the middle of nowhere.

News broadcast  attacks have spread to minor populated towns, disclaiming terrorist attacks as the explanation for such horror.

At a certain point, Julian decides to divert towards Princeton leaving the others, in order to find his wife, who is no longer available on the phone, thus, Elliot and Alma will have to take care of Jess, and find a way out from this mess, however  the menace is fast surrounding, same as desperation and hysteria in the small crowds trying to hide.

The first scenes in this film are outstanding and really shocking, immediately catching audience attention, and making you wonder an explanation for those extreme and chaotic moments. It reminds me so much to Stephen King’s Cell, released in 2006 as to think of some kind of “inspiration”. Then the getaway starts, seems like an Arcade videogame, passing through different obstacles, and getting harder gradually.

It’s fun for the first time I checked the time, there were only 25 minutes remaining, and although getaway could have been extended more without boring, my doubts started regarding the conclusion of the story, and the explanation for this horror. Unfortunately  the explanation, more or less identical to Elliot’s beliefs, is solved with the extract of a tv interview, even with moral message about the way we’re messing with the planet we inhabit. That’s it. Ok, I can buy it, but what turns this into a cheap tale is so much love involved, as if true love could save anyone. What the hell is that? A Christian lecture about salvation?  Because I’ve had plenty of them in my early years! How is that the movie starts with a scientific explanation of the bees extinguishing and then love is so highlighted?

Nowhere to Hide or the power of love

Shyamalan’s definitely are not my cup of tea,  he provides potential ideas, but sooner or later, they end up stinking. This is a clear example about how to life by one major blockbuster, such as the Sixth Sense was, and then despite the unability to deliver good product, survive in Hollywood highly supported by the industry, with amazing  promotion and marketing  keeping him well acclaimed.

CRY-BABY, John Waters 1990

 

Another creation by John Waters, Cry Baby is the tribute the bizarre director pays to all those teenage movies in the 50’s  recovering  high schools and Romeo and Juliet’s  romances in West Side Story style, as usual, from a very exaggerated perspective making fun of all that crap.

Allison (Amy Locane)  is a good and beautiful girl whose life has always been too perfect , too “square”, enjoying a social position, always escorted by her perfect boyfriend. During a vaccination campaign, her eyes meet Cry-Baby Walker’s (Johnny Depp), obviously is love at first sight, but he’s a drape, a rebel, and she’s not supposed to be with him. Despite the differences, Allison, tired of being good, will surrender to his charm, but the relationship won’t be accepted by her social environment and his boyfriend will plan revenge on the drapes, causing fatal consequences which will lock Cry-Baby into a Juvenile Estate Penitentiary, up to he’s 21.

Will he be able to escape from being imprisoned, will Allison wait for him or she’ll be back to her former situation? Many questions are answered at  the rhythm of classic rock n’ roll, with hilarious lyrics and dancing performances.

Cry-Baby would be definitely considered a musical film, for music presence is constant. On one hand the proper performances at the talent show, or the jamboree, and on the other the musical scenes, with resemblance to Grease or Elvis’ Jailhouse Rock, with a super young Johnny Depp locked in prison, full of frustration and rage. Lyrics are hilarious, making you giggle most of time and soundtrack is pretty cool.

What about the cast? From Johnny Depp in his hottest taking off  from 21 Jump Street  to Willem Defoe as the penitentiary guard, including porn super goddess Tracy Lords in pin-up rockin’ style, Iggy Pop full of dirt in his most Southern attitude, and experienced and established Polly Bergen as the adorable grandma of virgin-like Amy Locane. And of course, John Waters’ mojo pins, Patricia Hearst and Mink Stole. Especial mention to Hatchet-Face, a super albino woman characterized as scary and disgusting as possible, if I pass by that freak on the street I would get the fuck out asap.

Gorgeous!

Thus, in Cry-Baby you find a cocktail of classic teenage love movie, with comedy, musical performances, and ridiculous and exaggerated acting and dialogues, that make you laugh despite you reckon  that  the story is just crap. Still, you can have a good time.

Lickin is what I'm good at

MOON, Duncan Jones 2009

Taking David Bowie as first reference, it was obvious we were to watch his son’s, Duncan Jones, film debut as director. Obviously we didn’t know what we were watching, just some sci-fi  story, but felt confident after reading some good reviews.

