Mike Goes To Movies

The Irishman (2019) Without a doubt, The Irishman is one of the most anticipated films of this year, if not the past number of years. Not only is it the return of Martin Scorsese to the genre that, in a large way, he built his career upon, but it also reunites him with some of the most prestigious actors of this generation (a number of whom starred in those early films of his). It is not hyperbolic to state that crime/mob cinema would not be the same without Martin Scorsese. No, he did not invent the genre by any means, however, he definitely redefined it. In many ways, The Irishman is the culmination of Scorsese's career and it is him coming full circle around to where he first began. Scorsese's first acclaimed hit, way back in 1973, was Mean Streets (his third directorial feature and second crime film) starring a young Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, both of whom return in The Irishman. Mean Streets was a new, gritty take on urban organized crime that he would continue...

Is This The New Legitimate Era of Netflix? Though Netflix remains the controversial behemoth that it is - loved and hated in equal measure - this past weekend at the Academy Awards, the streaming service finally won big time... like really big time. During Sunday's awards show, the Mexican feature, Roma , directed and written by Alfonso Cuaron won three acclaimed Oscars for Best Foreign Film, Best Cinematography and Best Director. Now, Netflix has been nominated in the past and has actually won before, all of the wins and most of the nominations being in documentary categories. But with Roma,  the implicit acclaim of the awards it received boosts Netflix's credibility, most notably, to the naysayers within the film industry who continue to pan Netflix and other streaming services for diminishing the 'film experience', arguing that such services' content should not be eligible for film festivals or awards. Well, this past weekend's awards have pretty much cl...