Steve Posted April 25, 2003 Report Share Posted April 25, 2003 I looked through about 4 pages of posts and didn't see this here (it may have been earlier but I don't have the patience to try). Movie set in Cambodia, Matt Dillon (who directed) with James Caan. Movie about con men, etc. in Cambodia. I'm not entirely familiar with the plot and like it that way before I see it so I'll be surprised (or disappointed if it sucks). It debuts tonight and I will take a look and report back. Curious to see how its depicted. Will see The Quiet American over the weekend also if I can (I saw that thread, thanks). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brink15 Posted April 25, 2003 Report Share Posted April 25, 2003 Steve, I would very much like to hear what you think of this flick. I'm off to see if they have a website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brink15 Posted April 25, 2003 Report Share Posted April 25, 2003 I found this blurb about the movie. If you don't want to know what it is about or read a review skip this message Matt Dillon?s feature directorial debut City of Ghosts, co-written by Dillon and Barry Gifford, is great on atmosphere and less good on everything else. That?s not entirely a knock. Plenty of first-time directors, especially actor-directors, elicit fine performances from their casts but seem clueless when it comes to visually evoking a mood or locale. Dillon has the advantage of setting most of his movie in seedy, modern Phnom Penh?the locations are real?and he creates a very Graham Greene?ish air of torpor and rot. Dillon himself stars as an insurance-company swindler who flees to Cambodia to hook up with his business manager and mentor (James Caan). There he gets drawn into a bigger swindle using the insurance money to set up a seaside casino. I realize it?s de rigueur for these movies to concern themselves with issues of redemption. But not everyone can be Graham Greene, or Joseph Conrad. City of Ghosts is least compelling when it tries to inflate all that sweaty-nasty atmosphere with philosophy. Sometimes decadence is best served without any side dish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brink15 Posted April 25, 2003 Report Share Posted April 25, 2003 Here is the trailer for the movie: City of Ghosts trailer This link is to a high res. view so you'd better have a highspeed connection. Here is the link to the movie's website: City of Ghosts After viewing the trailer I'm absolutely going to see this flick. Thanks Steve for letting us know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangkokbutcher Posted April 25, 2003 Report Share Posted April 25, 2003 Well spotted steve, trailer looks blinding, will be off to see it asap.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted April 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2003 Brink15, I would touch the hot stove when my mother told me not so I couldn't resist reading it, but it helped and made me more curious to see it. It would be better if I had actually visited Cambodia so I can look for inaccuracies but I'll just report on what I see, that maybe best anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted April 26, 2003 Report Share Posted April 26, 2003 Says chocolat steve: Brink15, I would touch the hot stove when my mother told me not so I couldn't resist reading it, but it helped and made me more curious to see it. It would be better if I had actually visited Cambodia so I can look for inaccuracies but I'll just report on what I see, that maybe best anyway. Steve, it's never too late to experience, so your next trip is going to go to Cambodia and the next destination after Camboland you know already. Can greatly recommend both destinations, especially the latter one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted April 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2003 Since I have never been to Phnom Penh or Cambodia for that matter if I judged it by this movie, every falang their is shady and you can't trust 99% of all Cambodians. To be fair the movie was about con artists. It had a few twists to it and you didn't know who to trust (they were con artists so that made it tough). Anyway, it was not a well made movie, I heard Matt Dillon got 10 mil budget and that is just out of NYU film school, first time filmaker, independent, beg freinds and family for money to finish and show at Sundance, type of budget nowadays. The Cambodian governemnt will not be using this film in their tourism ad campaign I can assure you of that. Every building was shabby and run down and looked like its last coat of paint was when the French were last there. I don't know if that is accurate or not nowadays or he just picked those types of buildings. People have told me that Cambodia is what Thailand was 30 years ago. They had the required brothel scene that any movie made in SE Asia has to have. It was the fish bowl variety this time. The movie itself had a lot of holes in it. The plot was somewhat plausible but Matt Dillon played a fish out of water first landing in Bangkok, and we get a few scenes of Bangkok before he makes his way to Cambodia. We were treated to the TG of one of the characters who gave Matt a 'sawadee ka'. That scene will make you laugh, I won't give it away here. Those that comment on the drawbacks of dating BGs would appreciate it, that's all I'll say. How Matt Dillon survives I don't know. He seems to invite trouble. There are obvious falang layabouts and him being a con man should know better than to get mixed up with them. It just wasn't believable. The longer the movie gets the deeper he gets into certain things but he seems to survive longer than the other falangs who actually live in SE Asia and know all the traps. I would reccomend seeing it if for nothing else if you are starved for any thing SE Asian and can't get to LOS any time soon as I am. If you can wait, rent the DVD when it hits Blockbuster. I may be making it seem worse than it actually is. It is a matter of taste after all, there are a few redeeming characters which gives you some hope that not everyone has their hand in your pocket or a knife to your throat. Dillon has a 'man friday' type of person helping him, from what I read he's not an actor but discovered during filming. He did a good job. The ending is not bad, parts of it surprising, parts of it not believable but you're left with a good feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brink15 Posted April 26, 2003 Report Share Posted April 26, 2003 From the review I got the impression it wouldn't be of much interest to someone other than die hard SEA lovers. Your post confirms this. Too bad. I'm still going to see it just for the scenery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotover Posted May 26, 2003 Report Share Posted May 26, 2003 Thanks for the movie review. I've been to Cambodia 3 times, and would be very interested in seeing this film, but it hasn't shown yet in my mid-sized SE USA city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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