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Francis Ford Coppola has defended Martin Scorsese ’s criticism of Marvel superhero movies, calling them “despicable”.
Agence France-Presse reports that the famed filmmaker was speaking to journalists in Lyon, where he has been awarded the Prix Lumière at the Lumière Festival for his contribution to cinema, when he expressed support for Scorsese.
“When Martin Scorsese says that the Marvel pictures are not cinema, he’s right because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain something, some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration,” he said.
“I don’t know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again.”
He continued, “Martin was kind when he said it’s not cinema. He didn’t say it’s despicable, which I just say it is.”
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Fox Searchlight Pictures
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Amazon Studios
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Entertainment One
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Annapurna Pictures
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Fox Searchlight Pictures
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Universal Pictures
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Netflix
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Annapurna Pictures
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Sony Pictures Classics
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Warner Bros. Pictures
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Universal Pictures
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Sony Pictures Classics
Best films of 2019 (so far) The White Crow "Ralph Fiennes combines thriller elements with poetic flashbacks to ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev’s childhood and keeps a tight focus on the dancer. When he is most at risk, Nureyev makes decisions with his artistic future more in mind than his personal safety. As Fiennes reminds us again and again in what is his best film yet as a director, the 'white crow' will do anything to put himself in the limelight, the one place he is convinced he belongs."
StudioCanal
Best films of 2019 (so far) Border "Border reverses the perspective taken by most other horror films. In more conventional genre fare, Tina and Vore would be portrayed as malevolent outsiders, but in the world conjured up by director Ali Abbasi, the humans are the monsters. Tina is the innocent – a visionary who hardly understands her own powers but who can sense human venality and corruption wherever it appears."
TriArt Film
Best films of 2019 (so far) Fighting with My Family "Certain scenes feel very trite and predictable but the film gets you in a choke hold early on and won’t let you go. It is far more gripping than its subject matter might suggest. Who ever would believe a story about a wrestling family from Norwich could have quite such heart and resonance?"
James Field
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AP
Best films of 2019 (so far) Avengers: Endgame "The Avengers cycle comes to a rich and very satisfying conclusion with Endgame, surely the most complex and emotional superhero movie in Marvel history. At 181 minutes, this is a veritable epic, but with so many characters and plot strands, it fully warrants its lengthy running time."
AP
Best films of 2019 (so far) Eighth Grade "It’s a rare and precious feeling when a film completely dismantles you. Eighth Grade – the directorial debut of US comedian Bo Burnham – breaks down every delusion we have about ourselves and burrows deep into those parts we’ve made such an effort to lock away. You may cry. You may shudder as every awkward social interaction that’s kept you up at night replays in your head all at once. You may feel the sharp pain associated with those moments when you feel completely isolated from the world. Burnham may have crafted a simple story about the most ordinary of teenage girls, but it speaks with the emotions of a true cinematic epic."
A24
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Neon
Best films of 2019 (so far) High Life Robert Pattinson gives one of his most striking performances as Monte, the death-row criminal in outer space, tricked into making a voyage described at one stage as a “class-one suicide ride”. The former Twilight star makes his shaven-headed, gaunt-faced character seem hyper naturally sensitive and feral at the same time.
A24
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Neon
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Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
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Annapurna Pictures
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Amazon Studios
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Curzon
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Pixar/Disney
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Curzon Artificial Eye
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A24
Best films of 2019 (so far) The Lion King "The Lion King is undoubtedly a technological marvel that, much like Avatar, will come to be viewed as a milestone in special effects history, yet it’s just as interesting to see how all this innovation has been employed."
AP
Best films of 2019 (so far) Varda by Agnès "For a film that’s almost entirely narrated by Agnès Varda's own voice, it doesn’t feel driven by ego, but by pure intellectual and emotional curiosity."
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Best films of 2019 (so far) Blinded by the Light "Blinded by the Light offers not only a reminder of Springsteen’s lyrical genius, but of how he’s always served as a beacon for the disenfranchised."
Warner Brothers
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AP
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Republic Film Distribution
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Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
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A24
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Pathé
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20th Century Fox
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Studio Canal
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Neon/Vice
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A24
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Netflix
Best films of 2019 (so far) Le Mans '66 The film’s greatest trick is saved for its final reel. For much of its running time, you’d be easily fooled into thinking Mangold had made a grand ode to the American dream. It’s a film about an immigrant worker who, through perseverance and toil, gains the respect of one of the richest men in the country. And then the rug is pulled right out from underneath you. Le Mans ‘66 may relish in the high life, but its final moments feel devastatingly hollow.
AP
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Best films of 2019 (so far) The Report Adam Driver plays Jones, Annette Bening Senator Feinstein, and director Scott Z Burns captures the events in a cold, rigorously factual, and largely dispassionate manner. But that’s the point. The Report chooses to value the truth over bombastic displays of morality.
AP
Best films of 2019 (so far) Knives Out Casting an ensemble film is a little like perfecting a cocktail blend, balancing flavours until they sing together in harmony. Knives Out hits the mark here: the actors all feel well-suited to their roles and they bounce off each other with ease.
Lionsgate
In early October, Scorsese said that he had “tried” to watch movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that he had decided they are “not cinema” .
“Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks,” he explained.
“It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
A number of Marvel actors and filmmakers have since criticised Scorsese’s opinion, with Samuel L Jackson stating it is “like saying Bugs Bunny ain’t funny. Films are films.”
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn expressed sadness over Scorsese’s stance, tweeting : “Martin Scorsese is one of my five favourite living filmmakers. I was outraged when people picketed The Last Temptation of Christ without having seen the film. I’m saddened that he’s now judging my films in the same way.”
Appearing on The Howard Stern Show , Robert Downey Jr took a less outraged stance , stating: “I appreciate his opinion because I think it’s like anything, we need all of the perspectives so we can come to the centre and move on.”
Along with the Godfather trilogy, Coppola has directed films including Apocalypse Now , The Conversation and Bram Stoker’s Dracula .
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