It’s been really a nice surprise, an original story of isolation and manipulation of the human being for business purposes, a fact constantly happening in daily life and mostly hidden from public opinion.

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is two weeks from ending his three year contract for Lunar Industries at their lunar station. Working and living on his own, he’s in charge of monitoring  the harvest of Helium-3, and then load supplies on a rocket direct to Earth. Helium-3 has become the most important source of energy, finishing with the concern of lack of oil resources.

Unfortunately direct communications with Earth failed long time ago, thus Sam can only contact with relatives and superiors via recorded messages. His only companion is a robot, Gerty (Kevin Spacey), which has been designed to attend him and assist on any task Sam might require.

Gerty, your friend

Sam starts having hallucinations which initially cost him little accidents, however, situation complicates when he has a serious “lunar” car wreck. When he recovers conscience, no memories of the crash are left, and curiosity will move him to investigate, discovering another himself alive.

Don’t feel like detailing more about the film, otherwise the surprise will disappear, and I think situation and events after what I described is the most interesting part.

What I would like to remark is the way isolation can affect human behavior and personality, and this movie reflects it perfectly.

Also another subject brought out is the way big companies manage to save costs regarding employees, here keeping just Sam as responsible for a complex station and the installations and machinery involved. Always human presence is required despite the high technology working, but what’s the procedure to follow in case of an accident or illness?

I'm a mess

Thus, this film could be labeled as sci-fi, however,  deeper concerns are involved, which make you brain starts thinking, some research advances have been proved as helpful but sometimes can have consequences depending on the way they’re applied.

End of my speech, I don’t want to give more clues about such a good film as this, maybe in the future I add some sort of appendix on which I will expose my opinion openly without spoiling the movie. I’m glad to have seen it, and strongly recommend to everyone. Hope you like it.

PECKER, John Waters 1998

     

I felt like watching Pecker not only because I enjoy John Waters’ absurd movies but also because I’m developinga serious crash on photography lately, so everything related to cameras results very attractive to me.

It is true you have to be in the right mood for watching any of his movies, although I’ve been able to enjoy both Pink Flamingos all the same as Serial Mom. Pecker belongs addresses more to the second style, with more budget, very well known actors and not so absurd and disgusting  as the first part of his movies.

Pecker (Edward Furlong), is a teenager whose love for the life he’s got in Baltimore is reflected in his amateurish pictures. He always carries his old second hand camera everywhere trying to catch the essence of his social surroundings, he enjoys taking pictures of her girlfriend Shelley (Christina Ricci) working in the Laundromat, his mother selling cheap clothes to homeless, his little sister’s sugar habit, or his best mate stealing at the supermarket. Everything has a photographic aspect for Pecker, capable to find beauty in common things.

He schedules an exhibition of his pics at the fast food restaurant he works at, and surprisingly a New York art dealer Rorey Wheeler (Lili Taylor) fascinated by the power of the images, buys a picture of female pubic hair and approaches Pecker for representing him in New York, assuring a wonderful and successful future as an artist.

Thus, Pecker and the closest characters in his pictures go to New York for a proper exhibition, delighting all the posh and snob critics, who fall in love with his dysfunctional  family and environment.

So much publicity and media cover he receives, becoming the new sensation, when Pecker comes back home in Baltimore things aren’t the same any longer. First, people don’t want to appear in his pictures for free, also his girlfriend is jealous of his manager, his friend Matt is no longer the best thief in town, Little Chrissy is forced to take Ritalin to control sugar habit and hyperactivity, and he receives constant pressure for taking more pictures. He’s even forced to substitute his old camera for a expensive reflex, and he realizes all the magic is gone and images are shit, although Rorey insists that his work has evolved.

What Pecker desires most is to recover his life, his identity and his pictures, so he’ll have to make a huge effort to work things out.

Pecker is a simple tale of a town boy, surrounded by things nobody could even consider decent, but through his camera lens, and the way Waters describe them, seem beautiful. But how can a girl hooked on sugar be beautiful? What about a lesbian stripper club? Pecker’s mother managing a fashion shop for homeless? Shelley’s obsession for the Laundromat? Memama and her Virgin Mary? What the fuck? This is the bucolic portrait of Waters’ reality, everybody seems happy in their lives and roles, however, from an objective point of view it is too sad.

