directors--martain scorsese

scorsese and deniro step up a gear after mean streets and create a genuine classic of 70s cinema, deniro is travis bickle, a newyork cabbie and vietnam veteran, who drives the streets, just doing his job, but is sickend by what he sees going on, the crime rate, and the general state of the city, its here he eyes up betsy, played by cibil sheperd, a campaine worker, for palantine, a candidate campaighning for election, he gets to go on a date with her, but blows it by taking her to a pawn film, this adds to his personal problems, but he also meets iris a 12 year old prostitute working the city, he sees in iris whats wrong with the city and wants to help her out, but her pimp, played by harvey keitlel controls her life, these things that happen to him pushes him further into despair, as travis buys guns and gets into more desperation, its clear to him what hes gotta do, free iris, and assassinate palentine, as he ses he is no better, than any other politician,
deniro is suberb in this film, a really convincing portrayal of a man in possibly depression, this is why the 70s for me is the golden age, and with cities in america being at there most violent, it really helped film, and n.y york is a charactor in this film, you really see society and violence there in front of you, you dont get that in todays films, nothing looks more gritty than newyork films of the 70s, foster and keitel are also superb, and foster who was around 12 at the time is amazing, keurel reuniting with scorsese after mean streets, is good, scorsese shows the potential, that will cement his career, and wit later films like after hours bringing out the dead, goodfellas, and the departed, a great score as well by bernard herrman a great catchy main theme. my no 1 off all time, and along with goodfellas changed my viewing habits, and got me into proper films, please check this out

scorsese,s other masterpiece, and my 2nd fav film off all time. ray liotta stars as henry hill, a kid who grows up in queens newyork, who all his young life is dazed by the life style of the local gangsters, as they pass there time between jobs, at the local cab stand, henry is employed to work there, and is emediatly put to work, on small time jobs, here he starts a career as a gangster, and meets tommy, later played superbly by joe pesci, and of course jimy conway, played by de niro, from this point on we get henrys commentery on the life of a gangster, the money to be made, the women on the side, and the threats awaiting which is part of the life, here he meets karen, lorraine bracco, and they get married, as the 60s turn into the 70s life changes for henry as more pressure and jail terms happen, and its when he gets into the drug distribution side of things( a mafia no go area) and paulis(head of the family) dislike of the stuff, that things turn for the worse, and his life with the family is coming to a head.
what can i say, this film changed everything in terms of film watching for me, it got me into scorsese for 1 thing, got me watching films by great directors, coppola, de palma, and a lot of others, and not just knowing who spielberg was, his direction is faultless, the pacing in this film, is probely the best ive seen 2 hours 20, flys by, his music choices are superb, and fit well into the story, the use of layla(piano exit) is superb, acting is top notch, bracco, as the wife, paul srvino as paulie, and de niro all great but pesci is chilling here, a real nasty piece of work,his funny guy speech is not only the most chilling scene ive seen, but funny as well, and liotta, well im apalled he wasent even nominated for a oscar, its top 5 performances of all time for me, his charm in the beginning to drugged up at the end is great, influenced by the greats, scorsese says, and a influence to many, watch paul thomas andersons boogie nights, for pacing and plot, there so alike, and next to taxi driver a modern masterpiece, love this film, and depending what mode im in overtakes taxi driver, please watch this film

another scorsese,de niro collaberation, after mean streets, taxi driver, newyork newyork, and raging bull, a little less known than the others, but a fulm thats in my top 5.
de niro plays rupert pumpkin, a wannabee stand up comedian and a obsessed autograph hunter, spending his nights out side the jerry lanford show( just think of the letterman show, and you get what i mean) he sees a oportunity to slip in to the limo of the host, played by jerry lewis, to self promote himself and get a spot on the show, jerry politly agreeing with the man but cant get away fast enough. rupert then goes to the offices of jerry, but is told he needs to do some gigs around newyork so they can see the act, he doesent see the sence in this so finds it a bit rude, he makes a tape of him performing, but when that is rejected, he falls on one last plan, kidnapp jerry for a ransom, a spot on a show. theres a good structure to this, we see scenes with the two, where there friends, and scenes where there not, so a lot of the stuff is in ruperts mind. deniro and lewis are great, lewis not doing his nutty proffessr thing its different but good, deniro is great as well, and his rutine at the end, a great stand up scene, and anm ending which if you get the film, youll be thinking well did he dident he, in my top 5 aoff all time, and very funy like fargo watch it as a comedy, its really amusing, and with todays celebrity reality tv culture, a film ahead of its time

