New York, New York

Rating:
Summary: A movie definatley worth your time to watch..
Review: Before I saw New York New York, I never knew anything about it! Maybe it's because I am only a teenage girl, or maybe because I am not a huge Martin Scorsese fan.. But I never really knew about it.. and I knew my parents had saw it.. But I never really asked them what was it about.. And one night I was watching t.v. and it was on! So I decided to watch it.. and I really did like the beginning.. just watch and see.. Liza Minnelli is a beautiful actress and her voice is even more beautiful.. and Robert De Niro is a very talanted man.. But I wanted to kill his character! lol.. (just watch and see) I did enjoy this movie.. but then I began to lose intrest.. possibly because the beginning was exciting.. that some how i expected more.. But the acting is excellent.. and Martin Scorsese's directing was also great.. I think if I might of had a greater intrest to watch it.. I might of enjoyed it more.. But this movie is worth your time.. and possibly you may have full intrest through out this movie.. it doesn't hurt to relax, get confy, and watch it!

Rating:
Summary: flawed but fascinating
Review: Godard maintains that this was Scorsese's greatest film--an outrageous claim but one that I can somewhat sympathize with. It is ironic that Scorsese's reputation is as a sort of gritty realist; in fact, his real subject has always been the slightly warped dream world of profoundly alienated individuals and the real mean streets his characters walk are not in New York but in a half-remembered, half-hallucinated Hollywood of the 40's and 50's. His often--perhaps too often-- repeated gesture is to place his lonely dreamers in collision with "reality" and to show it to be everybit as slippery as fantasy and just as inescapable. In this strange musical he seems to build a whole world out of bits of pop culture memories, cliches, and Hollywood images. This seems to be what attracted him to Liza Minnelli (There are several allusions and echoes of Vincent Minnelli here and Scorsese was one of the younger directors the old man most admired) and this interest on Scorsese's part works to the actress's disadvantage: while her famous parentage clearly resonates with the era and style Scorsese is exploring, her role is grossly underwritten and the director gives her little help, though she livens up considerably in some of her scenes with DeNiro. In fact the scene with the famous theme song came about when Scorsese saw Minnelli working in Vegas--which points up the extent to which he was more interested in the real Liza Minnelli than the character she was supposed to be creating. (Upon completion of this film, Scorsese tried his hand at directing Minnelli in a full scale Broadway musical set in Vegas with disastrous results) The script is famously messy and unworthy of the director and his two stars but in spite of that grave fault, the film is full of strange, poetic images, a harshly brilliant and often funny performance by DeNiro (improvising wonderfully) and a spectacular soundtrack--the big band covers are first rate and Minnelli never sang better...In this ambitious mess of a movie Scorsese shows a sort of greatness far above anything in the more formally perfect but less interesting Raging Bull. By the 1980s Scorsese seemed to have run out of inspiration, with films that either repeat things he had already done better earlier (Goodfellows) or hollow genre pieces (The Age of Innocence). DeNiro, of course, had many more wonders to perform after New York, New York, but the economy and power of his work here remains one of the highlights of his career. Minnelli, alas, never really recovered professionally from this third big budget box office bomb after her Academy Award for Cabaret. She stopped growing as an artist, entered into a period of drug and alcohol abuse, and ultimately this quick and creative performer who had seemed to promise so much at one time became a sad and coarse self parody--a sort of Ethel Merman without the subtlety. But her best work, including this film, stands fast.

