
Jay Cocks
Writer · b. 1944
John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College. Before shifting to screenplay writing, he was a critic for Time, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone, among other magazines.
Movies14
Movie6.8DocumentaryThe very first full-length documentary on Scorsese offers an invaluable look at how he was perceived by his colleagues, and himself, in 1977. Catching Scorsese while he was in post-production on New York, New York and editing The Last Waltz, British filmmaker Peter Hayden gets the manically hyper Scorsese to comment on his youth, his relation to his lead characters, the making of Mean Streets and most importantly, his approach to direction. The doc doesn’t quite move at the pace of Scorsese’s revved-up speed-talking, but it does offer some real insight into his productivity in the 1970s, thanks to an impressive array of talking heads. Included are Scorsese’s collaborators Jay Cocks, Mardik Martin, Brian De Palma, Steven Prince (who co-produced this doc), and his mentor John Cassavetes. Also the performers, who discuss his working methods in detail — Jodie Foster, Liza Minnelli, and, of course, Robert De Niro.
Movies Are My Life
1988 · 4 votes
Movie6.0DocumentaryA behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of Martin Scorsese's "Silence."
Martin Scorsese's Journey Into Silence
2017 · 1 votes
Movie5.8DocumentaryAn in-depth look at Dirty Harry (1971), featuring interviews with such film artists as Michael Madsen, 'Hal Holbrook', John Milius, 'Shane Black' and John Badham.
The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry
2008 · 4 votes
Movie4.3DocumentaryFollow Stanley Kubrick as he creates his savage and brilliant Vietnam film, hewing closely to the theme that dominated his creative life for four decades - the duality of human nature. Poised between good and evil, mankind was, in Kubrick's view, a complex creature equally capable of unspeakable savagery and heart-melting tenderness. Full Metal Jacket would make his case in vivid, blood-soaked Technicolor. Through interviews with Kubrick's collaborators and cast members, including Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Ermey and Adam Baldwin, this documentary reveals how Kubrick's brilliant visual sense, astute knowledge of human nature, and unique perspective on the duality of man came together to make Full Metal Jacket an unforgettable cinematic experience, taking its place in his "war trilogy" alongside cinematic landmarks Fear and Desire and Paths of Glory.
Full Metal Jacket: Between Good and Evil
2007 · 27 votes
Movie6.2DocumentaryStanley Kubrick's groundbreaking 2001: A Space Odyssey opened the door to all the films and filmmakers who followed it. Through interviews with directors such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Sydney Pollack - as well as special effects professionals and cultural historians - this documentary examines the legacy of Kubrick's masterpiece and its influence on science fiction films, special effects and world cinema.
Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001
2007 · 8 votes
Movie8.0DocumentaryAn unflinching look at the ongoing debate on violence in movies and its effect on the audience.
The Business End: Violence in Cinema
2008 · 2 votes
Movie5.5DocumentaryTwo protest rallies against the Vietnam War that took place in May 1970: the Hard Hat Riot on Wall Street in New York City and Kent State/Cambodia Incursion Protest in Washington, D.C.
Street Scenes 1970
1970 · 11 votes
Movie4.5DocumentaryFilmmakers, social scientists and authors take a provocative look at the moral, political and ethical themes of the Dirty Harry films.
A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry
2008 · 2 votes
Movie6.0DocumentaryA look at the cinematographers, editors, musicians, production designers and other talent of the Dirty Harry series.
The Craft of Dirty Harry
2008 · 2 votes
Movie9.0DocumentaryProviding behind the scenes footage of the director on set with clips from his own films, Martin Scorsese Directs depicts to riveting effect the way Scorsese brings the written story to life on the big screen. Additional interviews with the likes of Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Thelma Schoonmaker, the director’s own parents, and others build a perception of Scorsese that not everybody knows.
Martin Scorsese Directs
1990 · 2 votes
Movie7.0DocumentaryA documentary about the making of director Martin Scorsese's 1993 film adaptation of Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Age of Innocence. It features a conversation between Scorsese and the star of the film, Daniel Day Lewis, as well as rare behind-the-scenes footage.
Movie8.0DocumentaryAmazing documentary shows rarely seen side of a master director. 1990 was a very good year for Martin Scorsese. After making a diverse group of films in the 80s, he reunited with Robert DeNiro for "Goodfellas" and later that year shot a segment for "New York Stories", an anthology film of three shorts by Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Francis Ford Coppola. During the editing, the French documentary series "Cinéma, de notre temps" filmed a documentary on the director, and it's a fascinating glimpse into his life, personality, and working habits as he edits his short with long-time collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker.
The Scorsese Machine
1990 · 2 votes
Movie6.0DocumentaryElia Kazan represented the American dream. An immigrant who came without anything and who became the Prince of Hollywood and Broadway after World War II. Actor, theater director, filmmaker, writer, he is the founder of Actor’s Studio, a collaborator of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, and a director who discovered Marlon Brando and James Dean.
- MovieDocumentary
In this 2018 Criterion Collection program, screenwriter Jay Cocks and film critic Farran Smith Nehme discuss the adaptation for the film version of 'The Heiress' (1949) of the 1947 play by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, which was itself inspired by the 1880 Henry James novel 'Washington Square'.
Series1
TV8.1DocumentaryExplore the many lives of Martin Scorsese through intimate interviews with the man himself, access to his private archives, plus conversations with Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Daniel Day-Lewis, Steven Spielberg, and more.
Mr. Scorsese
2025 · 31 votes