[PHOTOS] Jerry Lewis in Martin Scorsese’s ‘The King of Comedy’, 1982
Posted: January 31, 2017 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: Cinema, Cinematography, Film, Jerry Lewis, King of Comedy, Martin Scorsese, Movies, Photography Leave a comment
[VIDEO] Focal Lengths and Lenses used by Great Directors
Posted: January 9, 2017 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment | Tags: Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Cinematography, David Lean, Directors, Filmmaking, Lenses, Martin Scorsese, Movies, Orson Welles, Photography, Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, Stephen Spielberg, video Leave a comment
Hollywood Walk of Fame Honors Late Samurai Star Toshiro Mifune
Posted: November 15, 2016 Filed under: Art & Culture, Asia, Entertainment, Japan, Mediasphere | Tags: Akira Kurosawa, Antoine Fuqua, Chris Pratt, Denzel Washington, Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard, Martin Scorsese, Nioh, Praemium Imperiale, The Magnificent Seven Leave a commentHollywood celebrated the life of legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune on Monday, honoring him with a star on its iconic Walk of Fame two decades after his death.
Mifune rose to stardom through Akira Kurosawa’s classics, including “Rashomon” (1950) and “Seven Samurai” (1954), with masculine portrayals of powerful warlords that earned him a reputation as the world’s best samurai actor.
He died in Tokyo at that age of 77 in 1997. He had been mostly confined to his home since suffering a heart attack five years earlier.
His death shocked Japan’s cinema industry, which took pride in him as its most presentable actor in international cinema, fondly calling him “Mifune of the world.”
Kurosawa cast Mifune in leading roles in all but one of 17 films he made between 1948 and 1965. “Rashomon,” in which Mifune played a cynical bandit, won the Grand Prix award at the 1951 Venice Film Festival.
Mifune played a peasant-turned samurai leading farmers’ resistance against bandits in “Seven Samurai,” which inspired two Western remakes, both titled “The Magnificent Seven” (1960 and 2016). Read the rest of this entry »
‘Goodfellas’ Directed by Martin Scorsese
Posted: September 5, 2016 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: Cinematography, Films, Goodfellas, Joe Pesci, Martin Scorsese, Movies, Photography, Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro Leave a comment[PHOTO] Gangster Wife Conceal Carry
Posted: December 11, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Guns and Gadgets, Mediasphere, Self Defense | Tags: 1990s, American Film Institute, Conceal Carry, Gangsters, Goodfellas, Guns, Henry Hill, Joe Pesci, Karen Hill, Lorraine Bracco, Mafia, Martin Scorcese, Martin Scorsese, Michael Imperioli, Movies, Nicholas Pileggi, Panties, Pistol, Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family (G K Hall Large Print Book Series) Leave a comment“I know there are women, like my best friends, who would have gotten out of there the minute their boyfriend gave them a gun to hide. But I didn’t. I got to admit the truth. It turned me on.”
Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill in Martin Scorsese‘s Goodfellas, 1990
[VIDEO] 25-Minute Documentary on The Making Of ‘The Age Of Innocence’
Posted: May 30, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: Academy Award, Andre Agassi, Carnie Wilson, Daniel Day Lewis, Eve Plumb, Leonardo DiCaprio, Los Angeles, Mad Max Fury Road, Martin Scorsese, Mel Gibson Leave a comment
Kevin Jagernauth writes:
…Running 25 minutes long, it’s a nice look into the making of the Edith Wharton adaptation. Scorsese and his lead actor Daniel Day-Lewis frame the featurette with conversation regarding its production, including anecdotes from cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi (who details Scorsese’s process, though Jay Cocks penned the script), production designer Dante Feretti, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, and stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder. Set aside some time, and give it a spin….(read more)
Behind The Lace Of Martin Scorsese’s 1993 Masterpiece ‘The Age Of Innocence’
Posted: May 30, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment | Tags: Academy Award, Adam Driver, Age of Innocence, Andrew Garfield, Blu-ray Disc, Daniel Day Lewis, Edith Wharton, Francis Ford Coppola, Goodfellas, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Thelma Schoonmaker Leave a commentStill no Blu-ray release of ‘The Age of Innocence‘
Cain Rodriguez writes: This year marks the 25th anniversary of Martin Scorsese’s transcendent gangster classic “Goodfellas,” and while the director’s grand stature in cinematic history is in no doubt, that doesn’t mean there are no under-appreciated gems hiding in his filmography.
[WATCH: Milad Tangshir‘s documentary ‘Hidden Behind Lace‘ here, at Vimeo]
Point of fact, this year also marks the 22nd anniversary of the little discussed adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel, “The Age of Innocence.” To convince you of the sensual beauty and magnificence of the period piece, Milad Tangshir has crafted a nearly 20-minute-long video essay on the virtues of the 1993 film.
“I don’t particularly say ‘Oh this is a wonderful story for today’s audience.’ I have no idea what a good story for today’s audience is. I really don’t know. I just hope that if it’s honest enough and emotionally compelling, there might be some people out there that it will address.”
— Martin Scorsese
Titled “Hidden Behind Lace,” Tangshir’s video essay not only breaks down Scorsese’s visual style and offers analysis, but also includes clips from interviews given by editor Thelma Schoonmaker, cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, co-screenwriter Jay Cocks, production designer Dante Ferretti, and Scorsese himself.
