Films

Gangs of New York (2002)
[2nd half; 3rd watch]
When I saw Gangs of New York on its original cinema release it was the first Scorsese film I'd seen. Six years later, I'm more familiar with his body of work, having seen a further seven & a half of his films (including several of his most praised). I think Gangs of New York is still my favourite though. It's flawed, but I like the sprawling narrative, which has an almost mythical style; the brutal fights; and Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is fantastic. Gangs is a very Scorsese film too, using a variety of his usual techniques and exploring his usual themes, but applied almost to their genesis in the early days of New York City. I've only seen the likes of Taxi Driver, Goodfellas or The Departed once and am in no huge rush to sit through them again (well, maybe The Departed), but this is the third time I've seen Gangs of New York. Though, to be fair, I watched the other three within the last year and the last time I watched Gangs was probably four years ago... but still, I like it more. So there.