Martin Scorsese, super genius

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I figured I’d update my list in this thread since so many of the newer members may not have had a chance to peruse all of Holden’s Scorsese reviews found at the beginning of this thread.
  1. Goodfellas (1990)
  2. Taxi Driver (1976)
  3. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
  4. Raging Bull (1980)
  5. Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
  6. The King of Comedy (1983)
  7. After Hours (1985)
  8. Mean Streets (1973)
  9. The Aviator (2004)
  10. Gangs of New York (2002)
  11. Boxcar Bertha (1972)
  12. Casino (1995)
  13. Cape Fear (1991)
  14. The Color of Money (1986)
  15. Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967)

It’s been too long since I’ve viewed the following three, so I can’t accurately place them in my list of favorites.
  • New York, New York (1977)
  • The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
  • Kundun (1997)
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A system of cells interlinked
Alice... is in my top five for Marty as well. Close to home, that one...
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Yeah, Alice blew me away so completely that I fell in love with the damn thing. The chemistry between Ellen Burstyn and Alfred Lutter, the 12 year old boy who played her son Tommy, was incredible. They had me in stitches throughout the entire film. The three men who played opposite Burstyn (Bush, Keitel, and Kristofferson, respectively) did great jobs as well. Overall, one very funny and heartwarming movie.

I also saw Boxcar Bertha for the first time. It’s not finely tuned like most of Martie’s other films, but it’s still pretty cool. Seeing Barbara Hershey so young and so fine is always a bonus. It certainly doesn't hurt that I really dig depression era films.



I am having a nervous breakdance
I've seen two Scorsese films recently, The Aviator and The Last Temptation of Christ, both for the first time for me. I must say that it was some time very pleasantly spent. The Aviator was, in my opinion, Scorsese's best film since Casino and The Last Temptation of Christ sails up on my personal Scorsese list as one of his absolutely best and most interesting movies.

The Aviator was in some ways a typical Scorsese film but still it feels like Scorsese has managed to further develop himself as a an artist but without losing his personal style.

The Last Temptation of Christ was just amazing. So bold and honest and, if it's possible, beautifully ugly. I will have to see it again soon... Only bad thing is the cheap DVD copy I bought. Among other things, the sound was just terrible. But, hey, impulsive shopping is fun.

I have to see Pasolini's Il Vangelo secondo Matteo (1964) soon as well. I thought about Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004) and of Zeffirelli's mini "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977) while watching the Scorsese movie about Jesus. These films differ from each others very much and I suppose that goes for the Pasolini film as well which, just like Scorsese's and Gibson's films, caused a lot of controversy. Zeffirelli's min series is perhaps the most less surprising one in terms of experimental efforts or will to challenge traditional perceptions of the Messiah. But it's definately still worth checking out, esepcially if you're a fan of real heavy casts (Laurence Olivier, Anne Bancroft, Rod Steiger, Anthony Quinn, Peter Ustinov, Christopher Plummer, Ernest Borgnine, just to mention a few).
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Originally Posted by Piddzilla
...Zeffirelli's mini "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977)...
My memory of times past is all out of whack...I swear.

I have very clear memories of being in that damn psycho church my mother used to belong to when The Last Temptation came out...'cept, I quit going to that church when I was 12 or 13, and Temptation came out when I was 20. Anyway...I remember how the church reacted (they may have just heard that Scorsese planned to make the film) about the possibility of making Christ either romantic or gay...just a little outraged.

Anywho...I also remember the mini you're talking about. The church loved it. I watched all of ot back then with my mother and liked it a lot. I can't remember a damn thing about it, tho'...other than the fella who played Jesus had very beautiful blue eyes. They stood out from all the dust and grime like beacons in the night...like Lawrence's eyes.

I'm going to watch Temptation again very soon.



I am having a nervous breakdance
Originally Posted by LordSlaytan
My memory of times past is all out of whack...I swear.

I have very clear memories of being in that damn psycho church my mother used to belong to when The Last Temptation came out...'cept, I quit going to that church when I was 12 or 13, and Temptation came out when I was 20. Anyway...I remember how the church reacted (they may have just heard that Scorsese planned to make the film) about the possibility of making Christ either romantic or gay...just a little outraged.
Not to mention Keitel's Judas as cool as ice and the most significant of the disciples.

Anywho...I also remember the mini you're talking about. The church loved it. I watched all of ot back then with my mother and liked it a lot. I can't remember a damn thing about it, tho'...other than the fella who played Jesus had very beautiful blue eyes. They stood out from all the dust and grime like beacons in the night...like Lawrence's eyes.
That's definitely right about Robert Powell's eyes. And I'm not surprised that the church loved it, it's like it was ordered from the Vatican or something. It's really the filmed version of the life of Jesus as how they taught you in school it was like. And it's quite good too. I own a movie version of the series which is, naturally, way too short. The series was really cool though. I remember they used to show it here on every Easter holiday on tv.

