**The Departed**

[CaliforniaPeggy]

If you don't mind quite a lot of swearing and politically incorrect language....

Plus a bucket or two of blood......

If you can get beyond those elements......

Then you are going to enjoy this movie......

Not for nothing was it declared Best Picture!

Martin Scorcese earned his Best Director Oscar as well.......

A fascinating glimpse (or immersion) into the crime world....

I recommend it highly!

:patriot:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. I got it for my birthday a couple weeks ago, but haven't watched it yet.

I love any sort of gangster movie. I meant to bring it down to VA last weekend, but I forgot. Oh well. LostinVA and I will watch it together next weekend or week (we have 10 days together...woohoo!)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. My dear haruka!

OH, you two will love it! The nice thing about seeing at home?

You can stop and discuss the action whenever you want......

And me and my DH did just that.....a couple of times, to make sure we were getting it!

There are some great twists!

And....BTW......congrats on your great news! :toast:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

5. Thank you!

I fucking love the woman.

:toast:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. I did kind of figure that!

I'm really happy for both of you!

:toast:

[ContraBass Black]

2. I was confused at first because I can't tell Matt Damon, Brad Pitt,

and Leonardo DiCaprio apart, even when they're on screen at the same time.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. My dear ContraBass Black!

That can be a problem!

I had the same for awhile......and then it got easier....

Also some of the regional accents were a bit hard at first........

I kept looking for subtitles!

:hi:

[madinmaryland]

6. That was my problem too. Hi Cal-Peg!!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Hi back atcha, my dear madinmaryland!

After a while, though......it got easier to tell who the players were...

And their relationships with each other..........

I think I'll see it again....

It was that good!

:hi:

[MonkeyFunk]

9. Brad Pitt?

You mean Mark Wahlberg?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. My dear MonkeyFunk!

Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon were in it..........

He might have gotten Matt Damon confused with Brad Pitt.......

They have a certain resemblance to each other, I think......:crazy:

[ContraBass Black]

11. Who?

You see?

[terrya]

12. I didn't think it was Martin Scorcese's best film.

It was ok. It wasn't up there with "Raging Bull" or "Taxi Driver" or "Goodfellas". Hell, it wasn't even up there with "The Aviator", which I liked very much.

"Little Miss Sunshine" was the Best Picture of the films nominated. But, as we saw, the Academy voters decided otherwise.

"The Departed" is ok.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. My dear terrya........

I've seen the others, but not in a long time........

So it's hard for me to make comparisons.

I did think it was great, nonetheless......

There is always room for different opinions!

:hi:

[graywarrior]

13. It was the best movie I have seen in a long long time

And I grew up in Boston, so it really hit home for me.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. My dear graywarrior!

That's right...I'd forgotten you'd grown up there.......

I can bet it hit home.......

Anytime I see something set out here in my little town, I really sit up and take notice too.......

"Tequila Sunrise" was partly shot in Manhattan Beach, and I can tell you...

It affects you and how you see your town.........

:hug:

[leeroysphitz]

14. Headshots, headshots, headshots!

Good movie otherwise.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

18. My dear leeroysphits..........

Um....pardon me for being confused!

There were too many? Or what's the problem with headshots?

Glad you enjoyed it!

:shrug:

:hi:

[leftofthedial]

16. OR, if you really want a dose of excessive swearing

politically incorrect language

a few buckets of blood

and immersion in the crime world,


you can just post in GD.


:rofl:

Seriously, The Departed is a terrific movie.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

19. My dear leftofthedial!

Ah, you made me laugh!

I never post in GD! :scared:

I agree about "The Departed."!!

:rofl:

:hi:

[graywarrior]

20. Ain't that the truth.

:scared:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

21. ......

:hug:

[UTUSN]

22. Nerve wracking!!1

I, too, had trouble distinguishing between DiCAPPRIO & DAMON for the first section. Perhaps that was intentional?

Eventually DiCAPPRIO's gravitas became painful. By the end, it was too moving, how much suffering people can bear.

