Do You Party?

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I escaped from this morning's screening of Derrick Borte's The Joneses after twelve minutes and quickly hightailed it over to the Cumberland for Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which I missed only a bit of. I'm not much of a laugh-out-loud type of guy but I laughed my head off at portions of this deranged psycho-dramedy, although if it was my call I would have titled it Bad Lieutenant: The Silence of the Reptiles.

Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes in Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

It's hilariously bent and livewire and even surreal at times, but it's still not entirely the ultimate cuckoo Nic Cage film I was hoping for. I loved that Herzog constantly subverts the suspension-of-disbelief element that one is naturally inclined to submit to as the proverbial campfire tale is told. And yet time and again Herzog reminds the viewer that Bad Lieutenant doesn't know from campfires and is essentially a goof -- a deliciously eccentric druggy-crazy cop movie about a deliciously eccentric druggy-crazy cop movie.

And with such a consistent emphasis on extreme acting, deliriously dopey iguana and crocodile shots, and other outrageously skewed bits the occasional stabs at emotional sincerity just seem to get in the way. So it's not really pure and unified thing. It lurches around, which is cool in a sense but also a little disorienting

But most of Herzog's Lieutenant is a boldly feisty mescaline crime movie, and when Cage is channeling that wackjob current that he knows and channels so well, it's well worth the ticket price.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans would be a great midnight movie if the midnight movie business amounted to anything these days. It's definitely something to watch stoned. I began to sense a kind of contact pot high; at times a bit more than this. With all the iguanas and crocks slithering around I sometimes felt like I was Hunter Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas after putting a little extract of pineal gland on my tongue.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on September 14, 2009 at 2:18 PM

comment #1

DeeZee says ...

So it's basically what Antichrist should've been, I take it?

Posted by DeeZee at September 14, 2009 2:36 PM

comment #2

bmcintire says ...

Good lord but he's beginning to look like William S. Burroughs in a Nicolas Cage toupee.

Posted by bmcintire at September 14, 2009 2:36 PM

comment #3

JeffK says ...

Any Herzog film described as a midnight movie is a must-see for me. Hopefully he got Cage to channel some of the unbound craziness of Kinski.

Posted by JeffK at September 14, 2009 2:41 PM

comment #4

Chase Kahn says ...

"ultimate cuckoo Nic Cage film"

Wow, two in one year.

Jeff -- "A Single Man" tonight??

Posted by Chase Kahn at September 14, 2009 2:43 PM

comment #5

115thDreamer says ...

Can't frickin' wait - bring on the wacko Nic Cage roles....I love 'em. The trailer is hilarious - "shoot him again, his spirit's still dancing".....

Posted by 115thDreamer at September 14, 2009 3:17 PM

comment #6

Mr. F. says ...

If it's anywhere near as wacky as the WICKER MAN remake, I'm there.

(I watch this every few months whenever I need a laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo)

Posted by Mr. F. at September 14, 2009 3:55 PM

comment #7

Mr. F. says ...

Er... no parentheticals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo

Posted by Mr. F. at September 14, 2009 3:55 PM

comment #8

actionman says ...

so pumped for this. did anyone see the rejected poster that was making the rounds a few days ago? it's so asinine.

Posted by actionman at September 14, 2009 4:15 PM

comment #9

Josh Massey says ...

Patrick Swayze is gone.

Posted by Josh Massey at September 14, 2009 4:59 PM

comment #10

DeeZee says ...

Josh: Yeah, I'm gonna miss him, too. ;-;

Posted by DeeZee at September 14, 2009 5:32 PM

comment #11

googs says ...

When he's not doing Jerry Bruckheimer crap and trying to convince us that he's an action star, I enjoy Nic Cage to no end. The Weather Man (extremely underrated) and Adaptation are two great performances he's given within the past decade.

Posted by googs at September 14, 2009 5:48 PM

comment #12

googs says ...

Also - take it the Joneses wasn't very good then? For some reason people were claiming it might start a bidding war.

Posted by googs at September 14, 2009 5:55 PM

comment #13

Admiral82 says ...

I'm hyped for this flick! Funniest part in the trailer, "You don't have a lucky crack pipe?"

actionman:
No, I haven't yet! Find it and link it please...

Posted by Admiral82 at September 14, 2009 5:58 PM

comment #14

Geoff says ...

Here is the rejected poster over at AICN:

http://www.aintitcool.com/images2009/RejectedLieutenantBig.jpg

I think it's hilarious.

Posted by Geoff at September 14, 2009 6:13 PM

comment #15

Chris Willman says ...

This sums it up perfectly.

Posted by Chris Willman at September 14, 2009 6:57 PM

comment #16

Hallick says ...

Any morning that Bruce Willis looks at himself in the mirror and wonders, "man...did I do the right thing shaving it all off back then?", he can always look at this picture and find his shit-eating smirk again.

Seeing Cage cling to this hairdo is like watching Gollum go down with the ring.

Posted by Hallick at September 14, 2009 11:05 PM

comment #17

DeeZee says ...

Hallick: You're assuming it's his real hair.

Posted by DeeZee at September 14, 2009 11:38 PM

comment #18

Alexander says ...

If it's Herzog, I'll be there. Sounds like fun.

Posted by Alexander at September 15, 2009 2:49 AM

comment #19

Noiresque says ...

Crazy Cage is the only bearable Cage, these days. His lace front wigs are the physical embodiment of all that has gone wrong with him as an artist. I caught a bit of Moonstruck last week, and it is hard to remember that he was once sensual and roughhewn. Plus, I vastly prefer his old nose.

Posted by Noiresque at September 15, 2009 6:22 AM

comment #20