martin scorsese

To be honest I still find it hard to choose between Taxi Driver and Goodfellas as my favorite Scorsese movie so I have decided to pick the film that I watched first and although it came out in 1976 I didn’t get to watch it till the mid 80s and you know something? it hasn’t aged one bit, if anything it’s got better, it’s still as compelling and shocking as it was when I first loaded that VHS tape into my video player back then and pressed play : everytime I’ve revisited Taxi Driver since I drool over the way the film’s dark narrative takes you on this emotional rollercoaster that ends with a sharp jolt, relief and in some ways sadness, the way the seedy, dark streets of New York are captured, the innocence of Jodie Foster and the power & excitement a certain Robert De Niro brings to Travis Bickle, a complex character and a role that may just be his finest….

Born on the 17th November 1942 in Queens New York Martin Scorsese has directed some of my favorite movies of all times, he’s part of My Mount Rushmore of Movie Directors and is still one of only a handful of filmmakers that I would pay good money to watch his movies numerous times play out on the big screen : his pictures tend to use camera moves that are huge in scale, fill the screen and engulf you with this wonderful creation, some of his films use voice-over narration to only enhance the experience, my favorite’s include Goodfellas and Casino and he always uses the cream of the crop to bring his work alive, getting the very best out of stars such as De Niro, Keitel, DiCaprio and Day-Lewis : he’s been nominated 9 times for Best Director at the Academy Awards sadly only winning once for his 2006 remake of The Departed, and although I enjoyed it for me it’s bottom tier Scorsese : his next film Killers of the Flower Moon comes out next year and is a 1920’s crime thriller based on David Grann’s book of the same name and star’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro

One of my favorite Martin Scorsese quotes : I have a desire to tell stories. And I’m never quite satisfied

My Mount Rushmore of Film Directors

Posted by absolutebadasses on July 26, 2020

Posted in: Views. Tagged: bluray, cinema, cinephile, digital media, dvd, film, film actors, film addict, film directors, film website, filmmakers, follow, follow my blog, genre, hollywood, james cameron, like, love, martin scorsese, mount rushmore of film directors, movie blog, movie collection, movies, passion, photos, quentin tarantino, steven spielberg. Leave a comment

As you can tell from this movie blog or my social media feed I was born a Cinephile, I have this passion for all things film : I watch, collect and talk about the movies, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly things that I’m passionate about : My love stretches to every genre, from the western to scifi, from the 30s to modern day, Cagney to DiCaprio, Foster to Hepburn, Movies are my crush, my excitement and I’m at my happiest surrounded by them : Last year someone posted a question “What is your Mount Rushmore of Film Directors?” I know we all have different views on this and that’s more than fine, but for me the four filmmakers and their respective filmographies that have consistently made me tick, given me the goosebumps & excelled in their work are Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino & Martin Scorsese what’s yours?

The Irishman (2019) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on November 30, 2019

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: al pacino, film, film fan, frank the irishman, gangster movie, Harvey Keitel, hitman, jimmy hoffa, Joe Pesci, like, love, love films, martin scorsese, mob, movie, movie geek, netflix, ray romano, Robert De Niro, stephen graham, the irishman, the irishman netflix, tony pro. Leave a comment

A mob hitman tells the story of his possible involvement with the hit on Jimmy Hoffa – THE IRISHMAN is Martin Scorsese’s 25th feature film and is now on Netflix (and showing at limited cinema’s throughout the country) – the movie starts in beautiful, typical Scorsese fashion, with the camera creeping effortlessly along some corridors and into a small room where Robert De Niro’s character Frank aka: The Irishman who looks old and life beaten starts to tell his story….. due to the quality of storytelling the film’s 209min run-time flies by, you get so engrossed by it all, I mean this is one of cinema’s greatest directors with a bunch of actors who are LEGENDS of the screen in a gangster movie no less what’s not to piss your movie loving pants over – THE IRISHMAN is a towering movie experience that shows more restraint, is more personal & certainly more tragic than Scorsese’s recent films – the de-aging of it’s cast is sublime and actually mind blowing if you’ve followed these actors since their early days, De Niro, Pacino and Pesci roll back the years giving outstanding performances with the likes of Stephen Graham & Ray Romano joining the big boys league in fine fashion, Graham’s character Tony Pro has some riveting and funny exchanges with Pacino’s Hoffa that are certainly amongst the film’s highlights – Overall The Irishman may not be Scorsese’s best work but a love letter to the genre & a tribute to Four Giants of the screen it most certainly is ★★★★½

