Let's Party with Marty: A Martin Scorsese Podcast

After our brief detour via The Hustler, this week we're talking about Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money. This movie introduces a young Tom Cruise into the Fast Eddie saga and Paul Newman reprises his role as Eddie Felson. We talk about why this movie works so well as a legacy sequel — plus some other legacy sequels that get it right — and the great tricks Marty and Thelma Schoonmaker employ to make pool exciting to watch.As a little extra note, Let's Party with Marty will be on hiatus until mid-September while we focus our attentions on our sister show, Let's Jaws for a Minute. We'll be back for more Marty madness in a few months time ...

In this episode, Sarah and MJ talk about a film that is neither on Scorsese's list of companion films, nor is it a film he directed. However, The Color of Money is a sequel to The Hustler, and your illustrious co-hosts love to yap. So, they decided to do an episode dedicated to the first film in the Fast Eddie Felson saga, The Hustler. They talk about 1 vs. 1 competitions, the ambitious nature of the film, and the hottest person to ever walk the Earth, Paul Newman.

This week we're discussing the companion movie for Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money, the Italian comedy Il Sorpasso from 1962. We discuss whether it is really a comedy, how it balances conflicting tones, and whether any art is really new at all.

There's no rules for this podcast, it's After Hours babyyyyyyyy! Joining Sarah & MJ to talk about this Scorsese movie is friend of the show and co-host of "The Bond We Share" podcast, Adam Moffett. We get into our own real-life near-After Hours experiences, discuss the brilliant sight gags in this movie, and talk about why it is one of Scorsese's most underrated - yet easy to rewatch - movies.

It's our final stop before After Hours with another Allan Dwan farce, Up in Mabel's Room. While you'd be forgiven for thinking we're watching the same film as the last episode, this does fix some of the problems we had with Getting Gertie's Garter. We talk about the side characters that can steal the show in a farcical comedy, the fine line between horror and comedy, and discuss Martin Scorsese's quite frankly insane slate of possible upcoming movies.

We're still on the road to After Hours and talking about another Allan Dwan farcical comedy, 1945's Getting Gertie's Garter. Sarah and MJ chat about why we're bad at using Letterboxd (ironic considering this podcast started from a Letterboxd list!), where this film unfortunately falls apart, and the perils of trying to turn a silent movie into a talkie.

Is money fake? What even is time? Join MJ and Sarah as they ruminate on these big questions while also talking about 1940s farcical comedy, The Inside Story. This is the first of three companion movies for Martin Scorsese's After Hours, so we talk about its connections to that movie, when is the right time to make movies about big events, and the relevance the movie has to today.

This week Sarah and MJ discuss the under-appreciated Martin Scorsese movie, The King of Comedy. We get into the Joker of it all (unfortunately), the skilful way the film flirts with what is real and what isn't, as well as discussing our own fleeting brushes with internet fame via viral tweets.

This week we're on the very short road to Raging Bull with 1963's companion film, Station Six-Sahara. Opinions on it are split between your LPWM co-hosts, but we've got plenty of ideas about how this film could be improved, why it should be an exploitation film, and why we're both very annoyed with Nicole Kidman.

We've finally arrived at Raging Bull, a strong contender for Martin Scorsese's best film and a first time watch for one of your co-hosts! We discuss the incredible performances, Thelma Schoonmaker's impeccable editing, and the brilliant way Scorsese incorporates religious imagery into this boxing movie that isn't really about boxing.

Our final stop before Raging Bull it's a doozy! Rocco and His Brothers was clearly a huge influence on Martin Scorsese's own boxing drama, but it is also a great, great movie in it's own right. Join Sarah & MJ as they discuss the beautiful brutality of this movie, why sometimes 3 hours movies are okay actually, and finish things off with a quite frankly shocking revelation from Sarah to get you pumped up for the next episode.

Inching ever closer to Raging Bull, this week we talk about 1964's Gertrud, aka the movie that could've been an email. We talk about the pitfalls of adapting a play into a film — as well as those that manage to pull it off — and the crucial element to making unlikeable characters watchable.

Strap in, the slow journey towards Raging Bull continues, and this week we discuss 1948's Force of Evil. We get into the similarities between this and On the Waterfront as well as some of the takeaways Martin Scorsese had for his own films ... beyond just Raging Bull.

This week, Sarah and MJ begin the long and winding road that leads to Raging Bull with On the Waterfront! They are joined by Matthew Germanis for this super-sized episode where they unpack everything from the location shooting and brilliant performances to the way Scorsese was influenced by this film in several ways, and of course, the perceived apologism for Kazan and Schulberg testifying to the HUAC.

This podcast should be played loud! This week we're talking about 1978's The Last Waltz, the concert film of The Band's final show directed by Martin Scorsese. We chat about the perils of trying to capture the moments as they happen, the cult that follows this film, and get into our favourite performances from the show.

This week we discuss 1951 Powell & Pressburger movie, The Tales of Hoffmann, chosen by Martin Scorsese as the companion film for The Last Waltz. We get into the film's impressive technical aspects, the other surprising films it influenced in Marty's filmography, plus we chat about the incredible restoration work that went into this film and the pitfalls of using AI to try and do the same job ...

