Netflix and Martin Scorsese may be teaming up again but, this time, in the midst of messier circumstances.
Read moreThe 10 Best Scenes from ‘The Irishman'
It’s been nearly a month since Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” hit Netflix, and whether you think its Scorsese’s best, an instant classic or just plainly too long, it can’t be denied it has some of the greatest cinematic moments of the year, and in some cases, the decade.
Read moreGangster Squad + The greatest of Gangster movies
(R) ★★½
Gangster Squad which is directed by Ruben Fleischer -of Zombieland fame!- is a typical gangster film that doesn't break much ground. Its colorfully elegant images recall Curtis Hanson's far superior L.A Confidential which also dealt with L.A cops. The cast is uni formally good starting with Sean Penn as Gangster impressario Mickey Cohen and Josh Brolin as the LAPD cop that wants to put him down. It's all flourishng, flamboyant stuff with the typical genre cliches that we have seen before yet I was hooked, especially in its last 30 minutes where things tighten up and the violence gets upped a notch. This isn't a film that we'll be talking about years from now and it has enough flaws to warrant cautious expectations before you go see it but if you're a fan of the genre as I am then it's worth watching at a cheapie film house or on DVD. Not much praise eh? Well it isn't Landmark stuff, what can I say.
You want Landmark stuff? Fleischer's film got me thinking on past gangster pictures. I dig the genre, in fact I eat it up. It's classic cinema and has its roots deeply inserted since Howard Hawks' first Scarface hit the screens in 1932. Along with film noir, the Gnagtser film might just be the most cinematic genre in movie history. But what makes a great gangster picture? In my humble opinion, A mix of style, story and directorial flair. Being List-Making maniac that I usually am - based on a mix of major ADD and OCD- I decided to make a list of my 15 favourite Gangster pictures of the past 4 decades of film. The following 15 are all great, masterful examples of what happens when you do it right with the most cinematic genre imaginable. They all range from different decades and all don't resemble one another, which is why they are just so damn good. Pardonne-moi if I didn't leave any comments below the titles.
1) The Godfather Part 2 (Coppola)
2) The Godfather (Coppola)
3) Goodfellas (Scorsese)
4) Pulp Fiction (Tarantino)
5) Casino (Scorsese)
6) Mean Streets (Scorsese)
7) The Departed (Scorsese)
8) A History Of Violence (Cronenberg)
9) Donnie Brasco (Newell)
10) Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino)
11) Gangs Of New York (Scorsese)
12) Carlito's Way (DePalma)
13) City Of God (Mereilles)
14) Miller's Crossing (Coen)
15) The Limey (Soderbergh)
16) Road To Perdition (Mendes)
Happy Birthday Martin Scorsese
The great American director is 68 today and he's still releasing great films -Shutter Island anybody? Maybe it's time to name a street after him or something, because as far as I'm concerned this guy has contributed far too much to the American arts and their overall impact around the world. I still think the man has another genuinely great film in him and that it won't take long for that film to get released. Maybe one last Deniro collaboration? that would be one anticipated film, although I do genuinely like what he has done with Leonardo Dicaprio the last decade or so with Gangs Of New York, The Departed, The Aviator and the aforementioned Shutter Island (which will surely make my ten best list when I publish it next month).
One thing that has always astonished me is how Scorsese always seemed to adjust with the times. His style has somewhat changed and adapted to the 80's, 90's and today but whatever the change, when watching something like -say- The Departed, it is a Martin Scorsese picture through and through. I don't know many filmmakers that have learned to adapt so well, decade after decade. Which brings me to my next point, which is that we don't have many like him left anymore. The more I think about it, the more I realize that the mavericks that shaped the 70's are slowly fading away, what with the deaths of Robert Altman and Stanley Kubrick, a now irrelevant Coppola and Woody Allen and Sidney Lumet getting turning 85 and recently hospitalized. What are we left with? Scorsese and Polanski, whom incidentally have made two of the best pictures this year and are still making personal, relevant statements in the art of cinema.