Hey folks, Harry here... The last premiere of the SXSW film festival was Ted Demme's BLOW... a film that both Moriarty and I loved when we saw it earlier this year in Los Angeles. I introduced the film to the audience last friday and couldn't wait to get out and watch it with a real Austin Audience. Overall it played exactly like I thought, but suddenly my New York Kitten was attacking the film as being derivative drivel and sub-standard. I looked at her like she was an alien being... what was this coming out of this beautiful person, whom I've come to care so much about... I looked at the other people from the AICN group and they all seemed very jazzed about the film. And that night Kitten and I alongside some out of town friends, all went to KATZ's Deli where Kitten and I went back and forth through 3 a.m. about BLOW... and the next morning as I opened my eyes she says, "I thought more about BLOW and I have more reasons why it isn't very good." Then I get this review from Spaceman Spliff who liked it, but with reservations... and I realize that while the movie hit quite a few perfect notes for me... it seems that on a larger scale there could be some division by the audience. Kitten hated the narration, the sainthood of a devil and the female characters in the film. I loved the narration, the sainthood of a devil and the female characters in the film.... But then she loves living in New York and I love living in Austin... different people... different opinions. We'll be posting many other reviews of BLOW quite soon... I hope you give the movie a chance when it hits... I think it is extraordinary....
Hi Harry,
I just left the Paramount Theater where, as you know, SXSW was showing "Blow." I could tell from your enthusiastic introduction that you thought that this was a great movie, but I don't think that I agree with you. It was a good movie, to be sure. Possibly even VERY good. But there were a few things that kept it from being great. First, and this cannot be overstated, was the inability of any movie to live up to this kind of hype. But aside from that: I couldn't get my mind off of "Goodfellas" while watching this. The presence of Ray Liotta didn't help, of course (more on him later). But the narration, the flashbacks to the old neighborhood, it seemed like it had all been done.
Another scene I had problems with was near the beginning, when he's about to go away for two years for the 660 lb. pot bust and his fiancee drops her bomb. I felt the sudden mid-scene mood shift to be extremely jarring. It felt like one of those awful flashbacks in "Thin Red Line," and I cannot stress enough to you what a powerful condemnation that is for me. (Only movie I was ever angry at myself for having seen.)
And I don't know what you were talking about with the music, when you described your friends tapping their feet etc. I barely noticed it.
Now, the things I liked: Ray Liotta stole this fucking movie. He was right in the zone, let me tell you. From beginning to end, his performance was just at the right level: understated yet powerful. And he must have had a different makeup person from Depp, because the two were like night and day as far as believability goes. Liotta? Totally believable as an old guy. Depp? Looked like Dennis Quaid or Timothy Hutton in "Everybody's All-American." In my opinion this movie could just have easily been called "Guy-from-Blow's Father."
Also, I liked how Jung (Depp) at several points in the movie says that how his life was going was "perfect." This happens a couple of times, in very different circumstances. It's telling, though, that these aren't the moments that stick in my mind. Nor are they meant to. The message is clear: material things are fleeting, so you should have something permanent to hold on to. Not a new message, but I like how it's made here.
There are two honorable mentions in all this: The first should definitely go to the drugs themselves. The movie opens with a montage shot of cocaine being processed from coca plant to powder, and it's obvious from this that the drugs are not bit players in this story. My favorite part, though, was the very first Christmas party over at Pee-Wee's. They were taking holiday photos with these dildo-sized buds that just made my mouth water. VERY nice.
Second honorable mention should go to the money. I'm not sure where Hollywood gets their fake money, but the props guy was working overtime for this one. Man! Like the first shot of the Imperial Star Destroyer in Star Wars, it just kept going and going, inspiring one of the best lines of the movie, "We gotta get a bigger boat."
So there you have it. I'm sorry I couldn't give you a rave review. I think it'll do well in general release, however reluctant I'll be to add it to my personal collection.
Thanks for the opportunity to pipe in (so to speak).
If you decide to use this at all, why don't you just sign me,
SPACEMAN SPLIFF
P.S. Thanks for the "Ginger Snaps" recommendation. I saw it purely on your recommendation, and I have to say it was balls out the scariest (and smartest) horror movie I've seen in many years. Now I'm just waiting to read your review of "Memento," a movie that literally had me reeling afterwards. Hell, I doubted my own ability to remember shit.
