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…
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…
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?…
Remembering Michael Cimino’s Masterpiece, ‘The Deer Hunter’
Imagine this: Michael Cimino, fresh off five Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Best Director) and the next big “thing” fails to complete the filming of Heaven’s Gate (1980) and…
Farewell to a Goodfella: Henry Hill, R.I.P.
Well, it finally happened, albeit a lot later than many of his enemies would have liked. The world's most famous --and recalcitrant-- bad-guy-turned-FBI-informant, Henry Hill, has passed away at age…