The Departed (Infernal Affairs remake)

Started by MacGuffin, February 13, 2004, 02:09:12 AM

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polkablues

Not to say I don't think the Departed looks great, because I think it does, but I feel very uncomfortable taking filmgoing advice from a panel that consists of Richard Roeper and Kevin Smith.
My house, my rules, my coffee

MacGuffin

Quote from: polkablues on October 01, 2006, 03:50:55 PM
Not to say I don't think the Departed looks great, because I think it does, but I feel very uncomfortable taking filmgoing advice from a panel that consists of Richard Roeper and Kevin Smith.

I'll take Smith's reviews and recommendations, knowing he's a movielover, over guest host Aisha Tyler's.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

cine

Quote from: MacGuffin on October 02, 2006, 01:24:23 AMI'll take Smith's reviews and recommendations, knowing he's a movielover, over guest host Aisha Tyler's.
at least she recommended Infernal Affairs.  :ponder:

MacGuffin

Nicholson Comes Unhinged, Freaks Out DiCaprio In 'The Departed'
'Unpredictable' Jack set the bar high on set of intense Martin Scorsese crime thriller.
Source: MTV   

After 30 years of friendship but surprisingly no prior collaborations, film icons Martin Scorsese and Jack Nicholson have finally teamed up for a cat-and-mouse crime thriller, "The Departed."

The film, which thrusts the audience into a gritty battle between Boston police and the Irish-American mob, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy Costigan, a cop who goes undercover in an attempt to gather information about a crime ring run by volatile mob boss Frank Costello (Nicholson). Matt Damon plays Colin Sullivan, an ambitious, corrupt officer who has infiltrated the elite Special Investigation Unit to help Costello stay a step ahead of the law. Things boil over when both sides discover they're being betrayed by a mole, and the two men must race to expose the other before being caught.

It's a fiery, tightly wound plot — and the film's set was unsurprisingly equally intense. "Jack Nicholson in character is so entirely unpredictable you almost expect the unexpected in a lot of ways," said DiCaprio.

How unpredictable?

While shooting one scene, "the prop guy sort of tipped me off that he had a gun and a fire extinguisher and a box of matches and whiskey under the table, and he had no idea what Jack was gonna do," DiCaprio recalled. "Nicholson ended up pulling a gun on my face and lighting the table on fire."

Nicholson also flaunts some eccentric bravado by handling a disembodied limb, eating an insect, appearing inexplicably covered in blood, and, of course, cavorting with women. Despite buzz about the controversial, Nicholson-engineered scene involving his character, two ladies, a pile of cocaine and a certain sex toy, the final cut of "The Departed" leaves much of that scenario to the imagination.
 
The film never shies away from exploring the stresses of living a double life, though. "It was one of the most compelling characters I've ever had to play," DiCaprio said of his third collaboration with the "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator" director. Costigan desperately wants out of the mob, but dutifully remains undercover to bring Costello down. "It was difficult because I didn't know how much to convey to the audience about what I was going through. But at the same time, realizing I was in a room filled with killers, how much do you let on that you're petrified?"

Damon's Sullivan seems more at ease with his double identity. In the midst of the drama, he manages to smoothly handle an unsuspecting girlfriend and land a job promotion while continuing to tip off Costello. However, he noted, "All the violence in this film, a lot of graphic, brutal violence — it's also shown as coming with a price."

The character who generates the most fear and violence is clearly Costello, whose madness grows more apparent as the plot progresses. "He has all the power. But now, he starts taking risks, like putting himself on the front lines of drug deals," said Scorsese. "He knows he doesn't have to do that; it's just for the thrill of it at this point in his life. Costello has gotten too old, and he knows, ultimately, he is probably on his way out. It was interesting to watch Jack portray Costello starting to unravel." 
 
Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin also star in the film, along with up-and-comer Vera Farmiga ("The Manchurian Candidate"). The screenplay was adapted from a successful Hong Kong script by "Kingdom of Heaven" writer William Monahan, though the U.S. version's actors were quick to point out that the film isn't a straight-up remake of 2002's "Infernal Affairs," which was directed by Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak.

