Homework: The King of Comedy (1982)

[nickperkins 52]

I didn't know Scorsese and Lewis did anything together...this should be interesting. Available for digital rental. I've reserved my DVD copy at the library.

[RobertBoberts 62]

Haven't seen this in awhile. Looking forward to watching it again.

[PatrickGaertner 17]

Really excited about this one. This may be my personal favorite Scorsese.

[KickMuncher3 46]

Might be my easiest yes vote yet. My favourite Scorsese film. My favourite De Niro performance. I doubt there's any argument that could change my vote.

[Cronopio 127]

A cringe-inducing masterpiece! Can't wait to re-watch for the umpteenth time, and listen to the episode.

[JimmyMecks 49]

I've been wanting to rewatch this for a month so I'm pretty happy about finally having motive to rent it

[AlexChristianLovendahl 34]

I'm rolling this one out for the first time and already I kind of can't believe that this movie exists and I hadn't seen it yet, wowza.

 

EDIT: Just finished up; this is probably my favorite movie I've watched to keep up with The Canon. (Blow Out competes for favorite new-to-me Canon movie.) Really looking forward to the episode.

[sycasey 110]

Nice choice! This is a Scorsese film that is often forgotten (because he's made plenty of other much more famous works), but for my money it's right up there with the likes of Taxi Driver and Goodfellas on his resume . . . or at least pretty damn close. Outstanding social satire with great performances from De Niro and Jerry Lewis (yes, really).

[NathanGordon 1096]

I've never seen it either! I'm not a Scorsese fan and haven't seen many of his films, apart from the big ones.

 

I did recently watch a BFI produced documentary that Scorsese made in 1995, called A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies . It's basically a 4 hour appreciation of his influences and film history in general. It's very good -- highly recommended. It's in parts on YouTube.

[Muthsarah 124]

VERY excited for this one. Moreso than for anything since Kiki's. One of our greatest living filmmakers, but one of his "minor works". Very 70s feel. Haven't seen it in years. Can't say where I (or whichever host didn't pick it) will go on this one, though I feel all signs lean positive.

[Galactiac 91]

Always been curious about this movie. I'm pumped.

[Shrek & Donkey Kong 4336]

So excited! This has been my most anticipated Scorsese movie for quite some time now, don't know what I was saving it for until now.

[Threshold 93]

Much like everyone else- I fuckn love this film.

 

In classic Marty style, he regrets making the film (so Catholic of him), but it's understandable why because it is so misanthropic. The thing that separates us from the animals is that we can communicate and congregate; and this film portrays a world in which those traits are a curse in that there is no pleasure derived from using those gifts.

A terrifying and great film.

[donaldw 2]

I just watched it last night to prepare for the upcoming episode. I had never seen it before. When looking up some information on it, there were quite a few articles calling it Scorsese's secret greatest film or saying that it's especially relevant today.

I thought it was a fine movie, but nothing really grabbed me or stood out, except for Jerry Lewis' stone-faced hate when he sees Pupkin on TV. At least that's what I saw. Maybe I'm also supposed to see a begrudging admiration? I don't know, but it was great.

I like the movie but don't love it. Hopefully the next episode's discussion can help me appreciate it more. I want to love it like so many other people do.

[jordandotsmith 0]

Very excited about this pick and how many people have never even heard of this gem. I'm also a huge Jerry Lewis fan (some might say apologist) and hope this turns a lot of listeners on to his genius. As always I have zero idea what Amy will think about this one!

[kubrickshines 15]

I like the movie but don't love it. Hopefully the next episode's discussion can help me appreciate it more. I want to love it like so many other people do.

 

I'm with you. I see how influential the film is on cringe comedy in retrospect, but I find it really hard to sit through when I'm watching it. Definitely prefer 'After Hours' to this myself.

[Susan* 135]

This is the first pick I've been delighted by in a while. I never like big Scorsese or DeNiro movies as much as other people, but somehow this one works for me.

 

I'm still a fan of Sandra Bernhard!

[NathanGordon 1096]

"I'm sorry, I made a mistake..."

 

"Hitler made a mistake!"

 

 

This is one of the funniest things ever written.

[Shrek & Donkey Kong 4336]

WOAH thank you Canon for finally making me get around to this one. Immediately one of my favorite Scorsese movies

[JeffreyMcDonald 65]

I just watched this for the first time in 10+ years. I always appreciated it, but the purposeful cringe of some of the scenes made it difficult to want to go back to. I love pretty much all Scorsese, but especially when he goes somewhat more experimental. On the extras they talked about how a lot of the film (especially Bernhard) was improvised, which adds to that raw-crazy tone.

 

Fun fact*:

Jerry Lewis asked for his character to be called "Jerry" because he knew in the outdoor scenes in New York that when they were filming, that random people would yell out "Hey, Jerry!". Scorsese hesitated, so Lewis took him down a block and that was exactly what happened.

[*heard this story on Gilbert Gottfried's podcast]