Gangs Of New York.....who's waiting?

Cafe Society
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Although Martin Scorsese’s long delayed Gangs Of New York is finally coming out this X-mas after a 1 year delay, it doesn’t seem like most movie fans (even Scorsese fans) are even interested in seeing it.

I personally can’t wait for this movie to arrive, if only because the idea of the cinematic depiction of 19th century gutter poverty, blood feuds, ruthless gang warfare and utter social malaise seems like quite an antidote to the usual generic movies released at X-mas. Or, for that matter, any other time of the year.

One read of the Herbert Asbury’s book (the historical source for the film) makes it apparent why they wanted the film delayed. In the aftermath of 9/11, I doubt your average moviegoer would sit still through a film that depicts volunteer firefighter companies fighting rival companies to determine which group would get the honor of putting out the fire, much less the depiction of a police force more violent and corrupt than the criminals they persue.

It won’t be a “feel-good” movie, for sure, but I think we’ve got too many of those already.

It’ll be one of my rare moviegoing outings, along with the other 2 movies I’ll see the rest of 2002: Red Dragon and Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

Anyone else anticipating? Or think the movie will be crap?

2

Oh, I’ll be there! I’m sure it will be brilliant. The preview shown at Cannes blew everyone away.

December is going to be an absolutely KILLER month for potentially very good to great movies. Unlike you, I’ll be spending practically the entire MONTH hanging around movie theaters. From now until the end of the year, there are at least 20 MUST SEEs on my list, and a couple dozen other Will Almost Certainly Sees.

Heck, on Christmas Day alone, we get:

• Gangs of New York (dir. Scorsese, Di Caprio, Diaz, Day-Lewis)
• Catch Me If You Can (dir. Spielberg, Di Caprio, Hanks)
• Chicago (Zellwegger, Zeta-Jones, Gere)
• Pinocchio (dir. Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi)

Plus, depending on where you live:

• The 25th Hour (limited) (dir. Spike Lee, Edward Norton, Brian Cox, Rosario Dawson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Brittany Murphy, Anna Paquin)
• About Schmidt (limited) (dir. Alexander Payne, Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Kathy Bates)
• Spider (limited) (dir. David Cronenberg, Ralph Fiennes, Gabriel Byrne, Lynn Redgrave, Miranda Richardson)

Gangs is my first choice, but I want to see all of these! (well, I’m not 100% on Chicago and Pinocchio, I’ll have to see reviews, but otherwise…)

3

AH, I totally forgot about SPIDER!

Make that 4 moviegoing outings…I never miss a Cronenberg film if I can help it.

4

I saw the trailer for Gangs of New York… and was absolutely uninspired to go see it. It just looked so contrived, and there didn’t seem to be any point except to show a bunch of guys beating on eachother. I do love Daniel Day-Lewis though, so maybe I will go see it.

5

I am wondering if the film can ever be as good as that mid-70s documentary about gang life in NYC, The Warriors. That was a powerful movie.

“Warr-i-ors, come out to pla-ay” clink clink

Chilling.

6

Looking forward to Gangs of New York; I saw a little feature on IFC about Scorcese. Apparently George Lucas visited the huge set they built in Italy to replicate 19th century Hell’s Kitchen; he thought they should have done the whole set with computers. Fortunately, Scorcese doesn’t work that way.

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I’m sorry, Scorcese may have directed it, but it stars Leonardo DiCaprio. So I can almost guarantee that I won’t want to see it.

8

I’m positively drooling about it. Scorsese has wanted to make this movie for over a decade; I can’t wait to see whether so many years of mulling produces a storytelling quality different from the projects he’s put together more quickly.

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Documentary? Did I get wooshed? I watched and enjoyed the movie; I might have used powerful or chilling at the time (I was a teen), but not anymore. Today, I’d say I prefer the other gang movie from that year, The Wanderers

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Oh, me! Me! I can’t wait!

(And I really don’t think it’s fair to hold Leo’s fame and teen idoldom against him, he’s actually a truly fine actor.)

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Good Christ, can you imagine the Scorsese canon as directed by George Lucas?

Jar-Jar as Henry Hill?
“All-a my life, me-sa wanna be a gangsta!”

Hayden Christensen as Travis Bickle?
“Are you talking to me? There’s no one else here. And that upsets me. I am really depressed now - nobody likes me! Wahhhhhhh!”

Brrrrr.

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Now, I know you’re not making fun of my man, David Patrick Kelly! :wink: Sigh…I don’t think he should be ashamed of the role by any means. It got him his SAG card, and his place in pop culture. But think of it: when he dies, that’s the shot that will be on the “In Memoriam” reel at the Oscars! I hope that at some point before that, he’ll have a role to eclipse “clink…clink…clink…” (I also hope he doesn’t die anytime soon. He’s only fifty, and may find his niche with older characters.)

Now as far as GoNY…Oh god! I just LOLed! Now add that the the fact that I also LOL every time I see one of those shots of Leo DiCaprio in a flippin’ top hat, and I think we’re gonna get a camp classic for Christmas!

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I just thought Daniel-Day Lewis’s character looks just like Snidely Whiplash.

I have to wonder if he ties Cameron Diaz to the subway tracks at some point.

14

Well, I lived in Hell’s Kitchen for a year, and I read this great book called Hell’s Kitchen because I was interested in the history of my old neighborhood.

Lemme tell ya, it was brutal in the 19th century! Everything from the Draft Riots of 1863, which killed 2,000 people to housing condition protests. And the general fighting between the new immigrants, the Irish, the Germans and Italians.

Then of course there were the notorious street gangs such as The Nineteenth Street Gang, Fourth Avenue Tunnel Gang, the Forty Little Thieves, the Little Plug Uglies and the Whyos and the Hells Kitchen Gang.

There was a lot of bloodshed back then. I am soooo glad I wasn’t around. I can’t wait for this movie!