Martin Scorsese's Netflix original film The Irishman is really getting dragged online
- so the official Twitter account Netflix Film decided to do a little good-natured dragging
back.
Hey, it's only fair.
The account responded to a tweet - in which it wasn't even tagged - that made a joke about
the best way to watch The Irishman, a film that was produced for Netflix but received
a limited theatrical run.
In a recent interview with film critic Peter Travers, the legendary director suggested
that The Irishman should definitely be viewed on the biggest screen possible.
"I would suggest, if you ever want to see one of my pictures, or most films - please,
please don't look at it on a phone, please."
Scorsese goes on to say,
"An iPad, a big iPad, maybe."
Well, you probably know where this is going.
In response to that remark, several cheeky troublemakers took to Twitter, posting pictures
of themselves watching The Irishman on every diminutive device known to man.
For example, one tweet featured a viewer watching Scorsese's film on an Apple Watch, along with
the caption:
"#NowWatching The Irishman the way Scorsese intended"
Another joker - who clearly possesses some superior Photoshop skills - seemed to be watching
the film on old-school Nintendo Game Boy.
The caption read:
"He said I could watch on this."
But the comment that drew the attention of Netflix Film came from Comic Book Debate lead
writer Donnia Harrington, who cheekily claimed:
"[I] debated watching The Irishman on my phone for this four-hour bus ride but I feel like
Scorsese will magically appear and beat my ass if I do."
The Netflix account suggested that Harrington was half right, replying with:
"He absolutely WILL appear but instead of a beating he will simply sit across from you
for the entire film and twinkle his eyes in a grandfatherly way that says 'it's ok my
child, formats and presentation matter, but your experience of art is valid no matter
how you receive it.'"
Pretty funny, sure... but it doesn't really sound like something Scorsese would say, does
it?
Perhaps that's because, in recent months, the legendary filmmaker has offered up an
awful lot of opinions about mainstream film - and they haven't exactly been well-received.
The Great Scorsese Blowback of 2019 began with three little words, uttered during an
interview with Empire magazine in early October:
"That's not cinema."
The director was referring to superhero films in general, and the movies of the Marvel Cinematic
Universe in particular.
Needless to say, many fans of the MCU franchise - along with some actors and directors who
worked on the films - took issue with that statement.
Scorsese's subsequent attempts to "clarify" his remark didn't go particularly well, either.
As The Hollywood Reporter noted, he effectively doubled down a couple weeks after his Empire
magazine interview, saying,
"Theaters have become amusement parks.
That is all fine and good but don't invade everything else in that sense.
[...] It's not my kind of thing, it simply is not.
It's creating another kind of audience that thinks cinema is that."
In response to the mounting criticism over these comments, Scorsese penned an editorial
for The New York Times in early November entitled,
"I said Marvel movies aren't cinema.
Let me explain."
The lengthy piece basically fleshes out his original statement.
At one point, he writes,
"Many of the elements that define cinema as I know it are there in Marvel pictures.
What’s not there is revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger.
Nothing is at risk."
Once again, everybody from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn to Disney CEO Bob
Iger wound up criticizing Scorsese's take on the MCU franchise.
Of course, it must be said that The Irishman is an excellent film.
Starring Scorsese mainstays like Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Harvey Keitel - and adding
no less than Al Pacino into the mix - The Irishman has earned Scorsese some of the best
reviews of his career.
It's safe to say there wouldn't be a controversy if Scorsese had simply stuck to talking about
his new film while making the rounds.
But that's not really his style, is it?
"My concern is losing the screens to massive 'theme park' films."
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