i love that man is a 1933 american pre-code drama film directed by harry joe brown and written by c. graham baker , casey robinson and gene towne .

the film stars edmund lowe , nancy carroll , robert armstrong , lew cody , warren hymer , grant mitchell and dorothy burgess .

the film was released on june 9 , 1933 , by paramount pictures .

i love that man

love myself i do . not everything , but i love the good as well as the bad . i love my crazy lifestyle , and i love my hard discipline . i love my freedom of speech and the way my eyes get dark when i ' m tired . i love that i have learned to trust people with my heart , even if it will get broken . i am proud of everything that i am and will become .
that’s why i found myself in unfamiliar territory when i — the open guy , the “figured out” guy , the unquestionably straight guy — realized that i was in love with my best friend , a man . a man i had known for seven years . a man i had never before even thought of in a romantic way . but , there i was , in love .
he looked back timidly . “well , then i think i might love you too . ”
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing i love you , man near you .
so , yes , i’m an otherwise straight man in love with a man . but i would never reduce garrett down to just being a man . because he’s more than that . he’s a pharmacist and a good cook and a great cards player . and i love him for all of those reasons and so many more . i love him for who he is , not what he is . we’re more than our gender . we’re more than one attribute . and sometimes we need to remember that .
“i didn’t know , ” she said . “i swear to you i had no idea . no one believes me . they say i must have known , must have had some idea . i swear to you — i swear to god — i didn’t know . i didn’t know him at all . ”
i love a man with a great sense of humor and who is intelligent - a man who has a great smile . he has to make me laugh . i like a man who is very ambitious and driven and who has a good heart and makes me feel safe . i like a man who is very strong an . . . - nicole scherzinger - brainyquote
i’ve always prided myself on being open . i’ll try any new therapy or modality or new age idea — and , believe me , i’ve tried them all . i’ve done the self - work . i’ve “found myself . ” i’ve even practiced my affirmations . i knew who i was , without a doubt .
whitney houston lyrics are property and copyright of their owners .
love that man
lyrics provided for educational purposes and personal use only .
“well , you’ve been so great and taken care of me , and i know it doesn’t make much sense . but , if i’ve ever felt love , this is it . and , well — i think i’m in love with you . ”
“no , i mean : what in god’s name are you talking about ? ” that’s the clean version of what i said .
i love a man with a great sense of humor and who is intelligent - a man who has a great smile . he has to make me laugh . i like a man who is very ambitious and driven and who has a good heart and makes me feel safe . i like a man who is very strong and independent and confident - that is very sexy - but at the same time , he ' s very kind to people .
we couldn’t know that i would develop drug - induced psychotic disorder from anesthesia during that birth . couldn’t know that a psychiatrist would tell alex that i would be disabled for the rest of my life from psychosis and that we would move back across the country to be closer to my family . certainly could not have known that with the right help , i would get better in that new town of green hills and stone walls on buzzards bay , and that i would find a calling to work with the dying there .
so i approached him cautiously . i could hear my heart beating in my ears . i opened my mouth and no words came out . again , i tried , and all i could say was , “garrett , i have something to tell you . ”
when i chose to tell garrett that i loved him , it didn’t matter if it didn’t fit my identity . it didn’t matter if it didn’t fit my sexuality . it just mattered if it brought me love . in truth , that’s all that ever really matters .
urltoken | paul rudd and jason segel of
i love you , man
explore the do ' s and don ' ts of male friendship .
and it all came down to this moment — one moment when he was cooking me dinner , and he looked over and smiled at me . i knew this was it . this was the moment where i had to decide if i could allow myself to love a man against everything i had previously known about myself . this was the moment when i had to decide if i was going to take a step forward into this crazy idea of telling my best friend that i loved him .
i still believe there is something deeply good in him . i still don’t understand him at all .
back then i wasn’t yet a hospice chaplain , a job in which i spend much of my time listening to dying people’s secrets and revelations . if i had been , i would have known that not one of us ever has all the information when we get married .
i love you , man is the second movie this year - - he ' s just not that into you being the first - - with a popular catchphrase for its title . this is one of the film ' s few distinctions .
though the script doesn ' t always rise to their level , i love you , man is more than worth seeing for the chemistry between the shambling segel and the endlessly inventive rudd .
two months into this routine , i had a thought — a tiny , little thought — that i loved him . it seemed preposterous . it seemed laughable . i shooed it away immediately . but that thought started creeping into my mind whenever he was away . that thought sneaked in whenever he did something nice or made me laugh .
i love that man is a 1933 american pre - code drama film directed by harry joe brown and written by c . graham baker , casey robinson and gene towne . the film stars edmund lowe , nancy carroll , . . . see full summary »
each day , i waited anxiously until he came home from work . my face lit up when he surprised me with my favorite dinner . i replayed conversations we had when i was alone . i missed him when he was gone .
i suppose it’s faith . belief that there is something deeply good in the mysterious heart of the infinitely knowable other . and hope that this goodness will be enough to face the future together . sometimes that works out ; sometimes it does not .
i clutched the door handle of the little red rental car , feeling lightheaded and panicky . “what ? ” i said .
an interview with terry gilliam , director of
the man who killed don quixote .
we have this myth of identity — that who we are is the summation of a lot of choices we made in the past . that we’ve got a map for the life we’re supposed to lead , and we’ve got to stick to it . but that’s assuming that we’re all static beings , and that’s not how people work at all .
i would like to have a friend like sydney fife . i think a lot of guys would . even though it ' s funny , charming and light - hearted , that may be the basic appeal of
i love you , man .
sydney represents the freedoms most men hesitate to give themselves , maybe through fear of ending up alone , arrested or locked inside behavior that looks fun when you ' re young but crazy when you ' re older . the great thing about sydney is that he lives your fantasies so you don ' t have to yourself .
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that’s really what falling in love is , isn’t it ? yearning to know more about a person , the amazement and delight as each layer is peeled back , the realization that you can never get enough of the one you love . perhaps the death knell of love is not anger or even indifference ; it’s losing the desire to know more about your partner .
it ' s a thin premise , and i love you , man features the usual quota of jokes involving masturbation , projectile vomiting and flatulence . but is it worth it ? thanks to rudd and segel ( and some terrific cameos ) , totes magotes .
there is only one happiness in this life , to love and be loved .
love is when the other person ' s happiness is more important than your own .
a successful marriage requires falling in love many times , always with the same person .
love yourself . it is important to stay positive because beauty comes from the inside out .
at least half a dozen hospice patients have told me that their husbands were not the fathers of their children , and that they had never told anyone , including their spouse and child .
“he kept explaining that he’d been hit with a hickory switch , ” alex said , “and it took me 10 minutes to figure out what he meant . ” he seemed so delighted with the story that i began to think he might be kidding . or at least exaggerating .
“i’ll probably just plead no contest to rioting , ” alex said as we sped by the brown prairie grass . “and the resisting arrest . that’s just something they always tack on . ”
let us always meet each other with smile , for the smile is the beginning of love .
rudd is also very good and very funny , using delicate timing to create a man who is never quite right for the room . observe his attempts to look loose and casual . he even pulls off sincere scenes with the lovely rashida jones , and sincerity , as we know , is the downfall of many a rom - com and almost all buddy movies . i believe my little movie glossary even contains an entry about an obligatory moment in all buddy movies in which one of the characters says , you guessed it ,
i love you , man .
i love you , man
is , above all , just plain funny . it ' s funny with some dumb physical humor , yes , and some gross - out jokes apparently necessary to all buddy movies , but also funny in observations , dialogue , physical behavior and sydney fife ' s observations as a people - watcher . i heard a lot of real laughter from a preview audience , not the perfunctory laughter at manufactured payoffs . you feel good watching the movie . that ' s what comedies are for , right ?
sydney fife : you get home safe , pistol . peter klaven : you got it , joben . sydney fife : i ' m sorry , what ? peter klaven : er . . . nothing . sydney fife : no , what did you say ? peter klaven : nah , i don ' t know . . . you nicknamed me pistol , and i just called you . . .
joben
. . . it means nothing . . . i don ' t . . . i ' m drunk . . . i ' m gonna call a cab . see more »
so my marriage was not based on a lie . but like all marriages , it is a mystery . i could not know everything there was to know about alex the day i married him , and he could not know everything about me . neither of us could know what the future held . neither of us could know , in that little red rental car , that i would have a baby two years later in the town in iowa where we lived , far away from the town where we married .
