Orson Welles' Citizen Kane is No Longer #1

Earlier this week a list was released which has the top 50 films of all time, according to the critics, and other film experts. For 50 years, Citizen Kane was number one, but now it has been replaced by the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece, Vertigo. Every 10 years the list is generated by Sight and Sound magazine, starting back in 1952. The magazine also polled over 350 directors, asking them to rank their top 10 films of all time.

The critic's top 10 include:

1. Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock, 1958

2. Citizen Kane, Orson Welles, 1941

3. Tokyo Story, Ozu Yazujiro, 1953

4. La Regle du jeu, Jean Renoir, 1939

5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, FW Murnau, 1927

6. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick, 1968

7. The Searchers, John Ford, 1956

8. Man with a Movie Camera, Dziga Vertov, 1929

9. The Passion of Joan of Arc, Carl Dreyer, 1927

10. 8 1/2, Federico Fellini, 1963

Some other notable films in the top 50:

14. Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola, 1979

20. Singin' in the Rain, Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1951

21. The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola, 1972

28. Mulholland Dr, David Lynch, 2001

31. The Godfather Part II, Francis Ford Coppola, 1974

31. (tied) Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese, 1976

35. Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock, 1960

The list of the top 10 films chosen by directors contains many of the films also in the top 10 of the critic's poll, but I thought it was interesting to see #5 as Taxi Driver, #6 as Apocalypse Now and #7 as The Godfather. Many feel that the 1970s in America was a golden age of film with auteurs such as Scorsese, Kubrick, Woody Allen and Coppola leading the way. I have seen very few movies that were made previous to the late 1960s so my knowledge of the early days of the medium is limited. I have also seen very few foreign films. When I watch a film I like to watch the film for the directing style, the acting nuances and the set design. With foreign films, reading the subtitles makes it hard to do that. My list of top films would include some on the above lists, but also many others would be added. If Hitchcock's Vetigo and Psycho are on the list, why not Rear Window? Scorsese's Taxi Driver is amazing, and one of my top 10 no doubt, but I would also include him for Raging Bull, GoodFellas and Casino. Kubrick's 2001 is an achievement, but I preferred A Clockwork Orange and The Shining. If the Godfather 1 and 2 are on the list, I would include another violent film by another Italian-American filmmaker, Scarface, by Brian DePalma. The absence of Woody Allen films is a mistake in my book, and I would include Annie Hall and Manhattan. Allen's hero, Ingmar Bergman was on the critic's list at #17 for Persona. I was surprised to see David Lynch on the list at #28 for Mulholland Drive since I preferred Blue Velvet. I would have included James Dean's tour de force, Rebel without a Cause, which I feel is too often overlooked as a masterpiece of cinema.

But, alas, with any list there is controversy about what was included and what was omitted. I often wonder if critics feel pressure to like the art house or foreign films, so they can hold onto their credibility. If they do, then that is too bad since many of the more down-to-earth, less cerebral films are also enjoyable. Would a critic feel odd to include The Wizard of Oz or It's a Wonderful Life? They shouldn't, since those are outstanding works of art.

With the lists I notice how few of the entries are films made in the last 20 years. It seems like the film industry has often catered to the lowest common denominator, sticking with sequels, remakes and films based on comic book heroes simply because they attract a wide audience. That is a shame. For that reason, people owe it to themselves to check out independent films and documentaries. These are made due to the love of the media of film and the passion to tell a story, not out of the desire to break box office records. Attend local film festivals and make it a point to seek out these gems. We all "vote" with our wallets for what we want to see.

Source: http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time

Film Analysis: Martin Scorsese's 1982 Film, The King of Comedy

This film was not a success financially for Scorsese, who has had groundbreaking success with films such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Good Fellas and many others. The budget was $20 million and the United States gross box office receipts equaled only $2.5 million. Nevertheless, this is a film I enjoyed greatly due to its spot on depiction of the pitfalls of celebrity and its themes of isolation and loneliness. Making the film was emotionally grueling for director Scorsese, and he an DeNiro would not work together again for seven years. For more information on the amazing career of Martin Scorsese, see my blog post from February, 2010 titled The Artistic Vision of Martin Scorsese. The top photo above shows Jerry Lewis with director Martin Scorsese. The second picture shows Robert DeNiro (Rupert Pupkin) on the left and Jerry Lewis (Jerry Langford) on the right.

