Reply #8: They've said that about EVERY SCORSESE movie since Goodfellas [View All]

[fishwax]

I haven't seen The Aviator, but it doesn't seem too out of step for scorsese to me. He's done biopics well before, and his movies have often considered powerful/successful/romanticized men who were hiding or avoiding inner demons. And he loves Hollywood and film more than anything else and has dealt with those themes extensively in documentaries and in his personal work with film preservation, so a film concerning the glamor and glory of early hollywood doesn't seem out of step to me at all. I haven't seen Million Dollar Baby either, but I was hoping Scorsese would win.

You've singled out The Aviator and Age of Innocence, but every movie of his since Goodfellas has been criticized for being calculated to win the Oscar.

With Casino they mentioned (I remember Newsweek, specifically) that Scorsese brought back the cast and screenwriter of Goodfellas, figuring maybe it would be enough for the Oscar this time around.

With Kundun they said Scorsese was using the Dalai Lama for an Oscar nomination.

With Bringing Out the Dead they said "well, remaking Goodfellas didn't work, so maybe Scorsese thinks remaking Taxi Driver will," since BotD and TD had the same screenwriter.

With Kings of New York, a film Scorsese had been trying to make for 25 years, they said "Marty sure seems to want that Oscar."

I hope Scorsese wins it someday, but I don't think he's desperate for it or tries to win it with specific films. I think he just finds subjects and themes that appeal to him and then, nearly always, does a marvelous job of bringing his vision to the screen.