\r\nMovie Review: The Departed\r\n
\r\nI believe it is safe to say that this is not one of Martin Scorsese\'s best work.\r\n
\r\nA remake of the 2002 Hong Kong hit thirller, Infernal Affairs, The Departed failed to
\r\nreach my expectations, as well as the expectations of most people who have seen
\r\nInfernal Affairs. Even on its own, not comparing to the original, I still think it did not
\r\nlive up to its potential.\r\n
\r\nSo what problems did I have with it? Well many actually. First of all, it was too long.
\r\nThe usual Scorsese length did not work for this film, as it dragged out the story and
\r\nfilled it up with redundant scenes. The thrilling edge needed for this film was, most of
\r\nthe time, non-existent, with the exception of a few scenes. The second biggest problem
\r\nwas the language. Sure, they are cops and gangsters under a lot of stress, but NOT
\r\nEVERY SECOND WORD has to be the f word, with and without the -ing. That was just
\r\noverkill. The dialogues were so full of f words, it was annoying and distracting. I think
\r\nthe heavy language limited the actors\' emotional range. All we get to see most of the
\r\ntime is how f-ing angry they are. This leads to my third problem. Scorsese\'s favourite
\r\ntheme of self-damnation was not as apparent in this film as it should be, unlike his other
\r\ngangster movies and also Infernal Affairs. This is due mostly to the acting. Don\'t get me
\r\nwrong I do think Leonardo Di Caprio and Matt Damon are good actors, but I feel that the
\r\nbitter self-conflict needed in both characters were not clear and noticable. Another thing
\r\nI was disappointed with is Jack Nicholson over-acting his character. I disagree with people
\r\nwho say it was a fine performance, even worthy of an Oscar. Total rubbish.\r\n
\r\nAlright, that was judging the movie by itself. So how well did Scorsese do in terms of a
\r\nremake? Let me tell you: I was not impressed at all. Infernal Affairs was much more
\r\nthrilling and well paced, as well as the right balance of action, violence and story. Tony
\r\nLeung and Andy Lau both did much better than their counterparts Di Caprio and Damon.
\r\nTheir acting had a greater and richer emotional range and they were able to establish
\r\ndeeper characters (in a lot less time than TD had).\r\n
\r\nAnother thing I was not impressed with was the long list of scenes that were copied from
\r\nIA. They were some major scenes with hard hitting impact, such as *Spoiler Starts Here*
\r\nWong/Queenan falling off the rooftop, the breaking of Yan/Costigan\'s cast and the deal
\r\nbetween Costello\'s gang and the Chinese Triads. What makes them inferior copies is that
\r\nthey have lost their impact in translation. For example, the falling off the roof scene in IA,
\r\neveryone thought Wong would get away when he got into the elavator, only at the last
\r\nsecond a hand stopped the doors from closing. In TD, however, there was none of that
\r\n\'oh-yes-he\'s-almost-getting-away\' suspense. Also, the impact of Queenan dying was
\r\nsignificantly less comapred to Wong, who was the only one left that knows Yan\'s real
\r\nidentity, whereas in TD there was still Dignam left. One more example: the cast breaking,
\r\nscene. I see the cast breaing necessary in IA, as Sam was pissed off because he had just
\r\nlost his precious cargo so he was understandably angry and suspicious. In TD, it was
\r\npointless violence, deliberately inflicting pain. *Spoiler Ends Here* There are numerous
\r\nother adapted scenes that I can list and most of them, I am disappointed to say, Scorsese
\r\nhas failed to deliver.\r\n
\r\nNow, about that love triangle. It was pointless. Costigan\'s psychiatrist and Sullivan\'s wife
\r\nshould be seperate characters. Why make a triangle when it doesn\'t matter in the end?
\r\nTwo seperate characters would have achieved a better result, as the audience should be
\r\nfocusing on the two main characters, rather than the triangle.\r\n
\r\nOne of the most important element of IA was the morse code communication between Yan
\r\nand Wong. Where was that in TD? Typing an sms in a jacket pocket is just ridiculous! It was
\r\nthe morse code that lead Ming to believe there was a mole which prompted him to warn
\r\nSam. This also adds suspense as the audience were holding their breath when Yan\'s cast
\r\nwas smashed, expecting a wire to be inside as we were clearly shown he was sending
\r\nmorse code just a few moments ago. That deal with the Chinese in TD lacked the suspense
\r\nand the complexity that IA had in that deal with the Thais and, indeed, the TD as a whole
\r\nlacked such qualities compared to IA.\r\n
\r\nThere are so much more issues I would like to address, however, this is getting ridiculously
\r\nlong. So my verdict? Without an original to compare to, this is a decent Scorsese offering,
\r\nbut unfortunately, it\'s a remake, so it\'s bound to be measured up against its first
\r\nincarnation. Lets set the record straight. Talk of The Departed equalling or surpassing the
\r\nbrilliant Infernal Affairs was exactly that: just talk. The truth is, it is a disappointing remake
\r\nof one of the best films to come out of Hong Kong. TD was slow, the story was dragged out
\r\nunnecessarily hence the excessive length, had overused profanity and violence and was
\r\nnot as emotionally involved as it should be. Whereas IA was sleek, to the point, thrilling and
\r\nand emotionally connected with the audience much better than TD had, thanks to its
\r\nextraordinary cast. To give Scorsese the credit for this brilliantly original story is just plain
\r\nwrong.\r\n
\r\nEven though I have much more to say, I rest my case.\r\n
\r\nhlam3167","","",-1,-1,0,"","_self","","","","",0,0,0,"","",0,0,0,0,0,"#050308",0,"#050308",0,"","",3,3,0,0,"#FFFFF7","#000000","#C3C3C3","#C3C3C3","10pt 'Times New Roman','Times','serif'","10pt 'Times New Roman','Times','serif'"],300,0); stm_ep(); stm_aix("p1i1","p1i0",[0,"The MySpace Disease"],130,0); stm_bpx("p3","p2",[1,2,0,-45]); stm_aix("p3i0","p2i0",[1,"21/10/06\r\n
\r\nThe MySpace Disease\r\n
\r\nRecently I\'ve noticed more and more of my friends are joining the MySpace
\r\nphenomenon. They are fussing over their space, thinking they look shit and feel
\r\nthe need to \"do it up\" and worrying how little friends they have on their space
\r\netc etc. This is honestly one of the saddest things I\'ve ever seen.\r\n
\r\nThis whole service preys on people\'s insecurities and their need to be popular.
