After Hours

Amazon.com

This well-regarded cult film is a tense Kafka-esque tale concerning what happens to a likable computer guy who is in the wrong place at the wrong time in the city that never sleeps--New York. This is a New York infested with bizarre characters vividly brought to life by a once-in-a-lifetime cast. Griffin Dunne's wonderfully controlled comic performance as Paul Hackett is the glue that holds this increasingly surreal film together. Scorsese utilizes a full array of independent and underground film techniques, including special film speed manipulations, angles, and edits, deftly capturing the strange rhythms of an after-hours New York City. Many will find the jokes clever, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. Some, however, will find the film an excruciating series of staged circumstances setting up a sadistically cruel dark nightmare of horrors. And there are a few lines of dialogue so poorly written they remind you how unbelievable the thin story really is. But forgive the film these few lapses--overall it's a wild, surreal ride. The most offbeat character is the beehive-sporting, Monkee-obsessed neurotic played to perfection by Teri Garr. And the moment when Griffin Dunne uses his last quarter to play Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is" and dances with Verna Bloom while an angry mob searches SoHo for him is an inspired bit of lunacy. --Christopher J. Jarmick

Customer Reviews:

Scorsese's Second Foray Into Dark Comedy Is One of His Best.......2007-09-07

After Hours is the story of a hard working man's late night adventures on a date.

Martin Scorsese directed this beautiful movie that includes Griffin Dunne, Rossana Arquette, Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, Catherine O'Hara, and Cheech and Chong.

This is one of Martin Scorsese's best movies. It is hilarious, well paced, perfectly acted and directed, and beautiful.

The DVD features a scene specific commentary from Scorsese, Dunne, Producer Amy Robinson, Cinematographer Michael Balhaus, and Editor Thelma Schoonmaker., it also includes a delghtful "Making Of" featurette, and few deleted scenes.

All in all, a hilarious release from Martin Scorseses that doesn't get the due it deserves. It is definitely highly recomended.

Highly recommended*

*Although highly recommended for all watchers, this is a definite must have for Scorsese dans, and those of dark comedies.

"Boy, I'm sorry. I guess I've really been runnin' you through the mill tonight.".......2007-07-29

"After Hours" is an anomaly among the works of Martin Scorsese. That's because it's a comedy, albeit one of the darkest variety. After Hours concerns the worst night of ordinary word processor Paul Hackett's life. Hackett, played by "An American Werewolf in London"'s Griffin Dunne, meets a woman at a cafe in New York one evening. She gives him her phone number, and that night at 11:30 Hackett gives her a ring. The woman (Rosanna Arquette) asks him to come over, and naturally he complies.

But he gets more than he bargained for. By the end of that night (if he lives to see it), Hackett will have been responsible for one suicide, drawn the attention of a number of bizarre women including "Miss Beehive 1965" (Teri Garr), an artist with kinky tastes (Linda Fiorentino), and an obnoxious ice cream vendor (Catherine O'Hara), been chased by an angry and determined mob looking for blood, and wind up being "stolen" by two thieves (Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong) while encased in papier-mache. Early on in the film, Paul apologizes to someone: "Boy, I'm sorry. I guess I've really been runnin' you through the mill tonight." Paul has no idea that he's about to get run through the mill himself, and experience more in one incredible night than most people would in their entire lives.

"After Hours" is a great concept, turned into a stellar script by Joseph Minion. But it's the massive talent of director Scorsese and a delightful cast that turn that stellar script into a stellar movie. It's ironic that one of Scorsese's lesser-known projects (by which I mean one which doesn't rank among the annals of the greatest films ever made), a comedy, no less, features some of his best work. Scorsese directs the picture with the flowing skill of Alfred Hitchcock; if Hitchcock himself directed a modern comedy, it would no doubt turn out like this. Scorsese is obviously very amused by what's going on here. He transforms the amusing into the hilarious by making the many absurd turns of the film as plausible as possible. At the same time, he turns this night into a nightmare. SoHo becomes like the forests of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" movies, an ominous, claustrophobic, inescapable force. All the forces of nature seem to be against poor Paul Hackett.

Paul is an impressively fascinating character as rendered by Griffin Dunne. There's just the slightest air of eccentricity about Dunne's performance; otherwise, Paul Hackett seems like an ordinary guy, one with good intentions at that, and therein lies the appeal of the character. He's not some jerk who deserves all this tumult; he's a nice guy who's having an inconceivably horrid night and just can't get home. As such, the audience sympathizes, and rather than just sitting back and laughing at this poor sap, we're drawn into his plight to get home. At the end of it all, we hope he does.

