http://ambival.net/movies/the-departed Just another WordPress weblog Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:37:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://ambival.net/movies/the-departed#comment-10483 Ambival.net » Movie Reviews » 2006 Movies Tue, 15 May 2007 09:28:17 +0000 http://ambival.net/movies/the-departed#comment-10483 [...] The Departed Martin Scorsese [...] [...] The Departed Martin Scorsese [...]

]]> http://ambival.net/movies/the-departed#comment-10470 Ambival.net » Movie Reviews » Infernal Affairs I Tue, 15 May 2007 01:25:29 +0000 http://ambival.net/movies/the-departed#comment-10470 [...] As with the ‘87 Man on Fire, I was initially surprised by how much this original resembled its remake (The Departed) not just in content but also in style. I even had the same panic I had on my first viewing of The Departed – in the first half, that I’d completely lost the plot – this even, again similar to the “Man on Fire” situation, when I pretty much already know the story, lol. As with Scorsese’s movie, though, it all falls neatly into pleasant focus by the end, with really only a few differences on the way. [...] [...] As with the ‘87 Man on Fire, I was initially surprised by how much this original resembled its remake (The Departed) not just in content but also in style. I even had the same panic I had on my first viewing of The Departed – in the first half, that I’d completely lost the plot – this even, again similar to the “Man on Fire” situation, when I pretty much already know the story, lol. As with Scorsese’s movie, though, it all falls neatly into pleasant focus by the end, with really only a few differences on the way. [...]

]]> http://ambival.net/movies/the-departed#comment-7405 Ambival.net » Movie Reviews » Gangs of New York Mon, 23 Apr 2007 01:52:59 +0000 http://ambival.net/movies/the-departed#comment-7405 [...] I really wanted to like this more on a second (possibly third, the desire to give it a second chance felt familiar) viewing. The Departed was amazing and gets better each time I see it, The Aviator has definitely grown on me; but this remains ultimately a real bore to me. Though it’s as technically perfect, almost even mesmerising in places, as Scorsese’s other productions, in the end, the story is just nowhere near as big as the film, at least, that’s how it feels to me. It’s certainly overlong at 3 hours, that’s for certain, but this movie’s problems run deeper than its running time. The period look is nowhere near as believable as that of The Age of Innocence. Leonardo DiCaprio hadn’t yet quite hit his stride, I’d rather watch Daniel Day Lewis in just about anything, and Cameron Diaz is just way out of her depth. By far the most riveting moment in the whole movie is that final montage of the New York skyline to the U2 song, followed by the bold title card and end titles – it kind of leaves you feeling like you’ve seen a much better movie than it felt like for the duration. Quite clever really. Okay I’m honestly stumped for what to say about this movie, it really does little for me – and I don’t think the situation’s ever gonna improve, so I might as well make the effort now I would still like to check out the DVD with Scorsese’s commentary, that’s likely to be the only way I’d watch this again and we’ll review after that [...] [...] I really wanted to like this more on a second (possibly third, the desire to give it a second chance felt familiar) viewing. The Departed was amazing and gets better each time I see it, The Aviator has definitely grown on me; but this remains ultimately a real bore to me. Though it’s as technically perfect, almost even mesmerising in places, as Scorsese’s other productions, in the end, the story is just nowhere near as big as the film, at least, that’s how it feels to me. It’s certainly overlong at 3 hours, that’s for certain, but this movie’s problems run deeper than its running time. The period look is nowhere near as believable as that of The Age of Innocence. Leonardo DiCaprio hadn’t yet quite hit his stride, I’d rather watch Daniel Day Lewis in just about anything, and Cameron Diaz is just way out of her depth. By far the most riveting moment in the whole movie is that final montage of the New York skyline to the U2 song, followed by the bold title card and end titles – it kind of leaves you feeling like you’ve seen a much better movie than it felt like for the duration. Quite clever really. Okay I’m honestly stumped for what to say about this movie, it really does little for me – and I don’t think the situation’s ever gonna improve, so I might as well make the effort now I would still like to check out the DVD with Scorsese’s commentary, that’s likely to be the only way I’d watch this again and we’ll review after that [...]

]]> http://ambival.net/movies/the-departed#comment-1506 Ambival.net » Movies » 2007 Oscar Predictions Mon, 29 Jan 2007 23:47:22 +0000 http://ambival.net/movies/the-departed#comment-1506 [...] The Departed [...] [...] The Departed [...]

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