Hey, I was away from blogging for a long long time, but now I am back. Although, I kept watching Classics all through, and I believe you did too. I watched The Departed only yesterday. Now I am really confused, if it is "Ocean's Eleven" or "The Departed", the most star studded films of all time.
Ocean's Eleven had George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia and so many stars. On the other hand, The Departed has even bigger stars, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon [being the commoner], Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg. Both the films are equally enriched though. However the latter, is obviously a greater film.
Another fresh thing I saw with "The Departed" is Matt Damon playing a bad guy, he seems to me a very organized man like Martin Sheen, himself. Can't see these two man being harmful unreasonably. But Damon really did surprise me. Loved this change.
Now lets talk about Jack Nicholson, he was not playing Jack again. The last two Jack Nicholson film I saw, he played Jack in "The Shining" and "Batman". Remember the sentence on the letter pad "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Now he is what we call the perfect bad guy. I just love him seeing as an antagonist. Even in 1980, in "The Shining" he looked as ferocious as in 1989 in the Tim Burton's "Batman" and the intensity was no less in "The Departed" in 2006.
The Joker aka Heath Ledger was a legendary portrayal of a villain and truly he is the most anarchic and the most loved character of all time. But I find it really discomforting, when people simply thrash Jack Nicholson's portrayal of The Joker in 1989's "Batman". Truly he was no less and people do love him for it.
Okay, getting back to "The Departed", Leonardo Di Caprio may be the protagonist of this film, but unlike any other film of his, he was overshadowed by his co-stars this time. At least I believe so. I loved the Matt Damon part more than his. Just loved the corrupt form of him, it was a wonderful experiment.
Why Mark Wahlberg abused so much? I have no idea, but it was fun watching him, every time he abused, particularly in the little fight with Matt Damon's character.
It was my fourth film of Martin Scorcese, previously I watched "Goodfellas", "Hugo" and "The Shutter Island". Scorcese never disappoints, he is one of the best directors of all time. The Departed beat "Babel", "Letters from Iwo Jima", "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Queen" to win the Academy Awards for the Best Picture.
But I am really disappointed with the way "The Prestige" was treated that year at Oscars. It wasn't even nominated. It had the quality of what makes a movie get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. But then again, it was Christopher Nolan. Is this only me or do you also think that "Christopher Nolan" is never taken too seriously by the Academy. He is one, gem of a filmmaker. Just look at the ratings of all his films on IMDB. People love his films. Oscars doesn't really show much love.
-Amritt Rukhaiyaar
