Welcome to the latest episode of the MOTION PICTURES podcast.

Your regular hosts, Tony Black & Carl Sweeney, are back to discuss director Martin Scorsese and his new film THE IRISHMAN, and ask a key question...

What exactly *is* cinema?

In the last few months, Scorsese and Marvel have, via Film Twitter, been at war, after Scorsese described the Marvel cinematic juggernaut as “not cinema”.

Is he right? Is he wrong? Does it matter? Is the answer less important than people’s reaction to it?

It seems to have triggered a debate over the direction of modern cinema. Blockbuster franchises vs smaller fare. Distribution models with Netflix bankrolling The Irishman when major studios wouldn’t.

Are we facing cinematic hegemony? Or is the market simply evolving & adapting?

And crucially, is there art or craft in Black Panther to the same degree as The Irishman or Goodfellas? Worlds apart in tone and texture, do they all apply as pure cinema?

Plus! In our 'What We've Watched' section, we pick through some recommendations of cinema new and old, including KNIVES OUT & DUCK, YOU SUCKER!, plus one to avoid in 60's screwball comedy WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT?...

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Martin Scorsese on Marvel to Empire Magazine: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/04/martin-scorsese-says-marvel-movies-are-not-cinema

Scorsese clarifying comments in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/04/opinion/martin-scorsese-marvel.html

You can also find a Letterboxd list of Scorsese & Marvel films discussed in the podcast here - have you seen them all? https://letterboxd.com/blackster/list/motion-pictures-podcast-6-scorsese-marvel/