Ever since Martin Scorsese indicated that he wasn’t a fan of superhero movies, it seems that’s just about the only thing that anybody can talk about when one of the most accomplished directors ever takes a step into the public eye. To be fair, other people are doing a lot of fan the flames. That includes Joe Russo who just took a shot at Scorsese after the director went viral on TikTok.
A recent TikTok video posted by Martin Scorsese’s daughter, which shows the director working alongside a schnauzer named “Oscar” has gone viral, because the simple fact that Scorsese is on TikTok at all is a notable state of affairs. It turns out that another director Joe Russo, is also a fan of the same breed of dog, and his is also named after his greatest movie accomplishment. Hint: it's not named Oscar.
Russo and his dog “box office” is a clear dig at Scorsese, though possibly meant to be a good-natured one, and this ongoing battle over the value of certain kinds of movies. Russo directed what was at the time highest highest-grossing movie of all time in Avengers: Endgame, which is an accomplishment certainly worthy of note. But Scorsese has certainly indicated that it's not how he determines success for his films.
Scorsese has made it clear that he’s not a fan, not simply of “Marvel movies” but of the way movies like them have taken over theaters. In his opinion, he seems to feel there's a focus on making money rather than art. Russo seems to be celebrating the fact that his movies are held in high regard among a wide audience, as made evident by the amount of money they have made.
One would hope this fight would just end, but it seems that won’t be happening anytime soon. I would wager there’s little in the world Martin Scorsese wants to talk about less than Marvel movies, but that seems all anybody else wants to ask him about. He’s got a new movie Killers of the Flower Moon, that most who have seen it seem to think is incredible. And yes, likely will get his name mentioned alongside “Oscar” once again.
Hollywood movie-making is a business, but it is one that involves creating art. There are always going to be films that are better at one than the other, and it’s honestly quite rare for a movie to do both in equal measure. Scorsese and the Russo Brothers are clearly at near opposite ends of the spectrum, but the idea that either of them is somehow only capable of one and not the other is silly, and not an idea that should be encouraged. Movie fans are also welcome to enjoy both equally.
