*Go ahead....pull my finger!*


I'm taking a look at whether or not most of Scorsese's movies live up to his reputation as a great director as well as being films that I'd want to watch again. We'll take a brief look at my experiences with his oeuvre. (Oeuvre used correctly in a sentence? 100 points!)

Taxi Driver (1976): A haunting performance by Robert DeNiro playing a mental case who feels like an outsider to the world he hates and his grasp on reality is tenuous at best. It's a good movie with ambiguous ending perfect for film students to endlessly debate until you want to punch them in the mouth, but the mind of Travis Bickle is definitely not something you want to revisit. You might find yourself start to agree with him.

Raging Bull (1980): Robert DeNiro again playing a paranoid mental case, this time a championship boxer, that cannot adjust to the world and slowly destroys his family and friends until he's alone. DeNiro is a repulsive character whose only redeeming quality is his drive to win. Definitely not something I want to experience again; an ugly movie full of ugly people. Pass.

King of Comedy (1982): Robert DeNiro (Jeez, doesn't he know anybody else?) plays an obsessive mental case, this time an aspiring stand-up comedian, who will do anything to succeed and not be the loser he currently is in a life he hates. Incidentally, it also has an ambiguous ending that may be a paranoid fantasy of the main character, just like Taxi Driver. Wow...anyone seeing a pattern here? The movie was...okay. I think I'd rather rewatch Taxi Driver, and I really, really don't want to see that again.

After Hours (1985): Griffin Dunne, who is best known for not being Robert DeNiro (Well, he really didn't do much, unless you count An American Werewolf in London), a relatively normal office worker, experiences a bunch of random, Kafkaesque encounters over the course of one night. Our protagonist isn't the insane one this time; it's the world he inhabits that's completely crazy. This one is actually quite fun; rather light fare compared to the previous movies. I would watch it again. I mean, Cheech and Chong are in it. Sold!

Color of Money (1986): This one's interesting; it's a needless sequel to a great film, The Hustler, picking up years after the first one. The main character from the first, Paul Newman as fast Eddie Felson, a great pool player, acts as a mentor to a ridiculous, overacting caricature played by Tom Cruise. People love this movie and I'm not sure why, other than the fact that Paul Newman is awesome and could make a commercial about life insurance entertaining. It's your standard old man getting his mojo back through working with a youthful mirror of himself story; somehow, there isn't any real insanity, other than Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise. It's rewatchable, but in my opinion, unnecessary in the first place. I think the writer needed the money.

Bad (1987): Okay, this isn't a movie, but it's easily the funniest thing Scorsese ever made, featuring Michael Jackson as a bad ass gangster. I could watch this on loop forever; some of the finest unintentional comedy ever made. I'm not sure if Scorsese was being straight here, or has a better sense of humor than I usually give him credit for.

Last Temptation of Christ (1988): Story of Jesus' last moments on the cross, showing him to be a paranoid mental case who believes the world is out to get him, and I suppose if anyone deserves to feel that, it's him. Now we're back in crazytown; the only thing missing is DeNiro. Despite the fact this is supposed to be taking place in Judea 2,000 years ago, have the characters have a New York accent. You couldn't pay me to see this again.

Goodfellas (1990): Here is Scorsese's masterpiece on life in the mafia through the eyes of a low level gangster. This is right up there with the Godfather as greatest mafia film, and depending on the day you ask me, the best. Do we have paranoid mental cases? Check. Do we have self destructive characters that can't exist in the real world? Check. Do we have DeNiro smirking his way through the film? Double check. The only thing we're missing is a dream sequence/fantasy ending, although I suppose you could make a case for it if you're desperate. Rewatchable? Hell, I'm watching it right now.

Cape Fear (1991): A remake of a fun little thriller made more, uh, Scorsese-like and 100 percent more Robert DeNiro. I think he directed this while he was counting the money that they paid him to do this commercial thriller. It's certainly one of the laziest films he's made, with unnecessary plot holes. Although, I'll give DeNiro props; even playing a paranoid mental case murderer for the umpteenth time in a Scorsese film doesn't cause him to mail in his performance. Yet, at least. I wouldn't want to watch this again. I'd rather watch the original with Gregory Peck and my favorite pothead, Robert Mitchum, or better yet, the Simpson's spoof with Sideshow Bob.

