Podcast: King of New York
Walken, nihilism, crime with Abel Ferrara
99 Cent Rental Podcast
Episode 39: King of New York
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon | Goodpods | Youtube
99 Cent Rental is a comedy podcast revisiting the low-budget action, comedy, and science fiction films that clogged video store shelves throughout the 1980s and early 90s.
Every other week, hosts Bryan and Dave White, hosts of the Bring Me The Axe! horror podcast, dive deep into the nearly forgotten world of ninjas, breakdancers, skateboarders, action hero knockoffs, and Cold War paranoia that embodied the excess and over-the-top attitude of the 1980s and celebrate them for everything they were and weren’t.
This week Bryan and Dave take you back to the New York City of 1990 with a look at what might be Abel Ferrara's most focused movie, King of New York. With a dynamite cast of killers, including Christopher Walken at his best, Laurence Fishburne carrying practically the entire movie on his shoulders, David Caruso, Wesley Snipes, and Giancarlo Esposito, King of New York presents a morally gray crime movie where everyone, even the cops, are just the worst. Crime is the blood that keeps the city alive in this movie and an unreliable narrator is going to do his best to convince you that his crusade to run the criminal underground and thereby the entire city is just, good, and right.
Stylish, slick, and kinetic, King of New York is like a Pixies song with loud, outrageous, and violent scenes of criminal carnage punctuated by quiet meditations on morality. It's bleak, nihilistic, and the brothers can't help but notice that this very-much American cops and robbers movie feels much, much more like the Italian Polizziotteschi reflections which makes the film's subtle social and political undertones feel that much more pronounced.
Sample
Support us on Patreon for 5 bonus episodes a month!
Join the Discord to talk movies with us and other listeners!
Get yourself a nice Bring Me The Axe! or 99 Cent Rental shirt or hoodie!