As Scorsese’s latest Oscar grab Killer’s of the Flower Moon is set to roll into theaters, most of the talk around the famed director is still not about the film but about his obsession with what us new generation folk like to call “being a major hater of Marvel”. A fan of both Marvel and Scorsese I found myself in a strange place hearing his comments while being absolutely into what Marvel is doing and on board for the future they have in store for us. I was surprised because I guess part of me looks at Scorsese and thinks or sees him as an ally, specifically a nerd ally. Scorsese I imagined was like me, I could get along with all types of racial groups, cross cultural lines yet still had a deep love and desire for the things considered not so popular. For the nerd who ultimately becomes a filmmaker or a writer or an artist of sorts. For the geek that is somewhat ostracized because of his taste or like of certain medium. I always assumed he was someone that could relate to the person being bullied not be the bully himself.
But then you look at his work. His filmography and what does it tell you? HE LOVES THE BULLY.
Every Scorsese film is an exploration into the criminal. Yes he gives you the insider view when things go wrong but because he spends an entire film, let’s be real, making these characters we are supposed to despise look so damn good, we are affected very little when they are ultimately done in. In fact we sympathize with them. Our shock is not of horror but of disappointment that we have lost this character no matter how bad they are.
Some of you say, “Well that’s what you signed up for.” and I completely agree with you. Which is why I would watch a Marvel movie 1000x over before watching a Scorsese film twice in one month. Even when I did have Goodfellas on loop recently I came away feeling less enthusiastic about things then when I do a Marvel film. You don’t come away from a Scorsese film with a smile and if you do I tend to question your morality. I mean don’t you have to? You know what you just saw. It was thrilling it was thought provoking yes but it was also meant to reveal the darkest parts of humanity in the darkest of ways. That’s not to say Marvel doesn’t do that or isn’t incapable of it. Because they are no matter how much many of you don’t want to believe it cause you are blinded by the Disney logo. It’s just this whole argument we know is not about whether Marvel or superhero films are cinema. It’s about money, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
And I guess that’s why this whole thing still gets to me. I see everyone already patting Scorsese on the back including myself same way we did with The Irishman. I also see the same result happening- people coming away less enthusiastic but still feeling obligated to applaud him because it’s Scorsese. And it’s Leo. And it’s this great novel. And it’s this whole production. And it’s Lilly Gladstone who already has an Oscar in the pocket apparently. As they should because I’m sure it’s gonna be a great fucking movie. But during all the back pats and standing ovation at Cannes there is still the reality that there is something else behind it all. That behind the smile there is resentment toward fans because it doesn’t make the same amount of money as a film targeted toward the entire audience especially younger viewers and fans of a publication established since World War II. That again Scorsese will come out if the film isn’t more successful than popcorn fodder and shake a fist at the cloud while yelling society has crumbled everyone is stupid and there is no hope time to go to space and establish a elitist colony on Mars.
If anything this is probably Scorsese’s best chance for a billion dollar film because studios and theaters have manipulated and overcharged audiences since Pandemic. I go back to the Maverick phenomenon and the creation of the Tom Cruse Method when it comes to releasing and distributing a film. I cap that shit because it’s straight up a new way just like the Taylor Swift is doing with her Eras Method. Cruise held his film back until people started going back to theaters and once they did he kept it there for the whole year even re-releasing it after it was available in physical and streaming format. He always believed theaters would and could survive and he put all his chips in that pile and thankfully because humanity is 10% smarter than the anti vaxxers and anti maskers we somehow kind of made it out of it and by made it out I mean we just decided to live with COVID rather than eliminate it, he hit a huge bet. Once the power rolled into his hands because Hollywood needed a film to bring audiences back and he had it, he could do whatever he wanted to ensure this thing made a fuckton of money. Hollywood was so happy to see people going into theaters to see Top Gun Maverick that they gave him a Best Picture nomination and we all know that film is NOT BETTER THAN ANY AVENGERS FILM ESPECIALLY INFINITY WAR & ENGAME WHICH DID NOT RECEIVE A BEST PICTURE NOM.
Infinity War and Endgame are responsible for two of the biggest moments in modern film history. Definitely post 2000, hell I’d stand in your face look you dead in the eye and say all time. Never in the 42 I’ve been on this planet going to the movies and seeing the biggest hits from the 80’s on have I seen an audience react to those films. From the huge gasp everyone let out when Tony was stabbed by Thanos to the absolute insanity everyone went when Cap picked up Mjolnir to finally when everyone assembled. It was a worldwide collective experience. For a moment we were the Marvel version of the fucking Borg.
