King and Abel

King of New York (Abel Ferrara Commentary Highlights)

Abel Ferrara, 1990

Despite all the films watched, I've barely made a dent in checking out any of the audio commentaries available. Mostly given up on them on account of them being nowhere near as entertaining as the ones John Carpenter has done with his cast in the past.

Took a gamble with Abel Ferrara as I was itching to revisit his classic gangster thriller King of New York. Other than him recollecting how some of the scenes were shot and lit (for all you budding film makers lurking out there, Congo Blue was what used for those night shots), along with his suprisingly pervy comments regarding some of the female cast members, here are some of the new things I learned about the film:

• The $5,000 Ferrara charged for the audio commentary.
  
• Ferrara's commenting on the film's fashion aesthethic consisting of everyone being dressed in black and likened to "They dropped the neutron bomb and all the colour of New York (was) gone", and "How can you be cool if you don't have shades on?" 
• Ferrara in hysterics everytime Steve Buscemi showed up on screen.
  
• The memorable hotel dance scene being summed up by Ferrara as "This is as phoney as you can get".
• James Russo turned down the role of Jimmy Jump. It's impossible even trying to imagine any other actor playing what's possibly Larry Fishburne's most iconic role.
• Did not realise that Jennifer, Frank White's lawyer girlfriend, was the female lead in Paul Lynch's sophomore slasher, the criminally underrated Humongous (1982). It also didn't click for me until now that the newly wed cop was played by the same actor who was Jeffrey Franken in Frankehooker (1990).
• The night of the film's premiere at the New York Film Festival, it was given a very positive reception. The very next morning with Larry Fishburne in attendance, it was booed. Talk about a totally different crowd!
• Michael Mann telling Ferrara to end the film with Frank ascending the subway steps to suggest a possible sequel 
• Ferrara playing his acoustic guitar and singing a multitute of "N" bombs during the end credits while ruining my enjoyment of Schoolly D's Saturday Night:

Schoolly D - Saturday Night

Saturday Night! - The Album, 1986