Martin Scorcese

Soft Falling Rain

For some random reason I decided to throw a couple of his films on today but made a point of choosing some of his more 'peculair' work, namely Cape Fear (which I hadn't seen before) and The Last Temptation of Christ (over a decade since I saw it last).

I'm glad I chose these two films as they are two completely different films, yet they both stand together in stark contrast to Scorese's typical work. Watching these 2 films just make you appreciate even more not only the man's ability, but also just how vast his vision is.

Cape Fear is just off the wall and really enjoyed it just for the very reason I alluded to above: it's not like any Scorcese film I had seen before. The Hitchcock vibe coupled with the less than subtle score just made for an absolute blast to behold. Lewis, Nolte, Lange and De Niro are all on top form as well. Lewis in particular gave a performance that I won't forget. The boat sequence is a little weak for me but that can be forgiven.

As for TLTOC, it has its flaws (I only read about the budget and time constraints today so that helps overlook any weakness) but I still found it to be absolutely fascinating. I'm ashamed to say that as a Peter Gabriel fan I never realised he did the score for this and what a score at that, absolutely class.

All in all a Sunday not wasted, with my appreciation for Scorcese given a whole other level.

breadbin

have a look for after hours too! one of my all time favourites:) cape fear is good, never seen TLTOC though. must have a look for it

e_e

To me Scorsese is a director who's far more interesting when he goes out of his comfort zone. Goodfellas was of course a fantastic film but Casino and Wolf of Wall Street just felt like overlong rethreads of the same style and ideas. Love his more off-kilter work like After Hours, King of Comedy and Hugo.

Having said that though I would like to see an other brilliant character study along the lines of Raging Bull and Taxi Driver.

Soft Falling Rain

breadbin wrote: »

have a look for after hours too! one of my all time favourites:) cape fear is good, never seen TLTOC though. must have a look for it

I'm not religious but I'd still recommend it, it really is a fascinating exploration of a man rather than a divine being. Defoe and Barbara Hershey are both great in their roles, though Harvey Keitel is...miscast is the nicest way I can put it.

catallus

Bringing Out the Dead is one of my favourite films.

dobz95

Martin Scorsese is a champion of film directing, one of the best of all time surely. He ability is phenomenal. I have to admit I have seen some (not many only afew) of his films that I would have to say aren't great (btw I have seen 971 films in my life lol!), but any bad film by Scorsese is out-weighted by his films that the word Outstanding would be an understatement for.
For me this would be my list of his top 10:
1. Goodfellas
2. The Departed
3. Gangs of New York
4. The Wolf Of Wall Street
5. Raging Bull
6. Taxi Driver
7. Casino
8. Shutter Island
9. Mean Streets
10. The king of comedy

If you had to rank his films what would you include?

Zeek12

I feel The Last Temptation of Christ is one of his most under-rated. The quality of the film-making was somewhat lost in all the controversy that surrounded it's release.
But I've always found it a fascinating movie; the performances all round are excellent (even if Keitel was miscast!) and Gabriel's soundtrack is amazing.
I remember seeing Scorsese being interviewed about it once; he explained getting funding for the project was near-impossible because none of the main studios wanted to get involved with such potentially controversial material so the film was essentially made on a shoestring budget....not that you'd know it, as it looks fantastic.

Cape Fear - I'm less a fan of. For me it's the point where De Niro began to descend into a parody of some of his earlier brilliant performances:(.
In fact, the whole movie felt very over-the top and overwrought.

