|
New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.
Reviews A-C Reviews D-F Reviews G-J Reviews K-M Reviews N-Q Reviews R-T Reviews U-Z Redbelt **1/2 Roman de gare **1/2 Son of Rambow **1/2 Speed Racer [review coming soon] Still Life **** Iron Man *** More A Collection of 2007 Academy Award Nominated Short Films The Hottie and the Nottie I'm Not There Over Her Dead Body Paddle to the Sea The Red Balloon Silent Ozu: Three Family Comedies (Criterion Eclipse #10) Teeth Twister: Special Edition More My Top 60 Directors [Updated] Charlton Heston (1924-2008) Scott B. Smith Estelle Parsons Roger Donaldson Roy Scheider (1932-2008) Mike Binder James McAvoy Tony Gilroy David Cronenberg & Viggo Mortensen William Friedkin Peter Fonda & James Mangold Kasi Lemmons on Talk to Me Steve Buscemi on Interview Lynn Hershman-Leeson Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg & Nick Frost on Hot Fuzz Scott Frank, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Matthew Goode The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006) Bong Joon-ho, director of The Host Mark Polish, Michael Polish & Billy Bob Thornton My latest blog entries at cinematical.com The 'Mexican New Wave' Interview with Singaporian Filmmaker Djinn Joe Carnahan & Jeremy Piven Interview Terry Zwigoff on the new Bad Santa Director's Cut Alfonso Cuarón Interview Guillermo Del Toro Interview Chris Noonan Interview Robert Altman (1925-2006) Scarlett Johansson: A Study in Scarlett Christmas Movies Combustible Celluloid's Big Guide to Halloween & Horror Movies Joe Eszterhas Jet Li Zach Braff Kirby Dick James Ellroy Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Adrien Brody Steve Irwin (1962-2006) Elisha Cuthbert/Jamie Babbit Matt Dillon David R. Ellis Maria Bello Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson Mickey Spillane (1918-2006) Al Gore Cult Movies Actress Interview Gallery The Top 100 More Features and Interviews James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller Dark Lover, by Emily Leider Agee on Film, by James Agee Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks Negative Space, by Manny Farber 5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael More Books The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews! Sign up for my weekly newsletter! More of Jeffrey's reviews are available at: Rotten Tomatoes and All Movie Portal. About Lists Gallery News Links E-mail me. |
After Hours (1985)Rating: 4 Stars (out of 4) The Late, Late ShowBy Jeffrey M. Anderson
Scorsese came to the film during a dark part of his life. His The Last Temptation of Christ had fallen through (only to be revived a few years later), and he was on the verge of quitting. He chose After Hours as a "small" project with which to charge his batteries. If it didn't work, we might have lost him. Fortunately, it did and still does. I've seen After Hours several times, and some of those times I have walked away from it hating it for its cruelty. But really I love it for its unrelenting inventiveness, its constant motion and its curmudgeonly glass-half-empty outlook. After Hours marked the first time that Scorsese worked with cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, who had proven himself several times over working for madman Rainer Werner Fassbinder. So he was more than up to the task of making this sinister, sickening film that never lets go. Dunne plays Paul Hackett, a word-processor who ventures out into the night and meets a beautiful woman, Marcy (Rosanna Arquette). She invites him back to the flat she shares with her artist roommate, Kiki (Linda Fiorentino). Their "date" turns out awkwardly and Paul decides to go home. But he's lost all his money out a taxicab window and subway fares have gone up -- just this night -- so he's shy the fare. A horrible comedy of errors follows, involving Paul's lost keys, a suicide, a papier-mâché sculpture, an angry mob, a couple of thieves, and a clingy waitress with a 60s-era beehive hairdo. It ends, not with any kind of vindication or revelation, but with a perfectly placed "screw you, pal." Nonetheless, After Hours has its sweet moments too. One of my all time favorite moments in any movie comes when Paul and Marcy are enjoying a coffee in a diner. Paul asks for the check and the waiter (the great Dick Miller) tells him it's on the house. "Different rules apply when it gets this late," he says. If you understand what he means, then After Hours is the film for you. DVD Details: Warner Home Video's new disc comes with a scene-select commentary track, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a trailer and deleted scenes. I've never seen this film on the big screen, and it's always seemed like a perfect small-screen film to me. So this DVD is most welcome. Starring: Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, Catherine O'Hara, Verna Bloom, Thomas Chong, Cheech Marin, John Heard, Dick Miller, Victor Argo Buy Martin Scorsese movies from Amazon.com |
| Home |
News |
Search Reviews |
Classic Movies |
DVDs |
Features |
Film Books |
Gallery |
Links |
About |
The Rating System |
Email Me |