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The best cop movie Gothamist has seen this year, Infernal Affairs, has been chosen as Hong Kong's official selection for Best Foreign Film consideration for the 2003 Academy Awards (meaning, the Academy Awards that will honor films from 2003, but will be broadcast in 2004). The premise is simple and complicated, as the plot description from IMDB indicates: A story between a mole in the police department and an undercover cop. Their objectives are the same: to find out who is the mole, and who is the cop. It's surprisingly sophisticated, given it is from Hong Kong (but that doesn't mean there aren't lapses into cheesy interludes when women are around). Truly, the four main performances, of the undercover, his supervisor, the mole, his mob boss, are what drive the film. And Brad Pitt bought the remake rights to the film, but Gothamist doesn't know what that means.
Which brings Gothamist to a tricky situation: We're so enthusiastic about this movie, but we have no idea when it will open in the U.S. So all we can do is recommend the following cop movies and movies with Tony Leung, who stars as the undercover cop and can out brood the broodiest.
Cop movies: The French Connection, Serpico, Donnie Brasco, L.A. Confidential, Heat, Internal Affairs, Dark Blue (more suggestions welcome). And here are movies with Tony Leung in them, but we recommend In the Mood for Love (one of our sexiest movies), Chungking Express, and Happy Together.
Infernal Affairs was shown at New Directors/New Films, where Gothamist saw it.
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To Live And Die in LA, Bullitt, Dirty Harry.
Also High Noon and the sci-fi remake, Outland both kinda count as cop movies, even if High Noon is really an allegory about HUAC.
Nice! Keep 'em coming (the ones I put are from about 2 minutes of thought...).
Hard Boiled. The opening shootout is the best.
For more Tony Leung oggling -- I just watched Ashes of Time recently (he has a small but very good part) and you can get a copy of Hero on DVD at Kim's or in chinatown, his new movie directed by Zhang Yimou (Farewell My Concubine) and nominated for a foreign language Oscar last year. But I'm really excited for 2046, his new sci-fi movie with Wong Kar Wai and Maggie Cheung. Can we dare hope it'll be done in time for the NY Film Festival?
The original Insomnia.
The suggestion above for High Noon is a good one, i think, and for me opens the door to Rio Bravo, which in turn gets me to Assault on Precinct 13. A gem.
Is there room here for all those fluffy '80s cop/buddy/they-killed-my(wife/partner/girlfriend/dog) movies? I love those...
I am shocked (shocked!) that no one has suggested Time and Tide, by Tsui Hark. Okay, maybe it was a little self-conscious but still beautiful. And less predictable than most. Terrif action scenes, too.
I found Ashes of Time almost completely opaque and confusing. This is perhaps just me.
Oh yeah Laurel, Ashes of Time makes no sense what so ever. But it is pretty, moody and there are some intriguing fight scenes. And it has Tony, hence the suggestion.
ummm ... "Blade Runner", "Se7en" or "Die Hard" anyone? (wide interpretation of "cop" movies, granted)
"Narc" great cop movie from last year