Why does Pecker succeed in NYC? Just because all those people couldn’t even figure out those things could happen, so detached from their reality they find the boy’s pictures irresistible, and he becomes the door to Baltimore reality, as if in NYC misery and filth had no place.

From a practical aspect, I was astonished by the way Pecker was taking pictures of people without their consent. As far as I know, whenever you expose any picture of anybody you must ask for permission, otherwise you’re dealing with illegal taken images, and this is what happens once he’s back from the big city. Nobody wants him to take pictures of them, of their miseries, and threaten the guy with suing. Preserving anonymity has become a kind of obsession lately, you cannot take pictures of kids without people being suspicious, sometimes you can’t portrait buildings either for copyrights…I must admit I felt jealous of the kid taking pictures of absolutely everything and everyone he felt like, allowing him to be spontaneous, without having to be careful not to offend anyone.

I’ve always had fun with the characters in Waters’ films. They are all so so overly dramatic, the way they speak and act…I don’t know how to explain it. Let’s take  Memama as an example of a Waters character. To start with, the name is weird, she’s Pecker’s grandmother and apparently is a normal religious old lady, but just for the fact that she sells the best beef sandwiches in town in a small stand in front of the house, and how customers when she’s not attending them are so desperate as to say “What will I do without your sandwich?” is exaggerated, don’t you think? But the best, the best is her talking Virgin Mary, which doesn’t speak at all,  but is believed by the old woman to be a miracle.

Full of Grace!

Although this is a mainstream film, there are many resemblances to the old movies,  I see a  subtle tribute to Pink Flamingos thanks to the characters and situations. In some of his films, Waters’ characters are outstanding in society, for several reasons, Pecker for his pictures, Divine for being an outlaw, and eventually world turns against them, so they have to manage to recover their previous position.

It’s remarkable the constant presence of some actresses throughout John Waters’ film career, Mink Stole or Patricia Hearst are always involved in his enterprises, sure there’s a bizarre story behind this loyalty.

Anyway, Pecker is just a movie for entertaining, you could analyze it from other perspectives or study it deeper and you would find constant features in John Waters’ films, his very own obsessions, you don’t have to be an Einstein to notice, what is not subject to disagreement is that Waters portraits his own world once again, a retro looking Baltimore full of freaks, and the New York artistic high society, even more excessive and poisoned. I did like it, and had a good time, enough for me.

John Waters

Welcome to the ideal world of John Waters, a director whose vision of life is totally different from the rest of mortals.

Waters’ works you either like them or despise and hate the most. He’s specialist in combining the bizarre and the disgusting,  with the beauty and the bucolic, in creating stories with no sense, and his  taste for absurd but charismatic characters make him a unique creator. In my opinion, Waters is the king of B series, however was able to trespass the limits and focus towards the mainstream, always keeping  his trademark.

Long gone the days when Divine was proclaiming herself the filthiest  woman in the world and eating dog shit in Pink Flamingo’s, yet you still can see mayhem and incredible freak dialogues and arguments in latest movies such as Cecil B. Demented, or Pecker.

Anyway, he’s been named the King of Trash, the King of Puke…it’s necessary you watch his most outstanding movies so you can understand…but no doubt, he deserved those titles. Nevertheless It’s true he’s softened in his tone, and his latest films are more accessible to general audience.

DEAD RINGERS, David Cronenberg 1988

Every six months or so, there’s a season of Cronenberg films at home, we could be said die hard fans although it’s true we have our preferences. 

As I explain whenever I talk about Cronenberg, sometimes it’s hard to understand his stories at the first time, thus I strongly recommend to watch each film a least twice, not immediately one after the other but taking some time between each session, then I think you can really enjoy them and understand details and shades of meaning. 

Dead Ringers is one of my personal favorite, I find the story of the twin brothers amazing, and the decadent rhythm used for the development of the story is simply perfect. 

Elliot and Beverly (Jeremy Irons) are identical twin brothers whose interest for female inner body is beyond pure sex since their early childhood. In fact, so focused they devote themselves to research and investigation of female reproductive system, inventing a device with which still at college, they are awarded. 

Thus the Mantle twins become established gynecologists, combining research and practice. 