"It's a very kinda Boston sense of humor, very dark humor," Damon said of Monahan's dialogue. Wahlberg and Damon are both Beantown natives. "The characters are in so much danger for so many parts of the movie that to be able to break it up with a laugh every once in a while was a relief."

"I was a huge fan of ['Infernal Affairs'] after I watched it, but as good as that film was, it's hard to call any movie Martin Scorsese makes a remake," said DiCaprio. Damon agreed, "This movie is so unmistakably about Boston. I loved and appreciated the original film but this became about the subculture of the Boston police where I'm from, so we went off in our own direction."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks


MacGuffin

The Gang's All Here
You lookin' at them? The Departed's Leo, Matt, Marty and Jack talk movies, rage and smoking
Source: Time



The Departed -- A remake of the 2002 Hong Kong-- cinema dirty-cop classic Infernal Affairs--marks the third collaboration between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio but the first between Scorsese and his friend of 30 years, Jack Nicholson. And Matt Damon takes the role of the bad guy--a rarity for him. During The Departed's New York City premiere, all four sat down for the most obscenity-redacted conversation in the history of TIME.

JACK NICHOLSON: [To Damon] Well, you finally get to play a mean ol' son of a bitch! Welcome to the club.

MATT DAMON: I had to. It's where all the good roles are.

NICHOLSON: Well, that's right. You had to change things up, be a swine. [DiCaprio arrives] Leo, my boy.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO: Hey, guys. Great to see everybody.

TIME: If I can interrupt for ...

MARTIN SCORSESE: Try!

TIME: Well ...

SCORSESE: This is going to be a little interview or something, right? Because I get very nervous about interviews.

DAMON: I didn't know they gave Man of the Year to four people.

DICAPRIO: Just remember how great sarcasm translates into print.

SCORSESE: My first 10 years in the business, everything I said was one of those you-have-to-be-there things. Then I learned to be direct in print. Not sure it helped. Anyway, ask something.

TIME: Jack, you've known Martin for years. What surprised you the most about him as a director when you finally worked with him?

NICHOLSON: Here's what was good for me: I gave him a part, and he made it a performance. We've talked about movies forever, so getting moviemaking down to shorthand while we were working was a kick. I've actually known all these fellas a while--though we've rarely talked about anything but work. And we like one another too. Sarcasm is better than that answer, incidentally. [Laughter]

DAMON: My surprise, not to blow smoke, was how good a writer Jack is. [Nicholson rewrote some of his dialogue.]

NICHOLSON: I just thought my guy was written a little too classy.

SCORSESE: Jack has great ideas. Crazy ideas.

DAMON: Like the bar scene.

SCORSESE: It's when Jack's trying to figure out if Leo is a rat. And by the fourth take it was really nice, and Jack asked me, "What do you think I should do?" I said, "Anything you want. We've got a free day tomorrow."

NICHOLSON: All Marty had to say was "free day."

SCORSESE: So we shoot the scene, and all of a sudden you hear a thunk. And I'm thinking, I better say cut. And, thank God, I didn't. Jack picks up a gun and points it at Leo, and he didn't know at that point that there was a gun there. So what you see from Leo is real. I love that.

NICHOLSON: But the prop man told him, goddammit!

DICAPRIO: He said, "All I know is Jack has a handgun, a bottle of whiskey and a fire extinguisher."

TIME: Why a fire extinguisher?

NICHOLSON: I was going to set the table on fire with bourbon out of my mouth, but I forgot they didn't give me real bourbon.

DICAPRIO: [Laughing] It's hard to light Diet Coke.

NICHOLSON: That's the moment you see me get out of character. I'm f___ing furious with my lighter, trying to light colored water on fire. You ever try to light water on fire?

DAMON: Now you've heard stories, like At Close Range--Sean Penn asking for a gun with real bullets. But I've never heard of a guy asking for a fire extinguisher.