People went crazy in Aliens I remember that. T2 people went nuts. Jurassic Park and most of Spielberg films people got hyped for. I really don’t consider audience reactions with horror because those films are made to elicit a response more so than they other. And it’s a specific response- fear. Which many don’t like to experience.
I imagine the original Star Wars is the closest to come to the experience because people had never seen something like that much like this. It pushed and elevated the filmmaking and filmgoing experience. It was global, it was targeted at a general audience. The later ones on the other hand just created arguments and division, much like the Sith and the Jedi were divided and ultimately destroyed themselves much like the two sides did. It’s only now that people have started to pick up the pieces.
The hope that has shined on Scorsese path strangely enough is because Christopher Nolan, a director of one of the greatest superhero trilogies laid down the groundwork with Oppenheimer. A rated R film about the making of the A bomb somehow hit the Billy mark opening a new door for studios. I really can’t tell you how it did it but my guess is that by riding Barbie which was a film that targeted a larger audience coupled with the fact that Nolan has a HUGE and loyal fan base himself much like Marvel films he was able to achieve a billion once he left it in theaters long enough. Oppenheimer is still in theaters and it came out in July. Like Cruise he is leaving it in theaters way longer than most films as it is finally expected in streaming and physical release in late November (for comparison The Flash was released on June 16 and already available streaming by August.) Had Nolan held on to Tenet much like Cruise rather than release it during Pandemic he probably would’ve had the same success. With Oppenheimer carving this new road for him, Nolan is seeing things in a different way even though he is a traditional studio director.
Nolan’s recent comments on Taylor Swift and her method of releasing her Eras Tour film really raised an eyebrow as to the future of films and how filmmakers approach studios especially those that are a predetermined hit. In a recent interview Nolan mentions that Taylor Swift did not go through studios to release the film but instead dealt directly with AMC. This ensures a bigger profit for her and the theaters and in his words proves that films are valuable.
Scorsese has his following but it isn’t as big as Nolan’s. His subject matter is still directed toward adults while Nolan takes adult subject matter and brings it to the general audience. Even though Oppenheimer was rated R, it’s the little sex and nudity that gives it its rating. Scorsese films will not be something history teachers would play in class. Oppenheimer is.
If Killers of the Flower Moon makes a billion I would hate to find out it was because prices were higher now than ever before. Because it’s left in theaters for an extended period to just take advantage of the moviegoers who exhaust their watchlist. If he does re-releases and manufactured fanfare. I want it to earn a billion because the same amount of people that go out to see Marvel and Nolan films go out to see Scorsese. Scorsese has enough clout and worldwide support that the film should do very well considering the subject matter even better than his own expectations. But if it doesn’t and makes less that The Marvels I expect another blow up on his part about how audiences have no cultural sense and they’ve been brainwashed by the mainstream as if he is not the mainstream.
And if that happens man seriously, fuck that’s lame. I love his films, love his advice, love the history he’s created for films and audiences but I got no more room for haters especially for those who hate on Marvel. So many repaint their jealousy as if it’s Marvel’s fault their films aren’t making money while not paying writers and actors what they are worth, doing back alley deals with the AMPTP, while failing to recognize Marvel has carried Hollywood since 2008. Hell, since X-Men 1 and The original Sony Spider-Man. Fox and Sony didn’t have shit to save themselves and Sony to this day still relies on Spider-Man film projects just to survive. Take away Spider-Man from Sony and honestly I don’t know what is left for them because the PlayStation is in constant competition more than ever and its heading to a dark zone where gaming systems are now worth the same as a personal computer which are WAY easier today to assemble than back in the early 2000s as well as slowly being squeezed out of camera market they once dominated.
Trivial audiences and studios who successfully rode the coattails owe a lot to Marvel. They revolutionized filmmaking in all aspects and did so in a decade. What they did in ten years equated to what the entire film industry had done in 100 years (I said it) and it’s a shame that it’s sill treated as a novelty on the shelf just like comic books even though comics and its writers and artists have carried mainstream entertainment for the entire time. People will always gravitate to the hero more than the villain no matter how much you glorify villainy. But you can be sure that if you shift the paradigm and make people love the villain more you get situations that bleed out into real life and people are actually following villains. We’ve witnessed that first hand these past couple of years…
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