Elly and Bev are physically identical, actually Elly is few millimeters taller, however the difference in personalities and atittudes is huge. Elly is the public relations, the spokesman in events, he’s very outgoing and has a taste for women. Bev is just the opposite, he’s a nerd, the brain of the two brothers, he’s shy and quiet, and tastes the remaining of his brother’s sexual conquests. They complement each other perfectly, and are very close. 

Nevertheless the suddenly interference of the actress Claire Niveau (Geneviève Bujold) changes everything.The actress, who is currently working in Vancouver, asks for an appointment at Mantle’s in order to get pregnant with their modern and innovative techniques. When examining her, Bev discovers she’s trifurcate, a very weird mutation, and quickly informs his brother about the case. 

Menage-a-trois

At this point a bizarre game starts, for Elly, pretending to be Bev, takes Claire for dinner and seduces her, forcing his brother to keep on playing. However Bev falls in love with the actress. 

Trouble will follow, as she’ll ask for drug prescriptions and Bev, the weakest, will develop a serious and self-destructive drug habit as his relationship with Claire becomes more serious, and his relationship with his brother almost reduced to non-existent. 

When the actress has to leave Vancouver for work, Bev will cling to his brother seeking for help and relief against loneliness, strengthening bonds to an unhealthy point with bizarre consequences. 

I’ve always found relationship among twins very appealing and interesting. It is fascinating how close they are to each other, and despite the few physical and unnoticeable differences the way their personalities complement so much is a mystery to me. 

Many studies have been unable to determine telepathic like senses, and among many, Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death, was obsessed about twins. 

I really like the way Cronenberg, taking the story from the novel Twins, tells the story about the Mantle’s, and just with one actor covering the role of the brothers, something we had seen before, of course, but carefully not to seem that obvious nor shitty as in The Parent Trap, with Hayley Mills. 

 The brotherly relationship is very dark and sinister, featuring sex, obsession, drugs, gynecology, and bizarre medical devices. They are meant to share everything, from passion for work to women, and this is the cause for their lives falling apart, they are not able to have their private experiences or relationships without excluding the other. 

They relate themselves to the very first Siamese twins, Eng and Chang Baker, and their tragic end, one from a brain clot and the other just from fear three hours later. 

I’m particularly impressed by the treatment of the drug addiction suffered by Bev. Initially is Claire the one taking drugs, in fact Elly is the one prescribing her the uppers and downers, however, Bev, in a moment of disappointment, starts taking them, and get hooked up on them. It is funny how easy is to get hooked on something, it’s not necessary to be illegal to be fucked up, and they’re not necessarily bad for human health as cocaine or heroine. Prescribed drugs, whose main function is to improve or ease the pain, are really dangerous, not easy affordable for common people, apparently. But if you really think about it, it’s not so uncommon you to be prescribed something in case of signs of anxiety or insomnia, in my case, one I was in distress I was given something that contained diazepam. Here in Spain at the minimum sign of depression you’re prescribed Tranquimazin, and seems that many people are hooked up on that shit. Regarding doctors, those nice people in charge of our health, the history of drug abuse is extensive but hidden to public society, they’re human, and although medicines are under surveillance some cannot resist the temptation. And this happens to weak Bev, he cannot accomplish working routines without drugs, however, at a certain point he freaks out when he attempts to put his bizarre surgical stainless steel devices into practice. 

Cronenberg again succeeds in recreating a tough story, adding his personal touch, creating a suffocating atmosphere, and focusing on dependence in its full meaning. Nedless to say, Irons is also outstanding, a bit exploited by the director, playing the two principal roles, should had been challenging.

What a tandem!

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, Quentin Tarantino 2009

After months of promo, trailers and delays  for release date,  we finally got Inglorious Basterds in our cinemas, and after watching it two times I reckon the reward for the wait was worth it.

After so many negative critics received for Death Proof, and clues given as Inglorious Basterds action was set during II WW during Nazi occupation, everybody thought we were about to watch Kelly’s Heroes revisited from a more bloody and violent perspective. Nevertheless the result has been totally different, being again criticized by fans, critics and detractors for not being violent and bloody enough, this is, for not being a Tarantino movie.

Well, such  expectations of recovering Tarantino essence from the first movies are a bit of nonsense. He’s evolved as everybody does, focusing more in situations created by dialogues rather than blood baths or crazy dynamic stories such as in Pulp Fiction.

