An opus of a documentary on Old Hollywood and the directors who made movies seem so magnificent to a young Martin Scorsese, "A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies" doubles up as an origin story of sorts for Scorsese himself, who definitely belongs in the pantheon of iconoclastic directors such as John Ford, Stanley Kubrick, and Nicholas Ray, all of whom are covered here. As its title suggests, this is a deeply personal view of the bygone era of cinema that Scorsese grew up watching, so expect to find holes in the coverage that you'd maybe prefer to have been filled in (comedy and horror, though not unmentioned, don't really crop up too much here), and maybe experience some disappointment when Scorsese, fearing he could not do justice to his contemporaries, declines to continue into an exploration of his own era of American cinema. Alternatively, you can just sit back and let the hours pass you by as Scorsese eruditely narrates over classic film scenes and talks up the directors who inspired him. This probably isn't the greatest documentary about movies but it's a damn engrossing one for what it is and if you're anything like me, you'll never get tired of listening to Scorsese talk cinema.
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