Yesterday I started watching a new Directors Roundtable presented by The Hollywood Reporter. I had the idea of including it as a supplemental item to my roundup of feature films for 2019, but the more I watched it, the more I got hooked and realized I didn’t want to wait to put it out there. It’s a really great discussion of films and filmmaking between six directors who have new films in release that have been getting a lot of attention. Their ages range from 36 (Greta Gerwig & Lulu Wang) to 77 (Martin Scorsese). Age doesn’t seem to make any significant difference in how they express themselves, which is open and articulate. These are all very smart people. It’s stimulating and exciting to hear them talk. Of course, Scorsese has had a lot more time to create a large body of work, starting in 1963 with short films at NYU. As such, he has elder statesman (or statesperson) status in this group. His presence here really raises the bar, since he’s arguably the greatest living American filmmaker working today.
This roundtable is moderated by Stephen Galloway of The Hollywood Reporter. Roundtables in recent years have focused on actors, screenwriters, cinematographers, and so forth. They are available on YouTube.
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Here are the directors who participated this year, along with some of the films they’ve made, to provide context, if needed.
City of God (2002)
The Constant Gardner (2005)
The Two Popes (2019)
Old School (2003)
The Hangover Trilogy (2009 – 2013)
Joker (2019)
The Farewell (2019)
The Squid and the Whale (2005)
Frances Ha (2012)
Mistress America (2015)
Marriage Story (2019)
Lady Bird (2017)
Little Women (2019)
Mean Streets (1973)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Raging Bull (1980)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Goodfellas (1990)
Casino (1995)
The Departed (2006)
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
The Irishman (2019)
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Finally, here’s the video itself. It runs 65 minutes. I wish it was longer.
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Stay tuned for my recaps of last year’s feature films, documentaries, and television. — Ted Hicks
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Films etc. 
MOST INTERESTING AND SOMETHING TO LOOK OUT FOR.d