One of the Best of it's kind but.....
Added 10/30/2009
As the Cyberpunk genre of Science Fiction writing grew in both authorship and readership, it only made sense that Hollywood would try it's hand at re-creating it in film. The results have been mostly dismal. Johnny Mnemonic and Paycheck might have had the plot elements but were way short of the "feel" so prevalent in the writing. Maybe they suffered from the star power or excessive budgeting or whatever but they were way short of the mark.
Enter Abel Ferrara. I'll say up front I like much of his work, with The King of New York being my favorite. The first time I saw it I was a bit confused as to all the things going on in the plot line, but the feeling of the film stayed with me to the point where I had to see it again. Now it's in my library and I watch it a couple of times a year. This is what makes this film mostly (but not entirely) successful. Of the several movies I've seen delving into Cyberpunk this is the one that comes closest to approaching the feeling of the Gibsian not too distant future, over technologized, over incorporated society. Things are moving at a breakneck pace and the stakes are high. The genius stroke in technology can put one company on top and another in the grave and that's pretty much what is happening here. Chris Walken and Willem Defoe are the primaries in a scheme to get a top engineer from one company to another and things go really bad.
The plot is great to a point but the problem is that it doesn't really end. It stops. The climax comes way too early and there's no reason to keep the movie going but it does for what seems like forever. I won't spoil things but Defoe ends up in a cubby hole at "The New Rose Hotel" replaying the events in his mind and the viewer must now re-watch many of the scenes he's already watched. Was the script that bad or did they simply run out of money. Maybe they thought they had a 90 minute movie and only had 75 minutes after the final cut. Whatever....this is why the film ultimately fails.
This should be seen though because it is one of the only films of its kind to capture the essence of the literature. A great effort if nothing else.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Something else.
Added 9/2/2009
I started watching the movie, finally having had it on hold, i'd heard about it and how hated it was apparently. As a film it's great, obviously not the greatest thing, but it was pretty intimate. It wasn't a big ending or it wasn't much an action thriller, it wasn't that kind of picture at all. But, it was definitely a picture about the characters. The look of the film was very interesting and very dark, the score was pretty great, the acting too, great. I think Ferrara made a great film, that seems to really be something that's been misunderstood. I haven't read the William Gibson short story so i don't know how much it differs from the original story, but adaptations are hardly ever perfect, maybe a few times, but what counts is the film on it's own. How the film performs and if it does anything for you.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Abel meets his match in Asia Argento
Added 1/27/2008
New Rose Hotel, based on the short story by William Gibson , is a very confusing yet entertaining film from director Abel Ferrara. You might not be clear on what is actually happening, not at first anyway, but you will be certain of how Abel fell for his leading lady Asia Argento. The two dated for a while after the making of this film. Argento is not only incredibly sexy but she can also act. She's the best thing going for this film which stars Christopher Walken as Fox and Willem Defoe as X. The film takes place sometime in the future and major corporations are stealing top scientists from rival companies. Fox and X are trying to lure a Japanese scientist to their company. They hire a struggling prostitute and dancer named Sandi (Argento) to seduce him. She agrees to do it after they tell her how much they are going to pay her. X starts tutoring her in how to be seductive and the two fall for each other. Several steamy sex scenes follow and Fox gets wind of his partner's new fling. He worries that this will jeopardize their mission but also their friendship. Walken does a good job of showing the fear that Fox has as the older of the two who worries that his young protege is going to leave him. The basic plot is very similar to that of a classic film noir where two guys use a beautiful young woman to get information about a mystery man. One of the guys falls for the girl, the other guy gets suspicious, and someone dies. For the film's first hour it seems like scenes are being cut short and we aren't getting the full story. Abel plays the full scenes during the film's last half hour cluing us in on what he was hiding. This makes that portion of the film the most exciting since we're finally getting the full story and by this time we're invested in what happens to X and Sandi. The acting from the three leads is excellent and there is a lot of humor in the film. Early on there is a scene between Walken and Defoe that starts off scripted and ends on a hilarious rant improvised by both men. It's a nice Abel touch. Many of the people who worked on this film worked on Abel's previous film "The Funeral" including Walken, Gretchen Mol, Annabella Sciorra, and Victor Argo. This film also has a great score by Ferrara regular Schooly D. Definitely worth checking out for Abel fans or for any of the three stars.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Interesting premise and fine performances by Walken, DeFoe & Argento, but ultimately unfulfilling
Added 10/8/2007
Sometimes making a feature length film from a short story can work, as the director can elaborate and add texture to the story. Most of the time, short stories make bad movies, and New Rose Hotel exemplifies why. About half-way through this interesting (but ultimately empty) film, the story noticeably looses steam and goes into "filler" mode, where we get a bunch of flash-backs on things we've already seen. But I've jumped ahead. Here's the story.
Christopher Walken and Willem DeFoe are free-lancers in a sort of dystopia of corporate rule, emotional distance, and meaningless sex. They basically "turn" high-level corporate employees, getting paid for facilitating the "defection" of these "stars" from one company to another - the right people can mean billions to a company's bottom line. Like many movies, we join our "heroes" at a critical point, where they are this/close to either the motherload score or a body bag.
Enter the off-beat, talented and unconventionally gorgeous Asia Argento as the hooker with the heart of gold (or maybe stone), who they task to "turn" a big-time scientist-type genius dud. Needless to say, things start off one way, then twists happen that spin the story in a different direction, all complicated by DeFoe falling for the sexy Argento.