As for NICHOLSON, I don't search out his movies, but it seems I've seen almost all of them because he's in the movies I want to see--chicken/egg thing. Here, though, he was parodying himself, and DAMON almost came across as more evil, imho.

Well crafted, PROPELLED, moving. But no Lawrence of Arabia. Peter O'TOOLE should have gotten the big one for Lawrence, but then, who can argue with Gregory PECK for To Kill a Mockingbird.

I'm seeing it again, too, CP, also at home.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

23. My dear UTUSN......

It was nerve-wracking, wasn't it?

I kept wondering how it was all going to work out!

I agree with your comments on Nicholson, and Damon........

It's very good to see it at home.......you can stop and comment, or explore what's happening if you're watching it with someone......

We did that a couple of times, and it was very helpful.......

Glad you came by today!

:hi:

[graywarrior]

24. I loved Damon's reference to putting up with something not right for a long long time

because he was Irish. Jesus, if that ain't the truth!

[sir_captain]

25. You should check out the original

Infernal Affairs--it's a trilogy out of Hong Kong. The plot was taken almost point by point.

The directing is better in The Departed, but Infernal Affairs has even better acting, particularly with Tony Leung (who some people believe to be the best actor in the world) in the Leonardo DiCaprio role.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

26. My dear sir_captain!

I've heard about that one......

Thanks for the tip!

I cannot imagine that the acting is better......

These guys were so damn good!

I'll check it out, and thank you for coming by today!

:hi:

[graywarrior]

27. The reason I liked The Departed so much was they really captured the essence of Boston.

A few of the accents were off, but the total paranoia, the jitteriness, the implied code of silence, the "tude" was all there. That's what made it a great flick for me. Plus, I've been following the Whitey Bulger thing since I was a kid, and that hit home, also.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

29. Could you explain the "Whitey Bulger" thing?

I am unfamiliar with it.......

Thanks!

:hug:

[graywarrior]

31. Go here. I could never explain it in a million years.

http://www.boston.com/news/packages/whitey/

Here too.
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/bulger.htm

[CaliforniaPeggy]

33. Wow, thanks!

He sounds a bit like the Nicholson character......

Esp. with the FBI connections!

I appreciate your taking the time to dig up the links.....

:hi:

[graywarrior]

35. That's what was so intriquing about the movie.

The FBI connection with Whitey was ripe for a story. This entire Bulger thing is layers and layers deep. His brother, Billy, was House senate leader in Mass and president of BU.

Here's some stuff about Billy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Bulger

[CaliforniaPeggy]

36. My dear graywarrior!

Wow, you are a font of Bostonian knowledge, sweetie......

Thank you so much!

The closer you look, the more complex the story gets!

As if it hadn't been complex to start with.........

:hi:

[graywarrior]

37. Glad I could fill you in on the dysfunction of Boston

:rofl:

[sir_captain]

32. That's true

though oddly enough, a lot of the Boston scenes were shot in New York.

I went to college in the Boston area, so it was really odd for me watching this remake of a movie where I knew what was going to happen, but it was all happening in a different setting--but one that I was also very familiar with. It was kind of like deja vu or something.

[graywarrior]

34. Yeah, it was really really strange..the whole feel of that movie.

The insanity of the Staties; DiCaprio really captured that intensity. Even though I knew it was filmed in NY, somehow they pulled it off to make even me believe it was Boston. Only thing that got me was why that building was left unlocked all the time.

[maveric]

28. Growing up in Boston and being familiar with the Irish mob...

in that area I found it interesting and very familiar to my early days working the horse racetracks in New England.
The acting was great and the cast was stellar.
I'm buying the DVD soon.
The Oscar for Scorcese was a long time coming. Should have won one for "Goodfellas".

[CaliforniaPeggy]

30. My dear maveric........

I can bet this resonated for you, just as it did for graywarrior!

I agree about the Oscar for Scorcese...He definitely should have won it for "Goodfellas."

He was waaaay overdue, IMHO........

:hi: