Award Snub: His lack of success at the Oscars was kind of a running joke until 2007. Probably the best moment came from Oscar host Jon Stewart after Three 6 Mafia won for the song "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp." "For those of you keeping score: Martin Scorsese 0, Three 6 Mafia 1."
Small Reference Pools: To say that you'd need a fairly thorough background in film to actually catch all the homages and tributes worked into your average Scorsese movie is an understatement. For example, DeNiro's "You talkin' to me?" is a reference to Shane.
Tough Act to Follow: Scorsese has made 23 films, most of which are not gangster movies. If somebody says "I love Scorsese movies!", odds are pretty good they're not going to talk to you about "Kundun".