News Archives
January to April 2007
20 Apr 07 Scorsese Photo Shoot for Directv Magazine
Interesting to read about what Scorsese is recommending for movie viewing. His must-see picks for the month includes the 1932 classic "Scarface" and the 1990 Jamie Lee Curtis thriller "Blue Steel". Read about the Scorsese Selection at: www.directv.com
Photographers and cinematographers especially might enjoy reading Michael Grecco's behind the scenes look at the shoot for creating the photos for the OnDirectv portraiture. It includes text and Grecco's lighting scheme when they shot on the rooftop of New York City's Directors Guild of America. Very interesting ... www.popphoto.com
And if you have time, check out the time-lapse video of the shoot, which you can view at: youtube.com The people most almost as fast as Scorsese talks!
6 Apr 07 Scorsese To Give Cannes Master Class
Oscar winner Martin Scorsese is to deliver a master class on moviemaking at the 60th annual Cannes Film Festival in France next month. Scorsese, who won the event's top prize with "Taxi Driver" in 1976, will also announce the creation of a foundation devoted to the "preservation and restoration" of film classics at Cannes.
27 Mar 07 Scorsese and DiCaprio Head to Wall Street
Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese and The Sopranos writer Terence Winter are reportedly teaming up to adapt Jordan Belfort's much-anticipated stock exchange autobiography, The Wolf of Wall Street, into a new movie.
Scorsese will direct DiCaprio who will be producing the movie after partners for his Appian Way company beat Brad Pitt's Plan B production company to the film rights.
24 Mar 07 Walhberg Admits Difficulties Working With Scorsese
Mark Wahlberg said that he and director Martin Scorsese were often at each other's throat during the filming of "The Departed." Speaking to the Telegraph in London while promoting his new movie, "Shooter," Wahlberg revealed the behind-the-scenes drama for the first time, adding: "Marty and I were constantly in this struggle. I had problems with Marty."
According to the newspaper, Wahlberg, who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of an abrasive police sergeant in "The Departed," said part of the problem stemmed from his need to squeeze in his role in "The Departed" between filming "Four Brothers" and "Invincible."
"I was only supposed to do a couple of weeks on 'The Departed,' so I was able to grow my hair for 'Invincible.' But then the schedule changed, and four months later I'm still working on 'The Departed,' so I wouldn't cut my hair and Marty was pissed off," he says, remembering their expletive-filled exchanges. "He was like, 'You've got to cut your ... hair,' and I was, 'I don't give a ... .'" [Read the Full Article]
24 Mar 07 Scorsese To Do Queen Victoria Picture With the Duchess of York
It was announced today that actress Emily Blunt ("The Devil Wears Prada") is signed to play a young Queen Victoria in a film produced by Martin Scorsese and the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson.
Blunt will play the monarch at the beginning of her reign. With the announce of this project, it means Scorsese will once again work with the British producer of "The Departed", Graham King, whom Sarah Ferguson introduced to the project. King told Variety: "Blunt is perfect to play this feisty, passionate young woman who went on to have nine children with the love of her life, Prince Albert."
Julian Fellowes, who won an Oscar for his Gosford Park script has written the screenplay, while Jean-Marc Vallee will direct. The project has a tentative release date for early 2009.
20 Mar 07 Wrath of Scorsese Leaves Actress on Cutting Room Floor
PageSix of the New York Post writes today that "FORMER Miss World USA Sallie Toussaint's kinky sex scene in The Departed was cut at the last minute after Martin Scorsese blew his top at a magazine cover story she did without his permission, her publicist says. Victoria Talbot of Hype Inc. tells Steppin' Out's Chaunce Hayden that Departed producer Graham King called her to say, 'who the hell did I think I was booking the Steppin' Out spread without approval . . . He said Scorsese was really mad and that he would edit Sallie out if I did not cancel the spread.' The story ran and Toussaint's big sex scene with Jack Nicholson and another woman was chopped to just a few seconds."
16 Mar 07 Scorsese's New York Digs Still on the Market
Martin Scorsese's townhouse on East 62nd Street in Manhattan is still for sale - and he's dropped the price to $6.9 million.
Radaronline has a report that the director had a tussle with the evil IRS which slapped a lien on the place over unpaid taxes, and that Scorsese "put considerable work into the place, installing a wee elevator that shuttles the asthmatic film legend between the house's four stories. The main entrance is on the ground floor, where a kitchen and dining room open to a large and leafy brick-walled courtyard. The second floor has been opened up front-to-back, creating two large, surprisingly florid sitting areas crammed with old-world paintings and vintage movie posters."
