"Could you double-check the envelope?"

Last year at the 78th Academy Awards, Jon Stewart remarked, "Three Six Mafia: One. Martin Scorsese: Zero."

Not the first joke about Scorsese's losing streak, but definitely one of the last. For decades, Scosese has been one of the biggest losers at the Academy Awards (an honor now held by the eight-time nominated and eight-time disappointed Peter O'Toole, best known for his role in Lawrence of Arabia).

Well, Marty finally got his long overdue recognition for his work last night. After being nominated for six times, it would have been difficult for Scorsese to go home empty handed again, but this time he didn't have to.

When the award for Best Director was going to be presented (after midnight mind you), it was a sealed deal that Martin Scorsese got hit "gold star" when Coppola, Spielberg, and Lucas came on stage to present the award. They weren't going to do something like this for the two-time winner Clint Eastwood or Paul Greengrass, I can assure you.

It's great that Scorsese finally got what we all knew he deserved, after proving himself time and time again with Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas. But before he could even take the moment in, he had the satisfaction his film, The Departed, winning Best Picture.

No other director or film was more deserving or greater worth, but part of me was kind of disappointed. I was looking forward to yelling at my television and seeing Scosese go for his seventh shot at his first oscar.

'Grindhouse' to be split in two (at least for the non-English speakers)

On April 6th, Tarantino's and Rodriguez's double feature film, (consisting of Death Proof and Planet Terror), will be released. However, this will not be the case for overseas.

For some countries, the two short films will be split and some material will be placed back into the films. This means anyone who hoped to see both is looking at buying two admission tickets.

For anyone who can't remember (or didn't care), Tarantino's Kill Bill was split into two volumes, for artistic reasons, back in 2003 even though it was intended to be one film. It could have been a corporate ploy to cash in as many dollars as possible, but I can't argue with the final product.

As for the Grindhouse, splitting it seems to be a tad unnecessary. It was filmed with intentions to be a compilation of two short films, which makes it even more suspicious that it is being split for certain countries. And adding back in cut scenes is not always a plus. More isn't always better. Just remember, those scenes were cut for a reason.

I almost feel as if foreigners are being taken advantage of. Does corporate Hollywood--umm... I mean Hollywood-- think they won't notice? Maybe so.

My only reasoning for Grindhouse not being split in the U.S. is because Americans are too cheap.

Martin Scorsese is back on the 'Mean Streets'

'The Departed'

Rating: R
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Running Time: 2 hours 31 minutes

If you haven't seen The Departed, then don't consider yourself a fan of movies.

Based on the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, Scorsese has brought a masterpiece to American cinema. There has never been a better cat and mouse flick. He handles with great ease guns, murder, plot twists, coke, love triangles, betrayal, and cranberry juice.

The film follows Billy Costigan (Leonardo Di Caprio), a wannabe state trooper from the Southie Projects in Boston. He is assigned to be a rat in Costello's crew, the biggest mafia boss in all of Boston. As if there isn't enough Billy has to fear, there is a rat in the police department, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon).

It's a fast paced game of who can smoke the other rat out first before one of them is exposed. It's not so easy when both are experts in keeping their cool and their hands steady. They have to live their lies in constant paranoia and loneliness. Scorsese purposely blurs the lines between good and bad so it's hard to tell who to trust. As Costello (Jack Nicholson) says, "When you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference."

Costello's character is down right devious in the film. When he shoots a woman in the back of the head as she awaits her death, she falls the the ground from her knees, and Costello remarks, "She fell funny." He is a villain taken to the extreme. In one instance he takes women back to his room and throws cocaine all over their bodies like a coating of snow and says, "Don't move until you are numb."

Jack Nicholson plays this part like he were let loose out of a cage, which isn't a bad thing. All the other actors are also superb. It helps that the actors are given characters with depth to work with. Leonardo Di Caprio gives his first mature performance. Mark Wahlberg steals every one of his scenes. And Alec Baldwin is hysterical.

This is a film that needs to be seen, not talked about. There are so many moments of pure brilliance, no water cooler discussion will ever do it justice. This is the best film of 2006, and Scorsese's best since Taxi Driver.

The Departed feels very reminiscent of Goodfellas, but that's not to suggest it's a rehash; it's Scorsese taking what he knows - crime dramas - and making the best of it. When a director can maintain humor, tension, and intrigue on the screen all at once, the director has done something right. Scorsese does something right every five minutes.

Horses and hounddogs, oh my!

There has been an uproar over the Sundance films Zoo and Hounddog. However, it's somewhat half-baked.

In Zoo, men engage in sexual relations with horses and in Hounddog, there is a rape scene involving Dakota Fanning. These can understandably make people feel uncomfortable, but then again, people don't have to watch these movies.

So then where is the controversy? Do people think that man on horse (or horse on man) is too explicit and foul for anyone to see? Is it that people think moviegoers get some sick and twisted pleasure from it themselves? Do people think a rape scene involving an eleven year-old is crossing the line? Are we corrupting the youth of society and robbing them of their innocence? Well, what is it?

All I have to say is stop looking at these at surface value and start looking at them in a different way.

People look at the film Zoo and see man's "fatal" attraction towards stallions. I can just imagine people leaving the film as they hold back the vomit only to go over to another, far "superior" movie, like Epic Movie. It really is a shame because that is all that people will see, just horses, men, and their sexcapades in between.

Why can't people see the film for how it really is? What drives a person to have feelings towards another man or woman is no different than someone who were to have feelings for, say horses. We don't decide who we love, we just do. No one person is less of a slave to their hormones and biological chemicals. If a film shows two men together, it should not be said that the film director is necessarily advocating that every straight person go out and experiment. The same can be said if a director shows a man and a woman together.

I have watched a decent amount of films, and the one thing I know is that they centralize around stories. Maybe a horse sex scene is not about the raw physical desire, but about a man's torment in participating in such an action. Maybe it's about his only true escape. Maybe the film is really is just about horses, men, and throwing in some champagne, but more often then not, people will sell films like theses short.

When people look at the scene in Hounddog, they will see Dakota Fanning and scream, "My, God! She is just a child! What is that man doing to her?!?!" They'll count all the boundaries independent films has crossed on their fingers and then move on to their toes.

But what is it in the rape scene that goes to far? It's not like these sort of things don't happen. And it's just a dramatization, not an real rape. Wait no, I take that back. This makes total sense. People should boycott Hounddog and go see Saving Private Ryan, where people's intenstines are spewed into the forground of the camera shot.

What people need to realize that there is more on the screen than what is seen.