What is it about United 93 that I'm missing... :? Anyway, although his positive review was somewhat expected, it's good to see the film placed above the rest.

"Citizen Darko" at OW has The Departed and United 93 as numbers 1 and 2 in his top ten thus far. His review: Free screening from a local TV station I was at. In brief, the reviews are not hyperbole. They are correct. The over the top love fest so far, is warranted. Pretty much everyone gives a career or near career best performance, including Jack. In the cinematic pantheon of great villians, Frank Costello will have an exalted high position in the generations to come. And the quotes he has are simply priceless. Best since "Goodfellas"? Um yah no doubt, and I think "The Age of Innocence" is phenominal, but it isn't in same ultra elite class as this film was. I'm exstatic that I was wrong. I'm so happy that all my reservations and thoughts of being somewhat disappointed me were dead wrong. Most fully satisfying film experience since LOTR marathon day in 2003. I would love to be a fly on the wall at WB right now. I bet they are kicking themselves for releasing this now instead of 6 weeks from now or so, so it's better placed for nom season. Man I hope that the older adult crowd turns out for this, and that it doesn't get buried in the usual oct horror film glut.

The esoteric tastes of Esquire magazine's Mike D'Angelo don't cotton to Hollywood studio films, but he'll make an exception now and then. http://www.panix.com/~dangelo/top06.html

I'm not familiar with him at all, and don't understand the PureVs.Polls thing, but it's nice to see The Departed on both lists. I think it will keep that rank in his Polls list. Thanks, arnzilla :)

He used to write for Time Out New York, but now it's Las Vegas Weekly. He also has a monthly column in Esquire and is a member of the NY Film Critics Circle. Overall, he gives it a 79 or a B+. I think that's the highest rating he ever gave a Scorsese film.

He gave Infernal Affairs a 68: Infernal Affairs (Andrew Lau & Alan Mak, Hong Kong): 68 First things first: Somebody's used this premise before, right? I mean, I can't think of another instance off the top of my head, but there's just no way an idea so blatantly ingenious could have been overlooked until now. Only trouble is, the movie is all premise -- you could get positively weepy imagining the emotional heft that John Woo would have invested in these stoic, yearning inverse doppelgängers, with their twin crises of conscience and their serrated psyches and their intricate shadow play. Peaks early, achieving a giddy tension via the taut cross-cutting between Leung's Morse twitching and Lau's alphanumeric fumbling; remains engrossing thereafter, thanks largely to an agreeably old-school vibe and the charismatic brooding of its two stars. Both the brutally ironic climax and the terminally drippy denooeyment ("that's not how it's pronounced") seem to have been filched wholesale from L.A. Confidential, except that the former is arguably even more powerful and the latter is undeniably much less preposterous. The fanboys need to be hosed down, as usual, but this is good stuff. don't understand the PureVs.Polls thingI think "pure" includes films that were screened at film festivals but hadn't yet been released commercially. Some on the "polls" list he had probably seen last year. I think.

Thanks for the additional details. So there is a one-point lead for The Departed over Half Nelson (to which he gave a 78), but five films in between. (Where did you get The Departed's rating?)

There is a new review on aintitcool.com. The reviewer seems to be a little lost in comparing The Departed with Infernal Affairs, instead of judging TD on its own. Pity. http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30231

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thanks FrankTorrance. Actually the AICN reviewer gives it a positive review at the end and he liked the performances of the two main characters (Billy and Colin). I think this is the first review where the person said they thought Dignam character was out of place.I think this is the kind of review to expect from people who loved Infernal Affairs. Also, I think the film won't be understood and thus not favored by people unfamiliar with Boston and the whole Irish mob milieu. Don't stone me but this reviewer does say something I always felt at least about Sheen, which is that he thinks Baldwin and Sheen are doing what they always do: being Baldwin and Sheen. Sheen especially seems in the past decade to play the same characters in the same mode over and over again. Moriarty who intros the review does say he saw it and seems to have liked it a lot ("pretty great") though he says he has to see it . ain before he writes his review :shock:

Arnzilla Thanks for Darko comments from Oscarwatch :) Also...thanks for Esquire/D'Angelo list....does he write movie reviews for Esquire ??? As I was just how flipping through my most recent issue of Esquire trying to find something by him... Frank Thanks for AICN review... But have to ask .."Did this guy see the movie ?" As ..as always may just be me...but his review sure sounds to me like a person composing a review based on info he has read on boards like this or IMDB. -

Frank Torrance, thanks much for alerting us to the AICN review. At this point before the release, I can't find much worth in the anonymous AICN reviews, but I am looking forward to hearing something from Moriarty or Harry. Peanut, I also noticed how this person knows of certain details (like what Scorsese said about Gimme Shelter) and yet he hasn't apparently heard that Scorsese worked from the new screenplay alone - and didn't see the original. This allowed the reviewer to go on and on comparing the two films (which are apparently quite different) and base his negative comments on their differences.

will Exactly, this is my problem with this "review" too. He not seems to realize that this not meant to be a frame-by-frame remake of IA, it's more like a brand new movie built on the same concept... But hell, it's enough to look at the trailers and spots to realize this. So I don't really understand why he's so stuck on comparing the two. From AICN I most look forward to Moriarty's review. He has a good taste in movies :)

A user review on the IMDB forum: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/board/flat/54866253 The reviewer loves the film, and places it above Goodfellas, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull as the best Scorsese movie ever. He also goes into some very specific details, even into details I don't wanna know before I see the movie :)

Will One thing more about the earlier AICN review ....the guy states that in 'IA" they ALSO show the 'duality' of Sam/Wong characters .. ....that is a 'factor' that would ONLY be known IF you saw "IA2".........when you see ONLY "IA" you come away perceiving Wong as the standard 'good cop' and Sam as the 'bad mob boss' . Frank Thanks for IMDb review....now his comments to me clearly indicate HE SAW the movie unlike the earlier vague "AICN" review :)