But generally a lot of Scorsese's more offbeat stuff is very good. I second the comments on After Hours and King of Comedy (for me, Rupert Pupkin is the greatest anti-hero in cinema history.....and one of the funniest:D)

You should also check out The Last Waltz if you haven't seen it. One of the few truly great concert movies

Warper

My top 5:
1. Goodfellas
2. Taxi Driver
3. Raging Bull
4. Shutter Island
5. The Wolf Of Wall Street

One of the best directors of all-time. His talent has not diminished over the years, the one director that i really look forward to his movies coming out.

catallus

I never cared for Taxi Driver, I found it very grotty.

e_e

Out of what I've seen:

1. Taxi Driver
2. Goodfellas
3. Raging Bull
4. After Hours
5. Hugo
6. The King of Comedy
7. The Departed
8. Shutter Island
9. Mean Streets
10. Casino
11. The Wolf of Wall Street

marklazarcovic

goodfellas
casino
shutter island
raging bull
wolf of wall street
the departed

all ive seen

Alfred Borden

marklazarcovic wrote: »

goodfellas
casino
shutter island
raging bull
wolf of wall street
the departed

all ive seen

Seen the exact same ones, ashamed to say I havent seen Taxi Driver.

Warper

Raf32 wrote: »

Seen the exact same ones, ashamed to say I havent seen Taxi Driver.

A fantastic, slow-moving, menacing flick that gets better every time you see it. Awesome film

Alfred Borden

Warper wrote: »

A fantastic, slow-moving, menacing flick that gets better every time you see it. Awesome film

Gonna watch it tonight, i believe all that and more.

Birneybau

Never heard of him.

Halloween Jack

Been on the slide since the 90's. It's weird, as the quality of his work has declined it's become profitable at the box office and he finally won his oscar for one of his weakest films.

Gangs of New York has to be up there as one of the worst films by a major director ever made. Shutter island wouldn't be far behind, the departed is very much scorcese light and revisiting the tired gangster schtick of his earlier, better flicks.

I look forward to his documentary work a lot more than his features these days.

All that said, taxi driver, raging bull, New York New York and goodfellas are brilliant films. He is one of the most gifted filmmakers to ever step behind a camera but too often doesn't do enough with that talent.

Lukker-

I don't care much for Shutter Island or Gangs of New York. But The Departed is an excellent film. It borrows plenty from Internal Affairs but improves every aspect of it. For me it's Di Caprio's best picture. Very well crafted overall. I think it's easily the best of modern Scorsese and deserved the Oscar.

e_e

Warper wrote: »

A fantastic, slow-moving, menacing flick that gets better every time you see it. Awesome film

None of the superficial flashiness of Goodfellas, Casino, The Departed et al either. Makes the film feel so much more bold and authentic.

MfMan

Halloween Jack wrote: »

Been on the slide since the 90's. It's weird, as the quality of his work has declined it's become profitable at the box office and he finally won his oscar for one of his weakest films.

Gangs of New York has to be up there as one of the worst films by a major director ever made. Shutter island wouldn't be far behind, the departed is very much scorcese light and revisiting the tired gangster schtick of his earlier, better flicks.

I look forward to his documentary work a lot more than his features these days.

All that said, taxi driver, raging bull, New York New York and goodfellas are brilliant films. He is one of the most gifted filmmakers to ever step behind a camera but too often doesn't do enough with that talent.

Was never a great fan of his TBH. Taxi Driver for sure was startling, Goodfellas was superb and Age Of Innocence was pretty good. Don't like Raging Bull (Raging Dull) with method-meister De Niro repeating his lines incessantly, Gangs of New York was a brilliant mess, The Aviator and The Departed were all style but little substance, almost as if he's a Tarantino-wannabe. A vastly-overpraised director IMHO.

Halloween Jack

MfMan wrote: »

Was never a great fan of his TBH. Taxi Driver for sure was startling, Goodfellas was superb and Age Of Innocence was pretty good. Don't like Raging Bull (Raging Dull) with method-meister De Niro repeating his lines incessantly, Gangs of New York was a brilliant mess, The Aviator and The Departed were all style but little substance, almost as if he's a Tarantino-wannabe. A vastly-overpraised director IMHO.

While i wouldnt say his best work is overrated id agree with most of the rest of that (although gangs of new york is just a mess nothing brilliant about it imo).

Raging Bull in a sense can seem a little dull, but thats kind of the point, La Motta is a dullard and a brute, its a character study of such a man, and a fairly unflinching one.

