Following his work on two S.E. Hinton novels in 1983, "The Outsiders" and "Rumble Fish", director Francis Ford Coppola helmed the following year about the Harlem jazz club of the 1930s, "The Cotton Club" in 1984.
The film features Richard Gere and Diane Lane in their first pairing together (following 2002's "Unfaithful" and 2008's "Nights in Rodanthe"), followed by Gregory Hines, Lonette McKee, James Remar, Bob Hoskins, Fred Gwynne, Allen Garfield and Nicolas Cage.
"The Cotton Club" was highly anticipated at the time before it's release based on its director, cast and producer (Robert Evans). Unfortunately, script rewrites, budget escalating and numerous lawsuits plagued it during and after production wrapped. It cost nearly $60 million to make but grossed only $26 million domestically, making this film a flop.
Over the years however, the film has garnered a huge following due to its lavish sets, costumes and musical numbers and remains one of Coppola's finest works.
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Hey Leo! Welcome to the Rewind.
I watched "The Cotton Club" years ago and I agree that it was visually stunning. It just lacked in story for me at the time. I'm a huge Diane Lane fan, so now that I'm older maybe I need to give it another chance.
Thanks for the recommendation..
Posted by Zombo (Member # 8405) on :
quote:Originally posted by Valley: I watched "The Cotton Club" years ago and I agree that it was visually stunning. It just lacked in story for me at the time.
I remember seeing it when it came out, and I had a similar feeling. It felt like the film had a number of disparate elements, each potentially interesting, that never fully meshed into a finished piece. It was a kick seeing Fred Gwynne and Bob Hoskins play off each other, however.
Posted by Helen_S (Member # 5804) on :
Don't know how this beauty escaped me all these years. The music and dancing was fabulous, the gangster side of it great and it looked marvelous. I loved it Posted by logan5 (Member # 1467) on :
quote:Don't know how this beauty escaped me all these years.
*SOB* You said the same thing to me! You girls are all alike!
I liked this, but I agree with the other posters that it lacked a little something in substance.
Posted by Helen_S (Member # 5804) on :
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
I liked it a lot when I saw it way back in the day. It was a return to form for Coppola, I thought, after "The Outsiders," which I don't like, and "Rumble Fish," which is good but not great. "The Cotton Club" has a great cast and looks and sounds great. And it has Diane Lane. I love Diane Lane! I really don't need much more than that.
Posted by Helen_S (Member # 5804) on :
Rumble Fish is perfection to me I have no time for The Outsiders theatrical version now after seeing the excellence that is The Outsiders - The Complete Novel cut.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
You and I don't really disagree on much, Helen_S, and we aren't really that far apart on "Rubmle Fish." As filmmaking, it's brilliant, especially that Stewart Copeland score, which I think is his best. Acting is also fine. It's just that S.E. Hinton's stuff never struck me as profound as she thinks it is (my basic problem with "The Outsiders"), so Coppola was inherently limited by the material.
Posted by Helen_S (Member # 5804) on :
It really has an odd effect on me, especially in the latter half. I dunno if haunts is quite the right word, but it gets in my head and won't shake out for days lol
Posted by logan5 (Member # 1467) on :
quote:It's just that S.E. Hinton's stuff never struck me as profound as she thinks it is (my basic problem with "The Outsiders"), so Coppola was inherently limited by the material.
Would Hinton say she was being profound? She wrote Outsiders when she was very young, and I think she wrote most of her other 'movie' books when she was fairly young, too.
quote:Rumble Fish is perfection to me I have no time for The Outsiders theatrical version now after seeing the excellence that is The Outsiders - The Complete Novel cut.
