Abel Ferrara Interview with Conan O’Brien

Writing my last post about a parody of Mike Francesa of “Mike and the Mad Dog” fame it sent me down a rabbitt hole that led me to the above 1996 interview between Abel Ferrara and Conan O’Brien. Abel Ferrera is one of those directors I love and hate at once. His early exploitation films like The Driller Killer and Ms. 45 are pretty solid “video nasties” that feature a pretty sordid 1970s NYC. What’s more, I truly loved his early 90s films like King of New York and Bad Lietuenant, but his later films like The Addiction and The Funeral (not to mention his terrible remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers titled Body Snatchers).

Like I said, love/hate relationship with his films, but at the same time the above interview captures what a nut he must be. A reported addict (which is winked at by Conan in the interview) and hardcore New Yorker, there’s no two ways that Ferrara’s a total character. What’s more, the begining of Bad Lietutenant starts with Chris Russo on the radio going crazy about the Mets in the 1986 World Series. It’s an asbolutely brilliant opening to a movie that pays homage to the insanity of NYC’s sports culture. I love the film for that alone, such an awesome touch that localizes a narrative in a specific time and place through its mediated culture. Anyway, that is a quick snopsis of the rabbitt hole I fell down that brought me to this video that had me hysterically laughing. For some reason I am in a NY state of mind when it comes to culture today.

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