The Movie: Raging Bull, directed by Martin Scorsese
Recommendation: AFI Top 100
Reason: Does anyone really need an excuse to watch Raging Bull? Yeah, didn't think so.
Scorsese has never won an Oscar for directing. The works he has created have won, but he himself has never been honored with a win. I have seen four of his movies and I cannot believe that at the very least, he didn't get the statue for Raging Bull. The composition, the writing and the performances he coaxed out of his actors certainly deserved it. It didn't have the emotional kick that other films I've seen recently did, but the poetry Scorsese set up on the screen, built from music, brutality, light and darkness was spectacular to behold.
It was easy to lose DeNiro in his character. His immersion in the part was incredible. Though there isn't a truly weak performance to pick apart in the movie, DeNiro really stands out above the others. He deserved the statue he won for his part in this semi-biography, for so many little touches. In particular, it was his physical acting that caught my attention. I talk about tone and inflection a lot, but it's nice to be able to comment on the way an actor moves. DeNiro's sense of motion shared a certain menace that I'd previously enjoyed in Russell Crowe's Bud White (L.A. Confidential).
I enjoyed the film. It was a visual spectacle as much as a wonderful work of acting. Not my favorite movie of all time, but I at least understand the accolades it's gathered. Goddamit, Academy of Motion Pictures, just give him the statue already!
-19/365 down, 346/365 to go
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