The King of Comedy review

 Number 556 on the top 1000 films of all time is Martin Scorsesee's black-comedy film 'The King of Comedy.'

Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro) is an up-and-coming stand-up comedian. He wants nothing more than to be a world-wide comedy star. After a chance encounter with successful comedian and talk-show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis) which results in Pupkin being invited onto his show, Pupkin then develops a dangerous obsession with the comedy star.

In 2019, Todd Philipps made Joker with Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role. Upon release, it was instantly compared to the King of Comedy and with good reason. Both main characters are paranoid comedians. Both have Robert De Niro, although in Joker, he is playing the Jerry Lewis role. And both films were absolutely terrific.

Just like Arthur Fleck in Joker, Rupert Pupkin is a dangerously unreliable narrator. How much can you trust anything he says? He goes through the film in a paranoid delusion believing that he is Jerry Langford's' best friend when that is far from the case at all. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I wonder whether Rupert met Langford at all or whether it was just another paranoid delusion. Either way, it was a great comment on society's obsession with celebrity culture that has always existed.

And that leads me to Jerry Lewis' perfect casting as Jerry Langford. As one half of the iconic Martin and Lewis partnership, you can't imagine anyone else playing one of the US' greatest comedians. Or rather I should say a disaffected comedian who no longer has the patience for crazed fans.

Speaking of crazed fans, that brings us to Robert De Niro who, in some ways, played a similar role to his earlier Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Both men were dangerously unhinged, but Pupkin was all too believable. De Niro was convincing as the crazy superfan who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He was the literal embodiment of every toxic fandom ever.

I thoroughly enjoyed the King of Comedy. The lead actors were great and I loved the delicious dramatic irony. One of Scorsesee's best films for sure.

After Hours review

 Number 625 on the top 1000 films of all time is Martin Scorsesee's 1985 black-comedy 'After Hours.'

Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) is an office worker trying to get home from Manhattan's Soho district. However, a series of misadventures makes this task more difficult than it sounds.

What do you think when you think of a Martin Scorsesee film? Endless swear words? Gangster flicks? Robert De Niro? I bet you wouldn't think of this 1980's black-comedy. Compared to the likes of Raging Bull or Taxi Driver, it's definitely not as explosive or well-known.

It was definitely one of his zaniest, most-off-the-wall films with plenty of off-beat humour to keep the plot running along nicely. The premise is simple enough: an office worker desperate to get home keeps coming up against increasingly outlandish barriers. Yes, the film does stray into the world of absurdist fiction, but you're willing to suspend your disbelief.

It helps that you had Griffin Dunne who gave Paul Hackett an everyman quality, which kept the film grounded. He was in a relatable situation; I'm sure there are many of us have had desperate journeys trying to get home after a late night. I certainly have, although I haven't remained as affable as Paul did, despite everything happening to him.

It certainly might not be as memorable as the Departed, but it might be a nice palette-cleanser after Scorsesee's more violent efforts like Gangs of New York. Either way, this is one of Scorsesee's more overlooked efforts with a great ending that brought everything full-circle.

The Aviator review

 Number 835 on the top 1000 films of all time is Martin Scorsesee's biographical drama film 'The Aviator.'

'The Aviator' tells the true story of film and aviation titan Howard Hughes (Leonardo Dicaprio) from his childhood to his rise to a successful film producer and pioneer of the aviation industry, all while documenting his later struggles with severe OCD and germaphobia. 'The Aviator' also explores his relationships with famed actresses Katherine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) and Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale.) Rounding out the cast are notable heavyweights like Ian Holm, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Gwen Stefani and Willem Dafoe.

I've never been a fan of period-dramas. I find them overly-long, boring and lacking in drama and tension. This also extends to biopics and historical dramas. The Aviator was no exception. Objectively, I can understand why this would be fascinating subject-matter to some audiences. It is effectively about one of the early cinema pioneers. He produced some of the biggest films of the twenties and thirties including Scarface, the Racket and Hell's Angels. In fact, Hell's Angels and its the ground-breaking practices feature heavily within the Aviator.

Leonardo Dicaprio was Leonardo Dicaprio. He was charismatic enough, as the maverick and eccentric film mogul. He did earn the second of six Oscar nods for his portrayal, ultimately losing to Jamie Foxx who played Ray Charles. Honestly, I did think Jamie Foxx gave a better performance. However, where Leo didn't win an Oscar, Cate Blanchett did. She won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Katherine Hepburn. Again, she was good as far as the role went, but I'm not sure whether it was really Oscar-worthy. The portrayal felt very surface-level. Katherine Hepburn features heavily earlier on, before disappearing for much of the second-act to appear at the end as a Deux-ex-machina figure.

I also didn't think much of Kate Beckinsale who was pretty insipid as Ava Gardner or perhaps that's because she didn't have the best material. She didn't have that much to do throughout the film except be the target of Hughes' paranoid delusions.

Don't get me wrong, there were some great sequences in this film: Hughes catastrophically crashing his plane was heart-pounding, edge-of-the-seat stuff, while the portrayal of his declining mental health was well-directed and acted out. Dicaprio and Scorsesee worked extensively with UCLA's Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz aiming to portray OCD and germaphobia as accurately as possible ... although I may argue that Hughes recovered from this nadir a little too easily. Surely, it would take more than just a pep-talk from your old flames. But I guess that's just Hollywood.

The Aviator was entertaining enough, but, personally I don't much care for biopics or period-dramas. And that's more to do with me than any criticism of Scoresee or the Aviator itself.