My Favorite Marty…
… otherwise known as My Favorite Marty-De Niro movies.
Few directors have created such a powerful career in movies as Martin Scorsese. Whether it’s dealing with mob culture, casino glamour, or big business, the New York director has always managed to deliver films that are visceral and innovative. So here’s a look at some of Martin Scorsese’s greatest cinematic creations.
First, the bonus~
Gangs of New York
Let’s be honest, Marty found his new muse.
Taxi Driver
Scorsese has frequently used his native New York as the backdrop to his intense narratives. And Taxi Driver showcased the city in the ugly fallout of the Vietnam War as Robert DeNiro played a vigilante taxi driver who’s hell-bent on carrying out his mission to “clean up the city.”
The film succeeds through the claustrophobic portrayal of New York, Bernard Hermann’s unnerving musical score, and a series of fantastic supporting roles from the likes of Jodie Foster and Harvey Keitel. But it’s Robert DeNiro who owns this 40-year old movie with his unhinged performance including some of the most gripping scenes in movie history.
Goodfellas
Scorsese’s series of gangster movies will perhaps seal his cinematic legacy, and Goodfellas is a film that’s harrowing, funny and endlessly entertaining. It features Robert DeNiro as an Italian-American mob leader in Brooklyn who takes the young Henry Hill – excellent played by Ray Liotta – under his wing.
Where this movie really shines is in the frequently improvised scenes that gave the likes of Joe Pesci the chance to create some seriously quotable movie lines.
Raging Bull
Essential Scorsese-De Niro once again.
If you want to show anyone why Martin Scorsese is still acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest film directors, Raging Bull holds well on multiple viewings to Scorsese’s approach on the camera and the black-and-white visual gives it an edgier punch to a very raw film about a talented yet self-destructive boxer masterfully played by De Niro.
Casino
Whilst any of us can easily get to grips with casino culture thanks to Red 8s Casino Reviews, leave it to the visionary director Martin Scorsese to create perhaps the most archetypal casino movie of all time.
Casino focuses on the mobster Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein who’s brilliantly portrayed by Robert DeNiro in his quest to take over a Las Vegas casino. Obviously things don’t quite go according to plan, and whether it’s the Robert Richardson’s brooding cinematography, or Sharon Stone’s Oscar nominated performance as Ginger McKenna, it certainly set the benchmark for casino movies in the modern era.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Just because Scorsese is now in his seventies doesn’t mean that he’s slowing down in the creating some powerful movies.
The Wolf of Wall Street perfectly illustrates this, as it gave Leonardo DiCaprio the chance to shine as a stockbroker who lets nothing get in the way of his overwhelming greed for money. And whilst the movie didn’t deliver DiCaprio with his first Oscar [and I enjoyed every bit of the internet memes it generated], it showed that it’s not just the online casinos that can provide some serious big payouts.