[Check out Edith Wharton’s classic book “The Age of Innocence” at Amazon.com]
It’s a loving tribute to a film that’s been unfairly overlooked since it was released in between the much more commercial “Cape Fear” remake and “Casino.” Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Apple’s New Oscars iPad Ad
Posted: February 22, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: Academy Award, Alex Gibney, App Store (iOS), Apple Inc, Apple iPad Air, Hollywood, iPad, Martin Scorsese Leave a commentFive years after Apple’s first iPad ad debuted during the Academy Awards in 2010, its new iPad Air promo will again screen during the Oscars on Sunday and tout its filmmaking abilities…100 more words
Vintage Movie Poster: ‘Mean Streets’, 1973
Posted: December 5, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Japan | Tags: Cinema, design, graphics, Illustration, Martin Scorsese, Mean Streets, Movie Poster, Poster Art, typography Leave a comment1980 Japanese poster for MEAN STREETS (Martin Scorsese, USA, 1973)
Designer: TBD Poster source: Posteritati [Buy it now]
Vintage Movie Poster: ‘Taxi Driver’ 1976
Posted: August 27, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment | Tags: Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Jodie Foster, Martin Scorsese, New York City, Paul Schrader, Robert DeNiro, Ronald Reagan 1 CommentFrom IMDB:
A mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.
Director: Martin Scorsese Writer: Paul Schrader Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd |See full cast and crew »
Trivia:
Producer Julia Phillips tells in her auto-biography that Cybill Shepherd had a hard time remembering her lines during the coffee-and-pie scene with Robert De Niro. She writes that De Niro in particular was getting fed up with her and that Phillips and editor Marcia Lucas laughed over all the unusable footage they had to work with in the editing room. Read the rest of this entry »
Movie Quote of the Night: ‘The Departed’ 2006
Posted: June 19, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment | Tags: Alan Mak, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Scorsese, Matt Damon, The Departed, Vera Farmiga, William Monahan 1 CommentMovie Poster of the Day: Taxi Driver 1976
Posted: June 15, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment | Tags: Cinema, Cybil Shepherd, design, Film, Harvey Keitel, Jodie Foster, Leonard Harris, Martin Scorsese, Movies, New York City, Peter Boyle, Taxi Driver, typography, vintage 1 CommentRead about Taxi Driver at Internet Movie Database
Order the DVD – Taxi Driver [Blu-ray] from Amazon.com
Producer Arnon Milchan Reveals Secret Idenity as Israeli Spy
Posted: November 26, 2013 Filed under: Diplomacy, Entertainment, Global, War Room | Tags: Arnon Milchan, Hollywood, Israel, LA Confidential, Lekem, Martin Scorsese, Regency Enterprises, Roman Polanski 1 CommentArnon Milchan’s double life as a Hollywood producer and Israeli spy reads like a script for a film he produced.
After years of speculation about his past, Milchan admitted he had worked as an Israeli spy and arms dealer, even after coming to Hollywood, in a report on Israel’s investigative TV show “Uvda.” The Israeli businessman-turned-Hollywood producer behind “Fight Club,” “Pretty Woman” and “L.A. Confidential” admitted to buying arms that were going to be used by Israel to build nuclear bombs.
“I should have been aware of that, of what I’ll go through, and said, ‘F**k you. You know what? I did it for my country, and I’m proud of it,’” Milchan said about the industry’s disapproval about his sordid past.
Milchan’s company New Regency has produced more than 120 films since the 1970s. He has worked closely with Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski and Oliver Stone, as well as Robert De Niro, Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, who appeared in the special that aired Monday.
Historic New York’s Catalogue of Crime and Decline: ‘Back to the Future’ Film Festival
Posted: November 7, 2013 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, History, Mediasphere | Tags: Al Pacino, David Dinkins, French Connection, Gene Hackman, Jack Lemmon, John Lindsay, Manhattan, Martin Scorsese, Midnight Cowboy, New York, New York City, NYC, Robert De Niro, Sidney Lumet, Travis Bickle 1 CommentFor CITY JOURNAL, Michael Anton writes: The times in New York are about to get, as they say, “interesting.” Having elected a liberal dopier than David Dinkins and John Lindsay combined, New Yorkers are in for a wild ride. It’s been pointed out that fully one-third of the city’s population is under age 24 and another third between 25 and 44. That means that at least a third has no memory of the Dinkins or Lindsay eras at all—and well over half have no memory of the financial crisis, the welfare spike, the crime wave, the crack epidemic, the Crown Heights riots, the “vibrant” old Times Square, and the whole panoply of scum and villainy that for the better part of two decades made New York so gosh-darn “colorful.” And that’s only if you assume that everyone who lives here was born here. But New York’s fantastic run over the last 20 years has attracted a lot of out-of-towners, so the actual number of ignorant rubes in for the shock of their lives is higher. Well, all these transplants are about to discover, the hard way, that they aren’t in Kansas anymore.
For anyone wishing to get acclimated ahead of time, New York’s colorful past has been amply recorded on film. What follows is a short tour through some of the most memorable, classic films of Old New York—not Edith Wharton’s but Travis Bickle’s.
Three caveats: first, please don’t consider this list exhaustive. It’s meant merely to be representative. Second, I’m including only films that were actually shot on location in New York. Hollywood back lots just can’t provide the same flavor. Third, I’m not including period pieces. Only films actually set and shot during New York’s Rust Age will be considered.
So, in chronological order, here we go…