The editing of a Scorsese film is like nothing else… it's exhilarating, like a magician's trick.
Thanks Thelma Schoonmaker.
But, a director has to have a sense of how the shots work together and that is the genius of Scorsese.
My girlfriend just recently mentioned "Goodfellas" as her favorite American film. I love it, but I always default to "Midnight Cowboy." (my mother escorted me into the Towne Theater in New Rochelle to see it when I was 14 - it had a ridiculous X rating of course - and then she left me to watch it by myself. I was already a cinefile and was awed.)
"Godfather lll"
I made the mistake of standing in line at 11pm to see the first showing at the Varsity Theater in Davis, CA, where I lived after leaving NY.
I could have gotten a good night sleep instead.
Varsity is still going strong. Art house in Davis. Great theater.
I was on line there in mid-80s for a Saturday matinee, happened to look behind me and there with his UC Davis student granddaughter was Joe DiMaggio. Weird.
A simple hello and he introduced his granddaughter.
Never got a follow up letter.
Last random thing:
My college roommate was a co-founder of Magnolia Pictures.
I have another story about recognizing Schoonmaker at a store in Manhattan several years ago and striking up a great conversation with her about how she and Scorsese edit! I'll get to it one day.
As always, fantastic stuff! Funny, well told, and self-deprecating while also acknowledging your proximity to GREATNESS.
I worked in film in NYC in the 1980s. One job was in an office across from The Kids in the Hall, and down the corridor from Scorsese's office. My only claim to fame is that his assistant, the legendary Julia, HATED ME.
Anyway, that might be why I loved this one so much. Fond memories of all of us doing our work to support magnificence and art, and the occasional dreadful flop-a-roonie.
Nothing as exciting or near the action as production assistant! :-) Or anything on screen.
I grew up in the theatre, so one of my first jobs was assisting my Da's manager. And I was a casting intern at Playwrights Horizons, along with doing other random paid gigs there - painting flats and dying fabric and hanging fairy lights for the workshop of "Sunday in the Park with George," toiling in the Marketing Department, working as house manager, etc., and I ran around town checking actors into rehearsal spaces, etc. (Ran afoul of Stephen Sondheim on one cringe-y occasion).
What else? I worked at J. Michael Bloom back when Alec Baldwin was a baby star. Worked for a few years as an assistant-slash-Development Girl at a subsidiary of United Artists - read scripts, whatnot. My claim to fame there is that I read the script for, and passed on, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape!" Hah! I may have been terrible at development, come to think of it.
Did a bunch of other low-wage gigs - and I was a dresser, Off-Broadway, which was pretty easy money.
Hard to imagine our paths didn't cross at some point.
What a great read. ❤️
Great one Paul.
Watching you in the clip… that's Cool Stuff.
Scorsese… the master.
Since he was AD on the "Woodstock" documentary.
The editing of a Scorsese film is like nothing else… it's exhilarating, like a magician's trick.
Thanks Thelma Schoonmaker.
But, a director has to have a sense of how the shots work together and that is the genius of Scorsese.
My girlfriend just recently mentioned "Goodfellas" as her favorite American film. I love it, but I always default to "Midnight Cowboy." (my mother escorted me into the Towne Theater in New Rochelle to see it when I was 14 - it had a ridiculous X rating of course - and then she left me to watch it by myself. I was already a cinefile and was awed.)
"Godfather lll"
I made the mistake of standing in line at 11pm to see the first showing at the Varsity Theater in Davis, CA, where I lived after leaving NY.
I could have gotten a good night sleep instead.
Varsity is still going strong. Art house in Davis. Great theater.
I was on line there in mid-80s for a Saturday matinee, happened to look behind me and there with his UC Davis student granddaughter was Joe DiMaggio. Weird.
A simple hello and he introduced his granddaughter.
Never got a follow up letter.
Last random thing:
My college roommate was a co-founder of Magnolia Pictures.
A story for another day.
A cinephile who is spell challenged!
I have another story about recognizing Schoonmaker at a store in Manhattan several years ago and striking up a great conversation with her about how she and Scorsese edit! I'll get to it one day.
As always, fantastic stuff! Funny, well told, and self-deprecating while also acknowledging your proximity to GREATNESS.
I worked in film in NYC in the 1980s. One job was in an office across from The Kids in the Hall, and down the corridor from Scorsese's office. My only claim to fame is that his assistant, the legendary Julia, HATED ME.
Anyway, that might be why I loved this one so much. Fond memories of all of us doing our work to support magnificence and art, and the occasional dreadful flop-a-roonie.
Thanks.
Thanks, Kira! What did you do when you worked in the industry??
Nothing as exciting or near the action as production assistant! :-) Or anything on screen.
I grew up in the theatre, so one of my first jobs was assisting my Da's manager. And I was a casting intern at Playwrights Horizons, along with doing other random paid gigs there - painting flats and dying fabric and hanging fairy lights for the workshop of "Sunday in the Park with George," toiling in the Marketing Department, working as house manager, etc., and I ran around town checking actors into rehearsal spaces, etc. (Ran afoul of Stephen Sondheim on one cringe-y occasion).
What else? I worked at J. Michael Bloom back when Alec Baldwin was a baby star. Worked for a few years as an assistant-slash-Development Girl at a subsidiary of United Artists - read scripts, whatnot. My claim to fame there is that I read the script for, and passed on, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape!" Hah! I may have been terrible at development, come to think of it.
Did a bunch of other low-wage gigs - and I was a dresser, Off-Broadway, which was pretty easy money.
Hard to imagine our paths didn't cross at some point.
This is one of your best and of course this one means a lot to me as well. Great story, Paul.
Glad you liked it. I knew some of my friends would enjoy it a little bit more.
Terrific! I’m surprised you didn’t pull Medak aside and ask when he was going to do something as loopy as “The Ruling Class” again?
(I just looked him up. He’s still around and has directed some good TV shows!)
I saw that, too, and was amazed that he was still around! He didn't seem all that young 25 years ago!