A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Apocalypse Now (1979) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Written by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola Narration written by Michael Herr Based on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness Starring: Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Harrison Ford, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, G.D. Spradlin Kurtz: I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror... Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. Apocalypse Now, director Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam War epic, is one of the greatest films ever made. Winner of the 1979 Palme d’ Or award at the Cannes Film Festival and nominated for Best Picture at the 1979 Academy Awards, Apocalypse Now was also a com...

The Departed,  Martin Scorsese's 2006 Academy Award-winning remake of Hong Kong's  Infernal Affairs , marks the New York City native's return to the gritty crime drama genre in which he made his mark back in the 1970s. Instead of turning his cinematic eye on the mean streets of the Big Apple, Scorsese ( Taxi Driver, Goodfellas ) explores the dark underside of Boston, Massachussets in a tale about corruption, the rivalry between the Irish and Italian mobs, and internal strife within Boston's law enforcement officers. Written by  William Monahan ( Body of Lies, Kingdom of Heaven ) and based on the original  Infernal Affairs  script by Alan Mak and Felix Chong,  The Departed  features Jack Nicholson as an aging but wily mobster named Frank Costello. Costello (loosely based on the notorious Whitey Bulger) is a menacing yet seductive gangster who early in the film recruits 12-year-old Colin Sullivan (Conor Donovan) into his circle of criminals. (Costello i...