News & Updates

Monday, 17 December 2007

17 Dec 07 "Humor From Mother. Violence From Manhattan"

"I was very close to my mother," Scorsese said recently at the Marrakesh Film Festival. "She was one of seven children and all her family had a sense of humor. I find that the humor in my films is from that side of the family, from my mother's side whose name was Capa."

Asked about the violence in many of his movies, Scorsese said violence only appeared in films focusing on the world in which he grew up -- "a very small group of people in a certain part of Manhattan island, with Italian descendance".

"The people I knew, the ones from Sicily who emigrated to America in 1910, 1912, they were still very much involved in a way of life which was very tribal," said the director of "Taxi Driver", "The Last Temptation of Christ" and "Gangs of New York".

"What I am saying is that the nature of violence in the world I grew up in was not pointless violence, it was very serious violence. The violence was something that I experienced."

The 65-year-old director, in Morocco for the International Film Festival, said he aimed to render the violence of his childhood as it really was, without embellishment. "I try to make it look the way I think I saw it on the block."

17 Dec 07 Scorsese Loves Internet Hit 'Techfellas'

19th & Wilson's Eric Espejo, Richard Friend, and Donnie Conty located Scorsese while he was in Washington D.C. at rehearsals for the Kennedy Center Honors for the Performing Arts where the director was one of the honorees.

Scorsese was presented with a copy of 'Techfellas', a short film spoof on his film 'Goodfellas', and exclaimed, "This is hilarious! Thank you!" He also recalled an associate as having already seen TechFellas.

Espejo briefly explained the concept and inspiration behind both projects, and how well each has been received online. "They're internet hits!" replied an enthusiastic Scorsese. "That's terrific!"

It was a tremendously gratifying experience for Espejo and Friend, who co-wrote both short films and have long admired Scorsese's iconic work. "To have this chance to meet him, to thank him for what he's meant to us, and to actually share our work with him -- that was special," said Friend.

TechFellas and The Department are both available on DVD at 19W.com. You can watch the very funny 'Techfellas' on youtube.com.

3 Dec 07 Scorsese Feted at Kennedy Center Gala

Director Martin Scorsese, along with 60s singer Diana Ross, and comedian Steve Martin, were among the stars to receive Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday for their contributions to American culture.

Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson and pianist Leon Fleisher were also among the celebrities to be presented with the honor - the highest accolade for an American performer or artist - by president George W. Bush at the White House this weekend.

"In the careers of these five Americans, we see the very definition of excellence and passion," President Bush said during a White House reception for the honorees before the evening's gala event.

Actor Robert De Niro took the stage to honor Scorsese whom he pointed to sitting up in the presidential box.

"It feels a little silly talking to a close friend from this distance," said De Niro. "But the Secret Service has seen me in some of your movies. It's the closest I'll ever get to the president."

Bush couldn't resist poking fun either, alluding to one of Martin's classic sketches from "Saturday Night Live."

"I'm hoping that later this evening Vice President Cheney will get to shake hands with Steve Martin," he said. "It's about time those two wild and crazy guys got together."

The Kennedy Center Honors, in their 30th year, were officially bestowed on the recipients Saturday night after toasts and playful roasts at a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary Condoleezza Rice. The pre-dinner reception featured a performance by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman, who accompanied members of the Marine Corps band.

Scorsese abandoned plans to enter the priesthood and drew on his experiences growing up in New York's Little Italy for Mean Streets, Goodfellas, and Raging Bull.

Writer Nicholas Pileggi said of Scorsese's early years, "He was mesmerized. He watched that gray screen hour after hour, night after night, year after year. And it opened up to him the wonders of the world."

The gala is to be broadcast Dec. 26 on CBS.

2 Dec 07 'The Key to Reserva'

You can view the 8-minute short film "The Key to Reserva" by Martin Scorsese online at youtube.com. The short film is set in Carnegie Hall and features the sinister orchestral score of North by Northwest.