The supporting cast is very strong. Their characterizations are simply wonderful. Thanks to Scorsese, they're believable people, but they're also very, very odd. It's clear that Paul is completely on his own, further accenting the nightmarishness of it all. Even when he finds a friend in sweet bartender Tom (John Heard), fate intervenes. Particularly interesting is Marcy, Rosanna Arquette's character, who initially draws Paul into Soho. After doing some snooping around her bags, Paul discovers a tube of cream for severe burns, and beside that a book designed to help burn victims recover. He gets a little frightened, and we wonder just what Marcy's hiding. Later, Paul looks over Marcy's naked body and discovers no sign of any burns whatsoever. More Hitchcockian moments, courtesy of Mr. Scorsese.

"After Hours" has stalwart photography by Michael Ballhaus. A number of shots are pretty as a picture. The way it's filmed, with Scorsese's pitch-black approach to the material, has a faint noirishness about it. Yet although "After Hours" would fit in well with Scorsese's other dark portraits of life in the Big Apple, there's nothing in the film to suggest Martin Scorsese had a hand in its making. Surprisingly, considering the un-Scorsese-like material, Scorsese's hand is deep in the project. Likely he identified with his protagonist. Scorsese's most personal project, an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' novel "The Last Temptation of Christ," had just been abruptly cancelled a mere four days before filming was scheduled to begin, so it's understandable that Scorsese should feel that, like Paul Hackett, his life was out of his control and in the hands of others. (Scorsese finally made "The Last Temptation of Christ" three years later.)

"After Hours" doesn't deserve a spot among pictures like "Raging Bull," "Goodfellas," or "Taxi Driver," but it deserves a lot more appreciation than it gets. It's a Scorsese masterwork, albeit of a very different variety than his usual works. Like the night depicted in the film, "After Hours" ends eventually. Anyone who appreciates film will be wishing it didn't.

Modern Masterpiece.......2007-06-29

'After Hours' has to be one of the great classics in film. Martin Scorsese reinvents the directing wheel once again in 1985 for one of the darkest comedies in memory.

Paul (relatively unknown Griffin Dunne) is an anonymous everyman working at a New York office with cubicles and computers. Late at night in a cafe he meets a beautiful, but strange woman (Rosanna Arguette) who captivates him immediately. Demonstrating a scatter-brained conversation, they agree for him to meet her roommate who makes paper mache' paper weight bagels. Connecting with an interest in the novel he's reading, she seems vibrant if not suspiciously dysfunctional, but her zestful overture creates for him the spark of adventure.

Showcasing the city that never sleeps, he solidifies his date over the phone to venture over to the SoHo District. As a bad omen his cab ride from hell yields a placed twenty dollar bill that flies out of the cab onto the pavement. Trying to explain to the driver who only speaks in broken English, the man wrathfully drives out like a chariot out of Hades leaving him stranded with no resources but himself alone in the night.

At the apartment, he visits with the artist as she puts paper mache' on a figure he aptly, but inaccurately compares to Munch's "The Shriek" ("The Scream") From there he meets up with his bombshell date who immediately unveils her life in horrifying detail. Between the revealing creation in the living room and the woman's conversation of her horrible life, the rest of the night unravels even more from there. Featuring everything that could conceivably go wrong and camera angles that swirl around the beleaguered protagonist, the solitary agony of one man's night comes to roost in the most tightly woven existential nightmare probably ever conceived in comedy.

While 'After Hours' doesn't get all the accolades of great movies like 'Taxi' and 'Raging Bull,' it nevertheless, broadens the scope of an unarguably talented director. 'After Hours' may not be Scorsese's best, but it certainly is my favorite of all of his works.

Different Rule Apply After Hours.......2007-04-30

On one level, this movie looks like an oddity amongst the other films made by Martin Scorsese. It's a somewhat absurd dark comedy from the eighties that has more in common with a cult classic like "Something Wild" than it does with "Raging Bull." Supposedly, Tim Burton was originally slated to direct the film but stepped aside when Scorsese showed interest.

When you think about it, it's not that surprising that Scorsese would pick this film. Like Woody Allen and Spike Lee, a lot of his films are about New York. "Mean Streets," "Taxi Driver," "The Age of Innocence," and "Gangs of New York," are all about the city, at least in a way, and so is "After Hours," which is set in SoHo, just a couple of miles from Wall Street, but a world away.

The story here is about a guy who hates his job. One evening he meets a girl in a coffee shop. He gets her number and calls her back the same night and they decide to meet up, even though it's almost midnight. On the way there, the guy loses all his money and when his date turns into a disaster he spend the rest of the evening trying to get home and getting himself into one ridiculous situation after another.