“why ? i’ll have to pay a fine , but it’s not the end of the world . ”
friendless peter klaven goes on a series of man - dates to find a best man for his wedding . but , when his insta - bond with his new b . f . f . puts a strain on his relationship with his fiancée , can . . . see more »
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a fan - made video using a slideshow of pictures for the song ' love that man ' by the incredible whitney houston . taken from her 2002 album ' just whitney ' . show the love and if you like the song , buy it off itunes - or even better buy the entire album . or at least , comment the video and say what you think ! haters need not reply : ) update : whitney houston , ' the voice ' , is set to release her much anticipated comeback cd
i look to you
on september 1st . insiders say that not only is her voice back in full force , but it is one of her best albums yet .
receive a free * exclusive ' ant - man and the wasp ' poster with ticket purchase ( * shipping & handling not included ) . buy tickets
basically the story of a man forced to finally see the injustice around him . riley’s movie is designed to do the same thing to you . …
after a long time of looking for the ost , i have found out . please go to this link :
it was too much . “our marriage is based on a lie ! ” i yelled , and burst into tears .
usually , these are the things we keep hidden , the secrets we don’t even share with the ones we love most .
it wasn’t a lie , of course . not really . it was simply a lack of information . that’s an important distinction .
that movies from this brand will have
heart
is now a given , but the variety rudd provides here is singular .
women often roll their eyes at men’s ‘fix it’ instincts ; and while he may not be able to fix every bad day , the fact that he tries only points to the fact that he is starting to fall for you and cares deeply for you . he wants to make things better . he wants to provide for you , practically and emotionally . he wants to make you smile . when he puts in the effort to comfort and reassure you , he’s saying ‘i love you’ in both word and deed .
jason segel plays sydney as a man thoroughly comfortable in his own skin , an unapologetic hedonist who uses his intelligence as a comic weapon . essentially , the whole movie is based on the fact that he is able to create an actually plausible , human best friend . incredibly , this is the first time i ' m aware of seeing him in a movie . i apparently saw him in
slc punk
and
slackers
( zero stars ) , but never saw his recent
forgetting sarah marshall .
i think he ' s a natural for walter matthau , and both segel and rudd would be perfect for a socal retread of the classic british one - upmanship comedy
school for scoundrels .
how do men fall in love ? with their eyes , their hands , their … the list goes on . but here’s the kicker : while most guys have no qualms about touching their girlfriends in private , pda is another story . when your man puts his arm around you in public , he’s both proudly announcing to the world that you’re together and making a protective gesture . another love gesture ? when he starts offering the hugs and cuddles you crave , with no expectation of sex . he wants to serve you with physical touch , not use it just to get what he wants .
work like you don ' t need the money . love like you ' ve never been hurt . dance like nobody ' s watching .
if you love someone , set them free . if they come back they ' re yours ; if they don ' t they never were .
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roger ebert was born on this day in 1942 , and died a little over five years ago . i owe a good part of my success…
peter klaven ' s world revolves around his real estate work and zooey , his soon - to - be fiancée . after he pops the question , she calls her best friends and they go into wedding planning mode . peter has no male friends and that poses problems : will he turn out to be a clingy guy , and who will be his best man ? zooey , her friends , and peter ' s brother robbie offer help that results in awkward moments . then , at an open house peter ' s hosting , he meets sydney , an amiable , low - key guy . they trade business cards , and peter calls him to meet for drinks . a friendship develops that ' s great at first but then threatens peter ' s engagement and career . can guys be friends and couples be in love ? written by
tae - il ( hwang jung - min ) lives a fast life as low level thug . he then learns that he has a terminal illness and not much time left to live . for the first time in his life falls in love . the woman ' s name is ho - jung ( han hye - jin ) .
omg ! such a heart warming movie ! i really cried a lot ! the version of this movie is far better than the korean drama version of song seung - heon and shin se - kyung . there ' s soul and love in this story . very good script writer . the actors were all fantastic ! hwang jung - min and han hye - jin were genius in their performance ! great production ! i super recommend this movie to all family , lovers and everyone else . . .
we’re only here for a very short time . in every moment , we only have one real choice : will it bring me closer to or further away from love ?
one of the better recent ' buddy comedies ' and one if you ' re in the mood to laugh , you definitely won ' t regret showing a little love .
stop staring dreamingly into his eyes , seeking the answers to the questions in your heart and instead , listen to his word choices . when he starts using words like ‘we , ’ ‘us , ’ and ‘team awesome’ , he’s not thinking of himself as a single man anymore . you’re now part of his life . and he loves that . this also goes hand - in - hand with more signs he is falling for you : he talks about the future . does he make plans for the future that include you ? did he invite you to his buddy’s wedding next fall ? does he joke about your future children together ? when he’s got a future with you on his mind , he’s already decided that he has no intentions of letting you go .
there’s no stronger sign of a budding relationship than when a man wants you to meet his parents . or his siblings . or his best friends . when he’s ready to introduce you to people who matter most—and is equally eager to meet your friends and family — he has no intentions of going anywhere . he’s proud to be with you and wants his family to fall in love with you , too .
there’s a certain freedom in a life - threatening sickness . there’s a certain liberation in staring down death in the face . it makes you do crazy things . it makes you unafraid to tear down the only identity you’ve ever known for a gamble . it makes you walk right up to your best friend and tell him that you love him .
he stopped and thought for a moment . it was a long moment . then he opened his mouth again and asked , “do you miss me when i’m away ? ”
success is no accident . it is hard work , perseverance , learning , studying , sacrifice and most of all , love of what you are doing or learning to do .
on the drive from the calgary airport to the hotel for our honeymoon , my new husband casually mentioned that he would need to find a criminal defense attorney when we got home .
the state of being married is coming to the realization that the person you have pledged your life to is , at heart , a mystery . there will always be things unknown to you .
his best man had to collect a . t . m . cards from the guests to gather enough cash on a saturday morning to post bail for him before the wedding . this was after he already had been frog - marched from the jail to the courthouse of the adorably quaint appalachian mountain town in leg and arm shackles , chained to the other men being arraigned that morning , including his cellmate from the night before , who stood accused of attempted murder .
it’s the timeless question you’ve asked to daisies and to your best friends : how do men fall in love ? and what are the telltale signs he is falling for you ? sometimes it seems like a complete mystery incapable of ever being solved . is it timing , certain qualities that explain what men look for in a women , or basic chemistry ? is it the intangibles or the concrete ?