NICHOLSON: [To Scorsese, while lighting a cigarette] Hey, where's the f___ing gas mask today?

SCORSESE: I have compressed air on a set because of the smoke. I've been wearing it for years because of asthma. It's just compressed air, but it ties you to a tank. It's a pain when you want to talk to the actors.

DAMON: There's always smoke on a set.

TIME: It's not from smokers?

DAMON: No, they go outside most of the time.

TIME: Do you go outside?

NICHOLSON: No, son. No.

TIME: Each of you has a scene of uncontrollable violent rage in this movie. Is rage easier or more fun to play than other emotions?

NICHOLSON: What kind of a question is this? You got to be able to play anything. Playing your own grandmother pissing on the ground should be no more difficult than carrying the groceries up the driveway before you get shot. That's acting. That's the real answer to the question.

SCORSESE: But anger does fuel the picture.

DICAPRIO: That is true. It was a tension-filled set. Was it fun working with all these guys? No, it wasn't fun. You have the occasional joke to break the tension, but there's this intense energy every moment, people trying to pull their hair out trying to make the thing authentic.

TIME: Matt, you and Leo aren't in the same frame until the climax of the movie. When you finally shot that scene, was there immense pressure to make it really pop?

DAMON: We workshopped that one scene with Marty for a month.

SCORSESE: We kept it late in the schedule. It was about two days of shooting on the roof, and the energy of the two of them together, it's like--I can't explain. For some reason, this is a film that I made that I actually like to watch. Because when it builds to that sequence, it all comes together.

TIME: Are there films you've made that you won't watch?

SCORSESE: Most of them.

NICHOLSON: Once you're in it, it's an artifact as a viewing experience. It's uncomfortable.

TIME: So it's not just false modesty when actors and directors say they hate watching their movies?

DICAPRIO: It takes probably 10 years to detach yourself from the filmmaking experience.

DAMON: You remember every-thing. So you watch it, and it's impossible not to think about what you ate for lunch that day. That's not even getting into all your hopes for what it might have been.

TIME: Are there any of your own movies you have come back to?

NICHOLSON: On TV, if some-thing happens by.

DAMON: If Titanic is on, I cannot turn it off. [Much laughter. DiCaprio nods and smiles wryly.] I say that only half- joking. There are just those movies--GoodFellas is like that for me. You stop what you're doing, and you can't turn it off.

DICAPRIO: There's something about Marty's directing where if his films come on, I watch them every time. It's a rare thing, but you do find these details that you've never seen before. He's obsessive about authenticity and minutiae that you may skip the first time, and then--Oh, my God! Slicing the garlic meant something! They weren't just slicing garlic!

SCORSESE: Kubrick is really the killer. The other night, there it is again--The Shining. What could I do? I had to watch the whole goddam thing.

DICAPRIO: [To Nicholson] I wish you would have worked with Kubrick again, man.

NICHOLSON: Me too. I'm ashamed to admit it, but the first thought through my mind when I heard that he died was not, Oooh, Stanley, my dear friend. It was, F___. Not going to get to do another movie with him. I wouldn't have suspected that would have been my reaction, but it's true.

TIME: If you could have played any role in any other Scorsese movie, which would you pick?

SCORSESE: Interesting.

DICAPRIO: Taxi Driver. Travis Bickle. It's weird because you watch a certain film at a young age and it impacts you in a way you can't even describe. You're watching this maniac, and he's really insane, but you are so immersed in him that you forget you're watching a movie and you start to feel insane. And then there's the profound embarrassment I felt when he brought the girl to the porno theater, and--Oh no! What is he doing? I was with you! I know you've got problems, but I was with you!

DAMON: Leo's answer is good, but I'd probably go Jake LaMotta. Not that I look anything like Jake LaMotta ...

NICHOLSON: Well, the question depends on if it's a part you could play or a part you just want to play. I mean, I can't pick Jake LaMotta. I can't play that. But what's the movie with the crazy fan in it?