This movie is a bit dated, so it may be hard to appreciate the first time through, although you can certainly get a laugh out of seeing some well-known actors in different roles (Rosanna Arquette, Catherine O'hara, Linda Fiorentino, Terri Garr, Cheech and Chong.) As with most cult comedies, I think the pleasure from this one probably comes with repeated viewings as you start to notice the little things about the film. There are a lot of subtleties and nuances to it and you might forget how ridiculous the plot is and appreciate the individual scenarios and performances.

a perfect classical tragedy.......2007-03-14

the story is quite simple :

a single subject : a man is trying to go back home.
a single place : New York.

on a single day.

Much better than Corneille and Racine !!!

Martin Scorsese Collection (After Hours/Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore/Goodfellas/Mean Streets/Who's That Knocking At My Door?)

Average customer rating:

A representative set from the master
A collection that will show you how Scorsese started and how he became a legend
The BEST Scorsese box set on DVD!
The Best
Marty is God, no, not good, God !!

Martin Scorsese Collection (After Hours/Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore/Goodfellas/Mean Streets/Who's That Knocking At My Door?)
Starring: Martin Scorsese , and Robert De Niro
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

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Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

ASIN: B000286RR0
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Amazon.com

Almost by accident, these five Warner Brothers films represent key moments in Martin Scorsese's career. Three of the films debut on DVD; all have excellent presentations plus new commentaries from Scorsese. The black-and-white Who's That Knocking at My Door? (1968) was Scorsese's first film, an episodic tale of growing up in Little Italy. Mean Streets (1973) put him on the map. After taking a bit of Hollywood bait (Boxcar Bertha), mentor John Cassavetes put Scorsese straight to find his true vision, and this nervy look at New York friends who border the gangster life is the result. This new special edition has the commentary track and a big improvement in its home video presentation.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) put Scorsese in the mainstream. This tale of a single mom (Ellen Burstyn in an Oscar-winning performance) finding second chances in the arid Southwest proved the New York City kid could tell other types of stories. After Hours (1985) saved Scorsese. The drain of big movies and his unsuccessful first attempt to make The Last Temptation of Christ left the auteur doubting his talent. The nightmarish comedy starting Griffin Dunne is a love-it-or-leave-it for many Scorsese fans, but the fast shoot schedule and claustrophobic story rejuvenated Scorsese and won him Best Director kudos at Cannes. The highlight of the collection is a two-disc edition of his masterpiece, GoodFellas (1990), complete with a remastered print and a dynamite commentary by several key talents (recorded separately) including Ray Liotta, author Nicholas Pileggi, and even Robert De Niro. Even with an extra disc of three featurettes, it's the film on which we hear the least from the man himself, but perhaps all we need to know is on the screen. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

A representative set from the master.......2007-03-17

This set only contains one of Scorcese's great films - Goodfellas, more of that later. I haven't seen Alice doesn't live here anymore, but it is supposed to be very good.
After Hours is an entertaining black comedy with Griffin Dunne trapped in a yuppies nightmare worthy of 4 stars.

Whos that knockin' is effectively a dry run for Mean Streets. However, Scorcese was still learning his craft in the 60's and whilst there are cinematic references to many classic films you do feel that Scorcese hadn't quite found his own voice at this stage of his career.

Goodfellas is a magnificent film. Only the first two Godfather films are on the same level in modern gangster films. This film has pace. It moves from one classic scene to the next. I remember Scorcese in an interview saying "you want it fast let's make it really fast" - this was his reaction to the 80's trend in fast cutting etc, but he does it with class.
The three lead roles are all marvellously played, and for me if I had to pick one, Joe Pesci would just steal the acting honours. This is a 5 star film.

The box is just cardboard with four DVD's in it. Goodfellas is the special edition which is much superior to the early double sided edition.

A collection that will show you how Scorsese started and how he became a legend.......2005-12-08

An excellent collection, starting at Scorsese's debut feature taking you all the way to his masterpiece goodfellas.

Who's that knocking at my door - Scorsese's film debut out of NYU funded by NYU and Scorsese's agreement to use the doors song the end over a sexy fantasy scene. The film is about falling in love, how the little moments in the beginning of a relationship are so wonderful. The fantasy scene is still groundbreaking today, great on showing how men desire sexual women but fear whores. A must see for any fan of scorsese or anyone who enjoys realistic filmmaking.

Mean Streets - Today, it remains of Scorsese's best and one of the best of the 70s. Mean streets is about a small time hood named Charlie who constantly has sinning on his conscience while attempting to help his crazy friend Johnny boy played by De Niro which led to the role of Don Corleone and an oscar! Wonderful film, beautiful cinematography, and beautiful, personal filmmaking! One of the best I've seen.