“well , there was a chance i might not have made it to the ceremony , if the judge had decided not to grant bail . we didn’t want you to worry before the wedding . ”
only it didn’t start out as love . see , two summers ago , i came down with a mysterious illness . not the common cold kind . not even the achy back kind . this was the kind where you vomit massive amounts of blood throughout the day . the kind where doctors pass you from specialist to specialist . the kind where you’re bent over in pain with tears in your eyes .
love can soften the heart . being right isn’t as important as doing right by the other person . when your beau starts to meet you in the middle on topics he’s typically stubborn about—maybe he’s a movie snob who suddenly willing to let you pick a flick he’d otherwise never watch—he’s leading with his heart instead of his head . selflessness is one of the many important early signs of a good relationship that’s blooming .
while early signs of a good relationship are sometimes difficult to define , luckily , a few are obvious enough to decode . you can determine these by understanding what makes a man commit to a long - term partnership and what keeps his interest over many decades , trials and experiences . as love and dating author john gray , ph . d . explains , ultimately what men and women want is the same : “they want to feel connected , they want to feel attraction , and to experience passion . ”
in the end , alex didn’t go to jail for his bachelor party escapades . he paid a fine , just as he predicted . he still doesn’t understand why i cried all night the day after we got married .
funny but cliched . i don ' t really get what the point of such a movie is , but maybe they don ' t all need to have a point if they make you smile for a few moments .
in chaplaincy , a mystery is not something that cannot be known . it’s the opposite . we say god and life and death are mysteries in theological language not because they are unknowable , but because there is so much to know that you can never know the depths of it ; there is always more you can learn . they are mysteries , with a capital m , because they are infinitely knowable . the more you learn , the more you want to know .
her husband , i learned , had been convicted of over 100 counts of sexual assault of children . the accusations and charges spread out across the 50 years of their marriage and even before . they had all been family members .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
there’s something that drives men wild and invites them into a deeper level of ‘connection’– play . men love to be active and to play . they were raised to express themselves and connect with those around them through action . this doesn’t have to mean watching sports or being overly competitive , but rather , it’s found in your attitude . what men look for in women is a willingness and openness to life , where you invite laughter , humor and positivity . while you might not be always fully engaged and happy , when you serve as someone who sees the glass as half - full , he’s more likely to let down his guard . that’s why if he’s joking with you and in good spirits around you , he’s likely more interested than you realize .
once , it was the other way around . a husband told me that he knew his eldest child was not his , and had always known : the dates simply did not match up . he was out of the country for the war . it was not physically possible .
we’ll never be “figured out . ” over the course of our lives , we’ll constantly be transforming into a more and more authentic version of ourselves . our preferences will change . our passions will change . and we have to be brave enough to choose the thing that makes up happiest in each individual moment .
alex explained that on the night of his bachelor party , he and a few other friends had gotten into a drunken argument with some locals in the only bar in town , apparently over a flip - flop . someone , at some point , threw a punch , and it all went downhill from there .
suddenly it all made sense . my older brother’s black eye . ( he said he’d walked into a door . ) the bruises around my younger brother’s neck . ( he hadn’t even tried to make up an excuse . ) my sister making me walk the long way to the hair salon on the morning of the wedding instead of the direct route past the courthouse . the fact that my bridesmaid’s husband and my sister - in - law , two people who didn’t really know each other , took off together with a lurch and a screech in my husband’s car when i waved at them on the way to the hairdresser .
one old woman , timid and always trembling in her bed , always with the shades drawn and the light off , had no friends , no family , no one . she had moved across the country to this little town where no one knew her and she knew no one , and she wanted it that way .
because this is a rom - com , various obligatory scenes are necessary ; peter goes shopping for a best friend on some man dates with guys met on the internet , with predictable results . the movie feels locked into formula until the appearance of sydney , met while scarfing free food at peter ' s open house for the home of lou ferrigno . segel brings sunshine into the movie ; we like his character even more quickly than peter does .
and my roommate , garrett , one of my best friends at the time , took pity on me . he took care of me . he picked up my prescriptions from the pharmacy . he cooked me dinner . he stayed in on friday nights to watch movies . he’d even rub my back when i was in pain .
though many will first turn to the physical characteristics to explain what men look for in women , the emotional experience is more powerful . in other words , what a man feels as a result of the experiences he has with you are what can make him see you as a woman he absolutely needs to get closer to . this is one of the signs he is falling for you , since it illustrates he feels he can openly communicate and be himself fully when you’re together .
does he send you funny texts during the day ? does he comment about the songs , signs and hilarious headlines that remind him of you ? does he google last night’s unresolved debate—‘which is healthier : ice cream or gelato ? — when he’s at work and tell you about it ? when you become a very present part of his day even when you’re apart , it’s one of the many signs he is falling for you .
infuse your life with action . don ' t wait for it to happen . make it happen . make your own future . make your own hope . make your own love . and whatever your beliefs , honor your creator , not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high , but by doing what you can to make grace happen . . . yourself , right now , right down here on earth .
you might never have to wonder how men fall in love if you feel respected by your partner . how come ? experts agree early signs of a good relationship include a male partner who cares about the details of your life . it might seem like a no - brainer , but if your guy values your opinions , compliments your character , celebrates your accomplishments , pays attention to details , and even accommodates your quirky habits , he’s invested .
sydney lives in a little frame cottage a block up the street from the venice beach boardwalk . this house was cheap in , oh , say , the depression . now it only looks cheap . we never see its interior ; sydney escorts peter directly to his
man cave ,
a converted garage in the backyard where he keeps all his toys : drum set , guitars , music system , flat - screen tv , movie posters , lava lamps , weird souvenirs , recliner chairs , wet bar , fridge , wall hangings , even an area dedicated to . . . well , never mind .
peter ( paul rudd ) needs a sydney ( jason segel ) in his life . he has been told this by zooey ( rashida jones ) , the girl he plans to marry . she would , however , have preferred a less extreme case than this sydney . peter is a real - estate agent who is hopelessly , even touchingly , clueless when it comes to seeming the least bit cool . one of those really nice guys , who , when the chips are down , has no idea where to look , what to say , how to move or how to extricate himself gracefully from an impossible situation . he gets along great with women but has no male best friend and actually needs to find one to be best man at his wedding .
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being deeply loved by someone gives you strength , while loving someone deeply gives you courage .
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we had no idea how to make this work . we had no idea if this even could work . sometimes we still don’t . it took time — years even — to figure it out . but it’s a relationship . none of us know what we’re doing . we just try and negotiate and compromise . and , little by little , you become just another boring couple .
in every moment , we’re changing and evolving and growing . in every moment , we’re reconstructing our identity . we’re not defined by our decisions from two years ago . we’re not even defined by our decisions from two minutes ago . we’re defined by who we choose to be in this very moment .
mike iamele is the author of the provocative book enough already : create success on your own terms ( conari press 2015 ) , which takes a critical look at the dysfunctional pressures of . . .
you can create your own intimacy with whomever you desire . here ' s how
finding balance isn ' t easy when you ' re a career - oriented parent . here ' s how these moms do it
the rocky mountains , once so lovely in the distance , now loomed before us .
“the obstruction of justice is a trumped - up charge , ” he continued , “but it’s definitely something to deal with . ”
he began to explain , in a calm and lawyerly way , what the charge meant and why it wasn’t really applicable in this case .
he and four members of our wedding party had spent the night in jail . the others had just been put in the drunk tank , but my husband - of - a - day , claiming he was only trying to help by intervening when a friend was being hauled into the police car , had been arrested on multiple charges .
