Too much of everything

One of my all time favorites.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

New Rose Hotel (1998)Willem Dafoe and Christopher Walken, two ageing A-listers along with the sexy Italian Asia Argento, star in this slow paced tale. I won't bore you with details about the story, as you can read them here, besides which, I watched the Italian version, and don't understand a word of Italian, this in itself might have improved the film.I'll come clean. Prior to watching New Rose Hotel, I had read about it, I knew the story, Asia Argento followers appear to do what they can to praise the film where possible, while casual viewers tend to rate the film as a non starter. I wanted to give it a try. On attempting to source a copy, it became apparent New Rose Hotel hadn't made it to Blu-ray, and DVD's were on offer for extortionate prices, probably because it might be a deleted title. What I did find was an original VHS Mondadori Video featuring a rather interesting cover on ebay. I put in an offer for £3 and within two days, it was mine! (like new)Visually, while New Rose Hotel looks dated, there were one or two moments I liked what I saw. The opening credits are rather eye catching, resembling something more from the 80's. I'm not sure what the mood was like on set, but Willem Dafoe and Christopher Walken both appear to be in good spirits, and acted somewhat aloof. I got the impression both took on the job, as maybe there wasn't much else on offer at the time. Willem Dafoe had an added bonus of being paid to frolic with Asia Argento, who would often appear to act in such a fashion as to appear to be having-ago at acting, having a bit of fun, and seize the opportunity to flash her breasts.I had an idea of what was going on most of the time. I doubt if the film has been in English it would have added much. As strange as it might sound, I got the impression the film was acted in English and dubbed to Italian, as Asia Argento's lips didn't synch with the audio.To sum New Rose Hotel up, it comes across like a raw low-budge B- movie.

This film is based on a William Gibson short story by the same name in a collection of shorts titled "Burning Chrome". This story itself is less than a dozen pages with no quotation marks appearing anywhere in the print.From this short story with absolutely no dialog, master director Able Ferrara crafts a haunting film that is primarily dialog driven. The small cast's intimate conversations, which are woven together into a disjointed collage, are the heart of the film.One might assume that this divergence from the original media's style would result in a derivative work that no longer held true to the essence of the original. This is wonderfully not the case.This is one of my favorite Ferrara films, precisely because it translates the written work so aptly. This film is not intended for mass market appeal, but is instead uncorrupted artistic expression. I do not believe that this film was intended by the director to be a financial success (I wish it were so I could see more like it) but to be an artistic success.The film is technically a science fiction work because it is set in the future. This is a future of gritty realism. The filth, violence, and crime of our present has not been washed away by the years. It is omnipresent as always. Ferrara has used very few "special effects" to indicate future technology as there was no need to do so. In the decadent underworld that is his setting, said future tech is in cell phones and surveillance equipment which are subtle background, not flashy foreground. There are no laser guns or flying cars.This is a story about memory and feeling. It has a tendency to be non-linear. The music selected and performed in the film is a perfect compliment to the shadowy, disjointed imagery. The acting from everyone including the three principals, Walken, Dafoe and Argento, is superb. Ferrara films often involve small tight-knit casts with soulful dialog and this is more of the director and his cast at their best.This is a film from a lover of film to lovers of film.

This is a movie for movie-lovers. For those of you tired of commercial crap this movie is mostly intelligent dialog. Christopher Walkin and Willem Dafoe compliment each other wonderfully and I wish I could see em on screen together again!!! Its basically about 3 rogues in an everyman for himself future and corporate espionage. 2 partners Dafoe and Walkin are bent on stealing one scientist from one company and selling him to another. 1 problem... They don't even know the guy!!! The plan is simple throw in a beautiful woman to seduce him and make him join the other company. I think this is an awesome movie and I am a harsh critic.

The ONLY reason I rented it was to up my quota of Chris films seen (I'm now around 70-some, in case you were interested), and after renting it and turning it on, I still really can't say that I've seen it. I saw the first twenty minutes, when I was actually paying attention to the screen, but then I decided to take a nap, set my alarm, and went to sleep with the movie droning in the background. Yea, it was pretty bad. I should've know...despite starring Chris, Willem Dafoe, and Asia Argento, it WAS directed by Abel Ferrara, and boy, can i not stand that guy. I've never seen a movie of his that I liked...even King of New York, which boasts one of Chris's best performances. Oh well, I'll stop talking about it now, since I've nothing to say, and no rating to give...only a warning...don't see this movie (oh, unless you want to see Asia Argento take her clothes off, every couple of minutes, for the span of the movie).