So, I have a history of not particularly caring for Scorcese films...but I've also not seen one since Wolf of Wall Street. For reference, I've seen everything from Gangs of New York to Wolf. Skipped out on Silence, despite it being the narrative I was most interested in from mere plot alone. I've matured a lot and grown into more understanding of quite a bit of art (more literature than anything). Does anyone have any good recommended essays or articles that help develop an appreciation for Scorcese before I try to give this movie a shot. I don't want to not give it a fair chance.
None. (I know, I know.) Nothing in the aforementioned run ever made me want to seek out some of his older work. Thanks for the link, reading it now!
I was just about to say the same thing. All of those until you get to Hugo are my least favorites he’s done outside of maybe something like Who’s That Knocking. I’m not surprised at all that you didn’t fall in love only watching those. EDIT: I forgot that Shutter Island came out right before Hugo and that one is fine, but the others don’t do it for me at all. Still a super mediocre run compared to his best.
I viscerally hated Wolf of Wall Street, and that's about when I started exploring more in film. It adds up pretty quickly after that.
Man Wolf is brilliant. I’d recommend just watching his early work too. Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, King of Comedy, Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas, Age of Innocence, and Casino especially. Roger Ebert also wrote very accessibly about Scorsese.
I’d say check out Goodfellas first, that’s the entry point for a ton of people to get into him and also a nice companion to this film. Casino is a very similar film, but not one of his best imo. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Mean Streets are also his best (and all on Netflix, the last I checked?)
Wolf is a great one, but I think if you go into it not recognizing the excess on purpose or how Scorcese is pushing his Goodfellas style to the extreme, I can absolutely see not liking it. It’s meant to be a ridiculous, reprehensible film
Second this. His love for Scorsese’s work was infectious and incredibly enjoyable to read. Those are some of my favorite reviews ever, especially for some of his smaller films.
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is also great but not typical Scorsese. Bringing Out the Dead is a weird one. I need to give Cape Fear and After Hours rewatches. Kundun I haven’t seen. Whose That Knocking is definitely worthwhile even for how raw it is. New York New York and Color of Money are skippable.
Yes you do!! One of my absolute favorites. The way it portrays film as magical and life-changing makes me giddy every time. Plus Asa Butterfield is the best.
I wrote a paper on the book Hugo was adapted fun for my children's lit class in college. I know I watched that movie, but don't have any recall of it. I've added Raging Bull and The Irishman to my watch list on Netflix. Gangs and Departed are his only others on there at the moment.
I was very disappointed on my rewatch of The Departed. Though I played that religiously in HS so it was bound to be tainted.