“yeah , ” he said , turning to me with surprise . “are you upset ? ”
he loved his wife so much , though , and had always loved her and would have married her no matter what . but now , he wondered , why had she still not told him ? why , at this late hour , after all these decades of happiness and hardship together , had she still never confided in him ?
in the end , as at the beginning , we are mysteries to each other .
the work of chaplaincy dabbles in mystery all the time . the mystery of god , the mystery of death , the mystery of life . what was it all for ? what does it all mean ?
kerry egan is a writer and hospice chaplain in columbia , s . c . her most recent book is “on living . ”
the billboard with peter in bed was extracted from paul rudd ' s 2006 rolling stone photo shoot . see more »
the macbook switches between facing forward and backwards on the kitchen counter when peter gets home , and the 3 girls are talking . see more »
featured in monsters vs aliens / the haunting in connecticut / 12 rounds ( 2009 ) . see more »
movies and tv shows are certified fresh with a steady tomatometer of 75 % or higher after a set amount of reviews ( 80 for wide - release movies , 40 for limited - release movies , 20 for tv shows ) , including 5 reviews from top critics .
makes the most of its simple premise due to the heartfelt and hilarious performances of paul rudd and jason segel .
the concept is solid , applying rusty romcom clichés to a tale of new - found masculine buddydom . but the plot is scatty .
the picture is worth catching for the delicate and toxic nuances of rudd ' s performance .
it ' s a hilarious comedy made even more successful because so much of the satire seems fresh .
though the jokes can be hit - or - miss , the film does blunder along in a genial enough fashion , largely thanks to co - star jason segel .
rudd and segal ' s onscreen chemistry is palpable , and combined with some fantastic bit - players , the film delivers easy , if somewhat puerile laughs .
[ t ] his unpretentious crowd - pleaser is still punchy enough to send packed theaters reeling in riotous laughter .
cried a river watching this . . sinple storyline but very powerful . super recommended to anyone who’s looking for a movie to cry your heart out .
excellent , excellent movie , great cast , many tears but such an excellent story .
the song is sung by lee ki chan : 언젠가 누군가 - 이기찬 ( 남자가 사랑할때 ost ) . you can search with this name . they post the song in korean not in english .
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sean paul - got 2 luv u ft . alexis jordan [ official music video ]
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
roger ebert ' s speech on empathy for the
11th hour
series on april 9th , 1994 , being republished here in honor of his birthday june 18 .
a look back at robert zemeckis ' half - animated classic , who framed roger rabbit , on its 30 - year anniversary .
a tribute to the late tab hunter , a gay matinee idol and hollywood trailblazer .
john hamburg , who co - wrote and directed , populates his film with many other gifted comedy actors , including j . k . simmons as peter ' s father , jane curtin as his mother , andy samberg as his gay brother , and jon favreau and jaime pressly as a married couple from hell - - their own . lou ferrigno finds the right note as the client about to fire his real - estate agent , who has asked himself the question ,
how many people want to buy a mansion in beverly hills with a statue of the incredible hulk in the garden ?
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the killing of a chinese bookie is a 1976 american art and crime film directed and written by john cassavetes and starring ben gazzara .

a rough and gritty film , the formidable character gazzara plays was based on an impersonation he did for his friend cassavetes in the 1970s .

this is the second of their three collaborations , following husbands and preceding opening night .

the killing of a chinese bookie

the killing of a chinese bookie is a film written and directed by john cassavetes in 1976 .
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opening night is re - released by the bfi this month , and accompanied by a mini retrospective , including the killing of a chinese bookie .
trailer - original trailer for the killing of a chinese bookie . in english , not subtitled . ( 2 min , 1080p ) .
all blu - ray screen captures come from the source disc and have been shrunk from 1920x1080 to 900x506 and slightly compressed to conserve space . while they are not exact representations they should offer a general idea of overall video quality . shadows shadows shadows shadows faces faces faces faces a woman under the influence a woman under the influence a woman under the influence a woman under the influence the killing of a chinese bookie ( 1976 ) the killing of a chinese bookie ( 1978 ) the killing of a chinese bookie ( 1976 ) the killing of a chinese bookie ( 1978 ) opening night opening night opening night opening night
stills gallery - this gallery features behind - the - scenes photos of the cast and crew on the set of the killing of a chinese bookie . ( 1080p ) .
one of john cassavetes ' most accessible films , the killing of a chinese bookie offers a unique , noirish and naturalistic take on the sleazy criminal milieu based around sunset strip .
trailer for the killing of a chinese bookie ( john cassavetes , 1976 ) . it is shown as part of the john cassavetes retrospective at the filmmuseum amsterdam in the fall of 2009 .
receiving its long - overdue blu - ray premiere , as part of this dual format edition , the killing of a chinese bookie is john cassavetes’s uncompromising character study of a gangster .
the 6 - disc john cassavetes collection from optimum includes : shadows , faces , a woman under the influence , the killing of a chinese bookie , opening night with these listed extras .
the 8 - disc criterion john cassavetes - five films includes - shadows , faces , a woman under the influence , the killing of a chinese bookie , opening night with these listed extras .
the killing of a chinese bookie
is a wonderful film , but don ' t mistake it for an action movie . it ' s simply the meticulous filming of a man ' s final steps towards his own destruction .
“the killing of a chinese bookie” has nothing to compare with the spectacle of the rowlands performance in “a woman under the influence , ” but next to that earlier film it ' s virtually bressonian in the rigidity of its purpose and style . it even has a story of sorts .
the first version of the killing of a chinese bookie was released in 1976 . it was greeted with mixed reviews and poor box - office returns . cassavetes then went on to direct opening night . after completing that film , however , cassavetes went back and extensively re - edited the killing of a chinese bookie , shortening its length but also adding segments not in the first version . “i’d like to make that film about four or five more times” , cassavetes tells an interviewer at the time , “because it had interesting characters , interesting people” . [ 11 ] this inability to be done with the characters in the killing of a chinese bookie was a trait that marked a number of cassavetes’ productions .
also check out carney ' s books for an account of the differences between the two versions of the killing of a chinese bookie . he may be the only person in the world who has seen both . cassavetes presented him with 35mm prints of each before he died .
but i was sort of drifting in and out of sleep for the first twenty minutes of this before i suddenly realised why opening night - and , as it would turn out , the killing of a chinese bookie - are so strangely , rawly compelling .
the killing of a chinese bookie isn’t your typical mobster film per se . whilst it uses familial elements of the genre , it’s mainly used as window dressing to decorate a multi - layered character drama . and to the films credit it works best as an…
a classic , noirish study of the lethal combination of masculine pride and arrogant self - destruction , the film’s subtle and very naturalistic tone is similar to mean streets , martin scorsese’s excellent examination of catholic guilt and the fallibility of criminals . this similarity is no coincidence , either : scorsese and cassavetes had together formulated a treatment for the killing of a chinese bookie several years previously , during an editing session on scorsese’s film , and indeed cassavetes even claimed to have completed the script for the killing of a chinese bookie with the sole intention of handing it over to scorsese to direct .
arguably the most plot - driven of his films , cassavates withdrew the killing of a chinese bookie shortly after the initial release and subsequently re - cut a shorter version with a different opening . the re - cut version is available on the blu - ray and the dvd includes the long version amongst the special features .
the killing of a chinese bookie is the second film in my retrospective of john cassavetes filmography , the first being his debut shadows . the film stars ben gazzara as cosmo vittelli a strip club owner whose gambling addiction leaves him in hot water with the mob . he then accepts a proposition to take on a hit of a chinese mobster in order to lower his debt , which brings a whole host of other problems to his doorsteps .
no doubt the prime motivation for cassavetes’ participation in such films was money , and if those salaries bought him some time and artistic freedom , and helped bankroll mini - masterpieces like the killing of a chinese bookie , then all the better . despite the film ' s art - house credentials , the killing of a chinese bookie is perhaps cassavetes’ most well - known and conventional work , and it seems incomprehensible that it was panned upon its initial release , before a hasty re - edit by the director addressed its perceived deficiencies .
right from the opening handful of frames , one discovers that john cassavetes’ best known film , or at least the film many people think of when his name is brought up in conversation , the killing of a chinese bookie , is unlike anything the director did prior , or would do in its wake .
