Scorsese’s Stations of the Cross: ‘Mean Streets’ at 50
Sean Murphy"Don't you have something you really want to do?" Eternal props to John Cassavetes, mentor not only to Martin Scorsese, but innumerable other apprentices who carried his torch and elevated…
Moby Dick, Martin Scorsese, and Making a Literary Life
Image courtesy of The New Yorker November 14, 1851 Quick, literary folks: why is this date important? Hint: Call Me Ishmael. Yes, on this day 172 years ago, Herman Melville…
Ray Liotta: Goodbye To A Goodfella
Any appraisal of Ray Liotta must, of course, begin with Goodfellas. And it wasn’t even the role he was born to play; he had to earn it, had to convince…
RIP Ronnie Spector, and a Celebration of Sound & Vision
Ronnie Spector in the CBS Records studio in Soho Square. Ronnie is in London to promote her new single 'Say Goodbye to Hollywood', London, circa 1977. (Photo by Tom Sheehan/Sony…
THE BLACKENED BLUES, One Poem at a Time: Jake LaMotta’s Rage
I’m happy to announce that my first poetry collection, The Blackened Blues, is available wherever you buy books (yes, *wherever*, so you don’t have to put more money in Rocket Man’s…
Goodfellas at 30: The Most Definitive American Movie of the Last Three Decades
First, a confession. I did not love Goodfellas the first time I saw it (in the theater, shortly after it opened, in October, 1990). Then again, this seems to happen with certain…
You Want To See Something Really Scary?* 10 Horrific Scenes for Halloween
First off, a confession of sorts: scary movies don't scare me. Or, to put it less bluntly, as a one-time horror movie aficionado, I quickly outgrew the ways gore supplanted…
You Want To See Something Really Scary?* 10 Horrific Scenes for Halloween
First off, a confession of sorts: scary movies don't scare me. Or, to put it less bluntly, as a one-time horror movie aficionado, I quickly outgrew the ways gore supplanted…
Why Taxi Driver Still Endures
Besides being a masterpiece, Taxi Driver endures in part because the conditions that inspired it endure. Not many critics would name it as the best American movie, and it probably…
Taxi Driver: 40 Thoughts for 40 Years
Not many critics would name it as the best American movie, and it probably would rank as few fans’ favorite films. Is Taxi Driver, nevertheless, the most important American film?…