This week Sarah and MJ discuss another Martin Scorsese documentary, 1978's American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince. The companion film may have been The Joker is Wild, but this doc also shares a lot of similarities with – and the spirit of – Shirley Clarke's Portrait of Jason. We talk about whether we can believe all of Prince's tall tales (and if that matters), and Scorsese's unique approach to documentary filmmaking.

We've moved on from the companion films for New York, New York (or have we?!) with 1957's The Joker is Wild, the film Scorsese has paired with American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince. We discuss the undeniable talent of Frank Sinatra, how this film deals with trauma and the merits of a film with an unlikeable protagonist.

This week we (finally) arrive at Martin Scorsese's New York, New York, a film that divides opinion, and with moments that divide your co-hosts of Let's Party with Marty as well! We dive into the influences on this film, the many problems with it, as well as the impact it had on films such as La La Land.

We've reached the third and final companion film for New York, New York, 1955's Love Me or Leave Me. We spend a lot of time unpacking the ending of this film and how it compares to some of Martin Scorsese's movie endings, and talk about the merits of complex stories/characters and what they can give us as an audience.

On this week's episode we're talking about Casabla... wait, The Man I Love. Starring Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bog... no, hang on, Ida Lupino and Bruce Bennett. All will become clear as we discuss this highly "original" film that in no way rips off a certain 1942 movie, chosen by Martin Scorsese as one of the three companion movies for New York, New York.

This week we're tackling the first of three companion films for Martin Scorsese's New York, New York, looking at 1946 movie musical, Blue Skies. We talk about the incredible talents of Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, as well as some of the more troubling and outdated elements of this film, and of course how it was influential for Marty.

We've reached a Martin Scorsese milestone this week as we arrive at Taxi Driver. Fortunately, we're joined by the wonderful Jakub Flasz of the Uncut Gems podcast to help us unpack the myriad of things going on underneath the hood of this movie. Join us as we get into what is real and what isn't, the complicated and problematic legacy of this movie, the incredible score, and the very best pet hedgehog there ever was, Travis Prickle.

Arguably one of the films that most influenced Martin Scorsese — particularly Taxi Driver but also further across his career — 1958's Murder By Contract is a great lesson in "less is more." Sarah and MJ discuss the great score, why it's okay for bad guys to be good at what they do, and then go on a fun tangent about the films that affected them when they were 16.

This week we're joined by Lewis Wride, to talk about 1974's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. We get into the incredible performance from Ellen Burstyn, further Wizard of Oz parallels, why Vera is who we all aspire to be, and continue the discussion on why Martin Scorsese is actually a feminist.

This week we're back on the companion film list talking about 1951's Take Care of My Little Girl. Paired with Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, this obscurity has much to say about the American upper crust and the evils of sororities and fraternities that are hiding in plain sight ... and so do we!

This week Sarah and MJ are joined by the man who quite literally wrote the book on New York movies, Jason Bailey, to talk about Martin Scorsese's loving portrait of his parents. Italianamerican gets to the heart of the special sauce (quite literally) that inspires Marty to make movies and offers a fascinating glimpse into the immigrant experience.

In this week's episode, Sarah and MJ dive into Shirley Clarke's 1967 "documentary," Portrait of Jason. This episode is a real rollercoaster as we discover something of the truth behind the making of this fascinating snapshot, and have a small existential crisis about what even is real anyway. This film was chosen by Scorsese as the companion film to his 1974 portrait of his family, Italianamerican on his Letterboxd list.

On our latest episode Sarah & MJ discuss 1973's Mean Streets, the film many fans see as the true beginning of Martin Scorsese's career. We talk about the incredible chemistry between Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, the pros and cons of needle drops in films, and why it is impossible to ignore the religious aspects of Scorsese's pictures.

On this week's episode Sarah and MJ talk about Bernardo Bertolucci's 1964 movie, Before the Revolution. Chosen by Martin Scorsese as the companion film for Mean Streets, there's plenty to unpack here and lots of important historical context that makes this an incredibly interesting film.

This week Sarah and MJ discuss Scorsese's sophomore feature, 1972's Boxcar Bertha. They get into "the Roger Corman of it all," the crucial ingredient missing from this Marty picture and why tonally this film has more in common with Looney Tunes ...

On this week's episode, Sarah and MJ talk about the 1950s gangster movie, Guns Don't Argue. They examine its influence on Marty — and Jean-Luc Godard — when it came to making a movie for pennies, talk more broadly about why low budget doesn't necessarily mean low quality, and discuss the power of art to stay with you from a young age. Plus some controversial Beatles takes ... this episode has it all!

Sarah and MJ jump into talking about the first Scorsese picture on their journey and boy, do they make the most of it. They cover everything from the influence of Shadows on Who's That Knocking At My Door? to debut features, Marty's twisted sense of humor. And, of course, the faith tradition that permeates Marty's work.

On the inaugural episode of Let's Party with Marty, Sarah and MJ sit down to discuss John Cassavete's directorial debut, and the film that inspired Scorsese to pick up a camera, Shadows. They talk about the film as an overlooked piece of counterculture art that helped usher in the idea of independent filmmaking and paved the way for films like Dazed and Confused and even Clerks. They also talk about the influence of the film they see across Scorsese's entire career.

Welcome to Let's Party with Marty, a podcast where Sarah Buddery and MJ Smith are going to take a deep dive into Martin Scorsese's filmography, as well as the films on his Letterboxd list that he views as "Companions" to his own body of work.