Alice doesn't live here anymore - You might think Scorsese sold out working with a major studio and a star but all the elements from his previous films are there. Ellen Burnst won an Oscar for her amazing portrayal of Alice, a widow trying to raise her snotty son while also trying to find a decent man a long the way. This is an excellent movie, one of the most important films of the 70s finally showing the women as the hero.

After Hours - After failing to get his Jesus picture funded and the failure of his dark gem The King of comedy Scorsese resorted to a college kids script called After hours. This is pure 80s filmmaking and pure Kafka esque. Showing a man in a nightmare he had no idea he was getting into with no idea how to get out. Definitely a must see. One of the best dark comedies ever made!

Last but not least GOODFELLAS - Not much to say here. Just the greatest mob film ever made. Goodfellas shows the rise and fall of a group of gangsters from the 60s on. Scorsese directs the film with insight and he puts his electric trademark in every scene. One of the best of all time, this puts the icing on the cake of an excellent collection. It's a Great DVD and an amazing movie that you will appreciate more and more each time.

There you have it, my long review on a great collection. 5 essential films in Scorsese's career. A must own. 5 OUT OF 5!!!

The BEST Scorsese box set on DVD!.......2005-07-22

This is a brilliant collection of Scorsese's films, an even better collection than MGM's Scorsese Box Set! It gives us a Special Edition of "Goodfellas", Scorsese's first film (finally on DVD) "Who's That Knocking At My Door?", "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", a Special Edition of "Mean Streets" and (another finally on DVD) "After Hours".

The gems of this collection are Mean Streets, After Hours, and Goodfellas. These three films are considered to be among Scrosese's best! Pick this up today if you're a Scorsese fan, or a film buff, or if you're trying to get into Scorsese's work. Recommended.

The Best.......2005-03-20

Think of a world with out Martin Scorsese....... I don't want to, he's the best, and the only!

Marty is God, no, not good, God !!.......2004-12-03

This collection is the must have of any Marty fan and for that matter of any proper cinephile. Through 5 movies it traces the greatest part of Scorsese's stellar (until gangs of NY) carreer. It is extremely precious since it brings us "Who's that knocking at my door?", his first film shot when he was still studying in NYU, for the first time (to my poor French knowledge at least). The box really gives a wonderful overview of the themes that obsessed him in his young years (sex and religion, duty and punition) pictured in WTKAMD and Mean Streets, the film that made him big enough to introduce him to Hollywood, first in B-Movies ("Boxcar Bertha"), then to Oscar winning projects: "Alice doesn't live here anymore". This movie is extremely odd since it could seem to be a "feminist" film, and Scorsese as anyone will tell you is a guys' director (except for last temptation of Christ, the age of Innocence, Kundun... have I said enough to kill the cliché?). This woman "road movie" is nothing like "Thelma and Louise" but is still a very poignant portrait of a woman trying to put her life back together, but carefull, it's not a women's weepie, it's a strong, nuanced work. Which brings us to "After Hours" (one of the projects that ended MS's walk through the desert, along with Raging Bull), this Cannes festival prized movie reconciled MS with the critics and is one of the strangest movies in his carreer, you'll be surprised. And then, possibly his masterpiece, "Goodfellas", I don't think I need to say anything, the movie speaks for itself: WONDERFUL WONDERFUL and, oh, I forgot, WONDERFUL!!!
The DVD's all have commentaries and all of them have other featurettes on the making of the films, or trailers, and Goodfellas is actually the 2 DVD edition. In a word, u NEED to own this !

Eastwood After Hours (Live at Carnegie Hall)

Average customer rating:

Eastwood After Hours
Great Jazz event
GOOD DVD
Deserves a 10

Eastwood After Hours (Live at Carnegie Hall)
Starring: Bruce Ricker , and Joshua Redman
Director: Clint Eastwood
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00005Y71L
Release Date: 2002-03-12

Amazon.com

Dirty Harry--jazz fan? Perhaps not, but the man who brought him to life sure is, as this 106-minute concert and tribute to Clint Eastwood makes apparent. As a director (and occasional pianist), Eastwood has made no secret of his passion for jazz, using it in films as diverse as Play Misty for Me, Unforgiven, The Bridges of Madison County, and of course Bird, his Charlie Parker biopic. In 1996 a stellar group of musicians, both veterans (pianists Kenny Barron and Jay McShann, singer Jimmy Scott, saxophonist Charles McPherson) and relative youngsters (saxophonist Joshua Redman, singer Kevin Mahogany, Eastwood's son Kyle on bass), assembled in New York to play the music and pay homage to the man. The repertoire is solid, the performances outstanding; but what really sets this program apart is its frequent but understated commingling of film clips with the music itself, to evocative, humorous, and entertaining effect. This one's a keeper. --Sam Graham