scorsese does jesus christ, marvellous.
here we see the life of jesus but with a different look, based on nikos kazantzakis book, where he shows what if jesus had a choice and could not be the saviour and lead a normal life, get married and have kids, although this thought only apears towards the end of the film, the whole film deals with jesus going about his business, whilst having thoughts, and god more a burden than a sign, we see all the usual things assosiated with jesus, healing, water into wine, but its a interesting take, especially for me since im not a believer. very controversial at the time and a film you must see, great to see scorsese tackle this subject, as usual, all his trademarks are there his cutting especially and great musc from peter gabriel, dafoe although not a realistic jesus, everyone including harvey keitel as judas speak in bronx acents, which actually isnt to bad, great locations filmed in morocco i believe, and quite gruesome scenes later on at the crucifixam, this is actually in my top 5 scorsese, and just shows he can do anything, best jesus film ever

great scorsese film from the 80s, griffin dune who is superb here, stars as a computer programer, who meets a girl, played by rosana arquette, and agrees to call round her flat, which is way down town, so he sets out and imediatly things go bad as he looses all his money, while in a cab, so hes stuck down town, meets rosana, then she dies, so from here on he gets into one situation after another meeting many types of people, freom the caring barman to the mad artist, its one hell of a night, scorsese is on top form here, a great newyork film, as usuall his trademarka come out, great use of music, and the editing, which relates to griffins state of mind, the pacing of this is superb, and a great use of n.y in the early hours. dunne, who aparently was in line to play jesus in scorseses last temptation, has never been better, although thats not saying much, where did he go to. also watching the ending as well, so weird and sort of funny, and that last shot, so great, a great film about not liking your life and hating your job,and wanting escape

great remake f 60s gregory peck and robert mitchum film, and another brilliant deniro, scorsese teaming, deniro is really good and vicious as max cady, tormenting noltes lawyer, and family, over way he defended him years earler, great visuals from scorsese, and using all his tools for a hollywood film in both style and look, great use of widescreen, and haunting music, capturing the original, more violent than original, and certainly less wooden, this is one great remake

deniro/scorsese, a partnership is born, although harvey keitel shines in this and proves to be another scorsese muse, a look at small time hoods in newyorks little italy and friendship tested to the limit as keitels charlie, has to answer for deniros johnny boy a loose cannon, as the guys and there buddys go about there day catholic guilt gets in the way, scorsese displays his greatness here from editing, to his great choice in music cues, this is certainly one of the best scorsese examples. with out this there be no goodfellas, another great newyork tale frm scorsese and in deniro a legend brn, this is the film that got taxi driver made

deniro is superb here as jake le motta, and possibly best performance ever, not just by deniro but any actor, perfectly capturing his stages in life, from his prime as a middleweight fighter, living in bronx, and resisting temptation to tangle with local mob, to his later years in miami, where hes gained 60 pounds and is a mess, this isnt just a sports movie, actually boxing scenes only make up a very short time, but more a study of a man on edge, his life with family and brother, exellently played by joe pesci, and the demons he has floating around, superbly directed by scorsese, amazing black and white, and great technics especially while in the ring, and edited superbly by thelma schoonmaker, a superb watch

its amazing what a director can do when forced into a corner, scorsese, burned out after raging bull and king of comedy, being a flop, and last temptation of christ being cancelled, he went working commercially, and this was one of chices he made, cruise a up and coming star and newman major box office at time, and going back too role tat made him famous from hustler, great direction, check out pool scenes, superb, and cruise is as ever, smiley, but thats his charactor, and newman exellent playing role he played over 20 years before,

scorsese debut, filmed in newyork in black and white, and his and keitels first film together, a forerunner to mean streets 4 years later, and quite similer in theme and setting, scorsese gets to grips with themes settings editing music, and charactors, visited so many times later in career, this film set many new trends, mean streets especially capitalising on scorseses experiences here, if anything this and some other american films of late 60s were very much inspired by french new wave, like breathless and bande a parte, which showed that a good vision used with hand held, and a great script, and eye for realism, a great film can be born and scorsese and many others took this to america, so check a debut from the greatest living film maker

scorsese, deniro, pesci, nicholas pileggi,, novel, all returnimng after goodfelllas, and scorsese using all cinematic tricks from that film, narration, music, time span, and based on the mob, it certainly isnt goodfellas, but holds its own and certainly isnt bad, deniro is on fine form, and pesci making tommy from goodfellas, a cub scout, and of course sharon stone, never been better, if any thing a perfect commanion piece to goodfellas

scorsese does howard hughes, with decapio really capturing his mood an spirit, gret direction, and n amazing look throughout, not the whole life of hughes, but a nice representation

time to defend this, i like this a lot, i know its very split with people liking this to hating it, but i think theres a lot going for it, and like spielbergs artificial intelligence, feel this needs defending as well

its the 1860s in manhatten, civil war is raging on and newyork is a mess, the five points a section in manhatten is a melting pot of violence, and two people are at war, william cutting known as bill the butcher and priest vallon leader of the dead rabbits, after a vicious battle where bill the butcher wins and kills vallon, we cut 20 years later and vallons son amsterdam fresh out of reform school returns to his childhood home with vengence in mind, its time for bill the butcher to go down.

