4:44 Last Day on Earth (Abel Ferrara)

[B-side]

[youtube]A-1Q7EevCy8[/youtube]

Looks fantastic. Gets a limited release on March 23rd. I believe it's coming to IFC On Demand as well.

[Boner M]

Got mostly bad reviews from NYFF and Venice, but then pretty much every Ferrara has. Excited.

[number8]

It was pretty fucking awful.

[Boner M]

It was pretty fucking awful.

Are you a Ferrara fan?

[Dukefrukem]

I'm naturally curious because it's apocalyptic.

[TGM]

I'm naturally curious because it's Willem Dafoe!

[NickGlass]

It was pretty fucking awful.

But, but...what about the Pat Kiernan cameo?

[number8]

But, but...what about the Pat Kiernan cameo?

Not as striking as the even briefer Paz de la Huerta cameo.

[number8]

Are you a Ferrara fan?

Sort of? I liked his trashier early stuff like Driller Killer, Ms 45 and King of NY. Never cared all that much about Bad Lieutenant outside of Keitel's performance, and Herzog made a much better version.

I think he's best at seedy shock values and atmospheric New York grime, which is why a movie almost entirely consisting of two new agey artist-types holing up in a penthouse apartment hashing out family bonds over Skype while waxing existentialism and politics, mostly intercut with footage of Al Gore and some white Buddhist guru lecturing about the nature of the world seem laughably way beyond Ferrara.

[Skitch]

I keep watching Ferrara films in the hope of something as excellent as Bad Lieutenant (sorry guys, I think Ferrara's BL is infinitely better than Herzog's), but I keep coming back with disappointment. I'll check it out, but expectations in check. Cool song in the trailer though.

[Boner M]

I keep watching Ferrara films in the hope of something as excellent as Bad Lieutenant (sorry guys, I think Ferrara's BL is infinitely better than Herzog's), but I keep coming back with disappointment. I'll check it out, but expectations in check. Cool song in the trailer though.

Ms. 45, pronto.

[Grouchy]

The Addiction, King of New York and Dangerous Game are good films in my opinion.

[B-side]

The Addiction, King of New York and Dangerous Game are good films in my opinion.

Agreed.

[baby doll]

Ferrara probably shouldn't write his own pictures. The two leads are terminally uninteresting, and the story doesn't go anywhere. Also, I hate to be that guy, but it's pretty laughable when you have a chick painting a picture in an evening dress and some how not getting a drop on her clothes. I mean, I'm sure Ferrara has met a painter at some point in his life, so what gives? Plus, it strikes me as a little odd that two people who are so into meditation and Eastern religion would have two giant TVs in the same room, both going at the same time on different channels while the characters Skype and watch videos on their iPad. Biggest surprise: Apparently Natasha Lyonne is still alive.

[B-side]

Ferrara probably shouldn't write his own pictures. The two leads are terminally uninteresting, and the story doesn't go anywhere. Also, I hate to be that guy, but it's pretty laughable when you have a chick painting a picture in an evening dress and some how not getting a drop on her clothes. I mean, I'm sure Ferrara has met a painter at some point in his life, so what gives? Plus, it strikes me as a little odd that two people who are so into meditation and Eastern religion would have two giant TVs in the same room, both going at the same time on different channels while the characters Skype and watch videos on their iPad. Biggest surprise: Apparently Natasha Lyonne is still alive.

Really? These are your complaints? A painter doesn't make a mess on herself and people interesting in Eastern Religions have TVs?

The characters aren't particularly interesting in and of themselves. It's their situation and its impact on their trajectories that makes them interesting. We only get brief cues as to some of their more personal traits and respective histories. The irony is in discovering them just before they're about to die.

[Boner M]

'The story doesn't go anywhere' is not a very baby doll-ish criticism.

[Raiders]

This is 2012 US release, right? I say we create a thread in the 2012 forum. Give me a few minutes.

[baby doll]

Really? These are your complaints? A painter doesn't make a mess on herself and people interesting in Eastern Religions have TVs?

The characters aren't particularly interesting in and of themselves. It's their situation and its impact on their trajectories that makes them interesting. We only get brief cues as to some of their more personal traits and respective histories. The irony is in discovering them just before they're about to die.

My remarks about the painting and TVs were more random observations than complaints per se. With the TVs, it seemed like Ferrara was going for something along the lines of The Third Generation (there's even a picture of Fassbinder tacked up on the wall by Dafoe's computer) whether or not it made sense for either of the characters. (Incidentally, I know from personal experience that while a couple can easily make do with just one TV, having only one laptop that they both share is a recipe for disaster.)