At the outset, Scorsese is discussing an apparently unfinished Hitchcock project, which he proposes to film himself. After some Hitchcockian opening credits it cuts to a young man as he attempts to locate the key that will open a box containing a bottle of cava. Having secured the key, fought off a baddie, opened the bottle and won over a beautiful woman, the advert cuts back to Scorsese talking about what Hitchcock would have made of it all.

The promotional film was made as an advert for a brand of cava made by the Catalan company Freixenet in Spain. Paying homage to Hitchcock, Scorsese also has a cameo in the film. Can you catch the references to 'The Man Who Knew Too Much', 'North by Northwest', 'Rear Window' and 'The Birds'?

27 Nov 07 Mark Ruffalo Nabs the "Shutter Island" Part

The suspense is over - the role of Chuck Aule in the new Scorsese thriller "Shutter Island" has gone to Mark Ruffalo. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ruffalo ('Collateral' and 'Zodiac') will play "U.S. Marshal Chuck Aule, who travels with his new partner (Leonardo DiCaprio) to the eponymous Massachusetts island in 1954. As they investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, they encounter a web of lies, a hurricane and a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island."

'Shutter' starts shooting in March 2008.

16 Nov 07 Stallone Cast in "Shutter Island"?

So who is going to get the part of Chuck Aule in Director Martin Scorsese's film of Dennis Lehane’s 'Shutter Island'? There's been a rumor for a couple of days that Sylvester Stallone was offered the part, but there's been no confirmation of that and it all sounds like a hoax. Still, we can't wait to who Scorsese casts in this important role. If you haven't read Shutter Island yet - it's terrific. You won't be able to put it down - and the ending is great.

Happy Birthday, Marty, who turns 65 on November 17. And to Francesca Scorsese who turns 8 today, November 16.

9 Nov 07: Woody Allen is Top Director in NYC?

Lovable mensch Woody Allen just edged out Martin Scorsese for bragging rights - but just barely - as New York City's favorite director.

According to the New York Daily News, it was a close call between Allen, Scorsese and non-New Yorker Sidney Lumet, but most film fans seem to regard "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan" over Scorsese's "Mean Streets", "Taxi Driver" and his other New York City-based films.

"From time to time, a filmmaker captures the essence of a place," fan Ted Faraone offered. "Woody has done that for New York. We lived it. He nailed it."

"Scorsese and New York are synonymous," assessed another fan, Ann Marie Spinosa. "It's like they share the same central nervous system. No director has a more fluid vision of the city."

"Think about it," says fellow fan Mike Thomas defending Scorsese. "Not only 'Mean Streets' and 'Taxi Driver,' but such diverse odes to the Big Apple as 'New York, New York,' 'The Age of Innocence,' 'The King of Comedy,' 'Raging Bull' and 'Gangs of New York'! He's a New Yorker, he loves the city and he films here more than anyone."

For the full opinion of how New Yorkers feel who best portrays their beloved Big Apple, check out Elizabeth Weitzman's column in the Daily News.

9 Nov 07 Coppola On Scorsese

Scorsese's long-time friend, Francis Ford Coppola had some remarkable criticism for Scorsese recently in an interview with Empire Magazine. The Godfather director opined that Scorsese was only making movies nowadays for the big paychecks.

"He's making movies because he needs to make a certain amount of money because he has a big family and many previous wives."

Recently, the filmmaker and winemaker had also criticised such former raging bulls as Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, and Al Pacino for being spoiled by success and not taking risks anymore in acting roles.

"They were young and insecure. Now Pacino is very rich, maybe because he never spends any money; he just puts it in his mattress," Coppola said. "De Niro was deeply inspired by Zoe-trope [Coppola's studio] and created an empire and is wealthy and powerful."

"Nicholson was - when I met him and worked with him - he was always kind of a joker. He's got a little bit of a mean streak. He's intelligent, always wired in with the big guys and the big bosses of the studios.

"I don't know what any of them want any more ... Pacino always wanted to do theatre ... [He] will say, 'Oh, I was raised next to a furnace in New York, and I'm never going to go to LA,' but they all live off the fat of the land."

