Scor-zay-zee on Scorsese
October 7, 2009
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Nottingham-based rapper Scor-zay-zee (real name Dean Palinczuk) hit the headlines in 2003 with Great Britain, a scathing swipe aimed at the hypocrisy of the ruling classes, only to announce his retirement from the rap game shortly after. His conversion to Islam was cited as a reason but Scorz explained, "It wasn’t just turning religious, it was more a load of things happening at once, I just had to take a break you know."But now Scorzayzee is back after landing his dream role in Shane Meadow's improvised mockumentary Le Donk & Scor-Zay-Zee. Scorz is full of praise for Meadows calling him, "a genius" and says starring alongside one of his favourite actors, Paddy Considine was, "a dream come true." The film follows the fortunes of the pair as they strive to land a gig opening for the Arctic Monkeys and was shot on a micro-budget over just five days.
With the film out this weekend (October 9th), Scorz already has a new album Peace of the Puzzle in the can and has just had his new single Listen to the Music signed to Universal. We spoke to the rapper about the inspiration for his moniker, Martin Scorsese and got him to give us a rundown on his favourite Martin Scorsese flicks.
Taxi Driver
The great thing about Taxi Driver is the mystery of the lead character Travis Bickle (De Niro). You don’t really see where he’s come from.Best scene: There's this scene where Bickle takes Cybil Shepherd's character to see a porno. She gets pissed off that he’s taken her to a porn film, but in his head he doesn’t see what’s wrong with that, and to me that’s really funny. When she storms out she gets in a cab to go off, he still doesn’t get it. There’s one line that just kills me. He says: “But I own a taxi? I drive a Taxi?” And he still doesn’t get it. Then he says: "She’s going off in a taxi, but I drive a taxi." I think it’s then that the switch goes on in his head and it takes him over the edge. I love the way Scorsese makes him the hero in the end.
Goodfellas
This is my favourite film of Scorsese’s. What I like about Goodfellas is the small details.Best scene: I like the big when Tommy kills Spider in the "fetch me a drink" scene. What makes me laugh is the fact that they’re playing cards and Tommy has just shot Spider dead, and Frankie Carbone just turns around, looking at his cards and says “Nice fucking game”. The guy is dead on the floor, and he’s bothered about having a good hand at cards. They don’t see the problem that the guy’s actually dead, but they see a problem about who’s going to dig the grave.
King of Comedy
King of Comedy is just so funny. Rupert Pupkin is De Niro’s character and he’s a really strange guy. He wants to be a comedian and he pretty much stalks Jerry Lewis' character, who's a talk show host.Best scene: I like the bit where Pupkin is practising his routine in his bedroom with his mum shouting asking after him and he’s shouting, “Mom! I’m just practising.” When they actually kidnap Lewis’ character and Pupkin goes on stage to do his act to the world on camera, he’s holding this guy to ransom to get on TV. He’s not that funny, but he does do a good job telling good jokes. Then in the end he goes to prison and comes out and he’s a big star.
