Monday 14 December 2009

Greatest movie scenes ever # 23

It's very rare that a sequel to or reboot of a perenial favourite lives up to the lofty expectations you have for it, but I'll be damn-diggity-damned if Bad Lieutenant : Port Of Call New Orleans hasn't surpassed my high hopes and even improved on the original movie.

The O.G Bad Lieutenant contains what's my favourite scene ever, but other than a few additional incredible moments, it's not a particularly good watch, is it? Port Of Call New Orleans retains some of the themes of the first movie, but thankfully eschews all the confusing Catholicism and vague pretense of a plot to just let Nic Cage run wild with the character. It's been a lonely existence as a fan of Cage's wide-eyed manic schtick (the Castor Troy scenes in Face/Off and the first 15 minutes of Snake Eyes remain untouchable) for the last decade, but validation has finally come a-knockin' on my door as Herzog agrees with me that the problem hasn't been Cage's overacting, but rather, he just hasn't been given the appropriate movie to fully showcase his lunatic charms in. Given carte blanche to spazz-out here he gives the performance of his career, and even manages appropriate homages to teh gawd Kinski as both Aguirre, with his wild eyes and hunch, and Nosferatu, with his oversized clothes.

And, yeah, nothing can ever top the wanking scene in the Ferrara flick, but if you can tell me with a straight face that these two scenes alone don't body the rest of the original, then you're straight up lying through your teeth like Herzog is when he claims he's never seen the Ferrara movie :





Add in incidental music which sounds like it's from series 1 of Round The Twist, rapper-turned-actor cameos from Xzibit and Chino XL (Xzibit is suprisingly good and with this one role has trumped his entire boring rap career), Cage namechecking Eazy E in front of his black accomplices whilst strung out and blackmailing narcotics possessing club chicks into sex (the police force should loop that scene and then show it in schools across the world as a recruitment initiative video), and we have what amounts to my favourite movie of the year, which is ironic since Cage is also the lead in my least favourite movie of 2009.

And, I was right about this toppling Baller Blockin' from its ivory tower as my favourite New Orleans based movie.

Bonus New Orleans beats

The best song from the Baller Blockin' soundtrack; and the last song Weezy did with Mannie in 2005, which is better than anything either of them have done since :

Turk & B.G - Uptown



Lil' Wayne - Ca$h Money N*gga

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't forget Con Air.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

I hang my head in shame that i've never seen Con Air in full.

brad said...

set this to dl this morning before i set out for work

is out here at the cinema?

James said...

See Con Air asap.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

I have no idea, Brad.

Dude i know from NY saw it at a theatre this week, but it wouldn't suprise me if it goes straight to dvd here.

P said...

I STILL GOTTA SEE THIS

POSTED ABOUT ZOE LUND ON MY JAWN