Cast
Robert DeNiro----- Rupert Pupkin
Jerry Lewis----- Jerry Langford
Sandra Bernhard----- Masha
Fred DeCordova----- Bert Thomas
Diahnne Abbott----- Rita
Shelley Hack----- Cathy
Victor Borge----- Himself
Tony Randall----- Himself
Ed Herlihy----- Himself
Lou Brown----- Himself

The music production was by Robbie Robertson, from The Band. Scorsese did a documentary about that group called The Last Waltz.

The King of Comedy is about Rupert Pupkin, a man who is delusional when it comes to his goals of fame and his relationship with talk show host Jerry Langford. Langford is a Johnny Carson-like late night talk show host. He even has a sidekick/announcer named Ed. The producer of Jerry Langford's show is played by Fred DeCordova, who was Carson's producer for many years. Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were considered for the role before Jerry Lewis was chosen. Rupert is a stalker, obsessed with Langford, and he will stop at nothing to get his shot as a stand up comedian. Rupert is not unlike Travis Bickle, the protagonist of Scorsese's brilliant drama, Taxi Driver. Both men are obsessive loners who struggle with an inner turmoil of hostility and frustration. Travis Bickle said "Loneliness has followed me my whole life. I'm God's lonely man." Rupert Pupkin could have spoken those words. He is 34 years old, living with his mother, and he talks to cardboard cutouts of celebrities, fantasizing that he is a talk show host.

Rupert and Masha (Bernhard), both are crazed stalkers, obsessed with Jerry and seeking his approval. Rupert confronts Jerry in the back of his limo and Jerry says to contact his office. Rupert does, and is told to submit a tape of his performance. Jerry's people listen to the tape and tell Rupert he is not ready to be on the show. Rupert and Masha turn to kidnapping Jerry and say that Rupert must be able to perform on the show before they will let him go. There is an especially uncomfortable scene where Rupert shows up unannounced, and uninvited at Jerry's residence. Rupert shows up with a woman from high school. He had a crush on her many years ago, and now is desperate to show her he has become friends with Jerry.

The movie ends with Rupert doing his standup act which ends with the line "Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime." He gets his picture on the cover of all of the top magazines including Time, Life, Newsweek, People and Rolling Stone. He gets one million dollars to write his autobiography. Just like in Taxi Driver, the primary character ends up an unlikely hero.

In the bonus footage Scorsese mentioned how the film has an underlying hostility throughout. Some scenes were improvised, especially the scene where Rupert shows up at Jerry's home. Scorsese's mother played the voice of Rupert's mother, who would yell down to the basement, telling Rupert to keep down the noise level as he practiced his monologues. As usual, Scorsese himself had a cameo role in the film, playing the director of the Jerry Langford show. Like Alfred Hitchcock, he would often do that. Entertainment Tonight called the film "the flop of the year". In his monologue on the Jerry Langford show, De Niro's character Rupert Pupkin says that he is from Clifton, New Jersey. This is possibly an allusion to Andy Kaufman's abusive comedian persona, Tony Clifton, whom Pupkin resembles with similar hair, moustache and cheap blue suits. When Jerry Langford is walking down the street, he is stopped by a woman talking on the telephone. When Jerry refuses to talk to someone on the phone, the lady says I hope you get cancer. This incident actually happened to Jerry Lewis. According to Scorsese, Lewis directed this segment himself. Martin Scorsese has stated that he "probably should not have made" the film.

* Some material from imdb.com.

Film Analysis: New York Stories

This is an anthology film, broken into 3 segments. I recall liking it in college so I wanted to revisit the movie and write about it here. It was released in 1989 by Touchstone Pictures, and each segment was directed by an iconic filmmaker. It offers 3 unrelated tales with only one thing in common: the setting is The Big Apple. I have always had an obsession with New York, probably since it is the headquarters of so much that is iconic in the world of entertainment. It is the home base for Broadway, several TV networks and so many legendary films were shot in New York. Being a Woody Allen fan has made me a fan of New York also, since it is the setting for many of his films.

