Oh, it will be full-on late Scorsese, like RAN was full-on late Kurosawa or THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE was full-on late Ford or CRY MACHO was full-on late Eastwood. Getting films from master directors this far into their careers is a rare thing (as Billy Wilder said: it is the legs that give out, not the minds), and, beyond their mere existence, to have the possibility of a great film is even rarer.
CRY MACHO in 2021 and GEBO AND THE SAHDOW in 20212 and RAN in 1985 and SLEUTH in 1972 and RIO LOBO in 1970. Godard peaked in 1990 with NOUVELLE VAGUE, but kept making films until his suicide. Coppola–we will have to wait for MEGALOPOLIS. DePalma is gone from the scene.
It is a coolness born of his establishment position in society. No mean streets of Little Italy for Nolan–rather the tony enclaves of London.
I think KOTFM could make the same claim–racism and colonial expansion are not “what are we having for dinner” subject matter. What intrigues me is what Scorsese said about changing the movie from a whodunit into a who-didn’t-do-it. If he has pulled that off, it will be remarkable.
Any movie where its director/star has their character say: “Well, I think I’ll just lie down, and nap for a bit,” then fades out, and then both he and the film wake to a new scene is on a level of sublimity that few works of art in any medium ever reach.
Now my charms are all o’erthrown, And what strength I have ’s mine own, Which is most faint.
Edward Said is brilliant on late style, and his book “On Late Style” is essential for me:
It may be for the best if the rumours about Batgirl are to be believed. The Flash seems to be entertaining, and Keaton can go out on top with three good movies - as a 90s kid I love B89 and BR.
If you’re referring to to being ‘unwatchable’ then I don’t. The cast and crew were all proud of the work they did and the directors have a reasonably solid track record. I have a hard time believing that after releasing Batman V Superman, Suicide Squad and Justice League that Batgirl was where they drew the line. They are also using a similar rhetoric to when they announced the behind the scenes changes to Justice League.
To me it feels like a victim of changing regimes at DC/ Warner Bros, a combination of:
Being made for streaming but then priorities were shifted to big screen
Not fitting in witch changing universe plans relating to Batman/ Keaton
And of course, the dreaded tax write off. Remember, it wasn’t the only nearly finished film to be scrapped.
It was seemingly a victim of the new administration at WB hating the “all in on streaming” tact of AT&T, quickly cancelling all the films being made for HBO max and cancelling any tv series that they couldn’t sell off. Notice the international roll out of HBO Max also seems to have quietly gone away…
