All the ingredients are here for The Irishman to be a Scorcese classic; Returning legends that have worked with Scorcese in some of his best movies; A “true story” which focuses on gangsters and the criminal fraternity; Robert De Niro … Continue reading The Irishman (2019) Review
Views from the Sofa’s 100 Greatest Scenes is a list of the 100 greatest moments in the movies. This could be long introductions, moments of action or great dialogue between characters. The scenes are in no particular order and come from … Continue reading 100 Greatest Scenes Number 41: “You Talking to Me?”
There are some films that will never be Oscar nominees. Anything by Marvel studios will struggle to get a nomination (unless it is in one of the digital effects categories), as will most comedies. There are a few types of films … Continue reading Oscar Month: Films that didn’t get Oscar nominated… but were trying to
Ask anyone to name their favourite directors and many people could reel off at least one or two names, probably including Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone or even Michael Bay. In the world of movie-making, the director is the key and quite … Continue reading Why do directors get more credit than writers?
Amongst the movie blogging community there is a series known as “The Blindspot.” This is when a movie fan actively searches out the movies they should have seen. The films that are regarded as classics or come highly recommended by everyone … Continue reading The Great Film Directors Blindspot series (The Launch)
Of many current actors, Leonardo DiCaprio has made the best career choices. Even credible film stars like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino have their stinkers, making you wonder what they were thinking as they signed on the dotted line, but … Continue reading The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Review
Some films instantly become classics because of how iconic their characters, dialogue and scenes in general are. Goodfellas begins with an often quoted and hugely recognised opening line and then continues to impress throughout with a movie full of great … Continue reading Goodfellas (1990) Review
Martin Scorsese is only good at making one kind of movie… Gangster movies. I know this is a bold, generalised statement but recently I have been hugely disappointed with Scorsese “classics.” I didn’t enjoy Raging Bull as much as I thought I would and thought Mean Streets was even worst. Taxi Driver is considered one of his most iconic and best films but I failed to find anything amazing about that film either. I do rate a lot of Scorsese films though. Goodfellas is an incredible movie and The Departed is one of my favourite films. It seems like Scorsese produces his best films … Continue reading Casino (1995) Review
I think I am just going to have to admit I don’t get the appeal of some films. Not just the appeal but why films are lauded as “masterpieces” or “classics.” It’s not even like I have a “type” of film that I like watching and can put it down to that. I will watch anything and have favourites in almost every genre of film. It’s just that films where I am preparing myself for a classic or a new favourite, almost always leave me disappointed. Mean Streets is now added to the other disappointments this year, alongside Raging Bull and The Big … Continue reading Mean Streets (1973) Review
If you are going to make a film about someone, particularly a sports film, don’t they have to have achieved something or have something unique/interesting about their life? Most sports films I have watched, particularly boxing films, have some sort of key element to the story that affects the main characters attempts at doing their sport. In Rocky it was that he was the ultimate underdog, in The Fighter it was the relationship with his brother and in Cinderella Man it was his age. I could understand the desire to create films of these people’s lives, even if the boxing was almost a distraction from … Continue reading Raging Bull (1980) Review
Distinct Chatter 