The first story is directed by Martin Scorsese, the genius behind Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Casino, GoodFellas, and many more. His part of this anthology is called Life Lessons. Nick Nolte is a gruff New York City artist living in a loft apartment where he spends his days painting and listening to music. The soundtrack includes music such as "Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum and "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan. Scorsese has used classic rock music skillfully in this film, just as he has done in many others. Nolte goes to the airport to pick up his assistant/on-and-off girlfriend played by Rosanna Arquette. Scorsese uses a slow motion technique with Nolte looking at Arquette that is reminiscent of the same shot from Taxi Driver when Robert DeNiro spots Cybill Shepherd. Nolte is obsessed with her. The alcohol, art and music are his only reliable companions. He leads a solitary life, much like the life of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Nolte's character, Lionel Dobie is preparing for an art show where his work will be featured. He tells Paulette (Arquette) that he gives life lessons that are priceless to his assistants. She wants to move out but he pleads with her not to go. She wants to be an artist and asks Lionel if she is wasting her time. Scorsese takes us into the world of a painter with his close ups of the textured paint on the canvas, a paint-splattered cassette player and tight shots of the brushes. Scorsese's longtime film editor, Thelma Schoonmaker is pivotal to the visual elements of the film. A key visual scene is one where Lionel is painting frenetically, obsessed in his work, and the Bob Dylan song has the line "When you ain't got nothin', you got nothin' to lose". The shot is looking down at him, making him seem small, like he is battling against a mighty foe. Paulette's room is above the main level of the loft and there is a hole in the wall which overlooks the area where Lionel paints. She is up high, he is down low. He gazes up at her room longingly as she is up there, symbolizing that she is above him, in more ways than one. Lionel attacks Paulette's boyfriend (Steve Buscemi) in a bar. Arquette has had it and says she is moving out. She says she feels like a "human sacrifice". Dobie tells her he had been married 4 times before she was born. She has no idea how down he gets. The closing scene has Lionel at his art show where he meets another young woman who he recruits to be his assistant, just like Arquette. The cycle begins again.

The second story is the weakest by far. It's called Life without Zoe and it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather films, Apocalypse Now). It is about Zoe, a 12 year old rich girl who lives in the Sherry Netherland Hotel in New York. Her father is a professional flute player who performs around the world. She is cared for by the family butler Hector (Don Novello, best known for his character Father Guido Sarducci). Zoe and friends interview Abu, the new boy at school. He says he has no friends. The hotel is robbed and luckily a precious diamond earring is not stolen from Zoe's father. The earring turns out to belong to a princess who is the aunt of Abu. There is a lavish costume party for the kids and Zoe returns the earring to the princess. The story ends with Zoe and her mother watching the father perform his flute in Greece. The story and acting were poor in this portion of the film. I imagine that Coppola has regrets about releasing it. The first and third stories are so much stronger.

The third story is directed by Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Vicky Christina Barcelona and many more). It is called Oedipus Wrecks since it involves a son's relationship with his mother. Woody plays a 50 year old lawyer at a Manhattan firm. He is often criticized and embarrassed by his demanding mother. He tells a therapist about a dream. His mother is in a coffin and Woody is driving the hearse. Still, she is telling him how to drive. He wishes she would disappear and quit bothering him. In the film, Woody is dating Mia Farrow. They take his mother to a magic show. The magician takes her on stage for a trick. He puts her in a box and puts swords through the box. Woody watches from the audience with a sense of glee. The magician then opens the box and she is gone. He does not know where she went. Her disappearing permanently is not part of the trick. Larry David has a small role backstage as the theatre manager. Woody's mother is missing for a week and he tells his therapist he feels great. One day, Sheldon's (Allen's) mother appears in the sky over Manhattan as an apparition. Everyone can see her and she tells Sheldon what to do, embarrassing him as always. She even takes out baby pictures of him to show everyone. The mother, Sadie, tells Sheldon to not get married. She is even interviewed on the news and the press also hounds Sheldon. He wants to kill himself he is so tormented. The therapist recommends a psychic, Treva, played by Julie Kavner (voice of Marge Simpson). Woody gets discouraged with the psychic's antics. He thinks she is a fraud. She makes him dinner and he finds that he likes her. Lisa (Mia Farrow) leaves a note for Sheldon, saying she is leaving him. Sheldon goes back to Treva, gets engaged and introduces her to his mother. She likes her, and says she will come down. The motherly apparition disappears from the sky and she sits on Sheldon's couch. The story ends with the mother showing Sheldon's baby pictures to Treva.

This was a good showcase for 3 legendary directors to strut their stuff. 2 out of 3 of them were successful.

