One of the prime livings icons of American commercial auteur cinema, who made a name for himself directing character dramas and crime films. I'm not a fan of Scorsese's work, but he made so many classics that his oeuvre is impossible to ignore.
Movies
I was a bit surprised to bump into this film. With names like Scorsese, Coppola and Woody Allen directing, you'd think the film would be better known. Honestly, I'd never heard of it before. Anthologies are rarely seen as worthwhile films though, so that's probably what's been holding this one back. Scorsese's short is pretty decent for a Scorsese film, but his attempts to be a bit more artistic feel rather forced and Nolte's performance is too over the top (2.0*). Coppola's entry is probably the weirdest of the bunch as it seems to be targeted at kids (2.0*), luckily there's Allen's film to give this anthology a needed quality boost (3.5*). Allen's short is by far the most interesting and funny of the bunch. It's also the film that feels the most like "New York". While not a terrible anthology, considering the names involved people would be excused for expecting a bit more. Apart from Allen, the other directors disappoint.Read all
It's a little ironic that Scorsese spent so much time digitally de-aging his actor, but forgot to do the same to his actual film. The Irishman feels like a relic of the past, a film that got stuck in the early 90s, just like its director. Not one second does it warrant its 3.5 hour runtime, not one moment did I feel like watching something special of worthwhile.
Scorsese's sequel to The Hustler. It's another crime flick, this time mixed with some drama and sports elements while taking on the snooker hustling business. As a non-fan of Scorsese, it's rather disheartening that all of his film look alike, regardless of setting and themes, making this another failure in my book. Newman reprises his role of Eddie, only he's a lot older now. He has lost the taste for pool hustling, until he runs into Vincent. He's a young pool wizard who has all the skills, but lacks a mentor. Eddie decides to take Vincent under his wings and teach him the tricks of the trade, Vincent is only too happy to oblige. It's sad to see Scorsese reigning in Cruise here. He's only a shadow of his usual flamboyant self. The soundtrack is pretty bland, performances are unremarkable, and the plot is stretched way too thin. It's not Scorsese's worst film and at "just" 120 minutes, not his longest either, but I doubt there's anything here that will stick with me.Read all
The latest Martin Scorsese film is very much a hardcore Scorsese film. That's a good thing for Scorsese fans because they're getting a whole lot of Scorsese. If you're like me and the man's style doesn't exactly appeal to you, I hope you have other things on your mind so it can freely drift away. If not, those 200+ minutes are going to sting. When oil is found in Oklahoma, it attracts many shady figures. The oil is found on the land of the Osage tribe, and not long after people of the tribe start turning up dead. The FBI was freshly founded around that time and this case is perfect to show off their proficiency. When they start their investigation, they discover one of the biggest crimes the US has ever seen. DiCaprio and De Niro are starring once again, next to some other familiar faces (if there are cowboy hats in sight, you can be sure Jesse Plemons is around) and a bunch of less familiar actors (mostly the natives). The accents are truly horrendous, the overly dramatic performances feel like something from the past and the styling (editing, cinematography, score) is oldskool dull. The sluggish pacing is just the final nail in the coffin. A terrible film.Read all
Scorsese's second Bob Dylan-based documentary. Only interesting for fans of Dylan and/or of bygone eras. Scorsese hardly cuts in the performances and the talking heads don't have much interesting to add. The fact that are some hidden faux documentary bits doesn't improve things at all. A terrible doc.
Scorsese doing costume drama. The result is a sludgy and overworked affair that brings nothing new to the table and takes way too long to get its point across. The voice over slows things down even further and some questionable performances are the cherry on the cake. Another Scorsese fluke, I'm still on the lookout for that one film that might redeem this man's work.
Not a big Scorsese fan, but this must be one of his absolute worst. A cheesy and overwrought adaptation of Jesus' final days. I'm afraid I've had it with purely religious films, the gravitas and weight Scorsese put in here almost feels like a parody of the real thing. No doubt this was a serious struggle for the director, but it sure was one for me too.