In Nazi occupied France two different stories with Jews in common happen in Paris at the same time.

First story tells about how  the young Shosanna Dreyfuss (Mélanie Laurent) escapes from the Jew Hunter, SS Colonel  Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), after her family is massacred when trying to hide from Nazis in a neighbor farm owned by Monsieur Pierre LaPadite (Denis Menochet).

Best interrogation ever

Four years after, in Paris and with the  false identity of Emmanuelle Mimieux, Shosanna, who owns a modest cinema, is being courted  insistently by a young German soldier, Fredrik Zoller (Daniel Brühl), who has developed such a crush on her up to a point, he convinces Joseph Goebbels to celebrate premiere of the movie A Nation’s Pride in which, not only he’s the principal star but also narrates his brave experience in war against 300 allies soldiers  for which  he’s become national hero. Thus, Shosanna, realizing that the cinema will be plenty of SS outstanding personalities decides to plan a strategy to avenge her family.

This guy is a pain in the ass!

Second story is about the Inglorious Basterds, a special command formed by Jew American soldiers and led by Lieutenant Aldo the Apache Raine (Brad Pitt), whose main target is simple, to kill Nazis and cut as many Nazi scalps as possible, at least one hundred.

 As the word of the premiere of A Nation’s Pride reaches the Allies,  considering  the possibility of attempting against the most relevant and powerful figures of the III Reich, British Lieutenant Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) with the support if the Basterds is sent to Paris to join a German double agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), who se condition of  established  and popular actress provides direct access to the premiere, to carry out the dangerous mission which could become  the master strike to end war once and for all.

Both stories converge at the cinema premiere  with shocking results.

For several reasons the movie has received many negative comments…again. On one hand by the extensive scenes with endless dialogues in German or French, the lack of blood and action on the other, and the impossible end that laughs at the II WW history.

No doubt Tarantino loves focusing on dialogues, and he’s an specialist in extending them beyond the limit to conclude them with a sudden effect strike, but this is nothing new at all, since his earliest works he blindly relies on rich dialogues, containing a full dose of psychology in every word,  enabling audience to portrait the characters and build their opinions around them. And also he’s a master on deciding when to finish them with a sudden blow to shock you.

Reckoning the dialogue as the director’s trademark since the very beginning, it is true that since Kill Bill vol. II, Tarantino is highlighting dialogues more than ever.

In my opinion there are three scenes in particular deserving being praised: the very first one with Hans Landa enquiring Monsieur LaPadite about the missing Jew family Dreyfuss , changing from  French to English; second with Landa asking Emmanuelle Mimieux about the cinema features for security reasons at a restaurant, having a strudel; and the last one at the subterranean tavern with German soldiers, von Hammersmark, few Basterds and the SS  official…really cool. The three scenes are long, and based on dialogues, prevailing German and French over English, something that much audience accustomed to English or overdubbed films have failed to taste.

Guess who you are

The cast of characters is very impressive however don’t think Brad Pitt should be placed as the main character, no doubt his name is very attractive to audience, but Cristoph Waltz playing the role of Hans Landa being the link between the two stories, cannot be considered less than impressive.

Regarding the end of the movie, well, from the very beginning everybody knows that is fiction taking historic events and places as settings, thus, why not playing a bit with the Nazis’ fates even though we know  what really happened?  To tell the truth for me it’s more interesting  what happens to Landa, rather than to people at the cinema.

Does  Tarantino deserve to be criticized for distorting  history for his own  convenience? Maybe, but I don’t think he’s been the first and surely won’t be the last one in handling history for their own purposes, but when dealing with Hitler and III Reich, seems that nobody is allowed to joke about it.

eXistenZ, David Cronenberg 1999

It’s funny reading my past review on Crash, Cronenberg’s work before eXistenZ, to realize how the director moves from one register to a completely different one without effort, being the first weird, slow and suffocating, to a super dynamic and interesting  movie which fits into sci-fi genre perfect such as eXistenZ.

To be honest with many   Cronenberg’s films it takes me two times to really enjoy the product I’m watching, maybe I’m a bit short minded and I need an extra effort to get fiction-reality duality so often present and  relevant in his works. This happened again with eXistenZ, first time I felt completely indifferent and cold, however the more I watch it the more appealing and cool I find it.