I'm going to watch Temptation again very soon.



Sir Sean Connery's love-child
Genius. That one word sums up how I feel about Scorsese.
For me, Raging Bull is his best film, perhaps this is because I've had to study it at great length at film school! A masterpiece, story telling at its finest, and even towards the end of the film, its hard not to feel genuine emotion towards La Motta, Scorsese and De Niro at the top of their game.
The beautiful and haunting soundtrack add real texture to the film, and the way Scorsese kills all sound in the main fight sequence is a master stroke, reminds me of the heist scene in Jules Dassin's Rififi.
Would love to see him win an Oscar, and the fact that he never has says a lot about the system to me, I often disagree with the nominations and winners.
Time for an Oscar and Key to the City of New York!!!
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A system of cells interlinked
Bump

Best thread ever.

Really dug Gangs of New York last night. I must give it a couple more watches, as there is a TON to ingest, and I know I missed at least half of it riveted to Day-Lewis' Bill the Butcher...

Had watched this once before, but there were people over and I couldn't focus on the film that much. I got to watch it alone last night, and could rewind, pause, re-watch as I wanted.

Great stuff, and a great DTS mix



A system of cells interlinked
Originally Posted by The Silver Bullet
The performance of Nicolas Cage is probably a lot like his role in Leaving Los Vegas [which once again is a film that employs a very colourful nightmarish city as its backdrop] in terms of the impending doom that seems to mark his character. It is a wonderful role and perfectly executed for much of the film, but it is important to note that the character is less about moving the thin traces of a story, but simply about bearing testament to it – he becomes our eyes. His role as our collective eye is much like that of Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby in some ways, and it is important that he is not the focal point of Schrader's screenplay, but simply a vehicle through which we are able to experience this world. As a result it is fair to say that Cage does a bang up job, but it is fairer to say that it is the characters around him that steal the show...
Just re-reading some of the posts. I find this point interesting, as I was thinking this same thing about Amsterdam in Gangs of New York just last night as I watched. Although Amsterdam is clearly a focal point, we aren't anchored to him like many protaginists in film. The supporting players are again more vibrant, more colorful, and a bit more interesting. Leo's angle of stern resolve for his character isn't really a misstep, as I have seen some claim, but perhaps that mundane anchor the audience needs in order to accept the slightly over the top group of characters that surround him.

Day-Lewis' performance is clearly complex, intense, and incredibly well done; a screen juggernaut, if you will. But, would his character have gained the emotional clout and sympathy it did without his quiet engagements with Amsterdam? Would he just have been the run of the mill murderous monster if we hadn't been exposed to his contemplative and oddly honorable, if twisted, reasoning during these exchanges? These scenes are key to understanding these characters, and Leo's subdued and dialogue light interaction with Day-Lewis allow Bill the Butcher to develop into a character with incredible depth. Just such an interesting character.



  1. Raging Bull, A+
  2. Taxi Driver, A+
  3. Goodfellas, A+
  4. The Last Temptation of Christ, A
  5. The Aviator, A
  6. The Age of Innocence, A
  7. The Last Waltz, A
  8. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, A-
  9. Mean Streets, A-
  10. Bringing Out The Dead, A-
  11. New York, New York, A-
  12. Casino, A-
  13. A Personal Journey Through American Movies With Martin Scorsese, A-
  14. "Life Lessons" (New York Stories), A-
  15. Gangs of New York, B+
  16. After Hours, B+
  17. King of Comedy, B+
  18. Cape Fear, B+
  19. Kundun, B
  20. The Color of Money, B
  21. American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince, B-
  22. Who's That Knockig At My Door, B-
  23. Boxcar Bertha, C+
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A system of cells interlinked
I guess I'll take a shot at ranking my man Marty, as well. I still have yet to see KunDun and Boxcar Bertha, as well as New York, New York.