DAMON: King of Comedy. Rupert Pupkin. That's one of the greats.

NICHOLSON: Now that's a hard part. That scene with Jerry Lewis walking down the street. I remember in my early days in New York seeing Van Johnson walking down the street and I'd have the same feeling as Pupkin. So I'm not Jake LaMotta. But Rupert Pupkin? I could possibly do it.

DICAPRIO: Hey, guys, let's give a little cheers here. I mean, we're not going to see each other forever.

SCORSESE: O.K., just a dash.

DICAPRIO: [Pours wine.] A true honor working with all of you guys, seriously.

SCORSESE: O.K., eyes here. [Look each other in the eye.] Jack, the eyes.

NICHOLSON: Just like we're in the police force.

SCORSESE: Don't make me nervous.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

Just Withnail

Quote from: MacGuffin on October 04, 2006, 04:22:52 PM
The Gang's All Here, Jackin' Each Other Off

DAMON: My surprise, not to blow smoke, was how good a writer Jack is. [Nicholson rewrote some of his dialogue.]
--
DAMON: If Titanic is on, I cannot turn it off. [Much laughter. DiCaprio nods and smiles wryly.] I say that only half- joking. There are just those movies--GoodFellas is like that for me. You stop what you're doing, and you can't turn it off.

DICAPRIO: There's something about Marty's directing where if his films come on, I watch them every time. It's a rare thing, but you do find these details that you've never seen before. He's obsessive about authenticity and minutiae that you may skip the first time, and then--Oh, my God! Slicing the garlic meant something! They weren't just slicing garlic!

SCORSESE: Kubrick is really the killer. The other night, there it is again--The Shining. What could I do? I had to watch the whole goddam thing.
--
NICHOLSON: (...) what's the movie with the crazy fan in it?

DAMON: King of Comedy. Rupert Pupkin. That's one of the greats.

ono

#142
I saw this last night.  It's ... not that good.  Scorsese on autopilot -- you can tell someone who knows how to make films made this.  It's promising for the first two thirds of the film.  It's very funny, very compelling.  And then just drifts off into laughable territory.  It's the script's fault, which is ironic, because the script is one of the best things about the first two thirds of the move.  Every scene pops, the film moves at breakneck speed, and I really admired how it juggled the device of having two moles play parallel to each other.  This was the twist on the generic cop drama that would make something like this worth pursuing.  It's what kept the film afloat for so long.  There are other memorable flashes of brilliance: dialogue, memorable shots, but nothing transcendental.

The performances are all great: Baldwin, Sheen, and Wahlberg all do an excellent job playing off each other -- especially Baldwin and Wahlberg who are delightfully over the top, having fun whenever they can.  Damon, DiCaprio, and Nicholson are all up to par: Damon's a great asshole, Nicholson is vintage Jack, and I'm sure people have noticed this before, but it's striking how much Nicholson and Dicaprio look alike.  Seems as if with that in mind, it might have been better if Damon and Dicaprio switched roles.  But then again, Damon knows "Boston" better, I guess.

Especially glaring was it felt like the cut I saw was incomplete (though it probably wasn't 'cause it premieres in three days).  It was overlong, and there's a plot point that is totally dropped (not to mention the fact that the point has to do with the token female character who was used well, but not to her full effect, especially given that the 2.5 hours the film lasted made it seem like more could've been done with her), and we're left to question two things: was it dropped on purpose, and if not, how could he be so careless?  The final scene/shot perhaps redeems a bit of this, but the audience I was with was still stuttering with incredulity over what's transpired, that I don't know of all too many of them picked up on the subtle (or not-so-subtle depending on where you're sitting) touch Scorsese added here.  Yeah, I got the message, but it was a bit too squeaky.

I Love a Magician

I don't think this movie is going to make very much money.

