cstrother-1

Hard to understand the good ratings for this film. Very derivative, clichéd, nothing new to say at all that has not been done much better elsewhere. Soprano does it better every week. A waste of good actors. I love Mena Suvari. A real shame she had to be in this. Alec Baldwin threatened to be good from time to time, but seemed generally unconvincing to me. Why bother to put out this stuff after such films as The Departed. Freddie Prinze, Jr. was okay, but did not seem like law school material. The general atmosphere was pretty good New York. Jerry Ferrara pretty much plays Turtle here, just like he plays Turtle on Entourage, only more clichéd. You may or may not like that character in this context.

I just saw this TV on some obscure cable channel. What a great period piece. A mix of well-known groups and the obscure, at least in the States. It was most interesting to me to see how some of the greats just sort of leaped off the screen, even though it was all lip-synched. Stevie Winwood in the Spencer Davis Group, as one. The Animals another. In fact, I thought the Animals out and out killed. I thought Herman's Hermits were good.

Lot of comment on the Beatles here. Nice to have some live Beatles clips for sure, but I did not think they were that remarkable.

The group with the red-haired singer asked about by another comment is the Rocking Berries. A real gem of a group that I had not heard of. Billie Davis was great, too. A real cutie, exuding personality.

Also, a good illustration of how there is really bad music in any era, too.

Dress and hair styles were great, too. Within a couple of years it would all be different.

Well worth watching.

This is really a decent film, with excellent acting throughout, and some original touches. Edge of the seat stuff. Wonder why the critics got things so wrong. Not "Pulp Fiction," but nothing is. Hyper-violent. Tarantino influenced. Sure, lots that could be criticized. But a heck of a lot to like.

Great '67-'68 Mustang. Supporting actors fascinating. True character actors. Lots of plot twists, some of which may not be credible, but I think suspension of disbelief is pretty easy. Quotable lines. Good, and lots of, bang for the buck. Good effects and camera work throughout. Highly staturated colors portraying grimy scenes. Soft pastels for the most disturbing section of all. Great, unobtrusive sound work. Nice film-making throughout.