As we wait for the Conch-Bearer to Lead Us into a Brave New Future of Live-Tweeting, we offer once more a humble afternoon diversion, one week from now, as we talk about another of Martin Scorsese's neglected masterpieces, The Age of Innocence. The same director who got a great performance out of Sharon Stone in Casino does it here with Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder. It's also his first team-up with Daniel Day-Lewis, and it is miles away from Bill the Butcher.

Scorsese is a romantic, spiritual, sensual artist, and a stylistic heir to the legacy of the Archers-- something that's often overlooked in the fanboyish devotion to his gangster movies, as Alex Barrett notes here. Like Kundun, I don't see Age of Innocence as an outlier but a key work, and a masterpiece. Please join us next Saturday; the hash-tag will be #aoi.