I really miss some of Carmine Coppola's overblown music when I watch the Complete Novel. Didn't like the generic 'surf' stuff Coppola used (wish he could've got some genuine surf music).
quote:but it gets in my head and won't shake out for days lol
Dandruff. What you've got is dandruff.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
Logan5, I would say that Hinton was indeed trying to be profound in that romanticized way 16-year-olds think that they know all the answers. (I used to work at CompuServe way back in the 1990's, and I got flamed all the time by the know-it-all teens on the boards when I'd recommend movies like "The Maltese Falcon." I actually got a response once, "Don't listen to him. Black and white movies are garbage." Some also thought that "Grease" was the greatest movie ever made. It's not--I can make the case that "Night of the Comet" and "Night of the Creeps" are much, much better--but that's the subject of another post. :-)) Anyway, I digress. I've never met anyone today, especially a teenager, who loves and holds dear the novel "The Outsiders." Not to denigrate her wonderful accomplishment of having a novel that she wrote when she was 16 or so published, Hinton wrote as the typical, naive young girl who thinks that rich boys in cardigans who drink whiskey from flasks are "bad," and poor guys in T-shirts who smoke and ride motorcycles are "good." I hope that in her adulthood S.E. came to the realization that the world is not so black and white--"bad boys" don't pay the bills, and the world doesn't resolve itself into "stay gold" sunsets. :-)
Posted by Helen_S (Member # 5804) on :
quote:Originally posted by logan5: Dandruff. What you've got is dandruff.
Crap, that's what it is Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Just watched The Cotton Club and i liked it a lot. So many great actors, tons of familiar faces.
I don´t understand why Diane Lane earned a Razzie nomination, she did her job well and looked stunning.
I´m really beginning to love all Zoetrope studios films. They had a good thing going on but maybe the movies were just a little bit too artistic so they mostly flopped.
Robert Evans produced the movie and he tells some nice inside info about The Cotton Club in the documentary "The Kid Stays in the Picture" (2002) which i also have on dvd. Sly Stallone backed out in the final minute and the lawsuit with Coppola etc. It´s a great documentary.
Anyway, the movie was very good, so many cool scenes. I especially love the scene where Fred Gwynne is released after being kidnapped and sees Bob Hoskins again. So funny and honest gangster buddy meeting.
Recommended!
Posted by Helen_S (Member # 5804) on :
Posted by logan5 (Member # 1467) on :
quote:Crap, that's what it is
Don't worry, I have a very cheap and easy solution; buy a razor and shave off all your hair - no more dandruff! No need to thank me. Money will do.
quote:Logan5, I would say that Hinton was indeed trying to be profound in that romanticized way 16-year-olds think that they know all the answers.
In that way, maybe.
quote:(I used to work at CompuServe way back in the 1990's, and I got flamed all the time by the know-it-all teens on the boards when I'd recommend movies like "The Maltese Falcon." I actually got a response once, "Don't listen to him. Black and white movies are garbage." Some also thought that "Grease" was the greatest movie ever made. It's not--I can make the case that "Night of the Comet" and "Night of the Creeps" are much, much better--but that's the subject of another post. :-))
Well, to be fair to them, Grease is at least a very entertaining movie. I want to hear that 'other' post I also want to hear some more 'war' stories about the know-it-all-teens. Let's face it; the IMDB is crawling with them, and sometimes it's hard to tell whether they're just young or trolling for lol's!
quote:Anyway, I digress. I've never met anyone today, especially a teenager, who loves and holds dear the novel "The Outsiders." Not to denigrate her wonderful accomplishment of having a novel that she wrote when she was 16 or so published, Hinton wrote as the typical, naive young girl who thinks that rich boys in cardigans who drink whiskey from flasks are "bad," and poor guys in T-shirts who smoke and ride motorcycles are "good." I hope that in her adulthood S.E. came to the realization that the world is not so black and white--"bad boys" don't pay the bills, and the world doesn't resolve itself into "stay gold" sunsets. :-)
Well, I don't think I know anyone that really liked the book. I did. I think it's her best (although I haven't read them all). But it's still just an ok read.
quote:I´m really beginning to love all Zoetrope studios films. They had a good thing going on but maybe the movies were just a little bit too artistic so they mostly flopped.
They flopped because they weren't the kind of movies that would bring people into the theaters in droves, so the fact that they cost too much always meant they lost money. That's true of both 'One From the Heart' and 'Cotton Club' - they cost waaaay more than they should've.
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I have no time for The Outsiders theatrical version now after seeing the excellence that is The Outsiders - The Complete Novel cut.
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I also want to hear some more 'war' stories about the know-it-all-teens. Let's face it; the IMDB is crawling with them, and sometimes it's hard to tell whether they're just young or trolling for lol's!