Been catching up with your DVD collection lately? Here is what the Rowthree writers have been looking at (but not necessarily writing up a complete post) in the film world. It looks like Dave has been going to town on his Scorsese flicks. Want the complete list? Just click the “Movies We Watched” icon on the sidebar for our complete ‘blurb’ archive.

After Hours (1985) 4.5/5
I can’t even begin to describe how bad of a night Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) is having. He meets a beautiful girl named Marcy (Rosanna Arquette) in a coffee shop late one night, and decides to visit her at her friend’s apartment, something that has happened hundreds of times before, to hundreds of other guys. What happens to Paul on this particular night, however, is truly unique, and must be seen to be believed. After Hours is a very funny film, but not in the laugh-out-loud style of many comedies; it is a film that will cause laughter in hindsight, when you have time to reflect on the pathetic bad luck of its main character. Watching this film is like staring at a train that’s running out of control, watching it crash, and then keeping your eyes glued through all the predictable carnage that’s sure to follow. Paul Hackett’s train runs out of control the moment he steps into a taxi that fateful night, and he doesn’t have a minute to catch his breath from then on…and neither do we. -DAVE

District B13 (2004) 4/5
Loved it. Much like 2008’s “Doomsday,” “District B13″ has got that “Escape from New York” feel to it; except with Parkour chases and lots more hand to hand combat. The action is ridiculous and over the top, but done well enough that it never becomes eye-rolling. It’s just ass-kicking, non-stop action with great characters and a simple enough premise to keep the story hopping along at a rabbit-like pace. -ANDREW

The King of Comedy (1982) 4/5
This film, a very funny look at obsessive fans and the inherent dangers of maintaining a celebrity status, boasts at least one element that is certainly worth cherishing: Robert DeNiro dropping his tough-guy persona in order to play a geek. As Rupert Pupkin, a wannabe comedian who’s convinced he deserves a shot at the big time, DeNiro manages to be both spooky and hilarious. There are times when his asinine shenanigans are so embarrassing that it truly becomes a chore to continue watching; I often found myself laughing and cringing at the same time. Even Rupert’s fantasies are incredibly over-the-top. They say seeing is believing, but I still have a hard time accepting the fact that the actor who portrayed such legendary Scorsese bad-asses as Johnny Boy, Jake La Motta, and Jimmy Conway is the same guy who played his Rupert Pupkin. I mean, honestly…the normal DeNiro character would have this clown for breakfast! -DAVE

Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) 5/5
A tactile and immersive document on the 1974 Coal Miners strike in which the Kentucky workers simply wanted to join the union of their choice. Things get ugly, with the threat of the violence of the 1930s ever hanging over the heads of the community. However, the workers wives get organized and kick things into high gear. What Kopple and co. have captured here is a slice of Americana that is rarely captured on film. And the winning soundtrack is as much a part of the narrative an experience as the tribulations of the working folk. -KURT

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) 4.5/5
This is a film I covered in Hidden Treasures, at which time I praised the style Scorsese brought to the film, in which he matches the exuberance of many of his ‘New York’ stories. On this viewing, I found myself concentrating more on Ellen Burstyn’s performance as Alice. Burstyn does much more than successfully capture the daily difficulties of being a single mother; she also manages to generate a hell of a lot of humor along the way. The interactions between Alice and her 12-year-old son, Tommy (excellently played by Alfred Nutter) are at times downright hilarious, and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is, as a result, a very entertaining comedy. While Scorsese’s touch is still evident, it does not overwhelm the story at hand as I originally believed. To the contrary; it merely enhances what was already there. -DAVE

I Call First (1967) 4/5
This early Scorsese work, which actually consists of several different shorts he made while a student at NYU’s film school, is interesting in that it both dabbles in familiar Scorsese territory (following a group of friends in New York’s Little Italy), yet also shows off a newcomer experimenting with the craft. A film that, style wise, seems to have more in common with the French New Wave than American films of the time. -DAVE