The Artistic Vision of Martin Scorsese

I wanted to write about this fantastic director since I admire his work so much. I will list his films which are some of my favorites, and provide a few words about each one. From 1968's Who's that Knocking at my Door, to this year's Shutter Island, Scorsese has had an amazing career. His 21 feature films have earned 64 Oscar nominations and 15 wins. He did not win a best director Oscar until 2007, for The Departed, a film about the Irish mafia. He had lost this coveted best director Oscar five times previously. But, after all, greats such as Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles never won best director Oscars. He has also directed several documentaries and short films, often about the classic rock artists he admires so much. He has had small roles in many of his films, just like another legendary director, Alfred Hitchcock. He is probably best known for his many films that are about the Italian mafia, but he has not limited himself to that genre. He did a period piece (The Age of Innocence) and a film about the Dalai Lama in Tibet (Kundun). Many of his films deal with emotional longing, loneliness, and some feature scenes of unflinching violence. He grew up in New York's Little Italy but lived a sheltered life due to being an asthmatic. He spent lots of time in church and going to the movies. Scorsese is known for his distinctive directing style in which the camera is often moving throughout the scene. Throughout the final three decades of the 20th century, Scorsese films often featured one of best actors of our time, Robert DeNiro. In recent years he has directed many starring Leonardo DiCaprio. He is a graduate of the legendary New York University film school, where his students included Oliver Stone and Spike Lee. Here are my favorites:

Mean Streets (1973) This was a breakthrough for Scorsese as well as stars Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel. It featured a gritty, violent New York setting where the mafia rules, rapid fire editing and a rock soundtrack. This film is his most autobiographical, and it is a favorite film of many real life gangsters.

Taxi Driver (1976) This is one of the greatest masterpieces of film of all time, and my favorite Scorsese work. It is not a film for everyone. It is disturbing to say the least. It follows Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro), a New York cabbie who says "Loneliness has followed me all of my life. I'm God's lonely man." He is man who has been broken by his time in Vietnam, his challenges to navigate through society and his worst enemy is himself. He is a powder keg ready to explode in a flurry of violence, and he does. He is trapped in a life which is an angry nightmare from which he cannot awake. He sees the world through twisted eyes and tries to "save" a prostitute from her lifestyle which she sees as her only option. On the other hand, he seeks revenge on another woman who had rejected his advances. Travis Bickle seems to view women as either angelic or as prostitutes. Cybill Shepard's character first appears wearing white and moving in slow motion, and Travis writes in his diary "They cannot touch her." He wants her, but at the same time his self destructive feelings are more powerful, and they keep him from doing the right things to win her over. This featured Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepard, Albert Brooks, Peter Boyle, and Harvey Keitel. Reagan assassin John Hinckley was obsessed with this film, and he thought that killing the president would impress Jodie Foster. Overhead shots are used repeatedly in this film showing guns for sale laid out on a bed, junk food at the adult movie theatre, and an long overhead tracking shot towards the end depicting the bloody mayhem left in the wake of Travis' killing spree. Scorsese has said that Travis Bickle saw what he had to do and it was a ritualistic, religious, sacrifice for him. The ultra violent, grimy, New York of the 1970s is much different than the more sanitized New York of today. Screenwriter Paul Schrader (Hardcore, Blue Collar, Last Temptation of Christ, Bringing Out the Dead), and the haunting melodies of composer Bernard Herrmann deserve a lot of credit for this masterwork. Herrmann also did the music for Citizen Kane (one of Scorsese's favorites) and Psycho, among other Hitchcock films. His final film to score was Taxi Driver, and he died just hours after recording it. The main title theme with its sultry saxophone fit the mood of the film perfectly. This was nominated for a total of 4 Academy Awards, including the best picture Oscar, but it lost to Rocky. It won the highly coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. One of Scorsese's biggest fans is my favorite film critic, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. He gave a perfect 4-star review to 14 of Scorsese's films. These include; Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, Raging Bull, GoodFellas, Casino, After Hours, The Departed, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and others. Regarding Taxi Driver he says "Taxi Driver is a brilliant nightmare and like all nightmares it doesn't tell us half of what we want to know. Taxi Driver is a hell, from the opening shot of a cab emerging from stygian clouds of steam to the climactic killing scene in which the camera finally looks straight down." Ebert has insights into film like no one else. He is the only film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for criticism.


