Scorcese in my top three movie makers of all time

Rating: 10/10 (23 October 2006)

I have loved Martin Scorcese for years and never realized that he had not won an Oscar. Jeez, Raging Bull alone should have garnered one... anyway. When I went to the theater, I knew that I would see a great film but also a grotesquely bloody one. Both assumptions came true. Jack Nicholson was at his best since Cukoo's Nest, Matt Damon was great, Leonardo DiCaprio (whom I've not liked since Titantic) was very good. Mark Wahlburg Was my favorite however and for the first half of the movie I was thinking he was going to turn out to be the mole in the cops because he was so in-your-face anti-criminal. I love Scorcese's use of period music, this was first best seen/heard in Goodfellas and his use of comedic dialogue between bad guys. I disagree with any of your reviewers who said the movie was too long, MS needs every moment of movie time to weave his films. BUT, I had to turn my head/cover my eyes at least 6 times knowing there was going to be yet another head shot with too-realistic splatter (This is from a guy who used to watch Scarface every weekend for a year). I would not attend or tolerate such gruesome killings in any movie but one by Martin Scorcese (loved Goodfellas, Casino, Taxi Driver and have seen all multiple times). If Raging Bull had been in color I doubt if I would have seen it more than once. My other two favorite film makers are Woody Allen and Spike Lee (Clockers was produced, incidentally by Martin Scorcese). I would completely recommend this film for any adult without combat experiences because it would surely evoke PTSD-like flashbacks in it's realism (I'm a psychologist BTW who works with vets daily). MS should have won Best Director multiple times already. He should win it here as well as a life-time Achievement award (I think he already has one of these no?).