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The 50 Year Argument

2014 1h 36m Documentary List
78% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 61% Audience Score 50+ Ratings
Filmmakers Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi examine the history of the New York Review of Books. Read More Read Less

Critics Reviews

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Mark Medley Globe and Mail A fascinating look back on the major social and political events of the second half of the 20th century and early years of the 21st ... Rated: 3/4 Jan 23, 2015 Full Review Chuck Bowen Slant Magazine The 50 Year Argument is a fawning testimonial to the legacy of a cultural giant. Rated: 3/4 Sep 23, 2014 Full Review Ignatiy Vishnevetsky AV Club It has noble intentions, but seems aimed more at subscribers than viewers; it's never a good sign when a movie's most visually and dramatically compelling moment is a three-minute clip from The Dick Cavett Show. Rated: D+ Sep 11, 2014 Full Review Norman Wilner NOW Toronto The value of the NYRB as a cultural and literary institution is undeniable, and that's what Scorsese and Tedeschi are celebrating here. It's hard to argue against the sentiment. Rated: 4/5 Dec 18, 2015 Full Review Randall King Winnipeg Free Press A too-relentless celebration of this bulwark of discourse in American letters. Rated: 3/5 Apr 10, 2015 Full Review Chris Willman The Playlist Auteurists will be hard-pressed to find much stylization that betrays Scorsese's participation, but bless him for letting us spend an hour and a half pretending that American letters still matter in mainstream as they did in the '60s. Rated: B Sep 2, 2014 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member http://filmreviewsnsuch.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-50-year-argument.html Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member This was very good at the beginning discussing the narrative on the origins of the magazine. My only minor critique is that it does turn into an intellectual wankfast towards the end and it is a little lost in some places. Not sure of the chronology. A slight point of view is taken (as expected with most documentaries these days.) Worth seeing, if nothing more than all of the famous clips including Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer going at it on the old Dick Cavett Show. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the reviewers had mentioned, "[it] seems aimed more at subscribers than viewers". I can't agree more, I am a subscriber and will always be, as long as Silvers is the editor. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member This is the first reporting that has actually made me feel concerned about the future of books. Subtle yet very powerful reification of the importance of ideas and communication through books. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member This was an extraordinary documentary that I saw at the Toronto Film Festival. Most moving was the interview with Joan Didion who had written about the1989 rape of the "Central Park Jogger." At that time Didion insisted that the conviction of five young black men was full of assumptions that were not proved. She wrote that the convictions fed into an assumed narrative of young black men as dangerous predators. This view was extremely controversial, even among "liberals" (sorry...no surprise there...scratch a liberal and all that). Didion was proved right some 12 years later when the real rapist was identified and the young black men were released. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The 50 Year Argument

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The 50 Year Argument

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Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmakers Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi examine the history of the New York Review of Books.
Director
Martin Scorsese, David Tedeschi
Producer
Margaret Bodde, David Tedeschi, Martin Scorsese
Production Co
Magna Entertainment, Verdi Productions, Sikelia Productions
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 29, 2016
Runtime
1h 36m