23 Oct 07 Scorsese and DiCaprio Make Time for "Shutter Island"

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are planning to team again for the next project - and no it won't be the Teddy Roosevelt biopic - it will be an adaptation of Dennis Lehane's thriller "Shutter Island."

Variety magazine is reporting that the film was suddenly put on the fast track with Paramount and Columbia looking to co-produce. The plan would be to shoot "Shutter Island" as early as March 2008 in somewhere in the northeast of the US.

Set in 1954, the psychological thriller focuses on a U.S. Marshall (DiCaprio) who finds himself investigating the disappearance of a female inmate (from a locked room) in the middle of a hurricane from Shutter Island's Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

Lehane is the best selling author who also penned "Mystic River" and "Gone Baby Gone."

12 Oct 07 "The Wolf of Wall Street" on Hold

The next potential Martin Scorsese-Leonardo DiCaprio project is still sitting on the negotiation table as Paramount and Warner Brothers do battle over co-production rights. "The Wolf of Wall Street", adapted by Emmy-winning "Sopranos" writer-producer Terence Winter, is owned by Warner Bros, the studio that released "The Departed", but Scorsese's directing gig is at Paramount.

However, even with Scorsese's 4-year deal at Paramount, he has a clause that if he were to make a film at a competing studio, Paramount had the option to own half of it and co-distribute.

"Wall Street," released last week by Bantam Books, is the autobiography of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort, a flashy, drug-abusing, hooker-hiring, model-marrying master of the universe sent to jail for securities fraud and money laundering in the '90s.

Get more details of the story at the Los Angeles Times.

27 Sept 07 Scorsese to do George Harrison Biopic

The rumor is true: it was officially announced yesterday that director Martin Scorsese has signed to make a movie about the late George Harrison.

According to Variety, the film, which will be shot later this year and released in 2008, will be produced by Harrison's widow Olivia and feature appearances by the Beatle's former bandmates Sir Paul MCCartney and Ringo Starr.

The documentary will explore Harrison's faith and music, as well as his movie projects. Harrison died of lung cancer at 58 in 2001.

Olivia Harrison says, "It would have given George great joy to know that Martin Scorsese has agreed to tell his story. "

Scorsese says of the project, "(Harrison's) music and his search for spiritual meaning is a story that still resonates today. I'm looking forward to delving deeper."

12 Sept 07 Scorsese To Get Kennedy Center Honors

It was announced today that director Martin Scorsese will be one of the artists to be recognized at this year's 30th Annual Kennedy Center Honors.

Scorsese will be joined in the 2007 class by celebrated funnyman Steve Martin, '60s music icons Brian Wilson and Diana Ross and classical musical whiz Leon Fleisher.

"With their extraordinary talent, creativity and perseverance, the five 2007 honorees have transformed the way we, as Americans, see, hear and feel the performing arts," Kennedy Center chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman said during Tuesday's announcement  "We will forever be thankful for the great gift they have shared with us."

Per tradition, the honorees will collect their hardware at a State Department dinner hosted by Condoleezza Rice on Dec. 1. The following evening, they'll meet with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at the White House, after which they'll head over to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to be saluted at a star-studded gala performance.

CBS will air the gala as a prime-time two-hour special on Dec. 26.

28 August 07 Rolling Stones Trailer Online

The first trailer for Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones concert documentary, Shine A Light, is now online.You can watch it here. The film looks great but unfortunately we will have to wait awhile longer to see it - the release has been delayed until April of 2008.

The documentary, shot last October 2006 at New York's Beacon Theater, features the Rolling Stones, and cameos by Jack White, Christine Aquillera and Bill Clinton - as well as Scorsese himself.

28 August 07 No DeNiro Reunion for Scorsese Just Yet

Don't know the reason behind this bit of news but Scorsese has apparently backed out of directing "Frankie Machine" which would have reunited him with Robert De Niro who is set to star in the film as a retired mafia hitman.

De Niro is also listed as a producer. The film is about a retired mob hitman-turned-bait shack owner who gets pulled back into the mob life.

