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Jeff wrote:It looks like Silence has been postponed again. Nikki Finke reports that Scorsese is set to direct DeNiro in The Winter of Frankie Machine just as soon as he wraps things up on Shine a Light.

Let's hope he goes through on this.

I was just re-reading Matt's post. Perhaps Silence isn't postponed after all. Since he wasn't planning on commencing shooting it until Summer 2008, he should have plenty of time to squeeze in Frankie Machine between now and then.

He's been planning to do Silence since the late 1980s.

I read when Silence was announced that with all of Scorsese's recent movies being fairly hight budget he was going to get out of the grips of the studio system and make low budget movies like Silence, although he has a four year deal with Paramount.

His slate doesn't really corroborate the statement (I think Paramount must have changed his mind), surely The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt will be a big to do for the studios hoping for Oscar glory to up their box office, and I imagine that The Winter of Frankie Machine certainly won't be small budget. So will Silence see this light of day in 2008?

It seems that Scorsese just seems to have been a bit screwed of late. I think working on Gangs for Harvey Weinstein wasn't a very good experience for him, I heard that he wanted it in two parts a la Kill Bill and Scorsese said "You can do it for Quentin why not for me?" and Weinstein just told him his movies don't make money. Did anyone else hear this? I don't know why he worked with him again on The Aviator.

But I think it will be really interesting to see Scorsese and De Niro work together. I hope that they recreate some of the magic. I wasn't overly impressed with Cape Fear and Casino so let's just say I'm not holding my breath...

It seems that Scorsese just seems to have been a bit screwed of late. I think working on Gangs for Harvey Weinstein wasn't a very good experience for him, I heard that he wanted it in two parts a la Kill Bill and Scorsese said "You can do it for Quentin why not for me?" and Weinstein just told him his movies don't make money. Did anyone else hear this? I don't know why he worked with him again on The Aviator.

I'm assuming stuff like this is the reason Scorsese never signed that first-look deal with the Weinsteins. Harvey Weinstein seems to have an insane focus on his movies making tons of money in the theaters, and I think it might be his downfall, or at least a major misstep. Goodfellas wasn't a gigantic hit at the box office, but people will be buying that movie on DVD (or whatever home formats are next) for a long, long time. It was one of the first titles on DVD (albeit in a terrible edition that took years to correct), and one of the first on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. It's always been my understanding that things like home video and TV rights are where the real profit is made.

patrick wrote:Goodfellas wasn't a gigantic hit at the box office, but people will be buying that movie on DVD (or whatever home formats are next) for a long, long time. It was one of the first titles on DVD (albeit in a terrible edition that took years to correct), and one of the first on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. It's always been my understanding that things like home video and TV rights are where the real profit is made.

I have heard that risks are taken on many films on the basis that if it doesn't find the right audience in cinemas it will makes it's money back on ancillary sales. So yes it seems entirely viable that producers such as Mr. Weinstein should take creative risks, but he has such an Oscar and Box Office driven mentality that he won't take such risks unfortunately.

FSimeoni wrote:It seems that Scorsese just seems to have been a bit screwed of late. I think working on Gangs for Harvey Weinstein wasn't a very good experience for him, I heard that he wanted it in two parts a la Kill Bill and Scorsese said "You can do it for Quentin why not for me?" and Weinstein just told him his movies don't make money. Did anyone else hear this? I don't know why he worked with him again on The Aviator.

It wasn't the length of the film that Scorsese clashed with Weinstein about at all (though it was an issue), but the fact that Weinstein tried to exert his influence on Scorsese. Weinstein has a notorious reputation for thinking that he knows better than directors about what will make a better picture and has on more than one occasion visited sets and editing rooms to offer his "advice". Scorsese would have none of it and this led to more than a few rows.

As for why Scorsese worked with him again on The Aviator my guess is that no one gets behind a picture and champions it like Harvey Weinstein. For Scorsese, who pretty much his entire career never really had strong studio support, it must've nice to have a real push for both Gangs Of New York and The Aviator during Oscar season and the full Miramax publicity machine behind them. Also, I believe Miramax was one of the few studios willing to put up the money for huge budget of The Aviator ($116 million). That's a pretty decent gesture on Weinstein's part considering that Gangs Of New York went notoriously overbudget.