Rating:
Summary: A Hidden Gem!
Review: I am suprised every time I talk to someone about New York, New York, they tell me they havent seen it! I know I come from a different generation being the young age of twentythree, but I am a devoted fan of Martin Scorcese and Robert DeNiro. Being another collaboration from these two cinematic greats should lead you to believe more of the younger movie buffs should have seen it by now. We all talk about the usual Scorcese pics and gawk over how amazing Taxi Driver or Goodfellas is. On that note I just want to brag about the beautiful and touching picture about two creative people and their struggle to love each other and at the same time be creatively successful. Liza Minnelli is brilliant as Francine Evans and does nothing to bring the picture down. In fact after Caberet, this is the only other role I've seen her in. In any case she doesnt disappoint and actually comes off very sexy! Her eyes glow throughout he entire picture and especially in the opening ballroom scene. Robert DeNiro is always great as we all know but he really suprised me here with the character Jimmy Doyle. His razor-sharp toungue spits out the mostly improved dialogue with such fury that it sets the screen on fire. He is also very, very funny. Its also a very personal film obviously to Scorcese considering that it practically mirrored his personal life at the time of filming. Im not going to go into details but if you are a Scorcese admirerer, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. All in all, this is a movie that every movie lover, young or old, should get aquianted with. Scorcese's deft direction, along with the trancendant art direction and performances and with all the music including the title track, this is one gem you shouldnt miss!

Rating:
Summary: Robert DeNiro's character-the most unlikeable character ever
Review: It is time for "Martin Scorses" to go back to his original
4 hour plus of his film "New York, New York". At Times it
moves slowly, and needs editing, other times the film is
deliberately slow, and then there are the scenes in the
second half that are so legendary, that they are what makes
this film a must for fans of "Jazz", "Kander And Ebb", and
"Liza Minnelli" performing at the top of her game! I bet there
are scenes you can tell are missing which should be put back
to give the story a stronger love story, rather than a "jerk"
with major talent and frustration who needs to dominate his
wife...........the dvd version could be, the definite version
of this film which has been seen in three different versions...
IT'S TIME FOR DVD...........AND FOR "NEW YORK,NEW YORK"@

Rating:
Summary: Great music but not so deep emotions
Review: Liza Minelli is great in this film that is a manifesto for New York jazz and Broadway musicals. She has a deep and mysterious voice and her songs are highly poetic. Robert de Niro is an aggressive lover and a very self-centered musician, music-doubled by Auld. In fact he looks like a remake of Fred Astaire in his courting techniques, but without the light humorous dimension of Fred and with a deeply egotistic and melo-dramatic dimension. But the film goes beyond this and shows how two artists could work together if they accepted to step beyond the small difficulties of life. Small is a way of speaking since it is a pregnancy that does not come at the right moment, breaking up a band and endangering a career. Robert de Niro just rejects the problem and saves his own career by dumping the wife he had had so much difficulty to conquer. Liza Minelli recaptures her own career after this event with her talent and also with her easy-going friendliness. The film becomes sad and has no Happy Ending because the two hesitate to recapture the past and meet again for reasons that are not really made explicit in the film, but that we can imagine to be the fear to go back to a cannibalistic relation on the side of Liza Minelli and the fear to get penned up into limitations on the side of Robert de Niro, in spite of the attraction his own son exerts on him. This shows how difficult it is for two great artists to live together and to work together, especially when one is tyrannical and the other diplomatic. Napoleon meets Queen Victoria in some way. But the film is too much centered on the music and not explicit enough on the love affair and sentimental experience if not experiment the two go through. It makes it a litle bit cold and unsensitive. We have to imagine too much about the relations between the two. So it makes the film slightly shallow and slow, in a word long.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Rating:
Summary: Start spreading the news... New York, New York is good!
Review: Martin Scorsese's "New York, New York" is a good attempt at an epic movie musical. Liza Minnelli and Robert de Niro carry the movie's long storyline with outstanding performances that is to be expected from Minnelli and de Niro. The only flaw is that it does not seem the movie turned out as well as it was envisioned to be. It could have been better, but by no means was it bad. "New York, New York" could have been snipped a little more in ye ole editing room, for it is a tad too long. All the two and some hours are worth it in the end, however, with Liza's showstopping rendition of Kander and Ebb's "Theme from New York, New York," later made famous by Sinatra; but no one, not even the Chairman himself belts it out better than Liza! The soundtrack is great, a nice trip back through the Big Band era. Liza in her "period" costume and long hair make her resemble mother Judy Garland more than ever, but by the end of Liza's rendition of New York, New York, you'll be asking yourself, "Judy who?"

