Moviefone

“New York, New York” earned less than $14 million at the box office, making it a costly flop. Moreover, it marked the first time that the critics had turned against him. The asthmatic director responded by doing even more cocaine, endangering his already frail health. Still, two years after he shot it, he managed to complete “The Last Waltz.”

Scorsese’s exhaustion in the aftermath of “New York, New York” had led a lot of his friends to be alarmed about his health, he recalled, but he ignored their concerns until one day in September 1978 when he suffered what he called “a total collapse.” He coughed up blood, blacked out, and was hospitalized. He’d suffered an adverse reaction to a mixture of cocaine and asthma medication. He almost had a stroke.

“New York, New York” - The movie that almost destroyed Martin Scorsese

More cynically, political gridlock makes us yearn for a hero who can break through the stalemate and get things done. We all sometimes think of the president, whoever is in office, as an ineffectual figurehead who’s not doing enough to advance our own personal policy platforms, so we fantasize about someone who’s more hands-on and take-charge.

If that’s so, then presidents should beware. The public that lionizes you one day and can turn on you the next. It’s the flip side of the same coin that presidents who are regarded as larger-than-life heroes can also become larger-than-life monsters.

Why do we make Presidents into action heroes?

Disney Princess culture is so dominant that the glorification of these traditional, outdated role models has spawned an entire “anti-princess” movement, with mothers pledging to not allow their daughters to watch the Disney Princess films or get sucked into the profitable merchandising industry that makes princess costumes so ubiquitous at every playdate (and forget about Halloween).

Unlike most of her predecessors, Merida is neither cursed nor orphaned. She doesn’t have an evil stepmother, a fairy godmother, or a maniacal enemy plotting her downfall. Like most teenagers, she has a fundamental difference of opinion with her mother about what she should and should not be able to do.

Is Princess Merida Disney’s best role model ever?

What does it mean, at a time when film criticism as a profession is all but dead, to be the top critic? And what role has Ebert’s own career played in making criticism what it is today? By bringing criticism to TV, did he (however inadvertently) dumb it down to the point where it became disposable? Or did he, through his own personal example and high standards, manage to keep film criticism alive for another generation?

Roger Ebert at 70: Did he save or destroy film criticism?

Are ‘E.T.’ & ‘Poltergeist’ the same movie?

Spielberg himself noted the similarity in a June 1982 interview: “I think people lead lives where their deepest wish is that something would interrupt the mundane everyday routine,” he told Michael Verona. “And someone (or something) comes into their lives that disturbs everything, disrupts everything, makes them suddenly have to work at life and to live it [to the fullest] to survive.”

herochan:

Avengers vs Gutsman

Created by Freakajebus

Artist’s Note: The Avengers take on the classic Mega Man enemy, Gutsman…with ease. Nick Fury finds the utter devastation a little too much to handle, so Black Widow keeps him calm.

(via: it8bit)