Raging Bull (1980) This is a tale of the violent, aggressive world of professional boxing where Robert DeNiro plays Jake LaMotta. DeNiro's character has trouble separating the world in the ring, where violence is applauded, with the world outside the ring, where violence is not allowed. This film was in black and white, with use of slow motion and a moving camera. Many view this as the director's greatest work. Actor Joe Pesci played a key role, just as he would in later Scorsese works. Cathy Moriarty plays the wife of LaMotta, and she must deal with his violent outbursts. This was nominated for 8 Oscars, and it won 2.

The King of Comedy (1983) This comedic film was a change of pace for the director known largely for his dramatic films based around Italian American life in New York. DeNiro plays Rupert Pupkin, who is a sad character who has lost touch with reality. His dream is to host a late night talk show. Jerry Lewis plays Pupkin's idol, Jerry Langford, a Johnny Carson-like comedian/talk show host. Carson was actually considered to play the role, as well as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. DeNiro's character lives at home with his parents and interviews cardboard cut-outs of celebrities in his basement as practice for hosting his own show one day. The story turns dark as Rupert Pupkin finds a way to make his dream come true, by any means he can. In the film Rupert says "It's better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime." Scorsese has said this was an emotionally grueling film to direct. He and DeNiro did not work together again for seven years.

New York Stories (1989) This was a different approach for a film since it was broken up into 3 sections, each directed by a legendary film maker. It was not a big hit with critics or at the box office, but I enjoyed it. The first segment, titled Life Lessons was directed by Scorsese. The other 2 were directed by Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen. Life Lessons was the story of a New York painter played by Nick Nolte who takes on a protege played by Rosanna Arquette who becomes his love interest. This included use of Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone in the soundtrack.

GoodFellas (1990) This film featured Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta as powerful figures in the world of the Italian-American mafia. I think that this film is on the same level as The Godfather, also directed by a legendary Italian-American, Francis Ford Coppola. It has scenes of disturbing violence and a great classic rock soundtrack. Roger Ebert called it "the best mob movie ever". Four years earlier, Scorsese's film The Color of Money was released, and it starred Paul Newman and Tom Cruise in a story about pool hall husters. This was his least personal film, but its success at the box office made a film like GoodFellas possible. The studios want nothing but blockbusters. This was nominated for 6 Oscars and it won 1, for Joe Pesci.

Cape Fear (1991) This marked the director's seventh time working with Robert DeNiro, and it is a remake of the 1962 film starring Robert Mitchum. Other Scorsese films have violent scenes, but Cape Fear felt more like a horror film than his other work. Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis also star in the disturbing but brilliant work.

Casino (1995) This mobster film takes place largely in Las Vegas and has a running time of about 3 hours. It is so well written and performed, the 3 hours goes by quickly and it left me wanting even more. I have only said this about 2 other works, The Godfather, and Brian DePalma's Scarface. It features Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and the best performance of Sharon Stone's career.

The Aviator (2004) Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, this was a biopic about the odd but incredibly successful tycoon, Howard Hughes. It chronicles the love life, the business life and the obsessive-compulsive disorder which ruined a life which had so much potential. Like other films by this director, it shows one man's descent into madness. This was nominated for an amazing 11 Oscars, and it won 5.

Scorsese has a passion for music, and he directed directed the video Bad for Michael Jackson, the film The Last Waltz, about the musical group The Band, and Shine a Light featuring the Rolling Stones. He directed New York New York, which was a film where Robert DeNiro played a sax player, released in 1977, and it featured Liza Minelli. The original director's cut was 4 and a half hours, but it had to be trimmed significantly to play in theatres. There were challenges with this film in shooting the musical numbers, with the choreography, the lip-synching and the illusion of DeNiro playing a saxophone as well as his character. In May 2009, he confirmed he will direct a biopic about legendary crooner Frank Sinatra. In 2010 a Scorsese documentary will be released about former Beatle George Harrison. In 1974's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Scorsese directed the singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson. It made money, so this opened doors for him, and the film studios put trust in him to make more films. The TV show Alice, starring Linda Lavin, was loosely based on this film.

* Some information from en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, movies.yahoo.com, "Roger Ebert's Four Star Reviews 1967-2007" and "Martin Scorsese Interviews", Edited by Peter Brunette.