john cassavetes the killing of a chinese bookie , the fourth film in criterions john cassavetes : five films box set , is presented on blu - ray in the original aspect ratio of 1 . 85 : 1 in 1080p / 24hz . the dual - layer disc presents both the 1976 and 1978 versions of the film .
opening night’s production issues ranged from unions threatening the film for its non - union crew and extras to a stunted release and an exceedingly cool domestic reception . “if the killing of a chinese bookie was a commercial failure , ” notes charity , “ opening night barely registered at all . ” 21
it ' s rather like a shaggy dog story operating inside a chase movie . chinese bookie is the more insouciant , involuted and unfathomable of the two ; the curdled charm of gazzara ' s lopsided grin has never been more to the point .
one of them was the killing of a chinese bookie , a film that displays most of the faults of his kind of on - the - hoof film - making - and all the virtues . cassavetes always used to say that the emotion in his films was improvised but the lines written . there is no doubt , though , that when he let his actors loose on the set , there were considerable surprises in store .
john cassavetes ' s “the killing of a chinese bookie , ” which opened yesterday at the columbia i and ii theater , is like the last three of the director ' s films ( “a woman under the influence , ” “husbands” and “minnie and moskowitz” ) in the way it resolutely refuses to come to a point strong or interesting enough to support the loving care that ' s gone into its production , particularly on the part of the actors .
im disappointed with how the 76 version of chinese bookie was handled but everything else about this set offers a significant enhancement over the previous dvd set . the supplements altogether offer a great overview of cassavetes work and the presentations for the films are better and more filmic overall . it comes with a high recommendation .
i ' m going to watch john cassavetes ' s the killing of a chinese bookie and the copy i borrowed from the library has two cuts - one from 1976 that ' s a 135 minute edit and one from 1978 that ' s a 108 minute edit . i wonder which version i should watch , and if anybody knows which version cassavetes considered to be the
correct
edit .
but instead of cashing in , cassavetes continued to work mostly outside the mainstream hollywood system , and his remarkable run of films in the 1970s – husbands ( 1971 ) , minnie and moskowitz ( 1971 ) , a woman under the influence ( 1974 ) , killing of a chinese bookie ( 1976 ) , opening night ( 1977 ) – is an accomplishment that ranks with any director ' s body of work before or since .
interestingly , both the killing of a chinese bookie and mean streets are a long way from the terrific , elaborate and expensive crime films that scorsese would come to direct twenty years or so later . by then , scorsese was more interested in deconstructing the glamour , mythology and iconography of famous and wealthy mafia figures , rather than realism and the seamier , low - key experiences of small - time gangsters at street level .
from a story developed with martin scorcese , cassavetes tackles ( and comments on ) the film noir genre . cosmo , a club owner in heavy debt , is pressured into committing the title act to pay off the mob . note : according to ray carney , two versions of killing of a chinese bookie exist : a 1976 edit ( 135 minutes ) and a 1978 edit ( 108 minutes ) . both , carney says , are of equal interest . stars ben gazzara .
ben gazzara is the star of killing , the story of the owner of the crazy horse west , a failing la strip joint he is determined to keep open because it ' s the only thing he ' s built up from scratch in his somewhat tawdry life . in order to remain solvent , he has to kill a chinese bookie for the mob . the sequence in which he breaks into the old man ' s luxurious apartment and does the job is as terrifying as anything in the godfather .
if one face of time in cassavetes’ films is about repetition , habit , fatigue and the elongation of actions to the point where meaning is lost or overturned , time in the killing of a chinese bookie is more elusive , yet also more abrupt . for jean epstein , cinema’s ability to mark an event or an emotion with a sense of constant temporal dispersal constitutes one of its principal links to modern life : “you look at your watch , the present strictly speaking is already no longer there , and strictly speaking it is there again , it will always be there from one midnight to the next” . [ 28 ] there is a gnawing senses of distraction in the killing of a chinese bookie , of always being too soon or too late . it is as if the turning point that could reveal events and their significance is always just about to happen or has already happened prior to our arrival .
“the killing of a chinese bookie” is about cosmo vitelli ( ben gazzara ) , the owner of a tacky nightclub on hollywood ' s sunset strip , and cosmo ' s troubles when the mob coerces him into carrying out a contract murder in order to pay off a $ 23 , 000 gambling debt . that ' s the story , but the film has less interest in story than in character , for which , in mr . cassavetes ' s vocabulary , you may also read actor .
the killing of a chinese bookie seems to retrace one of cinema’s first lessons , about light and its capacity to both bring forth an image or action yet also lose it in an uneven flow and distribution of luminous force . how is it possible to build and maintain a figure in the midst of this uneven luminous wash ? what are the attributes of this figure that is at once both flesh and blood and shot through with light ? in alexandre astruc’s account of murnau’s films he describes a tension between composition and annihilation in the very construction of the image :
ben gazzara and al ruban - in this excellent interview piece , actor ben gazzara ( cosmo ) and and producer al ruban discuss their contributions to the killing of a chinese bookie and recall their interactions with john cassavetes during the shooting of the film . the two gentlemen also discuss the initial reactions to the 1976 version of the film . the interviews were conducted exclusively for criterion in los angeles and new york in 2004 . in english , not subtitled . ( 19 min , 1080i ) .
the fourth disc features the killing of a chinese bookie and the big feature is that the disc features both the 1976 and 1978 cuts of the film . the inclusion of the two cuts is somewhat surprising since gena rowlands apparently refused to allow the alternate version of shadows to be included in the set and my understanding is cassavetes preferred the 78 cut . as to why there are two cuts to the film : cassavetes was apparently disappointed in the reception of it when he originally released it in 1976 . he shortened it down and re - edited , i think in an attempt to make it more of a conventional gangster film .
the killing of a chinese bookie , directed and written by john cassavetes ; produced by al rubin ; supervising editor , torn cornwell ; camera operators , fred elmes and mike harris ; music conducted and arranged by anthony harris ; released by faces distribution corporation . running time : 130 minutes . at the columbia i and ii theaters . second avenue rear 64th street . this film has been rated r .
barely able to contain his anger but realizing that he is in a tight spot , cosmo drives to the chinese gangster ' s heavily guarded home .
mort comes to visit the club with an entourage . they ask him about his mortgage . they know he doesn ' t have the money and start talking about a
punk chinese bookie
they can ' t get to . cosmo reveals that he fought in korea and killed some people in the war . they propose that he kill the bookie . he initially declines , bragging about being a club owner and how he built himself up from nothing . he says that he ' s interested in reducing the debt but not eliminating it . ( killing the bookie ) after some back and forth , they suggest that he take his girls and use them to draw out the bookie ( he likes beautiful girls ) go locate him and invite him to his club to reduce the debt by $ 10 , 000 . 00 .
the criterion collection upgrades their box set john cassavetes : five films to blu - ray , presenting the films and special features over five dual - layer discs . the set includes the films shadows , faces , a woman under the influence , the killing of a chinese bookie , and opening night . shadows is presented in the aspect ratio of about 1 . 33 : 1 , faces at 1 . 66 : 1 , and the other three films in the ratio of 1 . 85 : 1 . all five films are presented with 1080p / 24hz high - definition transfers .
it has the plot of a fast - paced , exciting thriller , but the killing of a chinese bookie rather becomes a slow - paced , intimate , somber and atmospheric noir - ish character study full of humanity that ' ll immersive you throughout . its superbly shot but it never shows off , and ben gazzara is phenomenal , totally convincing as the sleazy strip club owner living a mundane existence . cassavetes ' honest portrait of this man is both sympathetic and bleak , and the mood and his raw , observational style works wonders here . i really liked this one , and its not only because there ' s a lot of boobs in it .
