NY Observer > Martin Scorsese

Gay Talese, Martin Scorsese Swoon for Italian Mob Movie

Lauren Le Vine — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:56:01 -0400

Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah, a documentary-like depiction of the brutal Camorra organized crime regime that rules the southern Campania region of Italy, screened to a small audience—including Martin Scorsese, Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci, Nick Pileggi, John Turturro, and Gay Talese—Friday evening, followed by a dinner discussion at Osteria del Circo. (Mr. Buscemi told the Daily Transom he found the film "beautiful," adding, “I’m still digesting it.”)

The film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, will be released in the United States in February. Mr. Talese had been asked to lead the discussion; his 1971 book Honor Thy Father is about the New York-based Bonnano crime family. “It’s a very depressing film, but it will show in New York at a time when everyone’s depressed about business, and it’s a business in the film of money," Mr. Talese told the Daily Transom. "You know how many times you saw someone counting money? The money in this film didn’t lead to anything. It was visibly detracting.” read more »

Reunited! Scorsese and De Niro's New Project

Christopher Rosen — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:20:47 -0400

Because you can never have too many Martin Scorsese films that star Robert De Niro, we're happy to learn that the dynamic duo are teaming up for a ninth time (ninth!) to adapt the mob book I Heard You Paint Houses. Written by Charles Brandt, Houses tells the story of Frank "the Irishman" Sheenan, who in interviews claimed he killed and disposed of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa. Mr. read more »

Sopranos Scribe to Write Scorsese's HBO Show

Gillian Reagan — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:34:20 -0400

The Sopranos alum Terence Winter, a Sopranos writer, is coming down to the dark, seedy Atlantic City boardwalk for Martin Scorsese. He'll be writing the director's new HBO project Boardwalk Empire, which will be produced by Entourage bros Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson. The drama is based on Nelson Johnson's book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City, which revolves around the now-gambling mecca's early 20th century origins, according to Variety. Ohh, this reminds us of Deadwood! Sweet. read more »

Scorsese to Take On Sinatra?

Gillian Reagan — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:09:18 -0400

Marty Scorsese ">recently ducked out of a Bob Marley project and passed it along to another rock doc director, Jonathan Demme. They cited "scheduling conflicts" for the switcharoo, but what will Mr. Scorsese be working on instead? According to Frank Sinatra's youngest daughter, it might be a biopic about Ol' Blue Eyes. read more »

Sara Vilkomerson’s Guide to This Week’s Movies: Stones Shine a Light, Clooney Hits the Mud

Sara Vilkomerson — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:00:19 -0400

Every time we think the weekend box office can’t surprise us, something comes along to make us say … really? Last weekend, the surprise prize went to 21, the blackjack movie we know, logically, we can’t truly judge without seeing, but yet we still feel like we kind of can. Doesn’t the preview tell us all we need to know? read more »

It’s Only a Rock ’n’ Roll Documentary (But I Like It!)

Andrew Sarris — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:32:51 -0400

SHINE A LIGHT
Running time 120 minutes
Directed by Martin Scorsese read more »

Mortimer, Haley Join Scorsese's Shutter Island

Gillian Reagan — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:16:27 -0500

Martin Scorsese has admitted two new mental patients to Shutter Island, his adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel. Emily Mortimer, who will perform in the Neil Pepe-directed play Parlour Song starting March 5 at the Linda Gross Theater, and Jackie Earle Haley, who got an Oscar nomination last year for his role as a creepy perv in Little Children, will play mental patients in the mystery drama, the Hollywood Reporter tells us. They join Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo in the cast. They play two U.S. marshals who travel to a Massachusetts island to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane. Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams and Patricia Clarkson also star in the film, which was adapted by Laeta Kalogridis from Mr. Lehane's 2004 novel. He also wrote Mystic River.

Documentary Auteur Albert Maysles Assembles His Scrapbook

David Foxley — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:32:38 -0500

On the evening of Friday, Feb. 15, an exhibition of documentarian Albert Maysles’ photographs and cinemagraphs opened at the Steven Kasher Gallery in Chelsea. The event coincided with the release of a new book, A Maysles Scrapbook, which features a preface by Martin Scorsese, who praises the iconic, collaborative efforts of Mr. Maysles and his late brother and soundman, David Maysles. read more »

Martin Scorsese's $12.5 M. Townhouse Deal is Done

Max Abelson — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:41:53 -0500

Martin Scorsese has had a good year: He won his first Academy Award, for The Departed (even though his breakthrough Mean Streets was five times better), and of course he sold his townhouse at 217 East 62nd Street for $6.1 million. Now, city records show, he and his wife Helen have closed on a nearby 10-room beauty for $12.5 million.
The East 64th Street house, near Park Avenue, has a sand-colored stucco facade, plus "opulent hand blown glass window panels," according to old listings. read more »

Mann Replaces Scorsese for Frankie Machine

Gillian Reagan — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 08:51:41 -0400

CHUD via Variety:

Four months ago, it looked as though Don Winslow's aging hitman saga, The Winter of Frankie Machine, was going to be the (potentially) perfect coda to the Martin Scorsese/Robert De Niro mobster trio of Mean Streets, Goodfellas and Casino. Alas, it didn't work out.

But, in a semi-inversion of what went down with The Aviator, Michael Mann has now stepped in to replace Martin Scorsese (who was actually never signed in the first place). This is, I think, a more-than-acceptable trade-off.

Before you get too excited, I should note that Mann has only signed to develop Frankie Machine (as it's now being called). And while Brian Kopperman and David Levien seemed an ideal duo to adapt Winslow's tome, their draft is now getting what Variety's Michael Fleming terms a "major overhaul" by Alex Tse (who re-tooled David Hayter's script for Watchmen before getting re-re-tooled himself by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman).