Martin Scorsese: “Funny how? Funny like I’m a clown?”

My response is always the same: “I’ll attend Comic-Con when Scorsese puts in a personal appearance.”

Be careful what you bitch for. Seven months ago Scorsese proclaimed, “Cinema is gone!”, in effect admitting that he’s all but put an end to watching contemporary movies. No wonder he’s angry. Today’s filmmakers are miserable failures when it comes to visual storytelling, and the blockbuster mentality that funds them has a tendency of rewarding redundancy.

Speaking of redundancy, 8 Mile author Scott Silver and director Todd Phillips (Starsky and Hutch, The Hangover(s) will team on a new comic book spinoff. The origin story of Batman’s arch nemesis The Joker will be produced by none other than Martin Scorsese.

Deadline reports, “The intention is to make a gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in early-’80s Gotham City that isn’t meant to feel like a DC movie as much as one of Scorsese’s films from that era.”

Wasn’t that the point of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy?

What the f*#k are you doing? You’re either with us or against us, Marty. Forgive me, but you don’t impress me as the type of guy whose gonna go Thurston Howell on us and buy a boat. How much more walking-around money do you need? Are all four of your ex-wives still demanding alimony payments?

Why not give ten imaginative filmmakers a million bucks each — not a penny more — and let them make a movie? Better yet, invest more money in restoring classic movies. Anything but another effing Batman spinoff.

The good news is when a guy like Scorsese finally gets around to endorsing a comic book movie it’s all but certain that the cycle is nearing an end.

As for attending Comic-Con, Scorsese and David Lynch can kiss each other’s asses in Hall H, and you still won’t catch me there.