Evenings With Scorsese - A Career Retrospective

"Cinema is a matter of what's in the frame and what's out." - Martin Scorsese

I remember when I first watched The Departed (the film that would earn Martin Scorsese his first and long overdue Best Director Oscar) back in 2006, and I loved it -- even going so far as to declare it the best movie I'd seen in a long, long time (granted, I was 15-years-old, so not that long, but you get the idea). But then I also remember when I watched Goodfellas for the first time, a short while later, and feeling as if I had missed something, because the film that critics had praised as one of director Martin Scorsese's best did not inspire the same enthusiastic awe as The Departed. I was left wondering: What was so good about Goodfellas?

For the longest time, one of the things I struggled with in terms of film discussion is the difference between entertainment value and artistic value, and whether one outweighs the other. When I was a kid, I loved George Clooney's Batman & Robin and even Shaquille O'Neal's Kazaam, and was oblivious to the fact that both of those movies would be considered two of the worst films of the 90's, if not all time. I was entertained, and that was all that I cared about.

It wasn't until several years down the road that I started take notice of classics like Casablanca, Network, and All The President's Men... and was left feeling both bored and underwhelmed. I couldn't understand why all of these films were being hailed as some of the greatest movies of all time, because the themes and ideas these films were trying to present were going right over my youthful, inexperienced head. To be honest, I'm not even sure I knew what I was supposed to be looking for. It took me a while before I learned to read between the lines, and started to understand film concepts like themes, symbolism, motifs, and mise en scene. Moviegoing became a different and much more contemplative experience for me, and I haven't looked back since.

As a college student, I was fortunate enough to be able to take elective classes where we watched, analyzed, and discussed the various works of auteur filmmakers like Joel and Ethan Coen, John Cassavetes, and Stanley Kubrick, and being able to review a director's complete filmography is a learning experience I'm hoping to replicate here on this blog. As someone with aspirations of writing for film and television, I can't think of a better way to improve my craft, other than sitting down at a computer and writing and re-writing, than to watch and learn from the best.

And Martin Scorsese is certainly one of the best. Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, I've seen all of his recent films from 2002's Gangs of New York to 2013's The Wolf of Wall Street, but I've also yet to watch over half of the films he has directed since his debut feature film, 1967's Who's That Knocking At My Door. So, in the interest of finding out what I've been missing (and revisiting classics like Raging Bull and Goodfellas), I've decided that 2014 will be the year in which I watch all of the great films that Martin Scorsese has to offer. Now, this is a considerable undertaking, but one that I'm determined to complete. I'll be updating this blog on a regular basis, offering my own personal thoughts and musings about each film as I cross them off the list, and I hope that you'll follow along. Check back soon for the inaugural post!

Welcome to Evenings With Scorsese - A Career Retrospective!

Who's That Knocking At My Door (1967)                   Boxcar Bertha (1972)
Mean Streets (1973)                                                Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
Taxi Driver (1976)                                                    New York, New York (1977)
Raging Bull (1980)                                                  The King of Comedy (1983)
After Hours (1985)                                                  The Color of Money (1986)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)                        Goodfellas (1990)
Cape Fear (1991)                                                    The Age of Innocence (1993)
Casino (1995)                                                         Kundun (1997)
Bringing Out The Dead (1999)                                  Gangs of New York (2002)
The Aviator (2004)                                                  The Departed (2006)
Shutter Island (2010)                                              Hugo (2011)
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)