The tarantino comparison is interesting, i believe there are certain parallels between both directors careers insofar as both made some very succesful early work which paid homage to their cinematic heroes but fashioned their influences into something new and unique. As both careers progressed the films to me seem to become more self conscious homages to various directors/genres etc and the unique and original qualities and cruciallly any emotional or intellectual depth seem to seep away.

Its like tarantino thinks, i havent made a spaghetti western yet, i love them and its exactly the sort of film i should be making and we get django whereas scorcese thinks, i really love hitchcock, i should make a psychological thriller and we get cape fear/shutter island etc.

I wouldnt be surprised if say scorcese made a peckinpah infused western at some stage or tarantino decided he just has to make i dunno a cheap sci-fi movie because he loves john carpenter.

The Wild Bunch

Shutter Island is actually in my Top 5 Fave movies

Love it

Birneybau

Lukker- wrote: »

I don't care much for Shutter Island or Gangs of New York. But The Departed is an excellent film. It borrows plenty from Internal Affairs but improves every aspect of it. For me it's Di Caprio's best picture. Very well crafted overall. I think it's easily the best of modern Scorsese and deserved the Oscar.

I honestly thought it wasn't great at all. Any goodwill from the film was ruined by the

last, crass shot of the rat walking across the balcony

.

Greyjoy

Birneybau wrote: »

I honestly thought it wasn't great at all. Any goodwill from the film was ruined by the

last, crass shot of the rat walking across the balcony

.

To paraphrase the Simpsons that 'symbolises obviousness'!
I thought the Departed was a decent enough remake but not great. It saddened me a bit that Scorsese finally got an Oscar for a film that was just a pale imitation of a previous film. It filed off any interesting bits from Infernal Affairs (in the original the two main characters start to become lost in the roles that they play - that never happens in the Departed).

Also

Wahlberg's character while hugely entertaining was added so that American audiences would have an ending where 'justice' prevailed and the bad guy was punished instead of the ambiguous ending of the original.

duckworth

Love Scorsese - he's one of the greats. I've hated all of his stuff since Gangs of New York (which was 50% great 50% awful). The Departed and Shutter Island got great critical reception, but I thought they were very boring. Hugo and the Aviator were even more boring to me.

Still, he has made a few masterpieces, and some other beautiful and strange films. I think Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Raging Bull are almost perfect films. And Mean Streets, After Hours, Age of Innocence, Last Temptation and the Dylan documentary are all huge pieces of work.

I've also watched the Cape Fear remake about 100 times - still one of my favourite films ever, even though I can't really say why. I know its not a masterpiece or anything, but I just love it.

Halloween Jack

Also he should be barred from ever using 'Gimme Shelter' in a movie ever again. Get some new records Marty.....

Roar

duckworth wrote: »

Hugo and the Aviator were even more boring to me.

Ah here. Hugo is magnificent. A wonderful, magical film from start to finish.

duckworth

Roar wrote: »

Ah here. Hugo is magnificent. A wonderful, magical film from start to finish.

I didn't think so. I thought it was mawkish and overly sentimental. But I know alot of people liked it - I guess its just a matter of personal preference.

It seems to me Sorcese's movies are getting less and less personal, and more focused on 'big-hollywood' gloss. I don't really appreciate this trend, but I know alot of people disagree.

e_e

Hugo to me is the exception with his newest work, a film with genuine ambition and imagination. His films with DiCaprio just feel a little stale.

MfMan

e_e wrote: »

Hugo to me is the exception with his newest work, a film with genuine ambition and imagination. His films with DiCaprio just feel a little stale.

There's a clue in that sentence!

Decuc500

Halloween Jack wrote: »

or tarantino decided he just has to make i dunno a cheap sci-fi movie because he loves john carpenter.

I’d love to see that!

I think Scorsese and Tarantino are similar in that they both seem to be obsessive about movies and this can be seen in their own films. They’re both passionate filmmakers, not going through the motions for a pay packet.

Scorsese’s flashy style might be getting old to some but I personally love seeing how, with his usual flair, he turns what could have been a straight forward genre film into something more interesting and dramatic.

Halloween Jack

Decuc500 wrote: »

I’d love to see that!

