Reviews

You think Coppola and The Godfather films immediately come to mind. Apocalypse Now soon follows. Maybe you remember The Outsiders, Peggy Sue Got Married, or even Tucker- A Man and His Dream. But everyone forgets The Cotton Club. This is a pity, because from the astonishing level of period accuracy to the actual technical skills that went into the film, it is evidence of Coppola's cinematic skill and his genius for all aspects of the movie-making process, even if it falls short of being his best. Coppola, as in The Godfather, shows a stunning talent for casting the right person for a given part, and a better cast film than this would be difficult to find. Even Joe Dallesandro as Charlie Luciano is the best portrayal of Lucky ever put on film, although the physical resemblance is totally non-existent. The period accuracy, including the sets, the costumes, the props, even the dialogue, is fantastic, and the only equal I've ever seen is Warren Beatty's "Bugsy". The highlights of the film- -The cinematography, especially the hauntingly beautiful lighting (with copious use of classic "cookie" screens) in the love scene with Dixie and Vera. -The Felliniesque finish, with action and reaction from Penn Station to The Cotton Club and back cross-cutting and inter-mingling. - The Second Unit and montage sequences, directed by Coppola's Son, the late Gian-Carlo Coppola. The montage sequences alone are a fantastic example of what a fantastic diamond in the rough Gio was and what a fabulous director he may have turned out to be (eclipsing his sister, Sofia, and even his Father) had his life not been cut short so tragically. All in all, a marvelous film, well worth a second look.

This film changed my life. What Do you want to accomplish before you die? I want to take a one-year tour of Europe, The Balkans, The Near East and The Middle East. I want to do drive a Ferrari while in Europe and a Lamborghini SUV the rest of the time. I could go further regarding what has changed in my life since this movie happened to me, but the first rule of Project Mayhem is that you do not ask questions. The second rule is that you do not talk about it. HIS NAME IS TYLER DURDEN!!!!

Do you ever wonder why some movies you see when you're a kid just stay with you? Some of them are so bad that you just keep it to yourself that you still enjoy watching Chuck Norris Films from the early 80's. Others are the sort of movies that make you feel proud that you appreciated them at such a young age. For me, Bonnie and Clyde is one of those films. I first saw it on television, heavily edited, in 1978, when I was eight years old, and for whatever reason, loved it. For the next few years, I watched it every time it came on, about once or twice a year. It was only as I got older that I truly appreciated what a fantastic work it was and how influential it was. It was the first time that you ever saw a character fire a gun and the target get killed within the same frame. It was Arthur Penn depicting the very balletic (and almost sexual) extreme violence that Peckinpah later made his trademark in "The Wild Bunch". It was the film that finally snuffed out the old men that were ruling the roost in Hollywood from the same offices that they had in the thirties. This was the film that allowed promising young directors to step out of the small, cheap, Roger Corman independents that they had been directing, and seriously break new ground in American Film. In many ways, it was to American Film what "The 400 Blows" was to French film. And if "The 400 Blows" started the French New Wave, then "Bonnie and Clyde" began an American New Wave, of sorts. Without "Bonnie and Clyde", films as diverse as "Easy Rider" to "Taxi Driver" could never have been made. The list of directors who were the American New Wave reads like a Who's Who in American Cinema of the 1970's- Coppola, Lucas, Scorsese, Mike Nichols, Peckinpah, Dennis Hopper, DePalma, Spielburg. Directors who made films that shaped a generation of film making. And it was all because a gutsy actor named Warren Beatty saw his career going down the tubes, his talent being wasted playing pretty-boy eye candy in very bad films, decided to take control of his career in a way that very few actors had ever done before. It was because of a director named Arthur Penn that insisted on Faye Dunaway for the role of Bonnie, despite producer Beatty's initial reluctance. It was because of a fantastic ensemble cast, the likes of which is rarely seen, that brought a three-dimensionality to their characters which is even more hard to find. And it was ultimately because of the people who saw the film, and loved it, and wrote letters by the thousands to Newsweek magazine, criticizing the critic that panned the film. And it was because the critic did the unthinkable- he saw the movie again, and followed up his review with another that essentially said, "I was wrong- this is a great film." This review caused the film, which Warner Bros. had written off as a failure, to be re-released, ultimately resulting in enthusiastic praise and Oscar Nominations. The ultimate brilliance of the film, however, was to tell a historic story in a way that was very much in keeping with the anti-establishment tone of the times that the movie was made. The best example I know of is this- In the early 90's I worked at a video rental store. One evening, a man in his late 30's rented "Bonnie and Clyde", and I commented on what a great movie it was. He agreed, and said that the first time he saw it was at the age of 16, in it's initial release. He was sitting in the balcony of a large movie theatre, and at the end, when Bonnie and Clyde are gunned down, he claimed that he had been so emotionally involved in the film that he jumped up and screamed at the screen, "YOU F*****G FASCIST PIGS!"