if theatre and cinema are always present in cassavetes’ films , caught in a process of reciprocal exchange , why , we might ask , does he feel the need to literalise this scenario in the killing of a chinese bookie and opening night ? these two films reveal something rarely associated with cassavetes : an attempt to theorise the impulses and drives at work in his films . this theorisation , however , does not take place somewhere apart from the films ; it emerges in tandem with the work of performance . by turning towards the world of theatre , cassavetes is not taking a step away from cinema but looking at it from a certain vantage point , taking in a particular truth of the work .
this disturbance of tempo is strikingly reflected in the centrepiece of the film’s rereading of the gangster genre : cosmo’s performance of the hit on the chinese bookie . after receiving an extraordinarily complex set of directions , cosmo finds his journey to the bookie’s house suddenly interrupted by a blowout on the freeway . he uses this unexpected delay to make a quick phone call back to the club to check on the progress of the act . when neither vince nor sonny are able to tell him which number is being performed , cosmo is forced to sing into the receiver a few bars of mr sophistication’s signature tune , “i can’t give you anything but love” . the neon light of the phone booth seems to operate as cosmo’s own personal spotlight demanding that he come up with an appropriate performance .
mr . cassavetes ' s way of film making is to set up actors , whom he admires , trusts and finds endlessly fascinating , in situations in which they are as likely to philosophize about acting as about life . acting—performance—is a legitimate metaphor for certain kinds of lives but by the end of “the killing of a chinese bookie” you may rightfully expect more than you have actually received . this includes a lot of enigmatic snatches of cosmo ' s nightclub shows , bits and pieces of intentionally awful sketches , as well as cosmo ' s relationships to his “girls” and his emcee ( a selfdescribed “freak , ” played with good , self‐contained desperation by meade roberts , the screen writer .
the killing of a chinese bookie made me , like , immediately and deeply unhappy . i ' m not sure if this is the audience arc cassavetes had in mind exactly ( not that it matters what cassavetes had in mind ) , but i started the movie feeling sorry for cosmo . he runs a seedy nightclub and pours himself into it but doesn ' t have the money or the talent or the luck for it to be really special . the clientele all seem more bored by the show than they are titillated . this is largely due to cassaavetes ' s slow pacing and ben…
the plague’s freedom , of course , comes at a cost for both human life and a certain type of theatrical representation in which performance and the mechanics of staging are in the service of a re - presentation of a previous text . this is a theatre bound to the authority of the script , a theatre where action and gesture are subordinated to the psychological requirements of character . artaud affirms :
next is another portion of an audio interview with john cassavetes , conducted by michael ciment . similar interviews also appear on the discs for a woman under the influence and the killing of a chinese bookie . this 29 - minute segment unsurprisingly concentrates on opening night , and he talks about his personal experiences working in theater and talks about recruiting the films audiences . most interestingly , though , is when he talks about the films central play . it was incredibly hard to write since it was supposed to be an awful play the actors didnt want anything to do with , and he had little interest in it . i found it probably the more engaging of all of the audio interviews found in the set .
these events follow on from each other in a consecutive pattern , yet what has been lost or curtailed is the motivating connection that could adequately explain how we have come to be where we are , how we get from one point to the next . the various events that push the narrative forward lack a gravitational pull and tend to constantly deviate our attention away from the central drama . ( “nothing remains fixed , and everything becomes ominous” , as rosenbaum said of out one / spectre ) . [ 26 ] deleuze identifies this breakdown in the line or fibre that connects and prolongs events as a defining feature of a certain sector of post wwii american cinema beyond hollywood . in altman’s a wedding ( us 1978 ) , nashville ( us 1975 ) and cassavetes’ the killing of a chinese bookie :
the guards don ' t seem to notice him at all and he makes his way into the bookie ' s quarters to find the old man in a hot tub with a younger woman . he waits for her to leave and confronts him when the bookie returns to the hot tub alone . the girl was close by however , and sees him shoot the bookie . the guards come running and he ' s forced to kill some of them on his way out , getting shot himself . he catches a passing bus and heads home then switching taxis as they ' d planned for him . he collapses once inside , but still insists on getting to the club . mort and his people hear that the bookie ' s dead , and are obviously surprised . mort appears angry about it and quite surprised .
[ a ] fluid space , subject to variations of mood , the feeling of the moment , the unpredictability of the present moment , when a moment of madness could at any time cause the scene to shift and jeopardise the performance and the very idea of performance itself . ( 16 )
the 1978 version of bookie and the four other films in the set deliver fantastic digital transfers that look far more film - like in comparison to criterions previous dvds of the films . the images are as crisp as possible when the source allows and detail is very high with excellent depth .
the 76 version of bookie sounds pretty awful . its mixed low , near impossible to hear at times , flat , and appallingly edgy . the 78 version of the film , along with influence and opening night sound much better , offering a bit more range and fidelity .
leaving the realm of broken marriages , insane significant others or the bohemian culture of 50s new york city , cassavetes takes to the world of a low - rent strip club owner in la who becomes indebted to a gangster after losing $ 20 , 000 in a card game . with no money to his name and no one looking to help him out with this debt , he is forced to take the life of a chinese bookie with the hopes of clearing his books of the big debt . however , when things are uncovered that prove this alleged hit as something far deeper and far more troubling , lives get put on the line , and what follows is a rather solid , if oddly uninteresting and unwieldy bit of post - noir filmmaking .
this perceptual transformation of the world is crucial to the film’s effect and its construction of a specifically cinematic form of theatricality . in terms drawn from the work of jean - louis schefer , deleuze describes the cinema’s capacity to replace the presence of bodies found in theatre with a different type of presence :
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what happens ? the movie opens on a schoolyard with girls chanting a jump rope rhyme . on the other side of the fence surrounding the scho . . .
the other films , all in colour , are in far better shape . there are shots that do look out of focus , but its a condition from the shoot and nothing to do with the transfers . the 1978 version of bookie looks a bit muddy in places ( maybe a condition of all of the low light shooting , ) but otherwise the colours in it and the other colour films look to be gorgeously saturated , with natural skin tones . the colour films also have very little damage present , just a few minor marks .
just as cassavetes repeatedly took acting roles in movies that were clearly beneath him in order to finance his own work , likewise , to preserve his position , gazarra is forced to put his morals aside and shoot the chinaman . lit by mostly available neon street signs and flares of sunshine in the lens , bookie indulges little of the familiar trappings of the gangster film . vitelli is a law unto himself , much like cassavetes , and it is his dedication to the minutiae of his craft that is afforded the most screen time . his contempt for anything resembling a movie ‘event’ is particularly evident in a key scene where the hoods tell vitelli how to carry out the killing being shot in almost complete darkness .
a witness who sees all , a guarantee that all has been witnessed by an effectively virtual audience , so that we do not leave the framework of a performance in a truly theatrical sense of the word . ( 87 )
these rapid shifts of perspective are an essential part of what jousse refers to as cassavetes’ “contrapuntal composition” ( 15 ) . we see the production of the second woman from a range of different and often competing perspectives : that of the producer , the audience , the stagehands , the personal dressers , the playwright , the director , the director’s wife and the resentful co - star . as jousse notes , the effect of this composition is to engage the viewer in the tension of the performance , to , in a sense , lift us out of the comfort of our seats and force us to experience something of the confusions , anxieties and competing perspectives which inform the play’s production .
true to cassavetes ' form , the 108 - minute version is not just a simple edit of the 135 - minute version . the order of several scenes has been changed , there are different edits of a few scenes , and there are a few segments unique to the 108 - minute version . the bulk of the cutting in the 1978 version removed many of the nightclub routines that were in the 1976 version .
