Author Topic: Goodfellas  (Read 10725 times)

colonel_mexico

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Re: Goodfellas
« Reply #30 on: May 27, 2016, 10:10:44 PM »
I'm interested in the idea of Henry wanting to do something more than the blue collared, mundane and poor life of his abusive father which is an interesting trope. Mi Familia is a movie that looks exactly at that idea in 2 of the sons, who are a new generation who don't share the same values as their hard working, accept things as they are parents. Henry rejects that life too and while it doesn't lead him to anywhere noble or good, he lived ambitiously enough to escape that corner of his world.
"What do you want me to do draw you a picture?! Spell it out?! Don't ever ask me, as long as you live don't ever ask me more!"

oldkid

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Re: Goodfellas
« Reply #31 on: May 28, 2016, 04:32:44 PM »
Of the Scorsese I've seen, I most enjoyed Last Temptation, but I think that the best director nod should go for Taxi Driver-- it's a unique vision.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

1SO

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Re: Goodfellas
« Reply #32 on: May 28, 2016, 04:46:50 PM »
Taxi Driver would be my 2nd pick, though I prefer a number of his other films. I never understood people who think the best directed film is the best film. Scorsese has made some great films, but his best directing isn't necessarily for his best film.

oldkid

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Re: Goodfellas
« Reply #33 on: May 28, 2016, 05:31:26 PM »
Obviously, it's because they are lazier than you or I.


(Hopefully our wives aren't reading this)
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

colonel_mexico

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Re: Goodfellas
« Reply #34 on: June 04, 2016, 08:52:41 AM »
I was pondering 1SO's rewatch of PAIN AND GAIN, something I have done relatively recently and had me thinking of my take the first time I had watched.  I despised PAIN AND GAIN because I had a similar reaction as OK's to GOODFELLAS, I hated all the characters, everything done was despicable by everyone, and except for Ed Harris there wasn't really a single good guy in the film.  And there were not really any exceptional bad guys, I guess if I'm going to embrace a bad guy I want to embrace a really good bad guy like Howard Hawk's SCARFACE. But when I think of Tony Carmonte and the other characters in that film and GOODFELLAS, they are bad guys who embody that American exceptionalism despite being socially outcast characters.  Hawks seems to enjoy these ordinary, or socially fringe men, watching AIR FORCE recently with all kinds of heroes, but then there's Winocki.  Hates the military, doesn't like the guys he's with, full of resentment and yet is redeemed through the trial by fire and band of brothers-type of experience that Hawks didactic approach gives us a newly minted good guy.  Certainly Winocki is not Carmonte, and in SCARFACE Hawks gives the audience the disclaimer, hey this guy exists what are you going to do about it?  But Carmonte is really the only likeable character in the film, the cops are crooked and cheats, the other guys are all bad guys, and even his strange relationship with his family is twisted.  This type of character seems to live and breathe in the world and when I look at Whalberg's Danny character in PAIN AND GAIN, it's Tony again, just in a different, humorously depraved and despicable way. Tony, Danny, and Henry Hill are all seeking to escape the world they live in, a post-modern take on exceptionalism within these characters as they create hyper-realities of what it is to 'make it in this world'.  The prison film about Miklo, BLOOD IN BLOOD OUT, is the Mexican-American version of this as he creates a suzerainty over gangs on the street and in prison, is the same outcast guy who uses his exceptionalism to become what Tony, Danny, and Henry all became/wanted.

My rewatch of PAIN AND GAIN has me in much more comfortable state with the despicable parts I couldn't stomach on the first rewatch, these machinations are the results of misguided, disorganized flux that exists within those seeking some sort of higher state through wealth, status, and power. In their own way simulacra of each other, but with something that does resonate with me, something that has meaning if I can put aside my morals and ignore things that I find reprehensible. These guys aren't RUDY, but they certainly have the same drive.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2016, 08:54:53 AM by colonel_mexico »
"What do you want me to do draw you a picture?! Spell it out?! Don't ever ask me, as long as you live don't ever ask me more!"

oldkid

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Re: Goodfellas
« Reply #35 on: June 04, 2016, 12:10:42 PM »
Thank you.  I was on the fence about watching Pain and Gain.  Now I won't bother.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

colonel_mexico

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Re: Goodfellas
« Reply #36 on: June 04, 2016, 12:22:46 PM »
Haha :) Darn!  It is pretty good though!
"What do you want me to do draw you a picture?! Spell it out?! Don't ever ask me, as long as you live don't ever ask me more!"

oldkid

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Re: Goodfellas
« Reply #37 on: June 04, 2016, 06:22:37 PM »
Yeah, but is it good for me?  Doesn't sound like it.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

IDrinkYourMilkshake

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Re: Goodfellas
« Reply #38 on: December 01, 2016, 02:30:56 PM »
Jimmy Conway cries like a little girl when Tommy D gets whacked!

And how about one of the scenes prior to that, where Tommy takes his two bestest buddies in the whoooooole world to visit his Mum? She doesn't mind that it's well past midnight and they've woken her up. She's so delighted to see them that she puts on a dinner, and lets them borrow one of her finest pieces of kitchenware. Then she shares her artwork with them, and they all have a hearty chuckle as they're reminded of an acquaintance.

No, there's heart as deep as the ocean and as warm as the sun in this film. Nothing more sinister than a lot of male bonding happening here. A bunch of good buddies enjoying each others hi-jinx.

Want a film from the 90's with a black hole where some kind of moral centre should be? A cheerfully fascist film, which teaches that there's nothing more important in life than following orders, than just doing what you're told and don't ask questions?

Forrest Gump.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2016, 02:55:41 PM by IDrinkYourMilkshake »
"What should have been an enjoyable 90 minutes of nubile, high-school flesh meeting a frenzy of blood-caked blades, becomes instead an exploitational and complex parable of the conflicting demands of agrarianism and artistry. I voted a miss."

oldkid

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Re: Goodfellas
« Reply #39 on: December 01, 2016, 10:12:46 PM »
I agree with you about Forest Gump
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky