Killers Of The Flower Moon (2023) - Movie Review

After what happened when I looked at The Irishman, I don’t want to belabour the point about having issues with films with longer run times. Or, to be more accurate, I don’t want to spend most of this review bitching about my attention span issues as if that’s the fault of the filmmakers. I’ll admit that there are nuances to the binge-watching vs. epic film argument that both sides tend to leave out, but after putting a near-three-hour film at the top of my favourite films list for last year (not to mention finally getting around to the Extended Editions of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy earlier this year), I want to give this film an honest chance that isn’t hindered by my own twitchiness. Or my ongoing indifference towards most Westerns.

Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story By Martin Scorsese (2019) - Movie Review

After looking at the Beyonce concert documentary, and thinking on and off this month about The Irishman, I feel like I need to give Martin Scorsese another look-over. With how much he’s dominated the larger conversation about where the cinema industry is going, and how vindicated his statements have grown in such a short time (the artistic quality of the MCU is still arguable, but its effect on the industry isn't), I don’t want my last thoughts about the man this decade to be filled with disappointment and a want to highlight what has made the man so enduringly fascinating as a storyteller. So let’s look at the other movie he made this year, a documentary about Bob Dylan’s legendary Rolling Thunder Revue.

The Irishman (2019) - Movie Review

Bear with me while I finish up pouring gasoline on myself, because apparently there’s no way I can make it easier to cop backlash for what I’m about to put down on paper. I would so very dearly prefer for this not to turn into part of the larger discourse concerning Martin Scorsese and his opinions on the modern state of blockbuster cinema, but because line-drawing is all kinds of easy, I feel like reviewing this movie is only going to further embroil me in a conversation that, to be honest, is kind of killing my enthusiasm to discuss movies. I’m firmly in the ‘don’t make judgement calls on other people’s tastes in fiction’ camp, and considering my continuing showings of praise for comic book movies around here, I want to make all of this perfectly clear before I deliver the big news. Martin Scorsese’s latest… I’m just not feeling it.

Joker (2019) - Movie Review

Well… here we go. What is most likely to be the most contentious theatrical release of 2019. A film that has audiences and critics so divided that the range goes from “this film is great” to “this film will inspire mass murderers”. Not much wriggle room in there, no matter what my opinion on this is. And yeah, while I’m somewhat mandated to get into the controversy surrounding this production, that’s only half the story. The other half is the film itself, and quite frankly, this is one worth talking about one way or another because, holy shit, this is a genuinely great film.

Silence (2017) - Movie Review

When talking about a filmmaker as lauded as Martin Scorsese, traditional adjectives like “important”, “influential” and even “lauded” still feel too small to properly illustrate his reputation both in the industry and with audiences. Aside from his ground-breaking work with crime epics like Goodfellas, Casino and The Departed, he has also shown himself to be one of the most incredibly versatile filmmakers this side of Steven Soderbergh. Psychological thrillers, philosophical dramas, family films, even blacker-than-pitch comedies like the nuttiness of his last film The Wolf Of Wall Street; the man’s well into his 70’s and he still shows no signs of slowing down. So when someone of this calibre comes out with a film that they have apparently been trying to bring into fruition for literally decades, it’s no wonder that it’s gotten the attention that it has. But is it worth the acclaim it has already garnered? Let’s pretend I’m in a position to comment on such things and find out.