12 August 07 Taxi Driver Collector's Edition

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is finally bringing out a Limited Collector’s Edition DVD version of Taxi Driver. This 2-disc set includes a newly recorded feature-length commentary by director Martin Scorsese, more interviews with producers, actors and film critics on the cinematic importance of Taxi Driver and Scorsese, as well as a “Taxi Driver stories” featurette.

Here's a list of the more than 3 hours of bonus feature:

• "Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver" Featurette
• "Producing Taxi Driver" Featurette
• "Influence and Appreciation" Documentary
• Robert De Niro, Oliver Stone, Roger Corman and others pay tribute to Scorsese and the film
• "God’s Lonely Man" Documentary
• "Travis’ New York Locations" Featurette
• Storyboard to Film Comparisons with Martin Scorsese Introduction
• New Feature-length Commentary by Writer Paul Schrader
• New Feature-length Commentary by Professor Robert Kolker
• "Taxi Driver Stories" Featurette
• "Making Taxi Driver" Documentary
• Animated Photo Galleries
• A Scorsese at Work Photo Montage

Don't miss out on the four-time Academy Award-nominated classic (Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Music, 1977) Taxi Driver Collector's Edition, released on August 14, 2007.

7 August 07 IMAX Releases Stones Film

(PRNewswire-FirstCall) IMAX Corporation, Paramount Pictures, Shangri-La Entertainment and Concert Productions International announced on Monday that the Rolling Stones concert film "Shine A Light," directed by Martin Scorsese, will be released on September 21, 2007 to IMAX and other theaters.

"I am very pleased that audiences will have the opportunity to experience 'Shine A Light' in IMAX. The larger-than-life images and sound of an IMAX theatre will only enhance the experience of giving viewers the best seat in the house to watch the Rolling Stones perform," Scorsese said.

The Stones is reportedly similar to "No Direction Home", the Bob Dylan biopic and will include extended live segments filmed at New York’s Beacon Theater last year.

7 August 07 Skiskel & Ebert Reruns

Don't miss the new clips being posted online of the best of "Siskel and Ebert Go to the Movies." In particular, our favorite episode of course was the one in which Martin Scorsese came in as a guest reviewer and sat down with Roger Ebert. They filmed an episode where the two discuss their favorite movies of the 1990s.

Natch, Scorsese gets away with a classic Scorsese switcheroo when he tells Ebert, "Now I'm cheating a bit with my choice for the #1 film of the 90's -- because it was actually made in 1986." (Hint: It was "Horse Thief".)

You can view that Scorsese and Ebert episode here.

This show and about 5000 other clips are available at the show's official web site at www.AtTheMoviesTV.com starting August 9. 2008.

25 July 07 "Casino" Fact versus Fiction

Don't miss Richard Roeper's excellent expose on the 1995 Scorsese classic "Casino" as he draws testimony from the real-life mob trial and what was portrayed in the movie:

As we learned from testimony in the Family Secrets mob trial last week, Tony "the Ant" Spilotro and his brother Michael were not beaten with aluminum baseball bats and buried alive in an Indiana cornfield, as was portrayed in Martin Scorsese's 1995 film "Casino."

According to mob turncoat Nicholas Calabrese, the Spilotros were killed in a basement in suburban Bensenville a little more than 21 years ago -- and then their bodies were dumped in that field in Newton County, Ind.

As Sun-Times ace reporter Steve Warmbir wrote, the movie got the details of the twin killings wrong -- but it's highly unlikely Scorsese would have adhered to a literal re-telling of the tale even if he had known about the Bensenville locale when he made the film ...

Catch the full story in the Chicago Sun-Times online.

4 July 07 "Raging Bull" is in Top 5 of All-Time Classics

Last week the American Film Institute gave a lofty spot to Martin Scorsese's greatest film "Raging Bull." The story of boxer Jake LaMotta ended up at No. 4 spot, just behind "Citizen Kane," "The Godfather" and "Casablanca" in the list of top 100 Greatest American Movies.