Walken is excellent here, as he's allowed to really go with it, spouting lines only he can deliver, making those faces and even doing a little song and dance. DeFoe is...DeFoe - always solid, but given a character that is not completely realized, and a story that is a little transparent. But Argento is the show - sexy, tattooed and hard-to-take-your-eyes-off in a fairly explicit role (the Euros are so comfortable with their bodies...). Also "stars" Gretchen Mol in what is nothing more than a glorified cameo (I'm guessing some scenes wound up on the cutting room floor). See "much more" of her in the Bettie Page flick inwhich she stars.
Unfortunately, as mentioned, the story runs out of steam, gets very "noire"-ishly conventional, and wraps itself up quickly and unfulfillingly, as if its double-parked. It seems as if its making a statement early on (greed, nations ruled by corporations, etc...), then loses its way.
Would have given this 2 stars if not for the luscious Argento, who brings a raw sexuality to her performance. She makes the first half of this as interesting as the second half (w/o much of her) is as uninspired.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Horrid mess
Added 5/29/2007
An unbelievable mess, this incredibly confusing movie makes Ferrara previous "The Blackout" a model of narrative clarity. This shoddy movie is one of the reasons that Ferrara has become more and more a marginal figure (his films are now barely released in the US). The reason why actors of the caliber of Dafoe and Walken starred and produced this movie is beyond me. The only thing that makes this movie worth a look are a few nude scenes from the beautiful Asia Argento.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
One of the Best of it's kind but.....
Added 10/30/2009
As the Cyberpunk genre of Science Fiction writing grew in both authorship and readership, it only made sense that Hollywood would try it's hand at re-creating it in film. The results have been mostly dismal. Johnny Mnemonic and Paycheck might have had the plot elements but were way short of the "feel" so prevalent in the writing. Maybe they suffered from the star power or excessive budgeting or whatever but they were way short of the mark.
Enter Abel Ferrara. I'll say up front I like much of his work, with The King of New York being my favorite. The first time I saw it I was a bit confused as to all the things going on in the plot line, but the feeling of the film stayed with me to the point where I had to see it again. Now it's in my library and I watch it a couple of times a year. This is what makes this film mostly (but not entirely) successful. Of the several movies I've seen delving into Cyberpunk this is the one that comes closest to approaching the feeling of the Gibsian not too distant future, over technologized, over incorporated society. Things are moving at a breakneck pace and the stakes are high. The genius stroke in technology can put one company on top and another in the grave and that's pretty much what is happening here. Chris Walken and Willem Defoe are the primaries in a scheme to get a top engineer from one company to another and things go really bad.
The plot is great to a point but the problem is that it doesn't really end. It stops. The climax comes way too early and there's no reason to keep the movie going but it does for what seems like forever. I won't spoil things but Defoe ends up in a cubby hole at "The New Rose Hotel" replaying the events in his mind and the viewer must now re-watch many of the scenes he's already watched. Was the script that bad or did they simply run out of money. Maybe they thought they had a 90 minute movie and only had 75 minutes after the final cut. Whatever....this is why the film ultimately fails.
This should be seen though because it is one of the only films of its kind to capture the essence of the literature. A great effort if nothing else.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Something else.
Added 9/2/2009
I started watching the movie, finally having had it on hold, i'd heard about it and how hated it was apparently. As a film it's great, obviously not the greatest thing, but it was pretty intimate. It wasn't a big ending or it wasn't much an action thriller, it wasn't that kind of picture at all. But, it was definitely a picture about the characters. The look of the film was very interesting and very dark, the score was pretty great, the acting too, great. I think Ferrara made a great film, that seems to really be something that's been misunderstood. I haven't read the William Gibson short story so i don't know how much it differs from the original story, but adaptations are hardly ever perfect, maybe a few times, but what counts is the film on it's own. How the film performs and if it does anything for you.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Abel meets his match in Asia Argento
Added 1/27/2008
New Rose Hotel, based on the short story by William Gibson , is a very confusing yet entertaining film from director Abel Ferrara. You might not be clear on what is actually happening, not at first anyway, but you will be certain of how Abel fell for his leading lady Asia Argento. The two dated for a while after the making of this film. Argento is not only incredibly sexy but she can also act. She's the best thing going for this film which stars Christopher Walken as Fox and Willem Defoe as X. The film takes place sometime in the future and major corporations are stealing top scientists from rival companies. Fox and X are trying to lure a Japanese scientist to their company. They hire a struggling prostitute and dancer named Sandi (Argento) to seduce him. She agrees to do it after they tell her how much they are going to pay her. X starts tutoring her in how to be seductive and the two fall for each other. Several steamy sex scenes follow and Fox gets wind of his partner's new fling. He worries that this will jeopardize their mission but also their friendship. Walken does a good job of showing the fear that Fox has as the older of the two who worries that his young protege is going to leave him. The basic plot is very similar to that of a classic film noir where two guys use a beautiful young woman to get information about a mystery man. One of the guys falls for the girl, the other guy gets suspicious, and someone dies. For the film's first hour it seems like scenes are being cut short and we aren't getting the full story. Abel plays the full scenes during the film's last half hour cluing us in on what he was hiding. This makes that portion of the film the most exciting since we're finally getting the full story and by this time we're invested in what happens to X and Sandi. The acting from the three leads is excellent and there is a lot of humor in the film. Early on there is a scene between Walken and Defoe that starts off scripted and ends on a hilarious rant improvised by both men. It's a nice Abel touch. Many of the people who worked on this film worked on Abel's previous film "The Funeral" including Walken, Gretchen Mol, Annabella Sciorra, and Victor Argo. This film also has a great score by Ferrara regular Schooly D. Definitely worth checking out for Abel fans or for any of the three stars.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
