The Departed -(A-) It's a remake of a Hong Kong thriller called 'Infernal Affairs'. The premise being that a crime boss has had one of his boys infiltrate the police so as to keep the boss one step ahead. At the same time, the police have one of their own infiltrate the crime boss's gang so they can gather enough evidence to put him down for good. An American remake of this in the hands of say, Antoine Fuqua, would've been okay enough, I suppose.
Well.
Giving the like of Martin Scorsese this type of movie takes it into high orbit. Notice, firstly, how he ramps up the tension by moving the plot along at a breakneck pace. Which forces you to try and keep up. Then, he casts Jack Nicholson, who plays his part both histrionic and low key. (You'll have to trust me on this, see the damn movie!) Is everyone in Boston (really, the only place in America this premise would work) this aggressive? He keeps that odd Catholic obsession of his mostly in check this time around; There's a bit where Nicholson confronts a couple of priests just to illuminate what an utter shit he is. Compared to the other stuff up for Oscar best pictures awards, I'd say this one was a shoo-in.
So why the 'A-' if I've got such a film-boner for this? Well, the two leads (DiCaprio and Damon) aren't bad actors in their own right, they just seem a little outta place here. Damon has the look, but his 'Bawstawn Aggcent' seems a little forced. As for Leo.. Well, he's got what Camille Paglia called, "Young Lesbian Good Looks" which kinda makes him look like Michael J. Pollard as time goes on. (He was really miscast in Scorsese's 'The Aviator', I think.) Finally, Marty... What's with that 'signature shot' of yours where you fade the frame to a single spot on a 'significant' object? It's getting as overused as that 'Spike Lee' bit where he has the actor stand on a dolly and shoot him from a worm's eye view like he's running? Marty, Marty, Marty...
T.V. On The Radio -Return to Cookie Mountain (A+) Here's the thing: I'm not wired to write about music, mainly 'cause I'm as liable as any Robert Christgau-wannabe at Rolling Stone to fall into using 'stock' phrases like 'throbbing bass lines' and 'dark, foreboding melodies'. Secondly, my taste in music is all over the place. (f'r instance, I've got 'Sister Golden Hair' by America in heavy rotation on my Ipod...) Yet this is the best new album that I've heard in such a long time that I can't not mention it. So, here goes...
The main thing about this music that excites me is how it points to uncharted territory in pop music. It's certainly accessible, and everyone involved in this has the technical chops to pull it off. But how to describe it? Would 'Bauhaus(thanks, Lee)meets-trip-hop-meets-Ornette-Coleman-meets-Detroit-rock-meets-Jazz-fusion' work? Yeah, OK. If I described it as 'darkly optimistic', would that do it? Sure. Can I say that T.V on The Radio is so original, that while this album is undoubtedly going to be name-checked as an influence on future artists, these guys have set the bar so high that they're going to be the only ones in their own category for a long, long time? Uh, what the hell. And finally, can I say that I've still not managed to successfully illuminate for you what 'Return to Cookie Mountain' does for me?
Yeah.
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