FSimeoni wrote:I think working on Gangs for Harvey Weinstein wasn't a very good experience for him, I heard that he wanted it in two parts a la Kill Bill and Scorsese said "You can do it for Quentin why not for me?" and Weinstein just told him his movies don't make money. Did anyone else hear this?

This sounds apocryphal. Gangs was released in December of 2002. The decision to split Kill Bill into two parts was not announced until July of 2003.

More stuff for all you lucky New Yorkers

Martin Scorsese on the Films of William Perlberg and George Seaton Sat June 30 at 4:00pm

When the Walter Reade Theater opens at 1pm on Saturday, June 30 a limited number of rush tickets will be available for sale only at the box office. Once the rush tickets have been sold, there will be a standby line for this event. All tickets are $10 ~ cash only.

Martin Scorsese will be here in person, in conversation with Film Society Associate Program Director Kent Jones, discussing the now-neglected films made by the producer/director team of William Perlberg and George Seaton in the 1950s, including The Bridges at Toko-Ri, The Proud and Profane and The Counterfeit Traitor. These rich, mature melodramas, Which featured stunning location work that was ahead of its time, are carefully layered emotional experiences, in which William Holden does the finest acting of his career. They are ripe for re-discovery, and this is the best introduction imaginable.

$10 to see Martin Scorsese in person and hear him talk? That's a BARGAIN! I wished I live in New York.

I was there, and so was Thelma Schoonmaker. It went pretty well, though I wish the subject matter was more exciting...

An interview with Thelma Schoomaker revealed this interesting little nugget of info:

Schoonmaker recalls from the editing room where she's currently assembling Scorsese's personal documentary history of British movies.

Rumor has it that his Val Lewton doc is going to be shown on TCM sometime in September, based on the amount of Lewton they've scheduled for that month.

patrick wrote:Rumor has it that his Val Lewton doc is going to be shown on TCM sometime in September, based on the amount of Lewton they've scheduled for that month.

I think, and I might be incorrect, that Robert Osbourne commented at the end of the recent Spielberg on Spielberg that a Val Lewton documentary would be coming in 2008.

Regardless, I don't see any mention of the Lewton special in the TCM September calendar.

patrick wrote:Rumor has it that his Val Lewton doc is going to be shown on TCM sometime in September, based on the amount of Lewton they've scheduled for that month.

They've only got 3 Lewton films scheduled that month, all for the morning of September 10. Unlikely time to premiere a documentary on the man. My guess is October, around Halloween (when they usually show a marathon of Lewton's horror films).

Have you ever wondered what Scorsese's home might be like? Here are some brief details on his townhouse he recently sold.

Antoine Doinel wrote:An interview with Thelma Schoomaker revealed this interesting little nugget of info:

Schoonmaker recalls from the editing room where she's currently assembling Scorsese's personal documentary history of British movies.

Nice! I loved both Mio Viaggio and A Personal Journey and I can't wait to check this one out.

VC2020 wrote:

Antoine Doinel wrote:An interview with Thelma Schoomaker revealed this interesting little nugget of info:

Schoonmaker recalls from the editing room where she's currently assembling Scorsese's personal documentary history of British movies.

Nice! I loved both Mio Viaggio and A Personal Journey and I can't wait to check this one out.

Wow! I'd love to see that.

In other news. Apparently Scorsese has backed out of Frankie Machine. Not sure I trust this source, but I guess time will tell.

Antoine Doinel wrote:As for why Scorsese worked with him again on The Aviator my guess is that no one gets behind a picture and champions it like Harvey Weinstein.

There are also these little things called "contracts." Could be that Marty had to agree to a package deal to get Gangs produced, just like he had to promise Universal that he'd direct a "commercial" film (i.e. Cape Fear) in exchange for getting Last Temptation made.

I didn't expect much of both those films (Cape Fear and The Aviator) but other than a few things he most likely had no control over (casting Gwen Stefani) both movies were great and I might've liked The Aviator more than Gangs (it would've been fine if Cameron Diaz hadn't been cast).

I'm glad to see Scorsese going back to "smaller" films. I got a little worried after both Gangs and The Aviator.

Judge it. Scorsese has filmed famous Spanish champagne spot. It's a 5 minutes short film very funny about Scorsese (it's amazing how much he looks like Groucho Marx and W.Allen) and Hitchcock.

How much money did Freixenet pay to him? Mystery.

The result, available on English language too

rohmerin wrote:Judge it. Scorsese has filmed famous Spanish champagne spot.

Discussed here.