Justin's Log

The Irishman (2019) • Netflix Original Martin Scorsese brings Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci together for a gangster story that becomes less about power and more about what remains after a lifetime of difficult choices. What happens when a life built on loyalty and violence finally becomes quiet? At first, The Irishman may look like familiar territory for Martin Scorsese. There are gangsters, powerful men, secret meetings, expensive restaurants, favors, threats, and people who understand that saying the wrong thing can be dangerous. But the longer I watched, the less the movie felt like a celebration of the gangster life. Instead, it began to feel like a story about time. People become older. Friendships change. P...

Taxi Driver (1976) movie poster. Source: Columbia Pictures. Used for review and commentary purposes. Some movies become old. Others simply become more uncomfortable with time. Taxi Driver (1976), directed by Martin Scorsese, is one of those films that seems to become even more unsettling with time. On the surface, it follows a lonely man driving a taxi through New York at night. But underneath that simple idea is a disturbing character study about isolation, anger, and what can happen when someone slowly loses his connection with the people around him. What stayed with me most was not the violence that the movie is famous for. It was the feeling of watching Travis Bickle become more isolated while convincing himself that he understands the world around him. That makes Taxi Driver uncomfortable, but also difficult to forget. ...

The Departed (2006) movie poster. Source: Warner Bros. Pictures. Used for review and commentary purposes. What happens when the police have a man inside the criminal world, while the criminals have a man inside the police? That simple but brilliant idea is at the center of The Departed (2006), directed by Martin Scorsese. Instead of asking us to follow only the police or only the criminals, the movie puts us on both sides at the same time. We know that each side has a hidden enemy, but the characters do not. This creates a different kind of suspense. The tension does not come only from guns, violence, or police chases. It comes from conversations, phone calls, suspicious looks, and the constant fear that someone may discover the truth. I found this idea especially interesting because the movie makes us watch two men living almost opposit...