Let's Party with Marty: A Martin Scorsese Podcast

We've got a lot of questions for Martin Scorsese this week about the curious pairing of The Appointment with The Aviator. Sarah and MJ dive into this obscure British horror movie, and Sarah enjoys a particular thrill in recognising some of her stomping ground.

We're in the next decade of Martin Scorsese movies now as we reach 2002's Gangs of New York. Notable for being the first of many DiCaprio and Scorsese collaborations, Sarah and MJ may be divided on this movie, but one thing that unites them is Daniel Day-Lewis' unforgettable performance as Bill The Butcher.

The road to Gangs of New York may be a short one with just one companion movie, however, there was plenty to talk about with 1952's Park Row. Joining Sarah and MJ for this chat is returning guest and friend of the pod Matthew Germenis, and the gang get into the relevance of this movie to today (despite it's period setting), the joy of watching people being really competent and lots more!

(Features some barking from our doggy companions, sorry about that!)

You can read Matthew's substack here.

Is Bringing Out the Dead Martin Scorsese's most underrated movie? It's certainly a tough movie, but there's a HUGE amount to dive into as well.

TW: Given the subject matter of the movie, please note that this episode includes discussion of familial death, grief, and terminal illness.

An Italian religious movie on a list curated by Martin Scorsese?! Well, consider us shocked. The Flowers of St. Francis may be an obvious choice on this list but how does it fit with Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead? That may still remain a mystery but Sarah and MJ dig into this 1950 movie regardless, talking about why it would work as a silent movie, and where it does (or doesn't) fit in with other Italian neorealist movies.

Kicking things off on the road to Bringing Out the Dead is 1955's Ordet. On paper, this is an extremely Sarah & MJ coded movie, full of religious themes, crisis of faith, and even some supernatural touches. We get into what does and doesn't work in this movie, the pitfalls of adapting stage plays for the big screen, and the strange acting style we've come across in the two Carl Theodor Dreyer-directed movies we've watched so far.

In this episode, Sarah and MJ are joined by Kip Mooney to talk about an (intentionally) underseen Marty movie, Kundun. They discuss the myriad ways in which the film was buried by the studio, the fallout of the film being released at all, how unlike any other Marty movie it feels, and MJ gets Big Mad at a particularly well known mouse.

Sarah & MJ continue along the road to Kundun with African movie Yeelen. Recognised by Empire Magazine as one of the best examples of World Cinema, it is clear to see the influence Martin Scorsese took from movies like this when making Kundun. We discuss why expanding your movie horizons is always a good thing and how this compares to previous companion movie, The Horse Thief.

We're now on the road to Kundun and the first movie paired with it is 1986's The Horse Thief, the movie Martin Scorsese calls his "favorite movie of the '90s" (no there isn't a typo in that).

It's a curious movie but one that HEAVILY influenced Scorsese, not just for Kundun but across his career. We also bring things more up to date to discuss Marty's recent AI controversy.

Joining us this week to discuss Casino is film critic Kelechi Ehenulo. There's much to discuss in this epic not-quite-3-hour-long movie including why it's another feminist masterpiece from Martin Scorsese (yes, really), the incredible trio of performances, and how it compares to Goodfellas. Stick around to find out what bombshell fact leads Sarah to possible violence and who she might have to fight in the desert as a result.

Follow Kelechi on Bluesky and Instagram, and read her reviews here.

For this week's episode, we've rounded up our very own Wild Bunch with Nick Mear joining Sarah and MJ to discuss this classic Western movie. Not only was this movie a huge influence on Scorsese, but apparently influenced every movie ever.

Opinions are divided amongst your illustrious hosts this week! Join Sarah & MJ as they discuss Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence. They discuss the film's not-so-subtle symbolism, the acting performances, and find some similarities with another pod favorite movie (and Daniel Day-Lewis starring), Phantom Thread.

We're back with another companion film and fiendishly, Martin Scorsese includes The Heiress on his list twice ... for The Age of Innocence and Killers of the Flower Moon.

We're talking about it (mostly) in relation to the former, however, it is hard to ignore some of the similarities with KOTFM! We discuss Olivia de Havilland's astonishing performance, why this movie felt stressful to watch, and much more!

We're starting the journey towards Marty's The Age of Innocence with Luchino Visconti's 1963 movie, The Leopard.

This wasn't a film we enjoyed all that much, but we did get to appreciate another appearance from pod fave, Alain Delon and one of us got to admire the incredible restoration work Marty and The Film Foundation did!

Sarah and MJ are joined by Martin Buddery to talk about Marty's remake of Cape Fear! They discuss the knife's edge between heavy and fun in this film, Spielberg and Scorsese trading projects to get this made, oddball alternate casting choices. And, of course, the classic episode of The Simpsons.

The Night of the Hunter was chosen by Martin Scorsese as the companion film for his own Cape Fear, and we were HYPED to talk about this 1955 masterpiece.

Joining Sarah and MJ is the man who (quite literally) wrote the book on Cape Fear, Rob Daniel.

Just a trio of good fellas talking about some ... not very good fellas, but a very, very good movie. Joining us this week is podcast host and friend, Nick Mear, talking about Martin Scorsese masterpiece "Goodfellas." We talk about the film's many great moments, continue to prove that Scorsese is a feminist (yes, really), and the great injustice that it didn't win the Oscar for editing.

Our final stop on the road to Goodfellas is François Truffaut's Jules & Jim. Within the first 30 minutes of this movie it becomes abundantly clear what Martin Scorsese has lifted from it for his own picture, but there's plenty more to dive into besides that. We discuss the chaotic and interesting relationships in this movie and coin a new phrase, "Marty-splaining."

We're on the road to Goodfellas, taking a quick diversion into 1960 heist movie, Ocean's 11. Joining us for this discussion is The Man, The Myth, The Mumford, Harley Mumford from the Fandomentals podcast.

We talk about what makes a perfect heist movie, and why in this rare case, the remake is actually better than the original.

We've got a rare double feature for you this week as we talk about 1951's People Will Talk (starring Cary Grant) and Martin Scorsese's 1990 documentary Made in Milan. It is a curious pairing, but join us as we try and make sense of it, talk about why Cary Grant was born to be in movies, and why you can always rely on Marty to do the absolute most, regardless of the project.