There's a cool movie screening room on the fourth floor, and the third floor master suite has a large bedroom, study, and, according to the listing materials, a "gentleman's dressing room."
Lots of cool pics at www.radaronline.com
8 Mar 07 Dropkick Murphys Also Win Big From The Departed
It's the perfect example of a symbiotic relationship. A band gets national exposure when its music is used in a major motion picture, and the film gains some great tunes to help its storytelling.
That's what Dropkick Murphys gained when Martin Scorsese used the group's music in his Oscar-winning film "The Departed."
28 Feb 07 Transcript of Scorsese's comments to the press following his win for Best Director at the Academy Awards
"It was overwhelming, overwhelming, overwhelming moment for me. I must say I didn't know when people say, it's your year, your year, thank God we have been able to make so many films over the past 36 years without winning awards, but we have been able to get the pictures made. So this comes again -- I'm so glad to have -- this comes as an extraordinary surprise and quite honestly surprised for best picture, too. Bigger surprise. I was very surprised when I won the Directors Guild of America, and you know, I've been used to not winning it. So, just make the movies, guys. That's what it's about. Making the films, right. It's not about winning the stuff. But in the meantime, you win something, that means they appreciate it, and I have to be grateful for it. You know, and I'm really thankful for the people in Boston who really did a great job, that great group, the Dropkick Murphys, who did Shipping Out to Boston, which Robbie Robertson gave me to put in the opening credits of the picture.
"That was on extraordinary moment when the three of them came out and give me a look. Francis Coppola and George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. We go back, Steven and I go back to '68,'69. Francis Coppola, 1970. George, 1970. So we have - I just went up to San Francisco to see Francis and his new film which is quite wonderful at George's new theatre on Thursday. So they have influenced me. Francis has been like a big brother in my life. Spielberg and George Lucas and I have --particularly in that first 10 or 12 years in the '70s, early'80s, worked together, really worked together, and helped each other with each other's films and really -- their main -- it's almost like a private little film school. And to see the three of them walk out and give me a look before they opened the envelope, I was very, I was very surprised. Very surprised."
Read more Quotes from Scorsese on Winning the Best Director Oscar.
25 Feb 07 Martin Scorsese Wins Best Director,
"The Departed" Wins Best Picture Oscar Honors
Martin Scorsese's long wait for Oscar glory is finally over. The Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences bestowed Best Director and Best Picture honors to his Boston crime drama, "The Departed", starring Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, and Alec Baldwin.
He captured the prize that has eluded him for decades, despite having been nominated for "Raging Bull", "The Last Temptation of Christ," "Goodfellas", "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator".
Three legendary directors, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and George Lucas - all friends of Marty - were on the stage together to give the award for the Best Director. When Marty's name was announced, the audience erupted and gave him a standing ovation, the loudest ovation of the evening.
"I'm overwhelmed, and also the honor of being presented by my old friends - we go back 37 years," Scorsese said. "I'm so moved. I'm so moved."
He thanked the cast, especially "Leo DeCaprio, 6 1/2 years we've worked together.. and I hope another 12, another 15!"
Scorsese went on to thank the crew, the studio, and "that crazy script by Bill Monahan that got me in all this trouble in the first place."
"I just want to say," he continued in his rapid-fire speech, "that so many people have been wishing this for me for so many years...strangers, walking in the streets, at the doctor's office, whatever...people say to me 'You should win one! You should win one!' And I say 'Thank you' ...but I say that... friends that I've known for years have been wishing this for me and my family, and [to them] I say, 'this is for you.'"
The Departed also won for Best Picture, Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay.
And let's not forget Scorsese's long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker who won the Oscar for Best Editing. She has a shelf full of them - this is her third Oscar for editing a Scorsese Film. Though he was excited and relieved to win for himself and was solid in his own acceptance speech, he welled up with tears while he listened to Thelma on stage thanking him for her Oscar.
"Working with Marty is quite something," Thelma said in her acceptance speech. "It's tumultuous, passionate, funny ... it's like being in the best film school in the world."
Congratulations to all the cast and crew of "The Departed" - the best film of 2006.
23 Feb 07 Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola To Present Best Director Oscar
This is huge news. If Martin Scorsese doesn't win his long sought-after
Oscar on Sunday night then lots of folks are going to be embarrassed...