Some Directors are able to make four, five, ten masterpieces in their careers. They get lucky with a combination of script, actors, and what the public is interested in at the time. But for every Spielberg, with at least six to his name, for every Martin Scorsese, with at least four to his name, even for every Orson Welles, with at least three to his name, you have half a dozen directors like Alex Cox. After a tour-de-force debut with Repo Man, a film that appeals on a dozen different levels and shows a sense of humor (albeit a skewed one) coupled with a keen sense of finding the absurd even in a dramatic situation, Cox made his one and todate, only masterpiece- Sid & Nancy. And nothing he's done since has indicated an ability to even approach it, much less surpass it. This was a film that was a perfect synthesis of Director, Script, Actors, Music, and timing. Most of the viewers of this film at the time of it's release were (like myself at the time) high school students, sick and tired of the smarmy John Hughes comedies of the 80's, with a rebellious quality- looking for inspiration and guidance from the Grand Masters of chaos and disobedience. What we got was a reality check as to the ultimate futility of resistance to the norm, while at the same time being reminded of how fun rebellion was- which was ultimately why we did it in the first place. Shock value was more important than content, as long as the intent was sincere. Gary Oldman turns in a performace that few, if any, actors, regardless of caliber, could deliver on their first film. He looks, sounds, and behaves so much like Sid Vicious that it is, at times, vaguely disturbing. He would not turn in a performance so chilling in it's accuracy until becoming Lee Harvey Oswald for Oliver Stone's "JFK". Chloe Webb appeared out of nowhere, delivered (as much as humanly possible) a depiction of Nancy Spungen's personality that was dead on,according to her Mother, Deborah Spungen's book, "And I Don't Want To Live This Life", and then promptly faded into obscurity, appearing only sporadically in unexpected places (Practical Magic, China Beach, etc.) Alex Cox has been described as "The Punk Rock Director", and despite his track record since "Sid & Nancy", which was followed by "Straight To Hell", and went there from that point, there is nevertheless, thanks to "Sid & Nancy", ample reason to include him in that elite group of directors that were able to produce that most rare breed of films- The Genuine Masterpiece.

on modern "boats" life isn't easy- but compared to the living hell that the German U-Boats were, modern submariners have nothing to complain about. People in certain professions don't like to watch movies about those professions (Doctors and Nurses shy away from hospital dramas, for example). Submarine sailors are different. We love to watch every submarine movie ever made, from "Run Silent, Run Deep" and "Destination: Tokyo" to "The Hunt For Red October", "Crimson Tide" and "U-571". Why? Because we can always use a good laugh. For those in the know, submarine movies are usually absolutely hilarious. Except this one. After being in the Navy for four years, serving with around 350 different men, and being acquainted with a further 200-300, all of them submarine sailors, I think that I can state with absolute certainty that this film is the ONLY submarine movie that ALL submariners take seriously. And that is the highest praise a movie like this can possibly get.