‘The Irishman': Less Than 20% Finished Scorsese Epic in Its First 24 Hours on Netflix

I think I need to rewatch it after your amazing post. Thanks bill.

Nice job Bill. We have a large screen home theatre with immersive surround but we also watch a ton of new releases on the big screen too. We are beginning to avoid new releases from Netflix, Amazon etc at festivals if we are going to be able to screen them later at home. This is the nature of movie watching today; people want choice and flexibility in how they watch, when they watch, stop to catch up on their social media, grab a snack or go for a pee. It's why movie going will become a special event, like going to the opera with the same price tab as attendance dwindles - same as has happened with sports. When we are desperate we'll watch on an Ipad usually while travelling although for the life of me I can't see why you would ever want to screen a movie on a phone. As more of our movies come from these sources be interesting to see whether movie makers take into account viewing on smaller screens and movies get longer as they accommodate home viewing but don't have the content to be a series.

We viewed it all the way thru at home and knew we were watching something special but I couldn't get beyond the younger faces and movement that mimicked old bodies. We then immediately screened Goodfellas and Casino back to back ('cos you can at home :-) and then screened The Irishman again. This time I could get beyond the technology and into the messaging behind the film.

If Scorsese was making this then the actors chose themselves - yes this was the great reunion movie - but I also suspect was essential to the trilogy. I don't know of course that he consciously had that front of mind but there is certainly a way to view these as a collection. I agree that it is about redemption and looking back on a life in the business because that is what it was to these guys - whether it is amped up with the glitzy life of Vegas or ends in remorse as an informer. All detours in the same funnel.

Awe is the right word. It is a masterpiece. Frank was clearly a sociopath, loyal to the bone to his mentors and devoted to the system despite not being a part of it (i.e he was not a made man). The study of how this manifested in everyday life was amazing in its detail. This is what enabled Frank albeit troubled, to take care of Jimmy. This wasn't the glitzy end of the mob, this was the business end. Pesci's charachter refers to the old timers in a mythical sense "taking out a President" and Keitel's "as not giving a shit about Frank". Frank was a working stiff who got to see a better life.

This rekindled in us an interest in the Soprano's who despite Tony's excesses were also troubled schmoes just trying to get by and envious of the super luxurious lives of Wall Street execs and rap stars (Series 1). (BTW the first series is now 20 years old and pre High Def. We screened it on HBO and the props and sound stage shots really don't stand up to 4K screening :-).

We needed a couple screenings Bill but hey we consume movies now in the way that best suits us - we have choices right? Thnx for sharing.

I wonder whether the notion of devotion is something that has driven a number of Scorsese's projects e.g. Silence, Gangs, Bring Out Your Dead, Kundun, The last temptation. Its a theme that gets explored in the Two Popes also excellent.

Brad Pitt was amazing in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? Really? It was a pretty standard performance, not even remotely deserving of Best Supporting Actor.

I can relate with the breaks you took. My viewing experience:

5 mins=wow, this feels a lot like a Scorsese movie (a bit of an anti-spoilers person...maybe too much)
10 mins=De Niro and Pesci in same movie? confirmed. A Scorsese movie.
30 mins=I like where the story is going
1hr=looking at my watch
1h30mins=I understand this is a marathon. Imma take a little break
(Intermission)
4 days later=okay let’s finish this bad boy

It was hard to get back to it, needless to say.

Edit: my rating is 7.8/10. I had no problem with the direction. I think it was more a script issue for me. Some scenes dragged and I understand that maybe the intention was to feel like we were there real time with the characters, but the script itself was repetitive in some parts and could have benefitted from maybe 10-15 mins lines cut.

I think this is a problem with a movie being "made for Netflix."

Its on the TV at home, you can pause it, you can leave, you can watch it over a few days.

You really don't get the "movie experience" of one sitting. Nor do you get the sustained emotion of following these characters at maximum intensity.

I saw "The Irishman" at a theater, on a very big screen, in one sitting. I had no other option than to sit there and take it all in , at once. And I'm glad I did.

It felt like a movie. Not like a TV series.