THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (135 minute cut)

THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (IFC)
Directed and written by John Casavetes, the brilliant 70s filmmaker whose movies always seemed improvised, (but were not) this was the 135 minute cut of the film later cut down to a director's polish a year later for re release that ran 108 minutes and is supposedly a real re-interpretation of the footage.

Having never seen this and only one Casavetes film before (HUSBANDS, which is great) I let this sit on my DVR a long time since 135 is a big commitment. Once I started watching, I was completely hooked by the realism in the filmmaking. A lot of people thought Casavetes let his actors improvise. Not true. The confusion lies in the fact that Casavetes allowed his actors to interpret their roles how they wanted to which gave the films an authentic feeling, but he wrote and directed his scripts completely.

THE KILLING reminded me a lot of early Scorsese work like MEAN STREETS and you can see his influence in directors from Abel Ferrara to Quentin Tarantino. This is a slow moving film but never less than compelling. Ben Gazarra plays Cosmo, a strip club owner who gets into a bad gambling debt to the local mob. In order to squash his debt they ask him to kill a Chinese gang lord. The way all this unfolds feels real and never rushed. It also has quiet moments of grim beauty and I find myself looking forward to seeing the director's cut on this. At 135 minutes, there are moments here that you're asking yourself what the fuck you're watching. But that's also the kick of the film. Things don't happen for so long that when they do its like a slap in the face. And the whole thing has a real cinema verite' style that fits the grungy storyline like a glove. Ben Gazarra is, as usual, brilliant.
Grade: A -


THE JERSEY SHORE somehow keeps getting better and better.

Re-watched DAWN OF THE DEAD (1979 version) the other night. Great movie - the US Theatrical version is the way to go. But the opening could still use a 15 minute chop.

Check out a new band called The XX - XX - great mellow album.

TOUGH LOVE continues to be one of the best reality shows on TV.

Re-watched INGLORIUS BASTERDS over the weekend - even better than I'd remembered it. A true classic in every sense of the word.