I love watching, collecting and talking about movies it’s my passion – 2017 has been an exciting year in film, unlike many I’m not one of these people who make an end of year list based around whether a female directed a movie, a person of color appeared in a movie or a certain film carries a message that I should find important enough to place it on my list NO that’s not how this guy rolls My Top 15 Movies of 2017 are movies that have excited me but they are mostly movies that I have enjoyed the shit out of regardless of what political correct nonsense some people come out with – My Number One movie of 2017 is Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 Villeneuve’s scope his imagination and his ability to transfer all of this to the screen is nothing short of magical, not many movies in recent times have given me the chills from start to finish but Blade Runner 2049 did – and what can I say about Jennifer Lawrence in Aronofsky’s exceptional, weird as bat shit Mother it’s one of the truly great performances in the last 20yrs and a film that’s helmed by a visionary who’s never afraid to take us on a journey into the darkness of his soul, Mother nailed that Number Two slot – and making up My Top Three is the fantastic Wonder Woman with the beautiful, sexy Gal Gadot kicking some ass in one of the best origin stories to hit our screens – to those of you who have come across me on social media or may have visited us at absolutebadasses from time to time may we wish you all a Happy New Year and may 2018 be a healthy one to you and yours….. #LoveMovies

Top Right: 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford and Sean Connery – Top Left: 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial with Steven Spielberg & Henry Thomas – Bottom Right: 1976’s Taxi Driver with Martin Scorsese, Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro – Bottom Left: filming 1939’s Gone with the Wind

Movie Legends – Some Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on June 29, 2015

Posted in: Views. Tagged: al pacino, blog, character actors, film geek, film stars, film website, filmmaker, films, godfather, instafilms, Joe Pesci, love films, love movies, martin scorsese, martin scorsese films, movie blog, movie news, movie thoughts, movie time, movie world, movies, Robert De Niro, scarface, the irishman. Leave a comment

We’re all guilty of it, shamelessly looking at an actors body of working and criticizing them for not living up to their high standards of yesteryear – recently I compared the careers of movie legends Al Pacino with Robert De Niro, in their hay day their movies were sublime and their performances staggering yet in the last 12-15yrs both actors have lost their way, both have failed to ignite the screen with the same level of passion, intensity & quality – remember when Pacino was shouting “Say hello to my little friend” in De Palma’s classic Scarface and De Niro was cracking a baseball bat over someone’s skull in the wonderful Untouchables – they were the days, both starred in so many amazing films so I wonder why it is that these 2 stars are now settling for pretty average roles in lets face it pretty average movies? Maybe the great roles of today (of which there are few) are now falling to a younger generation of movie talent such as DiCaprio and Bale? Or maybe their happy with their lot, they’re still regarded as 2 of the greatest living actors so why not do roles as a favor for a friend or simply for the bigger payout? Whatever the reason, good news could be around the corner – the pair could soon reunite on Martin Scorsese’s gangster thriller The Irishman and with veteran Joe Pesci rumored to be on board this will have any film fan worth their salt purring like a cat in heat – so although the last 15yrs have been a mixed bag for Pacino and De Niro, I’m sure you will agree the movie world is still a brighter place with these two legends of our screen in it….

