Scorsese directs a long lost Hitchcock script!!!

[LMP]

Even though he's the devil incarnate, I was rooting for Bill in the end. It was hard not loving to hate him over DiCaprio in "ultra-brooding" mode.

I wonder how Bill would fair vs. Chigurgh from No Country in a cage match... now that would be interesting to watch.

 

[lazarus]

The only difference between Apocalypse Now and Gangs is that Coppola had final cut. That's about it. They are both glorious messes by directors who have clearly bitten off more than they can chew, and still deliver the goods in various set pieces as well as intimate moments.

Coppola's film has a better rhythm because he put in (mostly) everything he wanted to, and where he did cut he managed to make it smooth. Gangs is choppy at times and there wasn't time or material to make what was left over work as well as it should have.

Gangs was originally planned to shoot at the beginning of the 80's. The failure of New York, New York and Heaven's Gate made the project too risky for the studios. Now some people think that aborted version would have been better--I'm not so sure. While Marty may not be as hungry as he was 20 years earlier, it's hard to argue that his palette hasn't become much larger. I don't think the younger Marty could have handled the full scope of this story.

 

[lazarus]

I still think that Lewis' performance was one of the 5 best performances I've ever seen. It's mesmerizing every time I watch the film.

I actually place it at #2 All-Time, right behind Brando in Last Tango in Paris.

Brody won because he was the only one of the 5 nominated actors who had never won before. He was great, but not something another actor couldn't have done. Daniel Day-Lewis pulled off something that is unimaginable by anyone else.

Marty was robbed, too. I respect Polanski, but The Pianist was one of his least-visually interesting films. I respect his choice to shoot it in a more detached style, but Marty directed the FUCK out of Gangs and should have been acknowledged for its riches, not its shortcomings.

Also, Dante Ferretti not winning the Art Direction Oscar is ridiculous, considering the winner was Chicago, which wasn't even that creative of a design, considering many scenes (like the cell block) were in Zellweger's character's head and not designed very elaborately. You also had the costumes from Sandy Powell which were so daring and unique.

Still can't believe this was nominated for 10 Oscars and shut-out. The only award it didn't deserve was for U2's awful song.

 

[Lancemc]

Speaking of which, I'm watching Apocalypse Now at the moment. Only stopping to type because I have to change discs.

 

[lazarus]

Does that mean you're watching The Complete Dossier?

Did you give Redux another chance?

 

[Lancemc]

I was indeed watching The Complete Dossier.

But it was the Theatrical Version.

I love it so