the disc then closes with a series of production galleries , offering on set photos from the shoot , followed by a theatrical trailer .
cosmo vitelli is the owner of the
crazy horse west
strip club in las vegas . one night , he loses $ 23 , 000 while playing poker at mort weil ' s place . cosmo doesn ' t have the money to pay his debt to mort and his associates who are mobsters . mort strongly suggests cosmoget even by performing a hit for the mob . all he has to do is to kill a chinese bookmaker downtown . left with no other choices , cosmo kills the man who ' s in fact the head of the chinese triads of the west coast . wounded by a bullet , cosmo comes back to his club only to learn that the mob wants him dead now . however , vitelli goes on presenting the show every night .
disc # 1 - - the killing of a chinese bookie - the 1976 cut 1 . paid in full [ : 17 ] 2 . scotch and water [ 4 : 29 ] 3 . crazy horse west [ 4 : 20 ] 4 .
it ' ll pick up
[ 4 : 30 ] 5 . picking up the girls [ 7 : 44 ] 6 . casino [ 4 : 54 ] 7 . audition [ 11 : 01 ] 8 . gay paris [ 9 : 07 ] 9 . debt reduction [ 8 : 51 ] 10 . further instruction [ 5 : 02 ] 11 . en route [ 7 : 15 ] 12 . killing [ 1 : 19 ] 13 . damage control [ 6 : 26 ] 14 .
imagination
[ 9 : 02 ] 15 . shootout [ 7 : 43 ] 16 . a rose for betty [ 4 : 52 ] 17 . backstage [ 13 : 14 ] 18 . a whole new trip [ 7 : 24 ] disc # 2 - - the killing of a chinese bookie - the 1978 cut 1 .
it ' ll pick up
/ paid in full [ : 17 ] 2 . scotch and water [ 3 : 25 ] 3 . picking up the girls [ 4 : 22 ] 4 . casino [ 4 : 11 ] 5 . audition [ 10 : 28 ] 6 . gay paris [ 7 : 45 ] 7 . debt reduction [ 6 : 01 ] 8 . further instruction [ 8 : 55 ] 9 . en route [ 5 : 49 ] 10 . killing [ 6 : 18 ] 11 . damage control [ 2 : 20 ] 12 .
imagination
[ : 55 ] 13 . shootout [ 4 : 07 ] 14 . a rose for betty [ 6 : 49 ] 15 . backstage [ 4 : 47 ] 16 . a whole new trip [ 10 : 04 ] 1 . color bars
cosmo vitelli owns the crazy horse west , a strip joint in california . he ' s laconic , a korean war vet , and a gambler . when we meet him , he ' s making his last payment on a gambling debt . then , he promptly loses $ 23 , 000 playing poker at an illegal local casino . the guys he owes this time aren ' t so friendly , pressuring him for immediate payment . then they suggest that he kill a chinese bookie to wipe off the debt . vitelli and the film move back and forth between the double - crossing , murderous insincerity of the gamblers and the friendships , sweetness , and even love among vitelli , the dancers , a dancer ' s mother , and the club ' s singer , mr . sophistication .
then closing off the disc is a stills gallery presenting a decent sized collection of shots from the film , publicity photos and behind - the - scenes bits , including what looks like a photo of the crew at the end . the disc then closes with a theatrical trailer that i dont actually think is on the previous dvd edition .
this release offers a collection of four films for lovers of country western themes and . . .
cosmo vitelli owns the crazy horse west , a strip joint in california . he ' s laconic , a korean war vet , and a gambler . when we meet him , he ' s making his last payment on a gambling debt . then , he promptly loses $ 23 , 000 playing poker at an illegal local casino . the guys he owes this time aren ' t so friendly , pressuring him for immediate payment . then they suggest that he kill a chinese bookie to wipe off the debt . vitelli and the film move back and forth between the double - crossing , murderous insincerity of the gamblers and the friendships , sweetness , and even love among vitelli , the dancers , a dancer ' s mother , and the club ' s singer , mr . sophistication . written by
the shooting angle , the placement of the people within the frame , the distribution of lights – all serve to construct the lines of a dramatic scene whose unbearable tension will end in annihilation . . . each image is an unstable equilibrium , better still the destruction of a stable equilibrium brought about by its own élan . [ 25 ]
gazzara in a tuxedo the whole time , i ' ll watch that any day of the fucking week .
one of john cassavetes’s loyal troupe of collaborators reminisces about working with the fearless filmmaker .
the only disappointing transfer is the 1976 version of bookie . it appears every film in the set received new masters but the 1976 version looks very similar to the previous dvd edition and i suspect its the same high - def transfer used for that . its much softer and lacks detail in comparison to the 78 version here , with close - ups that look fuzzy around edges where they look crisper and cleaner in the 78 version . colours are a bit duller and blacks can crush out parts of the image . for me this was the most disappointing aspect of the sets transfers since i actually prefer the 76 cut of the film .
gentlemen’s club owner cosmo vitelli is a man dedicated to pretenses of composure and self - possession . when he runs afoul of a group of gangsters , cosmo is forced to commit a horrible crime in a last - ditch effort to save his beloved club and his way of life .
a strange , strange little movie ; shot
cinema verite ,
often utilizing a hand held camera , and murky lighting . due to the resultant disorientation from the documentary like directorial techniques , and the script ' s rather unorthodox concepts , i wasn ' t quite sure what to make of chinese bookie . but it ' s all so unique , appreciation is the only possible response ( for me , least ) to this film . there just isn ' t anything remotely like it . if you haven ' t seen it , i ' d encourage you to do so . - john fiero
the dreams and visions in opening night and love streams serve as a reminder of the proximity of cassavetes’ films to a theatre which “reforges the links between what does and does not exist , between the virtual nature of the possible and the material nature of existence” . ( artaud , “theatre and the plague” , 17 ) this is a type of theatre that “can only happen the moment the inconceivable really begins , where poetry taking place on stage nourishes and superheats created symbols” . ( 17 )
in april 2018 , the subreddit / r / truefilm voted for a canon of 1000 films . close to 300 users submitted a list…
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all of the films present their respective films audio in lossless linear pcm 1 . 0 mono . other than the 76 version of bookie i feel the transfers are about as good as they can be . dialogue is mostly clear but limitations of the audio equipment used during filming can cause some problems , like muffled dialogue . faces had some dialogue looped over in post - production and this is very obvious and distracting in a few places .
even the most arid and banal image is transformed when it is projected on the screen . the smallest detail , the most insignificant object assume a meaning and a life which pertain to them alone , independently of the value of the meaning of the images themselves , the idea which they interpret and the symbol which they constitute . ( … ) essentially the cinema reveals a whole occult life with which it puts us directly into contact . [ 23 ]
the disc then closes with a couple of standards , including a stills gallery with photos from the workshop , the filming and premiere of shadows , as well as photos from the score recording session and then posters from around the world for cassavetes films ( these posters were originally included on the constant forge dvd as a supplement . ) a 3 - minute theatrical trailer closes off the disc .
terrence malick ' s days of heaven , the long - awaited follow - up to his 1973 debut badlands , confirmed his reputation as a visual poet and narrative iconoclast with a story of love and murder told through the jaded voice of a child and expressive . . .