I think Scorsese and Tarantino are similar in that they both seem to be obsessive about movies and this can be seen in their own films. They’re both passionate filmmakers, not going through the motions for a pay packet.

Scorsese’s flashy style might be getting old to some but I personally love seeing how, with his usual flair, he turns what could have been a straight forward genre film into something more interesting and dramatic.

See i would view most of his recent stuff as straightforward genre stuff. Done well from a technical point of view but nothing particularly rewarding or unique. The aviator is a pretty straightforward biopic, which does nothiing unconventional and i get the feeling more attention was paid to the period detail etc than the actual meaning of Hughe's life. I absolutely hated all the digital sepia type effects used to remind us the film was set in the golden era of hollywood glamour. Its a film about howard hughes, i dont need trick photography gimmicks to remind me it is set some time in the recent past.

The departed was a by the numbers gangster flick, which at this stage is tired old ground for scorcese, the fast the fast-talking wisecracking dialogue, the shocking violence etc... the only thing new is replacing italian mafiosi with irish hoods. It was a lot of fun, and im sure the lads had a ball making it, but as somebody above stated it had far less to say about the nature of identity etc than the original film.

Shutter island is a film that any competent hollywood hack could have churned out, a real boil in the bag studio thriller, and utterly forgettable, i remember seeing the trailer in the cinema and thinking just that, then realising it was scorcese's latest and thinking wtf?

I will add though that ive yet to see hugo or the wolf of wall street.

As other people have said his documentary output is brilliant and he has been a champion and defender of some overlooked directors etc, obviously a decent guy too.

I just feel far too often these days he's falling far short of the type of work you would expect from somebody of his stature and ability.

Warper

His earlier work is the best just for its sheer rawness and menace. That said i loved the OTT 'Wolf of Wall Street" and the paranoid "Shutter Island". Shutter Island is better the second time around when you know the story. The Wolf is just pure over-indulgence but great fun.

I must rewatch Cape Fear, think i only seen it when it came out.

e_e

I didn't find the indulgence fun or fresh in Wolf of Wall Street because it was overly glossy and Scorsese was clearly only interested in the surface of everything making it all feel very shallow. The repeated debauchery just becomes dull instead of challenging or provocative.

Warper

e_e wrote: »

I didn't find the indulgence fun or fresh in Wolf of Wall Street because it was overly glossy and Scorsese was clearly only interested in the surface of everything making it all feel very shallow. The repeated debauchery just becomes dull instead of challenging or provocative.

I loved it, yes it was glossy and shallow but the sheer thrust of it was brilliant. It was OTT but the story was OTT. This is his funniest film which has some real laugh out loud moments and to keep the thing ticking over for 3 hours was expertly done. It was more of a comedy than anything.

Decuc500

I can see why people might compare his new films with his older classics and say they don’t hold up.
It’s probably impossible to have the length of career that he has and produce something with the quality of Raging Bull or Mean Streets every year.
But when you look back at his earlier work it’s not as if he could do no wrong then either.
Even though I think they’re two good films if he released The Colour of Money or New York, New York today he’d be probably criticised yet they’re from his Golden Period.

Halloween Jack wrote: »

The departed was a by the numbers gangster flick, which at this stage is tired old ground for scorcese, the fast the fast-talking wisecracking dialogue, the shocking violence etc... the only thing new is replacing italian mafiosi with irish hoods. It was a lot of fun, and im sure the lads had a ball making it, but as somebody above stated it had far less to say about the nature of identity etc than the original film.

On The Departed, I really didn’t like Infernal Affairs. I’d have to watch it again but at the time I thought it was a slightly hysterical yet somehow po-faced film that Scorsese improved on in every way. Even the ending.

Halloween Jack wrote: »

I just feel far too often these days he's falling far short of the type of work you would expect from somebody of his stature and ability.

I actually think Scorsese is still bringing the same level of style and passion to films he always did.
The stories aren’t as edgy as the used to be and he doesn’t have a young Robert De Niro to drive him on or an angry Paul Schrader to collaborate with but you can tell he’s still having fun with the medium. Hugo is definitely proof of that.