Rounding out the top 10 was "Singing in the Rain," "Gone With the Wind," "Lawrence of Arabia," "Schindler's List," "Vertigo" and "The Wizard of Oz."

Two other Scorsese movies also placed in the top 100: "Taxi Driver" came in at No. 52 and "GoodFellas" was at a surprisingly low No. 92 but still made the top 100 list.

21 June 07 Scorsese and DeNiro Reteam for New Gangster Picture

Robert De Niro is set to be re-teaming with Martin Scorsese for their 9th film together. The two look like they'll be making "Frankie Machine" for Paramount.

The film is about a retired hitman, Frank Machianno (De Niro), who has given up the life to run a bait shop. In the book, Machianno, known as Frankie Machine, has put his past behind him and is living a tranquil life in San Diego. When the son of a local mob boss asks for his backup in resolving a dispute with the Detroit mob, Frank agrees, only to find that he's been set up as the intended victim of a hit. He then has to figure out which of his past crimes has caught up with him.

According to the website Deadline Hollywood, De Niro is the force behind this project and has talked Marty into it. The actor bought the rights to the book, "The Winter of Frankie Machine", before it was published and hired Brian Koppelman and David Levien to work on the screenplay.

There's a rumor that this could be Scorsese's next movie - instead of "Silence" - and he will start work on it just as soon as he wraps his Rolling Stones project "Shine a Light" which is already generating great buzz...

4 June 07 Scorsese Directs American Express commercial

This is the new "Members Project" ad, an American Express card collaboration to get us out there to do good deeds. As always, Marty steals the show! It has Ellen DeGeneres in it, and Andre Aggassi, Alicia Keys, The Flying Tomato Shaun White, Sheryl Crow, and some guy named Tim who walks in from the next office. And the message is ... Let's keep Lake Winnipesakee clean!

Watch it at http://www.lostplanet.com/pr/movies/AmexMP.mov

4 June 07 Scorsesefilms.com Interview with Joel Miller

One of our favorite independent filmmakers, writer and director Joel Miller gave us another exclusive interview in which he discusses filmmaking as well as his upcoming film, "The Still Life, starring Jason Barry which his be released by Warner Bros on 7 August 2007.

29 May 07 Scorsese Promotes World Cinema at Cannes

(AP) -- Martin Scorsese came to Cannes on a quest to save world cinema. Once he leaves, the great American filmmaker hopes to get to work on a foreign picture of his own. Scorsese is turning his sights to a story of missionaries in 17th century Japan. Silence is a long-cherished project that he hopes to shoot partially in Japan in summer 2008. Although it's a period piece, Scorsese thinks it has lessons for America today.

"It raises a lot of questions about foreign cultures coming in and imposing their way of thinking on another culture they know nothing about," said Scorsese.

Scorsese is on a mission for international understanding in Cannes, where he launched his World Cinema Foundation, devoted to preserving and restoring neglected film treasures from around the world. Ask him what international filmmakers he admires and the list goes on and on, starting with Italian greats such as Roberto Rossellini, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Bernardo Bertolucci and Marco Bellocchio. Postwar cinema alone, especially, is a "very rich feast".

"It was a great time to be alive, the late '50s, early '60s, and loving the cinema. I'd like the younger ones to know this is where I got sustenance from, besides the Hollywood cinema," he said.

Scorsese, who's also working on a documentary about the Rolling Stones, thinks American pop culture could use a jolt of outside influence. "I think as an American, you see all the American films, we feed upon our own culture in a way. And we just keep digesting it, re-digesting our own culture. After a while there's no return, there's no nourishment, there's no depth. I believe that," said Scorsese.

Scorsese's new international foundation is modeled on The Film Foundation, which Scorsese founded in the United States in 1990. He is backed by an advisory board of prominent directors, including the three Mexicans who have become the toast of Hollywood since they garnered 16 Academy Award nominations among them in February. Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel) and Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men) signed a moviemaking partnership last week with Universal Pictures worth a reported $100 million.

Scorsese says he hopes studios that cut deals with foreign talent have the best intentions.

