Posts Tagged ‘Martin Scorsese’

Although it might be a bit untimely to talk at length about Drive nearly three full weeks after it opened on Sept. 16th, we at Movie-Thoughts thought it to be an even worse idea to not talk about it at all. Our Marisa Carpico did of course write a glowing review of the film, directed by Nicolas Refn (Bronson) and starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan, and it appears her sentiments match that of the critical majority (RottenTomatoes rating is 93%), and because of these reasons we thought it was downright necessary to devote more time toward inspecting this refreshingly stylized action thriller. We tried to elaborate more on some of the angles explored in Marisa’s review, and took the opportunity to also bring up topics we felt hadn’t been addressed as often or thoroughly by other critics. We hope you find our discussion intriguing, and we of course encourage you to throw your two cents in at the comments section below. For those of you who have been debating internally about going to see Drive we hope our musings give you the extra incentive you need to give it a go and experience it for yourself. And for those of you who simply don’t wish to see it… well, you’re missing out.

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The impetus for this list came from simply re-watching Martin Scorsese’s 1995 film Casino, during which time I could not help but think of the number of movies which prominently feature the goings on of casinos – or at least the alleged goings on. And being that I didn’t quite agree with the listing of the Best Casino Movies at CasinoTop10, I decided to tackle the challenge of ranking them myself. Interestingly enough, though, casino movies aren’t even considered a subgenre, as few if any thematic or aesthetic similarities can be found amongst the movies which significantly feature a casino setting. Not to be discouraged, however, I took advantage of this leeway and simply considered any film which takes place in a casino or casino-like locale either for a substantial portion of the running time or during a particularly important or memorable scene. And now that we’re armed with these criteria let us get on with the rankings, which may contain a few surprises.

5. Casino Royale (2006) 

It seems almost too fitting that a James Bond movie be on this list considering how many times we’ve seen 007 sitting sharply dressed in a tuxedo at a green-felted table over the decades, and the question that immediately comes to mind is what separates Casino Royale from the lot. The answer is that, more than any other Bond flick, it made card games both a significant part of the plot and exceedingly exciting. Not only did James win his Aston Martin in a poker game, but he bested the film’s main villain by the same means. The scenes where the dapper double-o goes toe to toe with Le Chiffre demonstrate the full extent of the secret agent’s wit and savvy, successfully substantiating the notion that he is not just a physical force to be reckoned with but a cerebral one as well. No doubt, it’s as civilized a showdown as you’re likely to find in an action movie from any era, and that it’s as exciting as the film’s car chases speaks volumes about the writing quality.

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With Robert Rodriguez’s Predators (a remake of 1987′s Predator) opening very soon (July 9th) we here at Movie-Thoughts thought it would be appropriate to bring up the topic of remakes and reboots. A looming remake besides Predators that has had the attention of the movie world is 2012′s reboot of the grossly successful Spider-Man franchise. Why is this?

Many fans on the blogosphere have expressed some downright odious sentiments about the idea of rebooting a movie franchise as successful as Spider-Man, especially so soon after the original trilogy was completed (Spider-Man 3 came out in the summer of 2007). In case you need to play catch-up on the topic, here is the full press release from Sony Pictures about the new Spidey project: Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: Intelligent and gripping

Director: Martin Scorsese (The Departed)

Screenwriter: Laeta Kalogridis (Alexander), Dennis Lehane (novel)

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road), Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac), Ben Kingsley (The Wackness), Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain), Max von Sydow (Minority Report)

Length: 2h 18m

Synopsis: It’s 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) is assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a patient at Shutter Island, which is a mental hospital for the criminally insane. Paired with a new partner named Chuck (Ruffalo), the two are convinced that those at the asylum are not telling them everything they need to know. A conspiracy seems like the most logical explanation for what has occurred, but why such a conspiracy would exist baffles them. The answers they find turn out to be the kind that they’d rather not know. Read the rest of this entry »

Martin Scorsese

Renowned director Martin Scorsese is reportedly trying to helm the film adaptation of “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” an award-winning children’s book.

“Story centers on a 12-year-old orphan named Hugo, who lives in a train station and must finish what his late father started by solving the mystery of a broken robot. Project would mark Scorsese’s first foray into kid lit — a genre that is attracting a number of high-profile directors including Wes Anderson (“The Fantastic Mr. Fox”) and Spike Jonze (“Where the Wild Things Are”), whose films are resonating with adult audiences.” – Variety

The book won the Randolph Caldecott Medal for distinguished children’s literature in 2008 and consists of 533 pages. The screenplay was written by John Logan, who also wrote the screenplay for Scorsese’s Aviator.

Source: Variety

Oscar winning director Martin Scorsese

It was announced today that director Martin Scorsese will be the recipient of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Award for his outstanding contributions to the field of entertainment at the 67th annual Golden Globes on January 17th. He joins a list of fellow recipients that includes the likes of fellow director Steven Spielberg, Warren Beaty, and Anthony Hopkins.

Source: Variety

In Other News…

Vice chairman of Lionsgate Michael Burns has officially announced plans to make a Saw 7, which will reportedly be shot in 3-D. The news comes shortly after Saw VI concluded a relatively unsuccessful box-office run (making less than $23 million), even though it landed Lionsgate in the black.

“As long as we make money on it we’ll keep doing this,” Burns said, pointing out that such franchises tend to have a long shelf life across different platforms. “Dirty Dancing,” he pointed out, still sells 2,000 DVDs a day for the company, and that’s after 20 years. – The Hollywood Reporter

[The rest of this full article also details Lionsgate's plans to push other brands under its control, such as the critically acclaimed Precious and various Tyler Perry projects.]

Source: The Hollywood Reporter