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Abdallah Mohamud's Reviews > Martin Scorsese: A Retrospective
Martin Scorsese: A Retrospective
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by
A long time ago, when I got the book, I planned to watch some of Marty's movies that I hadn't seen before and revisit some of them. I'm glad I didn't. It made me enjoy the book more and shortened the list of movies I wanted to see.
The book is very good and it brought some of the experience I had watching the movies. It informs us how each movie was received by the public and the critics, and how Marty felt at the time.
I was wondering if Tom Shone would mention 1MDB-1Malaysia Development Berhad- in the section of The Wolf of Wall Street, he didn't even allude to it, and I understand the reason. It would've added to the reading experience, but it might mean that Marty or other filmmakers stopped collaborating with Shone.
If there is one film one must see from Scorsese it would certainly be his small documentary Italianamerican 1974. It's a less than one hour movie about his parents and it's available on YouTube.
From the wedding scene in Godfellas , a tracking shot shows the guests. In few seconds Tommy's Mother (Catherine Scorsese) tells her son Tommy DeVito(Joe Pesci) while pointing at Henry Hill(Ray Liotta)...
Why don't you be like your friend Henry?
He's got a nice girl.
He's settling down now. He's married.
Pretty soon he'll have a nice family.
And you're still bouncing around
from girl to girl.
The book is very good and it brought some of the experience I had watching the movies. It informs us how each movie was received by the public and the critics, and how Marty felt at the time.
I was wondering if Tom Shone would mention 1MDB-1Malaysia Development Berhad- in the section of The Wolf of Wall Street, he didn't even allude to it, and I understand the reason. It would've added to the reading experience, but it might mean that Marty or other filmmakers stopped collaborating with Shone.
If there is one film one must see from Scorsese it would certainly be his small documentary Italianamerican 1974. It's a less than one hour movie about his parents and it's available on YouTube.
From the wedding scene in Godfellas , a tracking shot shows the guests. In few seconds Tommy's Mother (Catherine Scorsese) tells her son Tommy DeVito(Joe Pesci) while pointing at Henry Hill(Ray Liotta)...
Why don't you be like your friend Henry?
He's got a nice girl.
He's settling down now. He's married.
Pretty soon he'll have a nice family.
And you're still bouncing around
from girl to girl.
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Reading Progress
August 26, 2024
–
Started Reading
August 26, 2024
– Shelved
August 26, 2024
– Shelved as:
21st-century
August 26, 2024
– Shelved as:
biography
August 26, 2024
– Shelved as:
film
August 26, 2024
– Shelved as:
american
August 26, 2024
–
3.29%
""Someone from the Academy once told me they would love to give me an award if I made more humanistic films... I realized that from Taxi Driver onwards I wasn't going to win. It freed me up to make the pictures that I really wanted to make. That's the real award for me and throughout my career I have made what I like without hindrance and unscathed by anyone.""
page
10
August 26, 2024
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5.26%
""Religion and the whole concept of the actual practice of Christian ethics in modern society is a theme that I'm always attracted to and is something that goes through my mind and my heart every day. It's constant part of my life. But you know it's also a way of simplifying things because one does not always want to talk about your personal life to journalists[ ]That's all it is, kid, movies and religion, thank you!""
page
16
August 26, 2024
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13.16%
""Mostly I attempted to show the characters as people acting like children, playing with violence until they start getting killed.""
page
40
August 26, 2024
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17.76%
""There was an article in the New York Times saying, 'Who the hell cares about these people?' And I just thought: 'Well, I do'""
page
54
August 27, 2024
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37.83%
""I realized you can't let the system crush your spirit. I'm a director, I'm going to be a pro and start over again. I'll make a low-budget picture, After Hours.""
page
115
August 27, 2024
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50.0%
""There were filmmakers and critics who felt that I was morally irresponsible to make a film like Goodfellas. Well, I'll make more of them if I can.""
page
152
August 28, 2024
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55.26%
"Casino 1995
"This is the oldest story in the world. It's people doing themselves in by their own pride and losing paradise. If they handled it right they would still be there.""
page
168
"This is the oldest story in the world. It's people doing themselves in by their own pride and losing paradise. If they handled it right they would still be there.""
August 28, 2024
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56.58%
""When I was making Casino I was angry at the extraordinary place that Vegas was. All that greed seemed like a reflection of Hollywood at the time, a reflection of American culture.""
page
172
August 28, 2024
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57.57%
"Casino did good business at the box office—$116 million worldwide—but still didn't make enough money to satisfy Universal. "It was clear that it no longer pays for studios that are owned by major corporations to make a $50-$60 million profit on a movie. They want to make more. So that was the end of that kind of picture for me.""
page
175
August 28, 2024
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61.51%
"Scorsese met a Tibetan monk, who saw him and took his hand.
"I thank you so much for making that film. Thank you so much,"
the monk said. "I saw your other movie, New York Gangs. Violent, violent. "
Scorsese frowned apologetically.
"But it's alright," continued the monk. "It's in your nature."
Scorsese, with tears in his eyes, was blown away by "the acceptance of it,""
page
187
"I thank you so much for making that film. Thank you so much,"
the monk said. "I saw your other movie, New York Gangs. Violent, violent. "
Scorsese frowned apologetically.
"But it's alright," continued the monk. "It's in your nature."
Scorsese, with tears in his eyes, was blown away by "the acceptance of it,""
August 28, 2024
–
66.12%
""Marty, you can't have an actress who worked practically for free, stayed four-and-a-half months straight, six months overall, and then about to come into a $15 million pay day and not release her."
Scorsese offered to talk to Columbia himself.
"Do whatever the fuck you want," replied Weinstein, who recalled, "He called Columbia and they said 'fuck you.' He got mad at me, overturned what he thought was my desk..""
page
201
Scorsese offered to talk to Columbia himself.
"Do whatever the fuck you want," replied Weinstein, who recalled, "He called Columbia and they said 'fuck you.' He got mad at me, overturned what he thought was my desk..""
August 28, 2024
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77.63%
"The average studio film tends, at the least, to start well. Hollywood is all about beginnings—anticipation, possibility, promise—and the studio system has grown awfully adept at getting an audience to take their seats. What it is bad at is follow—through, finish—what the business quaintly calls "third-act problems." In modern Hollywood, all's well that ends badly."
page
236
August 29, 2024
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93.42%
"Scorsese seemed unwilling to give himself a moment's rest. "I was exhausted, but it was as though I couldn't stop filming," he said. "I was so wound up I had to carry on." Upon being retained to shoot The Last Waltz, his cinematographer Michael Chapman exclaimed, "Marty, you're a monster! The most dangerous person I ever met! I'm begging you, I can't go on. Let me die in peace!""
page
284
August 29, 2024
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96.05%
""I learned the hard way, but there is no doubt that the family unit is the key thing...""
page
292
August 29, 2024
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100.0%
""Look, let's face it, the cinema—the classical cinema—is gone. It's over. The cinema as we know it, up to now, is disappearing.""
page
304
August 29, 2024
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Finished Reading
