david caruso

China Girl

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Tony and Tye meet at the club

1987’s China Girl is usually described as a reworking of the Romeo and Juliet plot, or as a song-free update on West Side Story (which is a reworking of the Romeo and Juliet plot). But that’s to fall for the elaborate feint of director Abel Ferrara and writer/frequent collaborator Nicholas St John. Yes, there are star-crossed lovers meeting across an unbreachable divide – ethnicity in 1980s New York – but Ferrara and St John are not that interested in handsome Tony (Richard Panebianco) and sweet Tye (Sari Chang), the Romeo update from Little Italy and the reconditioned Juliet from Chinatown. Instead, flipping the dynamic, their focus is on the modern-day Montagues and Capulets, … Read more

King of New York

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Christopher Walken surveys his kingdom in King of New York

I used to work at a magazine and would get a lot of DVDs in for review purposes. King of New York was the one that really got all my co-workers misty eyed. They started quoting lines from the script, remembering the best bit of the film, asking me if I could have the disc after I’d finished with it. No wonder. It’s a hugely influential piece of work and you can see its impact on almost every mob drama since. It was made when Christopher Walken was in his pomp, here he plays the self-styled King, a classically ruthless gang boss with a strangely benevolent streak, a man who tries, in his … Read more