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.
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...
ReplyDelete"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.
ReplyDeleteI 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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