Tag Archives: Martin Scorsese

The Departed (2006): Limited Edition Steelbook [4K UHD/Digital]

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In Stores April 23rd from Warner Bros.

I do not make it a secret that I don’t like “The Departed.” I never have liked it. I think one of the main reasons why I dislike it so much is that I had seen Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s 2004 original much earlier and was surprised with how cerebral and taut it was. “Infernal Affairs” was about betrayal, and loss of identity, and completely losing not only who we once were, but our own morality code. It’s shocking to me to know that “The Departed” is not only so infinitely dumbed down from its source material, but that Scorsese is capable of so much better than what he offers us.

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1980 in Film

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1980 was a remarkable year for movies: “Ordinary People” and “Raging Bull” slugged it out for the awards, comedy cult classics “The Blues Brothers,” “Caddyshack” and “Airplane!” left audiences in hysterics, “The Empire Strikes Back” rewrote the “Star Wars” saga, “Heaven’s Gate” nearly destroyed United Artists and an obscure Soviet film trumped great works by Kurosawa and Truffaut for the Foreign Film Oscar.
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The Best Animated Movie Satire I’ve Ever Seen

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Part of what made the Looney Tunes and Warner Bros. dynasty so great beyond its characters, was its limitless ability to mock and satirize Hollywood. At a time where Hollywood was adored and enamored by so many, Warner Bros. actually did a great job of taking the piss out of people like Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable. In 1993, Fox Studios and Warner brought back the formula that they’d abandoned for decades with “The Animaniacs.” While the show was primarily a series filled with segments primarily aimed toward children, some of the segments brought back a lot of the classic Warner Bros. traditions, including satirizing modern Hollywood.

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Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music (1970)

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It was the end of an era, the literal end of a movement, and the end of what many would know as “Woodstock.” We never did see the Woodstock here in further decades, did we? We instead saw much more corporate interference, much more MTV generation, and in the last festival, ultimate destruction. At least we have what is one of the most riveting and unique concert movies ever filmed. It’s a chronicle of a generation thought of ancient now, and looked back on mostly with fondness, as a decade where there was hope for peace, and hope for a better tomorrow. It was before America gave in to the seventies, where it became all bout decadence and hedonism.

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Five Great Films Set Over The Course of a Night

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One of my current favorite directors Richard Linklater has currently released his spiritual sequel to his hit 1993 film “Dazed and Confused” entitled “Everybody Wants Some!!”, another drama comedy about a group of young people trying to survive the seventies. After his heavy and meaningful “Boyhood,” it’s nice to see Linklater coming back to a breezier departure that promises to be just as raucous and funny as its predecessor “Dazed and Confused.” Since I’m excited for “Everybody Wants Some!!” and consider “Dazed and Confused” a favorite of mine, I thought I’d list five great films that unfold over the course of a single night much like “Dazed and Confused” does. What are some of your favorites?

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The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

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One of the main aspects about “The Wolf of Wall Street” that I loved is that through and through Jordan Belfort is an unapologetic amoral hedonist. When we see him in the opening, right until the final moments of the film, he’s barely apologetic and really misses the days when he swam in money, women, and recreational drugs. Because deep down he felt be earned what he sewed, and right until his downfall, he loves the man he was. Deep down no matter how much he changes, he’s still the same Jordan Belfort, a man who is addicted to satisfying his base pleasures no matter who he hurts.

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Shutter Island (2010)

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shutter“Which would be worse, to live as a monster or to die as a good man?”

When I was finished with “Shutter Island,” I understood what director Martin Scorsese was pushing for in the area of a dark and complex journey of a man in to the bowels of a mysterious island. I understood that deep down Scorsese had an ambitious and admirable hunger to bring to us a modern “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” but ultimately, his efforts fail to bring a work of art that’s grandiose but low key in its effort to make a commentary about the human soul and the psyche. While the character of Teddy Daniels ends up becoming a truly tragic and complex individual, the caveat with “Shutter Island” is that everything surrounding the character of Daniels ends up becoming rather lackluster and limp. Especially when the surprise twist is given away so easily in the original trailers.

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