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013/4) – Movie Review ★★★★½

The Wolf of Wall Street stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Bernthal and Jean Dujardin – From the director of Taxi Driver and Goodfellas Martin Scorsese comes the true life story of stockbroker Jordan Belfort, a man living the high life that’s full of wild parties, wild women and shit loads of money but it’s also a life full of crime, deception and security fraud and a life that is being investigated by the FBI – VERDICT this is the fifth collaboration between DiCaprio and Scorsese and easily their best, if your looking for the Scorsese who brought us 2011’s sentimental, personal look at the magic of cinema in Hugo then you may find this picture a disappointment as The Wolf of Wall Street is a 3 hour orgy of black humor, drug taking and sexual undertaking that’s not for the faint hearted – DiCaprio commands proceedings, his energy and maturity is riverting taking center stage playing Jordan Belfort with a madness and a charm reminiscent of the great Jack Nicholson in his prime, he is that good that I can’t think of another living actor that could have done this role justice – DiCaprio is well supported by the likes of Jonah Hill now a two times Oscar Nominee who is delightfully funny as Belfort’s friend and partner in crime Donnie, Matthew McConaughey playing Belfort’s mentor Mark Hannah is both hilarious & mesmerizing and the emergence of the gorgeous, sexy Margot Robbie who plays Belfort’s wife is a revelation – there are too many fabulous moments in the movie so I won’t name them all but Belfort’s drug trip with Donnie and that drive from the club house to the mansion is genius and the moment when Belfort explains the name change to his employees “Stratton Oakmount” and sets about demonstrating on how to reel in a client is both hilarious & masterfully executed – Scorsese’s picture also includes some beautiful photography, a smart script by Boardwalk Empire’s Terence Winter and some well used musical soundbites that fit their intended scene in an exciting gorgeous fashion – overall Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street is a modern masterpiece that’s full of delicious humor, brilliant editing and full of dazzling, captivating performances – this may not be the best Scorsese picture I have seen but it would certainly make top 5….

Behind the Camera – Scorsese

Posted by absolutebadasses on November 17, 2013

Posted in: Views. Tagged: aviator, behind the camera, blog, bluray, boardwalk empire, born on this day, casino, cinema, director, dvd, film director, film poster, filmmaker, films, follow, goodfellas, howard hughes, images, Joe Pesci, leonardo dicaprio, like, love films, love movies, martin scorsese, mean streets, movie geek, movie photos, movies, oscar, oscar winner, pics, producer, raging bull, Ray Liotta, reviews, Robert De Niro, top 10, trailers. Leave a comment

Not many filmmakers have spanned the decades quite like Martin Scorsese, it was the late 80’s that I first watched his classic, gritty drama 1973’s Mean Streets and since then have watched pretty much everything this New Yorker has set to film, from his early collaborations with De Niro and Keitel in the mid 70s early 80s to this centuries dynamic pairing with DiCaprio, Scorsese is truly one of cinema’s finest Movie Directors – he has received 7 Academy Award Nominations for Best Director (winning for 2006’s The Departed) and in 2010 he was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award – below is what we think are his TOP 10 MOVIES Behind the Camera

Our number 1 choice is 1990’s Goodfellas that stars Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci who went on to win an Oscar for his colorful portrayal of Tommy “What do you mean I’m funny?” Devito, the film is the best gangster movie I’ve ever seen and in my opinion the crown jewels on Martin Scorsese’s incredible CV – following close behind is the electric Taxi Driver, the brutal Gangs of the New York and boxing drama Raging Bull – at number 5 is the Howard Hughes tale The Aviator and at number 6 De Niro re-teams with Joe Pesci for the epic mobster, gambling drama Casino – at number 7 is the return of the hustler in 1986’s The Color of Money that’s followed by a trip down the streets of Little Italy in Mean Streets and the uncompromising movie remake of Cape Fear – finally at number 10 sees Daniel Day Lewis in 19th Century New York in The Age of Innocence

Martin Scorsese was born on this day in 1942 in Queens, New York – his latest movie is The Wolf of Wall Street that stars Leonardo DiCaprio and lands Christmas in the US and early next year internationally….

Leonardo DiCaprio was born on this day in California in 1974 – can you believe DiCaprio is only 39yrs of age? since his film debut in the scifi comedy Critters 3 in 1991 DiCaprio has established himself as one of Hollywood’s acting Elite, amassing 3 Oscar and 9 Golden Globe nominations – DiCaprio has already worked with the likes of Spielberg, Cameron, Mendes, Scott, Nolan, Eastwood, Tarantino and Scorsese (5 times) not bad eh! – The 3 movies pictured above in my view are Essential Leonard DiCaprio – they’re not only great films but they demonstrate Leo’s acting talent and his willing to portray diverse and interesting characters on the screen – recent performances have seen DiCaprio star as Calvin Candie a ruthless plantation owner in Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s epic remake of The Great Gatsby – later this year reunites DiCaprio for a fifth time with director Martin Scorsese in The Wolf of Wall Street a true story based on the rise and fall of wealthy stockbroker Jordan Belfort, if the trailer is anything to go by then this will be another great Leonardo DiCaprio movie….