Probably at the time it was released the concept of virtual reality was very hot, the possibility of enjoying a game as if it was for real was too shocking and sounded sci-fi to everybody. As time goes by, virtual reality is becoming more evident and is constantly evolving to reach the final goal, the perfect game in which the player feels as part of the game, as sourrounded  by the scenario with real characters and situations so greatly recreated as to feel you’re living that experience for real.

Stop wandering about virtual reality and let’s concentrate on the movie.

Antenna Research is about to release the  latest creation by the queen of virtual reality games, designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh). As a presentation, a select group of people are invited to have a session with the shy designer who will guide the chosen ones into the amazing world of eXistenZ.

Unfortunately during the session a young boy attempts against her life using a weird pistol made of bones which shots human teeth, hurting her in the shoulder. In the middle of chaos she’s able to run away with a young marketing trainee, Ted Pikul (Jude Law), and together hide in a motel room trying to recover from shock, analyze situation and decide what to do.

Are you friendly?

Allegra carries her freak pod with eXistenZ only version of the program and needs to check out whether the program has been damaged by playing eXistenZ with somebody friendly, however Pikul, has an aversion to being penetrated by a pod plug into his body and has no bio port installed at the back of his body, thus in order to help Allegra he accepts to look for a gas station boy (Willem Defoe) to insert it illegally.

Things won’t be easy for them to find out whether the program is ok for Allegra’s head has a prize  and many people are interested in getting the reward.

Obviously with the development of the movie you find out why everybody is trying to kill her, the explanation for the organic gun and you will understand so tiny details once you know how it ends. That’s why it is so cool to watch this movie several times, you keep on noticing and sensing details that for the very first time may you  think irrelevant or weird, but have sense once you see it complete.

eXistenZ  is an attempt to recreate a virtual videogame, in fact the scenes in which Pikul and Allegra are playing in the game are really cool, the way  after each scene the setting changes radically, even the behavior of the two players is exaggerated, the way they stand, how they are dressed…these are so bizarre and weird scenes so Cronenberg stamped!

It’s curious and I  hadn’t thought about it till last view, how the places they go to are just called what they are, the motel, the gas station, the Chinese restaurant…the way games were designed time ago, no brands nor names appeared at all, maybe nowadays this has changed for marketing strategies and sponsorship are beyond TV and press ads. Also names for main characters are very exotic, compared to daily life names such as Peter, Joe or Linda. These are a couple of examples of typical devices or features for videogames, also applied to the film.

Reminding of Videodrome,  Cronenberg exploits fiction-reality duality to its most, and he does it  brilliantly, not only allowing the audience to discover that the main plot was part of a game, but also ending the film with a conclusion that leaves the audience doubting if the “real” characters are still living in the reality of another game or the actual reality….Terrific!!

BAD LIEUTENANT, Abel Ferrara 1992

Can’t believe Nicholas Cage takes the role of the Lieutenant in the last enterprise directed by Werner Herzog, I think this is sort of insult to both Harvey Keitel and Abel Ferrara, in fact the acclaimed director has expressed his discontent for this new portrait of his film.

Bad Lieutenant is just a frightening ride into the darkest and most bizarre hidden New York through the actions of a vicious lieutenant (Harvey Keitel).

This is the story of a cop, Catholic and father of four children, focused on self-destruction. Basically, he uses the authority of his position and badge to obtain money, sex and drugs for free. Everything goes fine until he starts losing bets in baseball series, begging for double  the amount  for the next game so he can pay the Italian mafia guys he owes.

At this point he’ll start falling into a downward spiral, getting him involved in such bizarre and dark situations he won’t be able to escape from easy predictable fate.

Wanna smoke?

Really, there’s nothing else to highlight in the plot, it’s very simple and not very solid, sequence after sequence you get shocked for what he’s capable of doing, and he’s totally a wreck and doesn’t give a shit about the rest of the world. You hate the lieutenant for being such an asshole

Abel Ferrara’s portrait of the lieutenant is extreme, the cop shoots heroin, smokes crack, sniffs cocaine in front of his kids’ Catholic school, dances with whores and harass young ladies without driving license. He’s just a son of a bitch, waiting to take advantage on anybody and anything, no matter whether he can get caught. Seems that he’s lost common sense taking constant risks without blinking.

