The Irishman 2019
This weekend's Netflix release is the peg for the episode. The hosts save the movie itself for next week.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Top Five · Interview
Top Five Martin Scorsese Movies. Plus: Edward Norton! | The Big Picture
November 1, 2019/ 91 min/ Sean Fennessey · Chris Ryan · Adam Nayman
Ahead of The Irishman, Adam Nayman and Chris Ryan each run their Scorsese top five (Sean plays along too); then Sean sits down with Edward Norton about Motherless Brooklyn.
45 films across 7 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
What Makes Scorsese, Scorsesebefore the lists, a conversation about his career
Mean Streets 1973
Early example of Scorsese synthesizing genre from inside and outside American crime pictures: Italian melodrama grafted onto B-movie plotting.
The Godfather 1972
Contrast point: Coppola was more overtly reinventing the gangster genre in the same era than Scorsese was.
Cape Fear 1991
Chris's marker for when Scorsese stops being a crime-genre director in any strict sense. Before this, his real genre was New York City itself.
Network 1976
Cited as a rare peer to Scorsese's The King of Comedy in predicting America's relationship to fame.
Joker 2019
This year's Scorsese homage/riff, leaning on Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy.
Runners-Upbefore the countdown
After Hours 1985
Adam crossed this off his list on the way to the studio in favor of The Last Waltz. It turns up on both Chris's and Sean's top fives anyway.
New York Stories 1989
Chris's shoutout to the Nick Nolte segment 'Life Lessons' (not a full film of his own, but one of Scorsese's best hours). Skip the other two segments.
Adam Nayman's Top Five Scorsese Movies
No. 2
Silence 2016
No. 2. Adam calls it the best of Scorsese's late films. Isao Gata's performance is his favorite in any Scorsese movie.
No. 3
The Age of Innocence 1993
No. 3. Praised for the restraint in Daniel Day-Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer's scenes together.
Chris Ryan's Top Five Scorsese Movies
No. 2
The Color of Money 1986
No. 2. Chris's favorite Newman-Cruise sequence: 'Werewolves of London.'
Sean Fennessey's Top Five Scorsese Movies
No. 2
The King of Comedy 1982
No. 2. Sean links it to Network in predicting America's relationship to fame.
The Ones Nobody Pickedafter the countdown
Raging Bull 1980
The big non-pick. Chris: 'the masterpiece that has never really worked for me'; Adam says it's never been super pleasurable to watch.
The Departed 2006
Adam is on record disliking it; Chris says it's an important movie to him despite its flaws.
Shutter Island 2010
Named as an example of late-period Scorsese nobody reached for.
Edward Norton on Motherless Brooklyn
Edward Norton on
Motherless Brooklyn 2019
Norton's first film as director in 19 years: he wrote, directed, and stars, moving Jonathan Lethem's novel from present-day to 1950s New York.
Edward Norton on
Keeping the Faith 2000
Norton's actual directorial debut, made while Motherless Brooklyn sat in a drawer for years.
Edward Norton on
American History X 1998
Where Norton met Toby Emmerich, the eventual Warner Bros. exec who championed Motherless Brooklyn for two decades.
Edward Norton on
Citizen Kane 1941
Norton's touchstone for an actor directing his own passion project.
Edward Norton on
Dances with Wolves 1990
Same list: actor-directors who found the material that fit them.
Edward Norton on
Sweet Smell of Success 1957
Someone pointed out to Norton that Motherless Brooklyn is set the same year as this film, and shares its vibe.
Edward Norton on
Chinatown 1974
Norton's noir reference point for using genre to reveal how a city was really built.
Edward Norton on
The Big Sleep 1946
Cited alongside Chinatown as the noir tradition Norton calls secretly patriotic.
Edward Norton on
Forrest Gump 1994
Norton's example of the afflicted-underdog structure he used for Lionel, via screenwriter Eric Roth.
Edward Norton on
A Beautiful Mind 2001
Rounds out Norton's list of films that make you root for someone because of an affliction, not despite it.
Edward Norton on
Anima 2019
Norton's 'last great thing': Paul Thomas Anderson and Thom Yorke's short film for Netflix.
Edward Norton on
A Prophet 2009
Jacques Audiard's prison drama. Norton ranks it with The Godfather and Goodfellas among the great gangster films.
Edward Norton on
Rust and Bone 2012
Audiard's film with Marion Cotillard, Norton's parting recommendation.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Scorsese's own Sight & Sound top 10 (he actually listed 12) 2001: A Space Odyssey8½Ashes and DiamondsCitizen KaneThe LeopardPaisanThe Red ShoesThe RiverSalvatore GiulianoThe SearchersUgetsuVertigo
In passing Visions of LightGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2Thor: The Dark World
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
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