even with the bare outlines provided by what is already known , however , it is still possible to piece together a history of mutual relations out of which emerges an understanding of cinematic writing defined in and through a relationship to the stage – the stage as both a physical place and as the catalyst for a scenario carried through into the cinema . in terms of the films themselves , this consciousness of the stage as a generator for the fiction is reflected in the way cassavetes builds into his scripts situations in which the various life crises of his characters are structured around , and framed by , questions of performance and theatricality . in a comparison between cassavetes and orson welles ( for whom theatre - and - cinema also forms a constant refrain ) , rosenbaum observes :
when cosmo arrives at the bookie’s house , the camera travels through a series of exits , corridors and doorways following cosmo but also at times seeming to lose him in the maze . eventually the camera stumbles upon an old man contently humming to himself and splashing around in a large communal bath . for a time the film seems to forget about cosmo , intent instead to observe the playful behavior of the old man . when the old man moves to a different bath in an adjoining room , he glances a number of times in the general direction of where we assume cosmo is standing , without registering his presence . when he finally acknowledges cosmo’s presence , the old man blinks hard as if trying to assure himself that what he is seeing is not a ghost . the only verbal contact between the two occurs just before the old man is shot , when he mumbles in a barely audible tone , “i’m real bad . i’m so sorry” .
at first it seems as if nancy has been conjured into being by myrtle as a device for the performance – an attempt to “stay in touch” with a set of emotions that are fast receding and a way of transforming the scenario of aging and passivity built into the role of virginia . what quickly becomes apparent , however , is the danger of such conjurings , registered in the dead fan’s brutal actions and myrtle’s equally violent , final response . as myrtle is pummeled by nancy , the threat of madness that hovers over her struggle with the role of virginia is steered away from a question of psychological crisis to one of physical disintegration . despite myrtle’s assurances that she has created nancy and can make her appear and disappear at will , opening night never resolves the issue of myrtle’s relation to the dead fan or the place of this apparition in relation to the rest of the film .
teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies , apparently in the grip of mass . . .
tracing cassavetes’s schooling and early career before giving a chapter on each of the films , attention is also paid to cassavetes’s relationship with gena rowlands—and the ways in which the two worked together . charity additionally explores posthumous productions of cassavetes’s un - filmed scripts . included is a filmography , a chronology of his stage plays , and of his performances .
despite a few disappointments ( like the lengthy documentary , a constant forge ) the supplements generally do offer an excellent amount of insight into cassavetes filmmaking career and style , and offer a great overview for those coming to the directors films for the first time .
note : the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer ( s ) .
george kouvaros is professor of film studies in the school of the arts and media , unsw . his most recent book is
moving on with the remaining supplements you first get notes about the two versions of the film followed by an 18 - minute discussion featuring ben gazzara and al ruban . both talk about working with cassavetes and how they see his films , but concentrate primarily on killing of course . they talk about making it , their reactions to it and the eventual public reception of it . it ' s an excellent interview , which i felt might have been too short .
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he starts to reconsider , when mort comes by the club and asks him to step outside . he presents it to mort as
i ' m going to do you a favor , i don ' t want to reduce the debt .
mort is insistent that he come outside and after they hit cosmo a few times they force him into a car and make it clear that they ' re willing to kill him . they give him a car , a map , a gun and specific instructions for dealing with the bookie ' s dogs , guards , and locks . cosmo heads out to do it , seeing no choice in the matter any longer . he has some difficulty with the car which breaks down on the highway while he ' s driving , so he finds a gas station and calls a cab . despite his crisis , he also takes the opportunity to check on the club , getting angry about only having two girls on stage and the music choice . he stops at a bar and orders meat for the dogs and then sets out for the bookie ' s place .
moving on with the remaining supplements you first get notes about the two versions of the film followed by an 18 - minute discussion featuring ben gazzara and al ruban . both talk about working with cassavetes and how they see his films , but concentrate primarily on killing ? of course . they talk about making it , their reactions to it and the eventual public reception of it . it ' s an excellent interview , which i felt might have been too short .
this sudden shifting can also be seen during the spaghetti breakfast when one of nick’s work mates suddenly finds his voice and begins to serenade myrtle . both moments remind us of the dynamic potential that defines the nature of the scene in cassavetes’ work : a capacity for a sudden and sometimes violent interruption to work against the very foundations of a scene , as well as our ability to define its general direction .
what about it ? ( for a full summary of the film , scroll down to
what happens ?
) l . a . confidential is a movie all about make . . .
an amazing but sad first act sets up a sleek , tense , and comparitively consumable cassavetes film that left me depressed for all the owners of a failing business . a great character study .
the plot’s biggest gamble is to make cosmo , this likable if screwed - up schnook , actually go through with the killing . is it plausible that someone so seemingly decent would do such a thing ? we don’t know , any more than we know enough about his past to say with certainty whether it’s even the first time he’s killed someone . but if we accept cassavetes’s model of the self as constantly in flux—provisional , unknowable , yet susceptible to the immediate claims of duty—then we may be better able to make the leap and accept the possibility .
when a young boy ' s family is killed by the mob , their tough neighbor gloria becomes his reluctant guardian . in possession of a book that the gangsters want , the pair go on the run in new york .
the idea of a play built right on stage , encountering production and performance obstacles , demands the discovery of active language , both active and anarchic , where the usual limits of feelings and words are transcended . antonin artaud [ 2 ]
to consider the theater as a second - hand psychological or moral function , and to believe that dreams themselves have only a substitute function , is to diminish the profound poetic bearing of dreams as well as of the theater . [ 22 ]
founded in 1999 , senses of cinema is one of the first online film journals of its kind and has set the standard for professional , high quality film - related content on the internet .
it is an intoxicating vision of the function of criticism ; the only problem is that , in the rush to significance , the actual ways artistic language operates get forgotten . works of genius are not explainable in terms of a series of generic cultural meanings . shakespeare is not synonymous with the elizabethan world view ; in fact , the power and wonder of his work begin where cultural descriptions of it end . great artists inflect and comment upon the systems of expression into which they are bornthey do not merely repeat them in their work .
a large gambling debt forces cosmo to meet a group of local wise guys ( seymour cassel , morgan woodward , timothy carey , robert phillips , john kullers ) who demand that he immediately pays what he owes if he wishes to continue running the club . when cosmo confesses to them that he does not have the money , they offer him a ' reasonable ' deal : if cosmo agrees to kill an influential chinese gangster for them , they will forget about his gambling debt . at first cosmo rejects the deal , but after one of the wise guys , a bubbly regular at the club , bruises his ribs , he changes his mind . another wise guy then gives him a gun and a stolen car .
this film works on a number of levels that challenge the viewer . on the one hand , the cinema - verite technique of the visuals , reminiscent of raoul coutard (
breathless
) , really dials us into the life of cosmo . cassavetes delivers him as he is : a freewheeling , caring guy trying to make his nightclub a go without exploiting the girls who work for him . on the other , the plot , a meandering set of tableaus that toy with cliché but never give into them , gives the viewer an opportunity to escape the authoritarian conventions of mainstream cinema . cassavetes isn ' t worried about masking real time precisely because his characters come to life in it . one of the finest
organic
films ever made ; a seemingly naturally paced film about real people bracketed by the aesthetic codes of the film noir genre . very impressive .
this marks , at least within this five films box set that criterion so wonderfully upgraded to blu - ray late last month , the point in cassavetes’ career where , at least aesthetically , the director began getting in his own way . featuring only a handful of truly memorable shots and some of the least inspired photography in any of cassavetes’ films ( there is actually no cinematography credit found on this film ) , the film lacks much of the energy of his earlier work , or even the unbridled energy found within many of the final frames of the film that came prior to this , a woman under the influence . despite a score that keeps the film afloat and pace chugging along , the best thing that can be said about the film visually is that cassavetes has a way with crafting an ever evolving film that has rarely been matched . at its best , the film is a slow burn of a neo - noir . oddly lyrical in its pacing , the film builds and , as previously mentioned , evolves continuously starting out as a character study and making its way to the realm of pure crime noir . with the central hit being one of the best and most vital moments of the film , the picture takes a decided turn following , only to find its stride for a wonderfully kinetic final act .