Leonardo DiCaprio Tops Gal Gadot as Martin Scorsese Reveals His Favorite Movie

Martin Scorsese did one of those rapid-fire movie brackets and, shocker, the man knows what he likes. He blazed through the whole thing in about 30 seconds, barely pausing on any matchup, and landed on a very specific final answer: Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' on top of everything. Along the way, he even picked a Leonardo DiCaprio film over Gal Gadot's biggest hit. Yes, really.

'Marty has taste.'

That clip went up via Scorsese Universe (@scorsesepoint) on X on December 14, 2025. Here is how his choices fell, match by match.

How Scorsese's bracket went down

• Round 1
  • Picked 'Birdman' over 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'.
  • Picked 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' (DiCaprio) over 'Wonder Woman' (Gadot's signature Hollywood role).
  • Picked '2001: A Space Odyssey' over 'Catch Me If You Can'.
  • Picked 'The Silence of the Lambs' over 'Mystic River'.
  • Round 2
    • Picked 'Parasite' over 'Ratatouille'.
    • Picked 'Dancer in the Dark' over 'Twilight'.
    • Picked 'Pan's Labyrinth' over 'Lost in Translation'.
    • Quarterfinals of the bracket (winners facing winners)
      • Picked '2001: A Space Odyssey' over 'The Silence of the Lambs'.
      • Picked 'Parasite' over 'Inside Out'.
      • Picked 'Dancer in the Dark' over 'Pan's Labyrinth'.
      • Semifinals
        • Picked 'Parasite' over 'Dancer in the Dark'.
        • Final

          • Why '2001' is the last movie standing for him

            Released in 1968, '2001: A Space Odyssey' is the kind of film other sci-fi movies still measure themselves against. Stanley Kubrick co-wrote it with Arthur C. Clarke, produced it, and directed it, and the thing is famous for its clean, realistic approach to spaceflight, groundbreaking effects, and a narrative that invites you to argue about it for decades. The setup: humanity uncovers a mysterious artifact beneath the Moon's surface, and a team of astronauts and scientists, guided by the HAL 9000 computer, head to Jupiter to investigate an alien monolith. If you have seen it, you know where HAL takes that.

            Cast highlights include Keir Dullea as Dr. David Bowman, Gary Lockwood as Dr. Frank Poole, William Sylvester as Dr. Heywood Floyd, Daniel Richter as Moonwatcher, Leonard Rossiter as Dr. Andrei Smyslov, Margaret Tyzack as Elena, Robert Beatty as Dr. Ralph Halvorsen, Sean Sullivan as Dr. Roy Michael, and Douglas Rain as the voice of HAL 9000.

            The numbers and the hardware

            The movie was a legit hit for its time: made for about $10.5 million and grossed north of $69.9 million worldwide (via The Numbers). Today it sits at 90% with critics and 88% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, plus an 8.3/10 on IMDb. It picked up four Oscar nominations, and Kubrick won for visual effects — the only Academy Award he ever took home. It is also the rare film that gets cited for big-picture ideas — human evolution, technology, AI, extraterrestrial life — and the filmmaking muscle to back it up.

            Fans had thoughts about those early eliminations

            People generally get why '2001' would be Scorsese's champion. The debates kicked off over the stepping stones he chose to get there. A few themes from X:

            Some cheered him for backing 'Birdman', which often gets piled on in comment sections. Others balked at 'Birdman' beating Sergio Leone's western, and a couple of folks flat-out said no to picking it over 'The Silence of the Lambs'. There was genuine appreciation for his love of 'Dancer in the Dark'. One user called choosing 'Inside Out' over 'Frozen' the only iffy one, but also said that leaning psychology over myth tracks for him. Another called 'Pan's Labyrinth' over 'Lost in Translation', and then 'Dancer in the Dark' over 'Pan's Labyrinth', exactly what a film-school brain would do. And yes, there were jokes begging that his kid not let him be that online. In short: classic internet split decision.

            Where to watch

            If Scorsese's bracket put you in the mood, '2001: A Space Odyssey' is currently available via the HBO Max Amazon Channel.