Description

On October 17, 1996, veteran and contemporary jazz greats gathered for a select soiree on the stage of New York's Carnegie Hall, saluting a guy more noted for making popular films than for making sweet music. But as any fan of Clint Eastwood, especially after he started directing 30 years ago, will attest, the award-winning star is also an inveterate jazz lover who has uniquely integrated that musical form into the scores of his films. Join Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Flip Phillips, Charles McPherson, James Rivers, Slide Hampton, Hank Jones, Thelonious Monk Jr., the Kyle Eastwood Quartet, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and more for this scintillating celebration of film and music.

DVD Features:
Documentary:Behind-the-scenes documentary: Eastwood After Dark
Interactive Menus
Scene Access

Customer Reviews:

Eastwood After Hours.......2007-07-20

A bit disappointing, I had hoped to see more of Clint Eastwood actually playing or at least, a bit more participation.

Great Jazz event.......2005-02-02

This is what jazz is all about. Wonderful musicians playing
their hearts out. Beuatiful, exciting, and memorable. Eastwood
lends his name to yet another success.

GOOD DVD.......2003-05-11

THESE ARE WONDERFUL JAZZ MUSICIANS. THE ONLY THING THAT KEEPS ME FROM RATING THIS 5 STARS IS THE CONSTANT INTERRUPTIONS OF FILM CLIPS FROM CLINT'S OLD MOVIES. I KNOW SOME PEOPLE LIKE THIS STUFF BUT WHEN I WATCH MUSIC I LIKE TO GET INTO IT AND I DON'T LIKE COMMENTARY AND FILM CLIPS. EVEN WITH THAT, IT'S STILL GREAT MUSIC. WITH ALL THE RAP MUSIC? NOWADAYS IT'S A JOY TO SEE SOMEONE THAT CAN ACTUALLY PLAY THEIR INSTRUMENTS. I HOPE THAT THIS ISN'T A LOST ART. THESE GUY'S PLAY AS WELL AT THE OLD JAZZ GREATS. THE SOUND IS REAL GOOD TOO.

Deserves a 10.......2002-04-30

This 1996 Carnegie Hall concert rates right up there with the best -- Billie Holliday, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis..... For me, watching James Carter and Joshua Redman together riff with the Carnegie Center Jazz Orch is worth the price of admission, but there is much, much more and a collection of great vocalists and instrumentalists having a good time and letting it all loose. If you haven't heard Kevin Mahogany or caught Jay McShann (in whose band Charlie Parker cut his teeth) here's your chance. And, if Lester Leaps In, with Redman, James Moody, Roy Hargrove, Charles McPherson, Flip Phillips, Carter and company doesn't leave you wanting to dance in the gilded aisles nothing ever will. Though some purists might object to the occasional cuts (rather brief and often witty) from Eastwood movies and the laid back comments of patron Clint himself (and his less laid back piano playing), I found it all rather well done and thoroughly enjoyable. The guy's paid his dues to this art form and he gets his just deserts here. Above all, fine sound, excellent photography and almost two hours of the best jazz you will find on film. A great intro to jazz across generations and its contemporary energy. Full stop.

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After Hours at Arts Place
Starring: Wingy Manone , and Little Brother Montgomery
Manufacturer: GHB
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000M06EPI
Release Date: 2007-03-20

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After Hours: Jazz Dance
Starring: Various Artists
Manufacturer: Rhapsody Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002475EI
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Secretary Cunt!! 4 Hours of After Work Hard Action!!

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Secretary Cunt!! 4 Hours of After Work Hard Action!!

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Brand new
4 hours

ASIN: B000UM0HHE

Product Description

Secretary cunt provides 4 hours of hard action. After work the fun begins!!

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After Hours Girls, Vol. 4
Starring: After Hours Girls
Manufacturer: Distinctive Movie
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002I8444
Release Date: 2004-08-31

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After Hours Girls, Vol. 3
Starring: After Hours Girls
Manufacturer: Distinctive Movie
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0002I843U
Release Date: 2004-08-31

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LRR Season 1 & 2 Combo + After Hours

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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After Hours 2 for 1 Pack
Starring: After Hours 2 for 1 Pack
Manufacturer: Peach / Red Dragon
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000I8OOME
Release Date: 2006-09-19

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DVD

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