"The danger is (the directors) may have to make one or two films that are more in the Hollywood line. What I would hope is that studios nourish the nature of the filmmaker that they hire, really, instead of trying to change him or her," he said.

Scorsese, 64, is busy at Cannes. Earlier Thursday, Scorsese gave a master class for young filmmakers. When the festival wraps up Sunday, he will hand out the award for the best film from a first-time director. If Scorsese is spending so much time here, it's because Cannes is close to his heart. He calls it the first place "to really recognize and welcome me."

The French Riviera festival awarded him its top prize, the Palme d'Or, for Taxi Driver back in 1976. It wasn't until three decades later that he finally took home Oscars (for best picture and best director for The Departed).

23 May 07 Scorsese Launches Foundation For Neglected Films

Director Martin Scorsese is hoping to preserve neglected films for posterity with the launch of his World Cinema Foundation on Tuesday. The filmmaker told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival in France the project was inspired by a similar venture in America, set up in collaboration with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood.

"This goes back to the founding of the film foundation in America. That was started in 1990 and for the past 16 years that actually has changed and things have gotten different there in terms of restoration of films and preservation of archives," Scorsese said. The launch of the non-profit foundation is being marked at this year's festival with screenings of films from Morocco, Brazil and Romania dating as far back as 1931.

17 May 07 Scorsese Honored at MoMa Party

This year's MoMA annual "Party in the Garden", honored Martin Scorsese and philanthropists Leon and Debra Black. More than 900 guests turned out to the Museum of Modern Art's society gala, raising $3.8 million, the most in the 39-year history of the event.

The sit-down dinner spilled from the museum lobby to the second-floor atrium, where Barnett Newman's ``Broken Obelisk'' towered over the tables. Black, 55, a MoMA trustee, was puzzled that he was being honored. "Scorsese? I really get it," he said. "He spent a lifetime entertaining and even changing the lives of millions."

But Fund-raising, he said, shouldn't merit an award. "I actually think it's a responsibility we all have," Black said. "Especially those who are fortunate enough to be successful, enjoying success such as many of us in the private- equity industry, in the hedge-fund industry, are enjoying today. If we are not going to do this, who will?"

Tables were available at four price levels, from $20,000 to $100,000. The event was sponsored by the Wall Street Journal.

3 May 07 Scorsese Talks in Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone magazine is celebrating its 40th Anniversary with three separate issues, the first of which is on stands now. In it, they have interviews with 20 different influential cultural figures, including Martin Scorsese.

In addition to what you can find in the magazine, we've posted exclusive audio from the interview at their online website www.rollingstone.com, where you can hear Scorsese talk to writer Peter Travers discussing what it means to finally win an Oscar, what it was like to hang out with Steven Spielberg and Frances Ford Coppola in the ’70s, and why Scorsese is doing next in a project with rocker Mick Jagger.

They will also be posting new sets of audio from the interviews ranging from Paul McCartney to Jimmy Carter, which you can listen to at www.rollinstone.com/theinterviews

1 May 07 Scorsese Talks Brando in New Documentary

"He is the marker," director Martin Scorsese says of legendary actor Marlon Brando. "There's 'before Brando' and 'after Brando.' "

If you have a chance, don't miss the 2-part documentary "Brando", which will make its premiere Tuesday and Wednesday, May 1 and 2, at 8 p.m. on the Turner Classic Movies cable channel. This new film investigates the life of one of America's most renowned actors, featuring never-before-seen-footage, interviews with Hollywood peers, family and friends, as well as new insight into Brando's controversial actions and beliefs.

The documentary features old clips as well as never-before-seen footage and a star-studded roster of interviews, including Martin Scorsese, Ed Begley, James Caan, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall, Jane Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Edward Norton, Al Pacino, John Travolta, Jon Voight and many others.

In one clip, Scorsese reveals that the inspiration for Robert De Niro's "you talkin' to me?" scene in "Taxi Driver" came from Brando talking to himself in a mirror in the movie, "Reflections in a Golden Eye."

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