once arrived, things have changed, but not much, its still a violet place and many more organisations sprung up, but the dead rabbits have been outlawed, and bill is much more powerful, so as he trys desperatly to get close to bill while also seeking right oportunity to strike back, and refrm dead rabbits, and claim back five points as theres again. this was scorseses passion project since 70s, and finally with decaprio was able to get funding a lng and troubled project, this came out christmas 2002, but was due out 2 years before, delayed many times, then theres rumours of a longer cut, but scorsese denies this, i feel this is scorsese using all his tricks to great efect, music, cutting, especially, with tricks seen in films like raging bull and others, the set loks fantastic, really capturing newyork of that time, the story is interesting and engageing, and althugh many people grumbled at it not being a blood fest, theres certainly enough grizzly moments, the fight at beginning is superb, if short. and the last 10 minutes when ritos break out and attack on manhatten by the army is breathtaking, the central relationship between bill and amsterdam is very good, and in day lewis a menaceing charactor is born, its rumoured deniro turned down role, and you can se day lewis doing deniro, decaprio hlds up well, and hes not crap in this, yes his voice over is a lowpoint, it was oviously done months later, and doesent match too well, but thats about the biggset thing wrong here, supporting turns from, john c riley, henry thomas, jim broadbent and cameron diaz are good, this film gets a lot in, so running time is nessery, from local politics to the civil war and the draft riots, its all fitted in and around the main story well, and puts them in it nicly, and to finish film off with a great u2 song, the hands that built america, which als fits well, scrsese and decaprio have done 3 films together now, this aviator and the departed, a great working relationship, and gangs certainly a welcme adition to scorseses career, a bold movie from the wrlds greatest living filmmaker

after gangs of newyork, and aviator, dicapio, is scorseses new deniro, hes brilliant in this film,mat damon also, but nicholson, is superb, a role once offered to deniro, he actually m,akes it his own, takes us back to scorsese of the 70s, with mean streets and taxi driver, for a great urbun drama

great early effort from scorsese, and showing he can handle a strong story with a women lead, some nice scorsese tricks on show, and his usual knack of putting great music in, a strong acting role from ellen burstyn and a young jodie foster, and harvey keitel also showing once again, he is a scorsese muse, scorsese went on to great things after this and mean streets, and this shows his early work as vital as his later work

scorsese goes back to the mean streets of newyork city, in this film set in the early 1990s, cage is great, as a n.y paramedic, going about his day, reliving moments on his shift when he hasent saved lives, when one particular patient is brought in, he takes pity on the daughter. played by patricia arquette, and becomes her friend, throughout the days and nights, while trying his best to finish his shifts, but with partners as crazy as he has, will his sanity survive, and let the past and its ghosts to rest, a great newyork seting, scorsese as usual, knows these streets, and brings up many themes seen in other scorsese n.y films like mean streets, taxi driver, and after hours, cage as a tortured soul is the best hes been in a long time, his look as a depressed man is great, all his partners, played by john goodman, tom sizemore and ving rhimes, are great, each showing a great charactor, goodman as authority, rhimes as god loving, and sizemore terrific here as just mad, arquette although not as good maybe mis cast a bit, but holds up, and a great as always for scorsese score, great rock and roll tunes, capturing newyork, at its wildest, not a uplifting film, or particilery realistic, theres no way cage charactor would still be working, but a great charactor study,

underated for a scorsese film, and in deniro, a great performance, playing a guy with a passion, and a bit of a bully, hes great at that, and scorsese showing passion for mgm musicals, with great production work, looks great, a little muddled and flabby, but it comes out okay

scorsese films the stones in concert, at the beacon in newyork city, me not being a stones fan, but being a masssive scorsese fan, i was curious but not exited, although, when hes used there tunes in many of his films, it always lifts the films that little bit higher, so i wanted to see this, and i will say, for a scorsese direction, its retty average, not really showing much style and scorsese trademarks, although a odd one or two get in there, but just lets the music do the talking, and this part works, theyu show great stage presence, and especially keith richards, the star of trhe show, on stage like a predator going for the kill, with his guitar riffs, and walking round stage, hes certainly got it, some vintage interview footage also makes it in, maybe showing the way scorsese could have gone, mybe like his other bob dylan tv doc, and also the first 10-15 minutes are a joy, as we see preperation of show, with lots of scorsese coming off rather serious but also funny, its a shame he then disapears, but after all this is about the rolling stones in concert, could have been better, but also a whole lot worse.

three directors woody allen, francais ford coppola, and martain scorsese, do short films, celebrating newyork, coppollas is a mess, scorseses okay, but very stylish, but woody allen saves the day, with his short, about a typical newyork jewish guy, and his over bearing mother, who starts to apear in the sky, running his life, very funny, showing the woody humour, so not a complete disaster, allen and scorsese showing potential with theres, just miss copplas and a good one hour viewing will be had

looks like this may be the 4th in a row for marty and decaprio, after gangs of newyork, the aviator and the departed, so im looking forward to this already, scorsese is on top form at moment, and this sounds interesting, withpressure of oscar off also, marty can just sit back and just think about making a great film