Harvey Keitel’s performance is something to be remembered and recognized by all film lovers as it’s a hard role to play and not very correct to the eyes of American conservative audience.

Not sure whether to consider Bad Lieutenant a great movie, in fact it is not, Harvey Keitel rules, and seems that  the film was designed to enhance his quality as an established actor, with many  scenes to highlight, but apart from that there’s nothing else interesting and good enough to add  value to the film, just his acting.

The rest of characters are not important, even the story doesn’t focus on his relationship with his family, nor with his lover (just shooting pals), colleagues or enemies…

Gotta review other Ferrara’s movie The King of New York, with Christopher Walken, which also left me a bit cold after hearing so many good reviews.

Anyway, if you want to see a weird and bizarre story or enjoy with Harvey Keitel, this is definitely the movie, if not, you might be wasting your time.

THE WARRIORS, Walter Hill 1979

I had old memories about this film I used to like when I was a kid, I don’t think I was aware of street bands away from punks, skinheads or heavy metal guys, for gangs weren’t a thing in Spain in the 80’s, and those can’t even been considered bands, but urban culture groups, some of them involving politics but mainly for aesthetic reasons.

The Warriors came to my mind again in New York City, where I bought the DVD, I could only remember some guys called The Warriors escaping from being fucked up by other tougher guys on their way back home. I didn’t remember final stop was Coney Island, which I got to know last year…a decadent but charming place, I must say.

Anyway, The Warriors became a good surprise and I’m glad to have rediscovered it, I really find it original and worth seeing it from time to time.

The Warriors, together with the most prominent gangs in New York City are summoned up to a meeting held up by Cyrus, the leader of the most important and powerful band in the city, The Riffs. Nine members of each band have to go to Bronx, to listen to a guy who’s been able to call a truce among bands in order to get organized and fight against Police department for having control over New York.

Warriors, come to play!

Everybody feels really enthusiastic, and for a moment seems Cyrus is convincing all the attendants, however he’s deadly shot and chaos succumbs when Police force turns up to end up the summit. Fox, one of the Warriors, has witnessed the whole scene so Luther (David Patrick Kelley) of the Rogues tries to shoot him too without success.

To make things worse, Luther spreads the word that The Warriors did it, and Cleon, their leader,  is caught up by the Riffs immediately.

Thus, The Warriors, now under Swan’s command, have to make their way from the Bronx back to Coney, a very long journey by subway, having all the bands, from the Baseball Furies to the Lizzies, against their side, seeking to catch and bring them  to the Riffs for what surely won’t be a pleasant experience.

Seems like a very simple plot, with nothing new,  but  all the difficulties they find on their way, all the bands they have to  fight against, enrich the story, making a more dynamic movie. The Warriors is like a videogame, with marked stages as they advance in their journey with comic frames. Every band seems tougher than the previous one, with any location for each one.

Friendly guys, ain't they?

Special mention to the female deejay of the gang radio station, alerting all the bands that the guys from Coney have to be chased and updating on the band developments, sending them personal messages and playing special songs for them.  

What about the bands? The way they are depicted I think is quite accurate, New York was one of the most dangerous cities in that time, too much population of different ethnicities and environments, depression and poverty on the streets which increased delinquency rates to its most with amazing feeling of territorial control and the ghost of ‘Nam still very present.

The Warriors become the main characters of the film and you end up sympathizing with, but by no means are fine guys. There’s a military hierarchy led by Cleon, however when he’s out of the scene, there’s tension about who must be chief war, as Ajax (James Remar, Dexter’s dad, by the way) do not reckon he’s to follow Swan at all. What kind of profile is required to be the most prominent member of the band? At least you got to be tough, and as life on the streets is not easy, your actions must provide some sort of benefit to the gang.

You might not share my opinion, but I will never understand people to join groups embracing a logo or dressing the same way just to show the world they are organized. Probably social situation is key to the uprising of bands, I’m too individualist to understand why minorities what to be so prominent in front of the eyes of society. Anyway, as I’ve said before, no gang culture in Spain at all, that’s why I find The Warriors fascinating. Personal favourite since I was a kid are the Baseball Furies, with the suits, the bats and their faces covered with make-up. Uh, cool!

The Coolest gang

Definitely worth seeing it, for me it’s a classic!