Age of Innocence (1993): Haha...just kidding. I haven't gotten around to seeing this period piece, and well, it's not even on my Netflix queue. It does have Daniel Day Lewis in it, so I'll put it on the maybe list.

Casino (1995): I liked it better when it was in New York and called Goodfellas. Ummm...on the plus side, it has DeNiro in it. Yeah...it's on my no rewatch list.

Kundun (1997): I think he must have lost a bet or something...most likely after someone got him rip roaring drunk. A movie about the Dalai Lama? Really? I haven't seen it, no intention of seeing it, hope to forget it was ever made right after this. Unless Robert DeNiro plays old Dalai Lama...Nope, no such luck.

Bringing out the Dead (1999): Unfortunately, it's not related to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Instead, it's about Nicholas Cage and Nick Cage's giant forehead, who plays an ambulance driver with insomnia slowly turning into a mental case who can't adjust to the world and all it's evil and violence. This movie sucks donkey balls, but I'll admit I'm a little biased. I turned off the Monday Night Football game of Dolphins-Jets since the Dolphins were up big going into the second half. Little did I know it was about to become a legendary overtime comeback from Mr. Greenballs, himself. Screw you, Cage! Pop a goddamn Ambien and take a nap! You work at a fucking hospital! How hard is this? Seriously?

Gangs of New York (2002): This is the beginning of the Leo connection with Scorsese, where he takes the place of DeNiro in pretty much all his films. It's not a very good start. This is a revenge tale set mostly during the Civil War in New York (big shocker there, I know) about a young man out to avenge his father's murder at the hands of a criminal boss called Bill the Butcher, played by Daniel Day Lewis. The story is pretty much by the numbers and is only saved from being a total turkey with Lewis' hilariously over the top performance and nifty mustache. Seriously, his mustache is awesome. It's performance might be even more impressive than the man it's attached to. No crazies or hallucinations in this one; just one seriously tweeked out criminal and Leo playing an angsty tough with daddy issues. I wanted to walk out of this in the theater; no way in hell I'm sitting through the whole thing again. I can be talked into watching scenes starring Lewis' mustache, though.

The Aviator (2004): Starring Leo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, the delusional mental case/richest man in the world, it's a pretty straight forward biopic. The insanity of Hughes is mostly seen from without as opposed to letting the audience experience the madness as is Scorsese's usual style. It's not a bad movie, but aside from the great costumes and Cate Blanchett's perfect impersonation of Katherine Hepburn, it's largely forgettable. Leo once again looks like a high school kid dressing up like his dad for much of the movie, but his performance is decent. I wouldn't actively watch it again, but if it was on cable, I might leave it on in the background.

The Departed (2006): I absolutely loathe this movie and cannot understand how anyone even liked it, let alone how it won the Academy Award for best picture. Based on a Hong Kong crime flick, Infernal Affairs, it stars Leo as an undercover cop infiltrating the worst disguised criminal organization ever put on film. Jack Nicholson mugs his way through the movie in a way that makes me think the drug dealers in New York had a very good year during the filming of this movie. With plot holes you could fly a 747 through, logical inconsistencies that are laughable at first but quickly become angering, this film is just plain bad. Much like the Matrix and the Star wars sequels, I like to pretend this movie never happened. Let's move on.

I've probably left out a couple of things, but this is most of what he's known for. Let's tally them up and see what we find. Well, 11 out of 16 of his movies I wouldn't want to watch again with 2 being a maybe. That means he's only made 3 movies that I would happily sit through today. That's a pretty poor showing on the re watchable scale. However, 9 of these 16 movies I would rate as good-great. For me, it seems that most of his movies fit into the category of try once for the experience, but never go back, like traveling to India.

This brings us back to Shutter Island. I can't imagine it being great like Goodfellas, but I doubt it'll be as terrible as the Departed. I'm betting it'll fit somewhere between The Aviator and King of Comedy.

Verdict? Wait for the dvd.