Rating:
Summary: Does he love 'em or hate 'em?
Review: There *are* things to love in NYNY. But over and over again I kept coming back to this thought: does director Martin Scorsese (normally a genius storyteller) really love musicals, or is he, in fact, doing a satire of them here? I can't find any other expanation for the creation of a leading character (DeNiro) so self-absorbed, rude, brutish, and jealous of his future wife's (Minnelli) growing fame, while trying so hard to establish his own with a tenor sax. It's like there's a highly pitched voice of reason trying to remind the audience that in real life, people aren't so happy as they always seem to be in musicals. I know everyone doesn't love (many, in fact, proudly hate) musicals, but usually one can find something redeeming in the characters who populate the stories. For over 2 1/2 hours of film, we are presented with a love story which borders on spousal abuse, and somehow be expected to care about the husband. It doesn't work. And yet, Scorsese bends over backward to recreate the 1940's musical/big band atmosphere, from Hawaiian shirts and two-tone spectator shoes to sumptuous big band pieces, not to mention a charming pair of dancers spotted on a subway ledge (Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen?) or a sultry torch singer in a Harlem nightclub (Diahnne Abbott, whose 11th-hour performance of 'Honeysuckle Rose' seems to be tipping a hat to Billie Holiday). One critic seemed to personally resent the channeling of mother Garland through daughter Minnelli (particularly in the supper club where the title song is stunningly performed with all guns blazing), but I think that was very much on purpose. Even though she got much bigger acclaim for "Cabaret," I think Minnelli reached the peak of her musical talents in this film. I loved her. I just didn't love them together, and unfortunately, that kept me from loving the whole project. Release it on DVD, and skip to your favorite parts.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Epic Musical
Review: This movie is a trully underated musical. The poor script and imprudent editing are its only flaws. But the performances, the direction, the story,the costuming, the art direction, cinematography and the music make those flaws virtually unoticable. Im sure if this had been the success it should have been back in 1977, Im sure the film, the art direction, the cinematography, the costuming, Scorcese, and above all else Minelli(who never looked or sounded better)and Deniro would all have gotten Oscar nods. The one that I truly cant beleive is that the title song didnt win the oscar. It has become such a standard it should have one. Overall a great film trully an underated classic.

Rating:
Summary: Liza and New York,New York
Review: When this movie first came out I was not even a thought. Being a die hard fan of Liza Minelli I was curious to see what this movie is about. I did not expect my jaw to hit the floor. The story,cinemetography,music was spectacular. I cannot forget the performances of Robert De Niro and Liza Minelli as Jimmy Doyle and Francine Evans is this deep love/sometimes hate relationship. The movie is definitely worth while watching and I can't help to say as much as I really don't want to is how Minelli had a striking reminder of her mother Judy Garland in some of the numbers in this picture. Overall this movie is great.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, Scorsese's romantic musical on dvd!
Review: While many consider this one of Martin Scorsese's weakest films, it's one of my favorites. The musical performances, especially the Big Band songs, are very entertaining. Robert De Niro is my favorite actor of all time & I think he was perfect in this from beginning to end. Some hate this movie because at times De Niro's character isn't likable, but in comparison to his character in "Raging Bull" he's a kind gentleman in this film! De Niro plays Jimmy Doyle, a musician with great talent but no audience. That is, until he meets & teams up with Francine Evans (Liza Minnelli), a fabulous singer with great ambition. They're an overnight success, & they fall madly in love. "As time goes by", (pardon the pun) however their goals for success interfere with their relationship, leading to a split which may or may not be permanent (you'll have to see it to find out!). MGM's new special edition of "New York, New York" includes audio commentary, alternate takes, deleted scenes, a photo gallery, & theatrical trailers, & the film can be viewed in English Dolby Digital 5.1 or Mono. If you like Jazz & Big Band music, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, & Liza Minnelli, then you should add this underated gem to your collection.