Tag Archive: Martin Scorsese


VISCONTI’S LEOPARD

THE LEOPARD (Il Gattopardo) directed by Luchino Visconti (1963)

The sumptuous sets and lavish costumes together with the leisurely pace of this movie means that it should be enjoyed in a cinema.

Watching it at home, nursing a cold and making sure the cat doesn’t jump behind the TV are not the ideal circumstances  to appreciate the subtleties of this drama.

The director’s cut was butchered by distributors, the savage editing and insensitive dubbing has meant that it has only been possible to see it in a form Visconti envisaged since 1990. This was when a fully restored Italian-language version, supervised by cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, appeared; a labour of love overseen by Martin Scorsese’s preservation group The Film Foundation. Continue reading

What makes a great soundtrack?

The marriage of action with visuals?

The creation of a unique atmosphere?

The use of familiar music in an unexpected way?

The introduction to a genre or artist you’ve never heard before?

Any of these would work for me – you will very rarely find all in one movie but any one can make the difference between a good movie and an out-and-out classic.
Here is a list (with a few clips) of sixteen of my favourites in A-Z order.

Note : not one of them is by the ubiquitous Hans Zimmer!

Continue reading

100,000 HITS

Within the world-wide Blogosphere 100,000 hits since I started this blog on 25th May 2007 is a pretty modest number but I’m quietly pleased to clock up this milestone just the same.

Although I don’t write with any target audience in mind  I do find myself dallying over the Blog Stats in a not so healthy manner and I cannot deny that I’m bothered when the graph plummets dramatically.

It’s interesting to see what posts get the most hits and to speculate on why surfers are drawn in. Here’s my current top ten with my thoughts on why they are the most popular:

1. IF YOU ARE MORTAR

I struck blog-gold with this, my 4th ever post. This accounts for a quarter of all visitors.  I’d like to think there were 25,000 Ivor Cutler fans out there in Cyberspace but I realise that most of the hits are from those searching for an image of a brick wall! (don’t ask me why). The wall image accompanied by the word ‘loneliness’ is presumably intriguing enough to click on. I hope most stuck around to read the short poem. I tried to repeat the success another post with a brick wall picture but this got only 19  hits!

2. SLEEPING WITH SCARLETT JOHANSSON

A deliberately suggestive title and a sexy image of Ms Johannsson are the obvious bait to this review of her Tom Waits covers album.

3.  NO DIRECTION DINOSAURS

Surprised that so many clicked on this review of Martin Scorsese’s tedious concert movie of the Rolling Stones. Maybe they were searching for other dinosaurs.

4. THE THOUGHT-FOX

Again I don’t think this attracts poetry lovers. Probably most are looking for Fox Tv rather than Ted Hughes in which case I hope I’ve raised their cultural level ever so slightly.

5. LOVE LYRICS AND MENTAL HEALTH

I like this quote from Frank Zappa – when I started blogging most of the first entries were straight quotes and an image. Again the title is probably intriguing.

6. SIZE MATTERS TO HALLE BERRY

Forgive me for I have sinned . I confess to having lascivious thoughts about Halle Berry’s perfectly toned body – I can  take some  comfort in the knowledge that there other sinners out there in web-land.

7.  AN AFTERTASTE OF THE FAST FOOD NATION

Not a great movie but hopefully interest lies in seeking out a fast-free diet and lifestyle. The message of the movie was enough to inspire my daughter to follow my example and become a vegetarian – she hasn’t wavered since.

8.  SHALL WE DANCE?

Another of my filler posts with a quote I like coupled with a memory of Ballet Rambert’s magnificent ‘Ghost Dances.

9.  MISS ITALIA VIEWED FROM BEHIND

More proof that sex sells and the prospect of admiring the backside of a beauty queen has proved an irresistable temptation for many.

10. NATURAL GROUPER THERAPY

I was asked to cease and desist by someone who helps run a grouper therapy website promoting mega-strength fishing tackle !  I politely asked how my post could be viewed as affecting their online trade but received no reply so the title stands. I have a fantasy that hordes of misdirected fishermen are getting turned on to the etherial beauty of Liz Harris’ music.

If you have read this far and/or have ever visited my humble blog in the past – thank you for being one in 100,000.


LOST REVOLUTIONARIES

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD directed by Sam Mendes (USA, 2008)

On ‘Lose Yourself’ Eminem rapped that we have just one shot – one opportunity. Fundamentally , this is also the premise upon which Richard Yate’s book and Sam Mendes’ movie is based.

It strikes me as simplistic –and a little depressing –  to argue that we have just a single make or break chance to find a fulfilling direction in our lives. We have to seize chances when they arise but I prefer to think  that these are not necessary one-off, make or break occasions.

In ‘Revolutionary Road ,  April Wheeler (played by Kate Winslet), decides that a move to Paris ,Europe is her one shot escape route. She dreams of starting afresh – replacing desperate housewifery for a life less ordinary.

She temporarily manages to persuade her sceptical hubby (Leonardo Di Caprio) but a tempting promotion offer and an unplanned pregnancy destroys the pipedream and, ultimately, their marriage.

Winslet was apparently blown away by Yates’ novel when she read it while she was expecting her first child to director Sam Mendes.

Mendes says that even if he wasn’t  married to her, she would have been first choice and it’s hard to argue against this. Winslet captures her character’s mood swings brilliantly .

This is more than can be said for Di Caprio. He has never convinced me that he is an actor with the physical stature or gravitas to portray such complex adult roles.

As Martin Scorsese’s blue-eyed boy some have likened Di Caprio  to De Niro but to me he’s more like the new Tom Hanks.  He plays parts efficiently but there’s never any sense that he is taking risks.

It’s still a good movie for all that,  largely because the claustrophobic world of  1950s suburbia is so perfectly evoked.  Sam Mendes is a major league director because he knows when to let images speak for themselves rather than diluting them with explanatory dialogue. The scenes of massed commuters and compartmentalised offices have a resonance akin to King Vidor’s silent classic ‘The Crowd’ while shots of April Wheeler doing household chores are enough to convey the barrenness of her life.

NO DIRECTION DINOSAURS

I don’t really see the point of the Rolling Stones’  ‘Shine A Light’.  Employing the prestigious talents of Martin Scorsese you would expect something more than just a slickly produced concert movie . But that is essentially all you get. There a few snippets of old interviews but these seem like an afterthought rather than integral to the movie and provide little insight into what has kept the band going all thse decades. Continue reading