Raging Bull, A+
Goodfellas , A+
Taxi Driver, A+
After Hours, A+
The Last Temptation of Christ A
Gangs of New York A
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore A
Casino A-
Mean Streets A-
The Aviator A-
The Age of Innocence A-
Bringing Out the Dead B+
Cape Fear B+
The King of Comedy, B-
(It's been too long since I saw this one)
Who's that Knocking On My Door B-
The Last Waltz B-
The Color of Money B-



  1. Taxi Driver
  2. Goodfellas
  3. The King of Comedy
  4. Raging Bull
  5. Casino
  6. Mean Streets
  7. Bringing out the Dead
  8. Cape Fear
  9. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
  10. Gangs of New York
  11. The Colour of Money
I haven't seen The Last Temptation of Christ, After Hours or Boxcar Bertha but I'd like to.
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In the Beginning...
Originally Posted by Sedai
Day-Lewis' performance is clearly complex, intense, and incredibly well done; a screen juggernaut, if you will. But, would his character have gained the emotional clout and sympathy it did without his quiet engagements with Amsterdam? Would he just have been the run of the mill murderous monster if we hadn't been exposed to his contemplative and oddly honorable, if twisted, reasoning during these exchanges?
You know, before I saw it, everyone was talking about "Bill the Butcher," and I thought to myself, "that's such a great, direct, almost storybook-like designation for a character." And then I saw it, and realized that he was actually a butcher (as in, a butcher of meat). That one small detail made that character, and the surrounding area in which he thrived, come alive for me...



Welcome to the human race...
While I haven't seen that much of Scorsese's work (cursed R4 zone!) I have seen a few of his things, and I love them all a lot.

I suppose in order, the ones I've seen...

1. Goodfellas
2. Raging Bull
3. Taxi Driver
4. The Last Waltz
5. Gangs of New York

Sadly you need to be 18 to get most of his movies in this country - my mum wouldn't let me get Casino earlier today But hey, they sold me Goodfellas. So that's a plus.

However, I haven't been able to find a copy of Mean Streets. Pity, I really want to see it.
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the academy should hang it's head in shame for never giving him an oscar, how does raging bull loose to ordinary people, or goodfellas to dances with wolves! it's sick, really sick the man is probobly the greatest filmaker, his movies are filled with outstanding editing, great music good diolouge and original material, he doesnt need an oscar he's martin scorsese



The Fabulous Sausage Man
While many call the 1970s his best era (personally, I don't know why - you may have Taxi Driver, but you also have New York, New York), I like his films of the 1980s the best, mainly because that was when we first witnessed his stylish, and now trademark, style, with the aggressive camerawork and rapid editing. I think that both The Colour of Money and (especially) After Hours are very underrated films, with some stunning camerawork.



Oh, by the by...I'm going to see Mr. Scorsese in person and have a chance to meet the man. In less than a month I'm going back home to Maryland so I can attend this event...

Originally Posted by AFI
SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival will honor Martin Scorsese at the third annual Charles Guggenheim Symposium on June 15, 2006. The symposium, named after the late, four-time Academy Award winner, honors a filmmaker who exhibits a passion for their subject, conveys a profound respect for democratic values and has mastered the power of the documentary to capture current events and frame history.



Scorsese is a legendary figure in American narrative cinema. This symposium celebrates his status as a luminary in the documentary form and one of the foremost chroniclers of American art and culture. Scorsese's work, like Guggenheim's, shows a deep concern for social issues and a deep appreciation for American cultural history. Both filmmakers highlight many of America's social and political transformations over the past forty years. Scorsese's documentary work reflects his personal passions, notably his love for cinema born from a childhood viewing the movies of Hollywood's golden age at his neighborhood theatre on Manhattan's lower east side (A PERSONAL JOURNEY WITH MARTIN SCORSESE THROUGH AMERICAN MOVIES) where he also experienced the best of Italian neo-realism on television at home (ITALIANAMERICAN, IL MIO VIAGGIO IN ITALIA). His fascination with the role of the musical artist has resulted in one of the all-time great musical documentaries, THE LAST WALTZ and most recently the landmark series about America's troubadour NO DIRECTION HOME: BOB DYLAN. Other projects include WOODSTOCK and the seven-part series MARTIN SCORSESE PRESENTS: THE BLUES.

Scorsese received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1997. His many awards and honors also include the Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival (1995), the Honoree at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 25th Gala Tribute (1998) and the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award (2003).

As part of the symposium, SILVERDOCS will screen a series of excerpts from Scorsese's body of documentary work. Following the screening Scorsese will be joined on stage by special guests for a discussion of his career.
I now know at least one of these "special guests": Scorsese will be interviewed on-stage by writer/director Jim Jarmusch. I'll also be attending the reception afterwards across the street at the Discovery Building. They haven't announced who any of the other "special guests" will be, but obviously it could be just about anybody. And I would expect at least some of the cast from his upcoming film, The Departed, to be there, if only to promote the film (which has an October release date). Some of those guys would be Jack Nicholson, Ray Winstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen. But an AFI event honoring Scorsese...it really could be just about anybody.

This is my best birthday present ever.


You may officially start envying me......now.
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Originally Posted by Holden Pike
You may officially start envying me......now.
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