Nikki Finke at www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com is reporting a huge spoiler:
"This first secret is big. Huge. Gigantic. It's that, Steven Spielberg,
Francis Ford Coppola, and George Lucas together will be presenting the
Best Director award this telecast. What a great gimmick. It'll be interesting
for Hollywood to watch the interplay among them. (If I'm murdered overnight,
then the Academy did it.)"
You've got to believe that the three directors are only doing this because they want to hand the statue to one of their oldest friends - Marty Scorsese.
22 Feb 07 A Family Film For Scorsese?
Variety reports that Warner Bros. is hoping that the veteran director Martin Scorsese might helm a movie based on Brian Selznick's bestselling children's novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret". The studio aquired the rights just a month after its release by Scholastic books. The adaptation will be done by screenwriter John Logan, who also wrote the script for "The Aviator", and produced by regular Scorsese collaborator Grant King. Brian Selznick's novel is about a 12-year-old orphan who lives in the walls of a Paris train station in 1930 and a mystery involving the boy, his late father and a robot.
Scorsese's other projects include a remake of the Japanese film "Silence" about 17th century Jesuit priests trying to spread Christianity in Japan, and an adaptation of Eric Jager's historical tome "Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal and Trial by Combat in Medieval France". In addition, there's also talk of the sequel to "The Departed".
6 Feb 07 Insider Hints This is Scorsese's Year
As Oscar nominees gathered for the annual luncheon in Beverly Hills yesterday for the meet and greet of fellow contenders, an insider said so many people were coming up to director Martin Scorsese to assure him that he would likely win for Best Director - including rival Clint Eastwood who is also a nominee - that any bet against Scorsese winning this year would be a bad bet.
Scorsese also got one of the biggest cheers of the day from his fellow Oscar contenders when he was introduced. He has earned eight nominations during his career for directing and screenwriting but he has never won. Many predict the dry spell will end when the 79th annual Academy Awards are given out on February 25.
Those in the know are also predicting that if Scorsese wins Best Director, then his movie "The Departed" stands a strong chance of being named Best Picture of 2006. It's time for the academy voters to put correct one of the truly embarrassing aspects of the Oscars:- that Marty has not been recognized for his great films, all of which have gone on to become classics.
5 Feb 07 Scorsese Wins DGA Feature Film Award
From the Hollywood Reporter: "Looks like it just could be Marty's year. In what finally could signal an Oscar win for the oft-nominated director, Martin Scorsese copped the DGA feature film award Saturday for 'The Departed.'The gritty mob drama overcame competition from the helmers of 'Dreamgirls,' 'Little Miss Sunshine,' 'The Queen'and 'Babel'. A sixth loss at the Academy Awards on Feb. 25 would give Scorsese the record for most Oscar noms without winning. But the DGA feature film award has mirrored Oscar's best director selection in 52 of the past 58 years, including last year, when Ang Lee won both for 'Brokeback Mountain'.
The last time the Academy gave a directing Oscar to someone other than the year's DGA feature winner was 2003, when the DGA went with Rob Marshall for 'Chicago' while Oscar lauded Roman Polanski for 'The Pianist.' Directors who will be competing against Scorsese at the Academy Awards include Clint Eastwood for 'Letters From Iwo Jima,' Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for 'Babel,' Stephen Frears for 'Queen' and Paul Greengrass for 'United 93.'"
2 Feb 07 DeNiro to Join Scorsese in Departed II?
With a domestic take of $125.2 million, Warner Bros. Pictures and director Martin Scorsese are seriously considering following the money and making a sequel to Academy Award nominated film "The Departed".
According to the Hollywood Reporter: "Talks are under way to put together a sequel to the crime thriller, which has garnered five Oscar nominations and is the biggest boxoffice hit of Scorsese's long career. Sources say that "Departed" writer William Monahan is working on a take that would bring back the temperamental foul-mouthed cop played by Mark Wahlberg, who received an Oscar nomination for the role, and introduce a new character to be played by none other than Robert De Niro.
Sources caution that Scorsese would need to approve any take before development was to move forward. A prequel is not being ruled out, either. "Departed" is an adaptation of the Hong Kong pic 'Infernal Affairs,' to which Warners acquired the rights in 2003. The studio also had option rights to the movie's two sequels."
28 Jan 07 Scorsese, Pitt & Grey Out as Producers for Oscar Consideration
A panel at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced last week that Martin Scorsese, Brad Pitt and Paramount Executive Brad Grey will not be credited as producers should "The Departed" win the Best Picture category at next month's Oscars.