A Matter Of Chance

Quote from: onomabracadabra on October 04, 2006, 06:43:35 PM
Every scene pops, the film moves at breakneck speed, and I really admired how it juggled the device of having two moles play parallel to each other.  This was the twist on the generic cop drama that would make something like this worth pursuing.  It's what kept the film afloat for so long.  There are other memorable flashes of brilliance: dialogue, memorable shots, but nothing transcendental.

That's pretty much how I felt about the original - that and an awful soundtrack paired with a bizzarre showing of bagpipes at the end. So I'm not surprised.

Pozer

Quote from: I Love a Magician on October 04, 2006, 08:04:44 PM
I don't think this movie is going to make very much money.
i'm predicting the exact opposite.  care to bet on it?

Neil

I absolutely cannot wait to see this tomorrow.
it's not the wrench, it's the plumber.

pete

Quote from: onomabracadabra on October 04, 2006, 06:43:35 PM
I saw this last night.  It's ... not that good.  Scorsese on autopilot -- you can tell someone who knows how to make films made this.  It's promising for the first two thirds of the film.  It's very funny, very compelling.  And then just drifts off into laughable territory.  It's the script's fault, which is ironic, because the script is one of the best things about the first two thirds of the move.  Every scene pops, the film moves at breakneck speed, and I really admired how it juggled the device of having two moles play parallel to each other.  This was the twist on the generic cop drama that would make something like this worth pursuing.  It's what kept the film afloat for so long.  There are other memorable flashes of brilliance: dialogue, memorable shots, but nothing transcendental.

The performances are all great: Baldwin, Sheen, and Wahlberg all do an excellent job playing off each other -- especially Baldwin and Wahlberg who are delightfully over the top, having fun whenever they can.  Damon, DiCaprio, and Nicholson are all up to par: Damon's a great asshole, Nicholson is vintage Jack, and I'm sure people have noticed this before, but it's striking how much Nicholson and Dicaprio look alike.  Seems as if with that in mind, it might have been better if Damon and Dicaprio switched roles.  But then again, Damon knows "Boston" better, I guess.

Especially glaring was it felt like the cut I saw was incomplete (though it probably wasn't 'cause it premieres in three days).  It was overlong, and there's a plot point that is totally dropped (not to mention the fact that the point has to do with the token female character who was used well, but not to her full effect, especially given that the 2.5 hours the film lasted made it seem like more could've been done with her), and we're left to question two things: was it dropped on purpose, and if not, how could he be so careless?  The final scene/shot perhaps redeems a bit of this, but the audience I was with was still stuttering with incredulity over what's transpired, that I don't know of all too many of them picked up on the subtle (or not-so-subtle depending on where you're sitting) touch Scorsese added here.  Yeah, I got the message, but it was a bit too squeaky.

oh no, that sounds awfully close to the original.  I never thought the original was that great.  it was only great because (some sort of spoiler somehow) they effed up the most charismatic actor in the movie half way through, which was a great twist.  I had no attachment to the premise of a mole vs. mole--that just seemed like something inevitable in the cops and gangster genre, that one day the two subgenres would have to cross.  the original also had these light buddhist references in there (though the title suggested something heavier).  I was hoping the female characters would do more in this one and the last third of the film would be less of a stalemate.  I'm going to see this tomorrow because I know a few kids who were in it, and man, so even though it doesn't seem like you're wrong, I'm still hoping that I get my 10 bucks' worth.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

I Love a Magician

Quote from: pozer on October 05, 2006, 02:09:25 PM
Quote from: I Love a Magician on October 04, 2006, 08:04:44 PM
I don't think this movie is going to make very much money.
i'm predicting the exact opposite.  care to bet on it?

no i do not care to do that

Pozer

don't listen to onocrombie, this movie is absolutely delicious.  i was suprised of how much jack was preasent - thought it was gonna be one of those 'trailers fooling you with his role actually being much smaller' sort of deals.  granted i saw it at the crowded wb premiere, but it was one of those audience applauding throughout movies.  characters were so well written and played the same... wish i could write more, but i'm out like seacrest for the weekend.