Who are your 3 favorite Martin Scorsese film characters ?

Heath · External Since: Mar 16, 2007 Posts: 1

Who are currently your 3 (or more) favorite Martin Scorsese film
characters and say why for each one.

Here's my picks.
Jake LaMotta (Raging Bull). DeNiro gave his best and most impassioned
multifaceted performance of a man's inner demons and although Scorsese
hated boxing films and boxing in general, any more authentic boxing
film hasn't ever been made. Since Marty deconstructed LaMotta down
to his animal essence and DeNiro commited himself to the character at
his own health risk. Jake is both Marty and DeNiro's best character
bar none and more multifacited than any other Scorsese character.

Charlie and Johnny Boy (Mean Streets). I love Charlie's Catholic
guilt and doing everything he can to save Johnny Boy from his own
actions. The emphasis on keeping your honour and family loyalties
and the relationship Charlie tries to maintain with his girlfriend
that his family just will not accept. I love Harvey Keitel and
DeNiro in the film in the first of Marty's films that should've won an
Oscar. The film is a superb portrayal of two doomed souls ; I almost
always tear up at the end of the film.

Rupert Pupkin (The King of Comedy). De Niro gave the ultimate
portrayal of a twisted celebrity stalker guy that you just can't help
feeling some sympathy for, And Tommy from Goodfellas of course, Next
to Raging Bull it's my favorite performance of Pesci's.

Jack Lefton · External Since: Jul 23, 2003 Posts: 226

..com...
> Who are currently your 3 (or more) favorite Martin Scorsese film
> characters and say why for each one.
>
>

Lionel Dobie (Life Lessons): Nick Nolte is the quintessential Scorses
manipulative male, a man with no sincerity when dealing with women, though
he really doesn't realize it himself. He uses his talent to bully, and he is
ultimately alone.

Jimmy Doyle (New York, New York): This film is basically scene after scene
of Robert De Niro, Scorsese's second most manipulative male, using his
overbearing personality to get Liza Minnelli to do what he wants. It doesn't
make for much of a movie, but it makes for great scene after scene.

The women of "After Hours", who won't let poor Griffin Dunne get home.
Morose Rosanna Arquette, ditsy Teri Garr, motor mouth Catherine O'Hara, and
motherly Verna Bloom.

Alric Knebel · External Since: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 2069

Heath wrote:

> Who are currently your 3 (or more) favorite Martin Scorsese film
> characters and say why for each one.
>
>
> Here's my picks.
> Jake LaMotta (Raging Bull). DeNiro gave his best and most impassioned
> multifaceted performance of a man's inner demons and although Scorsese
> hated boxing films and boxing in general, any more authentic boxing
> film hasn't ever been made. Since Marty deconstructed LaMotta down
> to his animal essence and DeNiro commited himself to the character at
> his own health risk. Jake is both Marty and DeNiro's best character
> bar none and more multifacited than any other Scorsese character.
>
> Charlie and Johnny Boy (Mean Streets). I love Charlie's Catholic
> guilt and doing everything he can to save Johnny Boy from his own
> actions. The emphasis on keeping your honour and family loyalties
> and the relationship Charlie tries to maintain with his girlfriend
> that his family just will not accept. I love Harvey Keitel and
> DeNiro in the film in the first of Marty's films that should've won an
> Oscar. The film is a superb portrayal of two doomed souls ; I almost
> always tear up at the end of the film.
>
> Rupert Pupkin (The King of Comedy). De Niro gave the ultimate
> portrayal of a twisted celebrity stalker guy that you just can't help
> feeling some sympathy for, And Tommy from Goodfellas of course, Next
> to Raging Bull it's my favorite performance of Pesci's.

Jesus (THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST). When you look at the inspiration
for this film, you know that this was a very personal film for Scorsese.
The way I've heard it so far, Barbara Hershey suggested he read the
novel, once she got to know him and realized how serious he was about
spiritual issues. He did start out (mature) life in the seminary. He
was studying to be a Jesuit. The themes are very personal to him, and
you can see this theme as early as MEAN STREETS. It's one of my
favorite films of the 80s. The soundtrack is awesome as well.

--

______________________________________________
Alric Knebel
http://www.ironeyefortress.com/C-SPAN_loon.html
http://www.ironeyefortress.com

Al Smith · External Since: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 1045

> Who are currently your 3 (or more) favorite Martin Scorsese film
> characters and say why for each one.
>
>
> Here's my picks.
> Jake LaMotta (Raging Bull). DeNiro gave his best and most impassioned
> multifaceted performance of a man's inner demons and although Scorsese
> hated boxing films and boxing in general, any more authentic boxing
> film hasn't ever been made. Since Marty deconstructed LaMotta down
> to his animal essence and DeNiro commited himself to the character at
> his own health risk. Jake is both Marty and DeNiro's best character
> bar none and more multifacited than any other Scorsese character.
>
> Charlie and Johnny Boy (Mean Streets). I love Charlie's Catholic
> guilt and doing everything he can to save Johnny Boy from his own
> actions. The emphasis on keeping your honour and family loyalties
> and the relationship Charlie tries to maintain with his girlfriend
> that his family just will not accept. I love Harvey Keitel and
> DeNiro in the film in the first of Marty's films that should've won an
> Oscar. The film is a superb portrayal of two doomed souls ; I almost
> always tear up at the end of the film.
>
> Rupert Pupkin (The King of Comedy). De Niro gave the ultimate
> portrayal of a twisted celebrity stalker guy that you just can't help
> feeling some sympathy for, And Tommy from Goodfellas of course, Next
> to Raging Bull it's my favorite performance of Pesci's.

Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) in "Casino," my favorate Scorsese film
after "Taxi Driver." The guy was such a total psycho. I love the
scene where he's trying to embarrass De Niro's character (Sam
Rothstein) and comes barging into his casino, throwing his weight
around. It's such an "I'm the Alpha dog" moment. Pesci shows De
Nero that he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and De
Nero can't do a thing about it.

Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) in "Goodfellas." An amazing picture of a
second-rate, out-of-control chiseler who is in over his head, and
digging the hole deeper by the minute. Mesmerizing performance.

Bill "The Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis), in "Gangs of New
York." Loved the hat. Also loved the demonic malice and drive.
Mind you, it doesn't take much balls to overpower that wimp, DeCaprio.

Hey, I just thought of something while going over Scorsese's films
.... there are not strong women's roles. How come Scorsese can't
include a really strong female character in any of his films?

Al Smith · External Since: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 1045

> The women of "After Hours", who won't let poor Griffin Dunne get home.
> Morose Rosanna Arquette, ditsy Teri Garr, motor mouth Catherine O'Hara, and
> motherly Verna Bloom.

That's a funny film. I must try to get a copy so that I can
rewatch it.

tomcervo · External Since: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 1146

On Mar 16, 10:58?pm, Al Smith <inva... DeleteThis @address.com> wrote:
> Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) in "Goodfellas." An amazing picture of a
> second-rate, out-of-control chiseler who is in over his head, and
> digging the hole deeper by the minute. Mesmerizing performance.

What about Lois and her lucky hat?
"Goodfellas" is another reason to despise Brian De Palma. The original
title was "Wiseguys", but de Palma snatched it for a mob comedy that
even Pauline Kael couldn't have lived.

tomcervo · External Since: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 1146

On Mar 16, 10:58?pm, Al Smith <inva....DeleteThis@address.com> wrote:
> Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) in "Goodfellas." An amazing picture of a
> second-rate, out-of-control chiseler who is in over his head, and
> digging the hole deeper by the minute. Mesmerizing performance.

What about Lois and her lucky hat?
"Goodfellas" is another reason to despise Brian De Palma. The
original
title was "Wiseguys", but de Palma snatched it for a mob comedy that
even Pauline Kael couldn't have loved.

Harkness · External Since: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 1298

The porno cashier in Taxi Driver
Judas in The Last Temptation
Noah Dietrich in The Aviator

John Harkness

tomcervo · External Since: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 1146

On Mar 17, 10:53?am, "Harkness" <caliba... RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote:
> The porno cashier in Taxi Driver
"Gimme a break." Also the blues singer in NY2. Weht Diahnne Abbott?

> Judas in The Last Temptation
Talk about typecasting--you saw THAT a mile off.

Al Smith · External Since: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 1045

> On Mar 16, 10:58?pm, Al Smith <inva....DeleteThis@address.com> wrote:
>> > Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) in "Goodfellas." An amazing picture of a
>> > second-rate, out-of-control chiseler who is in over his head, and
>> > digging the hole deeper by the minute. Mesmerizing performance.
>
>
> What about Lois and her lucky hat?
> "Goodfellas" is another reason to despise Brian De Palma. The original
> title was "Wiseguys", but de Palma snatched it for a mob comedy that
> even Pauline Kael couldn't have lived.
>

I didn't know that. But even if so, De Palma made "Scarface" and
that redeems him. "Say hello to my little friend!" Classic. It
will live as long as cinema. Tony Montana is as great a character
as anyone in a Scorsese film.

Harkness · External Since: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 1298

On Mar 17, 4:35 pm, "tomcervo" <tomce... RemoveThis @aol.com> wrote:
> On Mar 17, 10:53?am, "Harkness" <caliba... RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote:> The porno cashier in Taxi Driver
>
> "Gimme a break." Also the blues singer in NY2. Weht Diahnne Abbott?
>

Sporadic acting gigs. One assumes some sort of alimony from DeNiro.

But then, a couple of years ago I ran into Jennifer Rubin maitre-d'ing
in a fashionable downtown NY restaurant.

John Harkness

Harkness · External Since: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 1298

On Mar 17, 9:12 am, "tomcervo" <tomce....DeleteThis@aol.com> wrote:
> On Mar 16, 10:58?pm, Al Smith <inva....DeleteThis@address.com> wrote:
>
> > Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) in "Goodfellas." An amazing picture of a
> > second-rate, out-of-control chiseler who is in over his head, and
> > digging the hole deeper by the minute. Mesmerizing performance.
>
> What about Lois and her lucky hat?
> "Goodfellas" is another reason to despise Brian De Palma. The
> original
> title was "Wiseguys", but de Palma snatched it for a mob comedy that
> even Pauline Kael couldn't have loved.

Well, yeah, except that Pileggi's book was published in early 86. and
the DePalma film came out in April 86, which means it was already in
post by the time Pileggi's book would have been making the rounds in
proofs. Bad as it is -- though I thought Keitel killed as the casino
boss -- They did have the title first.

John Harkness