Saturday, December 28, 2013

Weekend Weigh-in: What is Your Favorite Scorsese Movie?

The man many consider to be the greatest living director has no shortage of classic films.

With The Wolf of Wall Street finally out in theaters, let's take this opportunity to discuss the filmography of Martin Scorsese. He's one of those filmmakers that has nine or 10 movies I can easily see someone naming as his or her favorite. So what's yours?

27 comments:

  1. I'm probably going to be alone here but I would have to say Casino is actually my favorite of the Scorsese films. Its got the perfect blend of great characters, setting, music, and classic lines about proper amount of blueberries that need to be in each muffin. He's done more technically better films but Casino is the one I can put on any time.

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  2. Goodfellas is a movie that's so good that if someone said they thought it was better than The Godfather, I would nod my head and think "I could see that."

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    1. I can agree with this. Depending on my mood, I've been that person. Since The Godfather is far more operatic in nature, focusing on the top levels and Goodfellas is more ground level and gritty.

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    2. I don't think either answer is wrong. Both are great movies but different in approach as you point out.

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  3. Goodfellas is probably my answer, too, as everything about it is so excellent. I do want to give a shoutout for Hugo, though. That movie seems to be crafted with so much love for the subject and it feels so elegantly made to me. Plus, it's Scorsese branching out and making a kind of movie that isn't typical of him (a family film). It's really good stuff.

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    1. Oh wait, Taxi Driver! How could I forget Taxi Driver?! Or Raging Bull?! Argh, there are just too many to chose from!

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  4. I still remember how it felt leaving the theater after seeing Goodfellas for the first time. That feeling was the dragon I'd be chasing every time I went to the movies for the next 20+ years. No matter how many lazy ripoffs, retreads, and parodies come along, none of that reduces the power of that movie to cast a spell. It's a movie so good that even generations of dudebros quoting it hasn't diminished it at all.

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  5. GoodFellas is probably my favorite Scorsese movie. Like JP, I remember seeing it in the theatre and being absolutely riveted. It's pure filmmaking bliss. Taxi Driver is a close second - it's as relevant today (if not more so) as when it first came out.

    I love, love, love the first hour of Casino. The movie as a whole is really good, but I could watch that first hour on a loop. I strongly disagree with those who say it's merely a rehash of GoodFellas, or that Pesci's Nicky is the same character as his Tommy. Until drugs consume him, Nicky is very careful in his use of violence - there's always a "just business" reason. Tommy is an unhinged psychopath who could go off any time, for any reason. They're both great characters.

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    1. I have a theory that Casino would have been more well received if Joe Pesci & James Woods had switched roles.

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    2. My issue with Casino -- which is a movie I like and find to be one of Scorsese's most watchable (even more so than movies I like better) -- is that it says most of what it has to say in that first brilliant hour. And then it does it two more times.

      But I'm also realizing that there are probably some of my criticisms of Casino that could just as easily be leveled against The Wolf of Wall Street. I just can't see it yet.

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    3. If James Woods and Joe Pesci's roles had been switched, there would have been more of a Once Upon a Time in America vibe than Goodfellas.

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    4. I can't see the switch either. Pesci is perfect as Nicky (he even looks more than a bit like Anthony Spilotro, the real-life gangster Nicky was based on). And Woods is sleazy perfection as Lester Diamond (even the name gives you douche chills). I love how Lester can't even handle Ace's young daughter (watch the two of them in the background while Ginger is talking to Ace on a pay phone).

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  6. The video for Michael Jackson's BAD.

    Okay, that's not a movie, fine. When I think of Scorsese, I immediately think of Taxi Driver. I don't particularly ENJOY Taxi Driver because it's two hours of me feeling like I want to crawl out of my skin, or go cut the grass, or clean the gutters on the house, or do anything other than watch Travis Bickle descend into his own kind of madness. But when I read the question I immediately thought "Taxi Driver." Because it has more power on me that a movie should, and because the director has a lengthy cameo in the movie. Taxi Driver is the movie I respect the most, the one I speak of with reverence but don't watch much at all because it does what it does so well that I can barely stand it. Next time I watch it, I'll do so through a hole in a paper plate.

    I like Goodfellas and could never argue that it's not a great movie, but I don't love it. I love the personal touches in Hugo about early silent cinema, and I've wanted to see The Last Temptation of Christ for years, but just never got around to it. Also, I feel like I should say The Last Waltz, because of the content. And have you guys seen the George Harrison documentary he directed, Living In the Material World? That may be the best documentary I've ever seen about a musician. It's perfection.

    But still, my immediate reaction was Taxi Driver. Everything else I've said was just trying to figure out why. It's a freaky little movie, man.

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    1. Heath,
      For docs about musicians watch The Devil and Daniel Johnston. Gripping stuff.

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    2. Oh, and Walk Hard, of course. But you knew that ;-)

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    3. I liked the documentary he did about American Cinema, but that's more like sitting around and having a class with him than an actually movie.

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  7. I really respect and enjoy Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, but the Scorsese picture that I'm always excited to watch more than anything is The Departed. When good directors can do something interesting with a plot, I'm usually more of a sucker for it than when they nail character studies. Taxi Driver is great, but there are moments like Heath said when I really want to get away from it. Like Goodfellas, I'm with all of the characters in The Departed from beginning to end, despicable or...well, there's hardly any character that isn't despicable. I kind of feel like it's one of those movies on the film student "list", but it speaks to me more than anything else Scorsese has done, even though he's put out tons of quality stuff. One thing though dudes: does he have to use so many cuss words?

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  8. OK, I suspect that there will be 2-3 films that will be fighting it out as 'THE BEST' in this discussion, so I won't even go there.

    The King Of Comedy always struck me as a brilliant piece of work and a great comment on media, fame and celebrity (the film was made in 1983, and it is as relevant as ever). De Niro is great in it, as is Sandra Bernhard.

    Also, recently I saw Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore for the first time in years and was completely overwhelmed with how beautifully made it is. There are a couple of Scorsese trademark moves, but there are also directorial touches that are so subtle that you miss them if you blink (check out the shot where Alice's son is 'consumed' by the television, or watch the sequence where they travel in their car from their home to Phoenix, Arizona). The biggest surprise, though, is how sensitive and feminine the film is.

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  9. With the caveat that I've only seen five or six of his movies, none older than Goodfellas, I've got name as my personal favorite Gangs of New York - sure, the third act doesn't really fulfill the epic boasts of the setup, but as a history buff, I love the period hangout sequences, and film performances don't really get more engrossing than Bill the Butcher, now, do they?

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    1. If you like Bill the Butcher, you will very likely enjoy Travis Bickle. I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but I saw a lot of similarities between those two. Travis is a darker, and more contained character, while Bill is more confident, and gregarious, but they both have a similar feeling to me. I think it's that each of them came from a similar place for Scorsese. Both have sudden explosions of violence, both seem to have an understanding that the world is changing and not to their benefit. Also, both are being portrayed by actors who are at the height of their powers.

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    2. SPOILERS

      Gangs of New York has a really audacious ending, because it's been building to this huge collision between the Natives and Dead Rabbits, only to have both gangs usurped by the biggest gang of them all - the Feds.

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  10. Maybe not his best, but After Hours is pretty f'n awesome too!

    ...And don't forget his segment from New York Stories.

    If Scorsese knows anything about film, it's about timing music with his shot choices.

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  11. 1.- Goodfellas: the Scorsese movie so nice, he made it twice, i.e. "The Wolf of Wall Street." It's damn near perfect, iconic, quotable and still feels new whenever it's rewatched.
    2.- The King of Comedy: humor replaces violence as weapon of choice as characters climb/step over each other, desperate for notice. Unnerving if you think of Lewis as every comedian and DeNiro as the craziest fame whore to not appear on a reality show.
    3.- Taxi Driver: A grindhouse drama with brains, guts and, like its lead protagonist, a mission/purpose it sets to achieve and does.
    4.- After Hours: Marty's cocaine addiction in the 1980's? Research to make this. :-P
    5.- Cape Fear: The rare remake that actually works and improves on the original without overshadowing it (Mitchum can't be contained!). DeNiro's never been scarier.

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  12. This is going to be a long and winding road, but I'll try to make a shortcut.

    I've got three favorites, I guess. I like each of them for different reasons.

    Okay, don't look at me like that (I can feel your look) but I'm going to go with The Aviator. I find it to be very re watchable and it's probably where DiCaprio started to work for me as an actor. I'd never been much impressed by him before, but after that I actually thought he gave some pretty good performances. I also just like the subject matter. The story of Howard Hughes is pretty interesting and while the story isn't told with 100% accuracy, as a movie it works for me.

    Then you've got Casino, which I love because it's the great Gangster Tragedy. It's practically a novel of the fall of one the great houses of Venice. You get to watch every mistake these guys make, and watch them fail to learn from those mistakes as well. This isn't just the downfall of a couple of hoods, this is the downfall of all of Hood-dom. Everything was handed to them, and by the time these two knuckle-heads are done screwing it up, their entire way of life has been obliterated. And you have the Joe Pesci's *SPOILER* which is shocking and funny and sort of puts a cap on the way Scorsese made movies. He's trying new things out, discarding some other things. I like the transition this movie makes.

    And then you've got Goodfellas... because of course you do. If Scorsese is only remembered for one thing, that will be the one.

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    1. I like The Aviator as well (any film that focuses on flying is okay by me); Leo's performance - especially towards the end - is really underrated, I think.

      It's funny to hear Casino referred to as a "Gangster Tragedy." I've often thought of it as a twisted gangster incarnation of Camelot. Ace is King Arthur, Ginger is Guenevere, and Nicky is Lancelot. They create paradise on Earth, only to destroy it with their human failings.

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  13. It's a toss-up between "Raging Bull" and "Taxi Driver".

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