Marty's on Letterboxd! Are You?

by Cláudio Alves

During the actors' strike, many directors were put front and center of their films' promotion, stepping into the place usually occupied by their stars. It's an understandable strategy, alright. That's what happened to Killers of the Flower Moon, which, regardless of the industry's actions, would have hinged much of its publicity on Martin Scorsese. However, his centrality in the marketing meant we got to see more of him than expected, including a social media surge that can probably be attributed to the director's daughter, Francesca Scorsese. Between TikTok videos and snappy interviews, the old master even joined Letterboxd…

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Showbiz History: Ghost in the Shell, Brian Tyree Henry, and the 1980 Oscars

6 random things that happened on this day, March 31st, in showbiz history

1930  The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America agree to accept the "Motion Picture Production Code" a self-censorship guide for Hollywood films. Still, the industry waited another four years to begin enforcing this code which is why early sound cinema is referred to as "Pre-Code" (even though the Code was actually in place already). It's agonizing to look back and wonder how progressive Hollywood might have become had they not begun to enforce the code in the mid 30s since it delayed mature conversations about sexuality and gender roles and marriage (separate beds!), psychology and reality (bad behavior must always be punished!), delayed reckoning with abusive or oppressive religious organizations (no critiques of the clergy!), and forbade sympathetic depictions of homosexuality and interracial romance...

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22 Days til Oscar. Scorsese Trivia, Anyone?

22 is today's magic number. Two working directors, Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese, are ever inching up the statistics of "Directors who've guided the most Oscar-nominated performances"with 18 and 22 performances, respectively, thus far. William Wyler and Elia Kazan are still the champs but Martin Scorsese could eventually topple Kazan's record. This year's Scorsese picture Silence didn't manage an acting nomination (it's nominated only in cinematography) though some were rooting for Issei Ogata's sly supporting role as The Inquisitor. So Scorsese's number remains 22. 

Most Performances Nominated From Their Films

1. William Wyler (36... with 14 winners)
2. Elia Kazan (24... with 9 winners)
3. Martin Scorsese (22... with 5 winners)
4. George Cukor (21 ...with 5 winners)
5. Fred Zinneman (20 ...6 winners) 

It seems unthinkable now that the first two nominated performances Marty directed were by women, since he never again directed a female-focused picture after Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) but it's true. The Scorsese list of 8 supporting actresses, 7 lead actors, 5 supporting actors, and 2 lead actresses follows...

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Boston Loves "Manchester"

The Boston Film Critics Society formed in 1980 divvying up their first year of prizes largely between Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull and Jonathan Demme's undeappreciated Melvin & Howard. (Both auteurs would reign again with the BFCS via The Departed and Silence of the Lambs). While they don't often out on stylish limbs and aren't as invested in foreign films as they once did and were, when they return to either of those impulses it's often exciting. Our absolute favorite thing they occassional do is a weirdo but "why, yes, actually!" supporting performance pick like Toni Collette for The Hours, Juliette Lewis in Conviction or Ezra Miller in Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Here's what they chose as Best for 2016 along with several trivia notes...

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I Met Thelma Schoonmaker at the TCM Film Festival

Our coverage of the TCM's 2014 festival in Los Angeles wraps with Anne Marie on legendary editor Thelma Schoonmaker

Thelma in the editing bay...

Thelma Schoonmaker is surprisingly calm. Not just calm, calming. As I sat listening to her twice at TCMFF--first at the introduction for A Matter Of Life And Death, next at an hourlong interview--I marveled at the three-time Oscar winning editor's stillness. Considering she is the preferred collaborator of Martin Scorsese, an infamously energetic director, one would think she'd need reservoirs of energy to tackle the boxing matches in Raging Bull or the tense chases in The Departed.

Schoonmaker wasn't at TCMFF to speak about herself, though...

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