Grey's appeal was denied by a panel of 20 Hollywood filmmakers at the Academy, upholding a previous decision by the Producers Guild of America. It means just one producer of the four listed on the film's credits - British-born Graham King - will be permitted to take the stage at the Kodak Theatre on February 25 should "The Departed" win the award.
Grey worked on the film before taking his job at Paramount. He released a statement that said: "I loved working on The Departed and will always think of it as one of the best times of my career." Pitt was cited because his film company Plan B Productions was involved in the movie.
23 Jan 07 Martin Scorsese nominated for Best Director
Martin Scorsese's Boston mob drama "The Departed" was nominated for Best Picture for 2007 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, it was announced this morning. Scorsese was nominated in the Best Director category, an honor he has received five times before, but has yet to win the coveted Oscar.
In addition, The Departed was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, Mark Wahlberg. It's star, Leonardo DiCaprio, was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his other film released in 2007, Blood Diamond.
In a surprise, the musical "Dreamgirls" led all Oscar contenders with eight nominations, but did not score a best picture nod. Babel was close behind with seven nominations.
The rest of the best picture nominations are: The Queen, Letters from Iwo Jima, Babel, and Little Miss Sunshine.
Best actor nods went to Leonardo DiCaprio for "Blood Diamond," "Ryan Gosling" for "Half Nelson," Peter O'Toole for "Venus," Will Smith for "The Pursuit of Happyness," and Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland."
Best actress nominations included Helen Mirren for "The Queen," Penelope Cruz for "Volver," Judi Dench for "Notes On A Scandal," Meryl Streep for "The Devil Wears Prada" and Kate Winslet for "Little Children."
In the category of film editing, "The Departed" has scored another Oscar nod for Scorsese's longtime friend and editor, Thelma Schoonmaker.
"The Departed" is considered to be Scorsese's best shot to finally win the Oscar he's been wanting for almost 30 years. Though he is tied with such greats as Alfred Hitchcock, going 0-for-5 for nominations, should he have a sixth defeat, it would put him alone in the record book as the losingest director ever.
19 Jan 07 - DiCaprio Backs Scorsese Oscar Bid
Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio is backing director Martin Scorsese to win an Oscar for The Departed, and finds it ridiculous the film-maker has never won an Academy Award.
Despite making acclaimed movies including Taxi Driver, Mean Streets and Raging Bull during his four-decade long career, Scorsese has never won an Oscar, and DiCaprio insists the snub is "almost a practical joke." The 32-year-old actor, who has starred in Scorsese movies Gangs Of New York, The Aviator and The Departed, says, "It would be wonderful if this film was rewarded, I think it very much deserves it. And I certainly think (Scorsese) does. It's quite long overdue, almost a practical joke at this point that that hasn't happened."
However, Scorsese admits he doesn't expect to win the Oscar, saying, "I learned a long time ago, with Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, that you can't make a film to get the golden statue. And if you try it doesn't work."
16 Jan 2007 Martin Scorsese Wins Best Director at Globes
Martin Scorsese was named best director last night for "The Departed" while the Brad Pitt film "Babel" took home best picture honors.
In his acceptance speech, Scorsese had a lot of people to thank so he warned the audience, "I'm going to talk a little bit faster than I normally do." The crowd roared. He went on to remark about the "honor and inspiration" it was to work with Jack Nicholson, and of Leo, he spoke of their third picture together and hoped there would be many more.
The musical "DreamGirls" that won the prize for best comedy or musical, while both Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy won supporting actor prizes for their roles in the film.
The Golden Globes, presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are considered the second most important prize in the US film industry and kick the race for the Oscars into high gear.
The Globes are voted on by the 80 or so members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. By contrast, the Oscars are voted on by the nearly 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Monday night's award comes close on the heels of the best directing award he picked up Friday night at the 12th annual Broadcast Film Critics Choice awards. "I am pleased by this award and surprised. Maybe it's because this is the first picture I made with a plot," he joked then.
18 Jan 2007 China Bans "The Departed"
Chinese film regulators said the movie, "The Departed," won't be shown there because of a subplot on China's purchase of military computer hardware.
"The Departed," which earned a Golden Globe for director Martin Scorsese, is about two men undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish mafia, and what happens when the undercover operations are discovered.
A Chinese official said there was "no chance" that the movie would be shown in mainland China theaters because of the plotline, Variety said. Regulators called the storyline "unnecessary."
Despite the ban, the film can be purchased in China in pirated DVD versions.
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