\r\nHere is how it all started: a few peosple have a space and their friends see their
\r\nspace and thinks, \"that looks cool, I\'ll get one!\" So now they all get a space and
\r\nmore people see it and all these people start having a few people in their \"Friends\"
\r\nsection of their space. This is when it starts multiplying like cancer. Everybody wants
\r\ntheir \"Friends\" list to be full of people, so they can feel like they are popular and
\r\nhence feel better about themselves. So they desperately try to get everyone they
\r\nknow to get a space and so the cancer spreads.\r\n
\r\nHaving said all that, I must admit I am impressed with the creators for coming up with
\r\nthis concept. MySpace is now estimated to be worth almost US$2 Billion.\r\n
\r\nHowever, it doesn\'t mean I\'m not disgusted by all this. Preying on people\'s insecurities
\r\nis what this \"service\" is all about. There is certainly more to life than how many friends
\r\nare connected to your space.\r\n
\r\nhlam3167"],300,0); stm_ep(); stm_aix("p1i2","p1i0",[0,"SRC Elections"],130,0); stm_bpx("p4","p2",[1,2,0,-65]); stm_aix("p4i0","p2i0",[1,"19/9/06\r\n
\r\nSRC Elections\r\n
\r\nIf you think I\'m here to shamelessly plug a particular group, you\'re sadly mistaken.
\r\nI\'m here to ask this question: \"Why bother?\" I\'m sure all candidates, in answering
\r\nthis question, will tell you what they are going to do if they get elected, etc. etc.
\r\nBORING! My point is this: why should we give a damn about these elections when
\r\nall we hear are promises and nothing seems to be done? They appear every year
\r\naround this time, desperately seeking your vote. Then when they get on the board
\r\nthey disappear, never to be seen again...until next year when they need your
\r\nvote again. We don\'t even hear what they do during their term on the src. So I ask
\r\nagain, why vote?\r\n
\r\nhlam3167"],300,0); stm_ep(); stm_aix("p1i3","p1i0",[0,"Screwed By PM"],130,0); stm_bpx("p5","p2",[1,2,0,-85]); stm_aix("p5i0","p2i0",[1,"16/9/06\r\n
\r\nScrewed By PM\r\n
\r\nJohn Howard has done it again. Besides jeopardising the safety of this country
\r\nby joining the Iraq war, he has now screwed with my job. His controversial new
\r\nindustrial relations laws allows my boss to cut down my shift whenever they
\r\nwant, even though I\'ve signed a contract which states the number of hours
\r\nI\'m supposed to work each week. This is exactly what happened. Thankfully, it
\r\nwas only an hour. However, my co-worker is not so lucky. This person had
\r\ntheir whole monday shift cut, leaving them with around $100 short each week.
\r\nThink that\'s bad? This law also allows small businesses to sack an employee
\r\nwithout prior notice and without reason. It\'s not a good sign to see
\r\nmany businesses taking advantage of these new laws.\r\n
\r\nTo hell with Liberal!\r\n
\r\nBut then who would I vote for? I certainly wouldn\'t want to be screwed by the
\r\nother party with a hopeless leader either. Decisions, decisions, decisions...\r\n
\r\nhlam3167"],300,0); stm_ep(); stm_aix("p1i4","p1i0",[0,"First Entry!"],130,0); stm_bpx("p6","p2",[1,2,0,-105]); stm_aix("p6i0","p2i0",[1,"14/9/06\r\n
\r\nFirst Entry!\r\n
\r\nWelcome to my webpage! I\'ve actually had this space since the start of uni,
\r\nas the school of IT provides each student doing an IT subject with one. But
\r\nI\'m such a lazy bastard, I\'ve never bothered to do anything with it. Well
\r\nthanks to pkuk2070, I was motivated enough to do something with it. So here
\r\nit is.\r\n
\r\nSo anyways, I better go to sleep as I have a prac quiz for SOFT2130 tomorrow.
\r\nWish me luck.\r\n
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\r\n\r\n
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