I'll call it right now. Werner Herzog's The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans will be my pick for 2010's DVD release of the year. It's absolutely bat-shit fabulous. Nicholas Cage pulls out all the stops and delivers the most fevered and extreme performance of the past decade. This is a man who simply doesn't care if you think he's overacting. It's a fearless and riveting turn so far beyond the pale that overacting doesn't begin to describe what he does with this character. Bad Lieutenant is a new cult masterpiece that you can put up on the shelf with Kiss Me Deadly, Touch of Evil, The Big Lebowski, Repo Man and Mulholland Drive. A scorching winner that demands to be seen again and again and again. Film of the year, if not the decade.
3 comments:
oh wow! you rarely wade into such hyperbolic waters, so it really must be that good. i was excited for this before your comments, now i simply cannot wait to see it! this will be first in my queue of films to watch this weekend...
"Hyperbole" might be the best description of BL:POCNO I can think of . The entire film is a deliberate exaggeration of kooky imagery, characterization, music and plot. The entire film overshoots the mark in every department and stands way out from the crowd as a result and that's saying something these days. I can't say enough about Nick Cage's edgy, gonzo performance. If ever two people were destined to cross paths, it's Herzog and Cage. Werner may have found his new Kinski and I hope they continue their collaboration with future projects.
I always worry that rave reviews only serve to set up excessive expectations and mild disappointment when a movie doesn't resonate with others to the same degree. In this case, however, I'm not all that worried because BL:POCNO delivers in every possible way a film that true connoisseurs of bug-fuck cinema can literally feast upon. This is Tarantino-times-ten, Olly Stone-meets-The Marx Bros territory and there's so much going for it, and it aims so specifically at crazy film-nuts like the bunch of us, it can't miss.
A rare, perfectly-nutso film and an instant all-time top-20 film for me.
I always imagine Hogz projects as a bit like a chemistry experiment that could blow up or just fizzle out, the ingredients were just right in this one and the results are volatile! Veeeery strong, loved it.
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