Goodfellas (1990) or, Citizen Gangster

3/06/2020

Goodfellas (1990) or, Citizen Gangster

♥♥♥♥♥♥

The criminal underground honchos reign as kings in sharp suits on this dark and iconic poster for Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas

Henry Hill comes of age as an Italian-American in 1950s Brooklyn, striving to make the gangsters' ranks that he witnesses daily around the neighborhood. We follow the decades to come as he does: The Lufthansa heist, the money and the crimes, and the eventual downfall in a whirlwind of drugs, trial and witness protection.

Goodfellas is written by Nicholas Pileggi (Casino (1995)), based on his own non-fiction book Wiseguy (1985), and directed by master filmmaker, New-Yorker co-writer/director Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver (1976)).
Goodfellas is a film of superb quality on so many points that it strikes its audience like thunder while it also entertains with a razor-sharp lucidity and purpose. The cinematography (by Michael Ballhaus (The Marriage of Maria Braun/Die Ehe der Maria Braun (1979))) in the ever-moving masterpiece glides with incredible elegance and swiftness, and it has never been matched by any of the many imitations since.
Ray Liotta (Bad Karma (2012)) is phenomenal as Hill in his career's high point; a man who walks wittingly into a dead end of crime, death and paranoia. Lorraine Bracco (Crazy for Love (2005)) is divine and scene-stealing as his wife Karen. Joe Pesci (Betsy's Wedding (1990)) is fabulous as the mercurial Tommy. These are just the foremost three performances from a cast that is generally fantastic and thoroughly great throughout. Goodfellas is, in short, a centerpiece of modern cinema.

The Irishman (I Heard You Paint Houses) (2019, VOD) - Scorsese's great gangster epic of growing old and death

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - One helluva movie!

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Stapleton's Corman doc. is among the year's best films (interview subject)
Hugo (2011) - Scorsese's critically acclaimed, magical 3D family adventure/financial disaster

Shutter Island (2010) - Scorsese's heavy-handed, long, second huge thriller attempt
Boardwalk Empire - 1st season (2010) - Luxurious 1920's ensemble gangster treats (executive producer)

Top 10: Best crime movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

The Departed (2006) - Scorsese's Boston-set wildcat of a capital letter Movie
The Aviator (2004) - The grand American biopic

Top 10: Best 'box office success' movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Top 10: The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Casino (1995) - Scorsese's sumptuous Vegas gangster tale has the wingspan of a Greek tragedy
The Age of Innocence (1993) or, Stayin' IN the Pants
Cape Fear (1991) - Scorsese adds lots of stuff to remake but loses the balance

Watch the legendary 'Am I funny' scene from the film here

Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 46.8 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertain - but likely a box office success (returned 1.87 times its cost domestically alone)
[Goodfellas premiered 9 September (Venice Film Festival, Italy) and runs 145 minutes. Scorsese has described his approach in the film: "To begin Goodfellas like a gunshot and have it get faster from there, almost like a two-and-a-half-hour trailer. I think it's the only way you can really sense the exhilaration of the lifestyle, and to get a sense of why a lot of people are attracted to it." The real-life Henry Hill was paid 480k $ by the filmmakers prior to filming. (He later saw and liked the film.) The biggest inspiration for the style and 12-draft script was François Truffaut's nouvelle vague classic Jules et Jim (1962). Scorsese fought the reluctant studio (who preferred an established star) to get Liotta cast in the lead. Filming took place in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Illinois, Florida from May - August 1989. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Problem Child, to a 6.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#5) and grossed 46.8 mil. $ during its original run. Regrettably the international gross numbers for the film are not reported online; but even if the film's reception was considerably stronger in North America than internationally, Goodfellas likely became a box office success. The film was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning one; for Best Supporting Actor (Pesci). It lost Best Supporting Actress (Bracco) to Whoppi Goldberg in Ghost, Director to Kevin Costner for Dances with Wolves, Editing also to Dances with Wolves, Picture also to Dances with Wolves, and Adapted Screenplay to Michael Blake, also for Dances with Wolves. It was also nominated for 5 Golden Globes, won 5/7 BAFTA nominations, was nominated for a César and 2 David di Donatello awards, won 2 National Board of Review awards, 3 prizes in Venice and many other honors. Roger Ebert called Goodfellas the best mob movie ever, with a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. It was a major inspiration for gangster TV-series masterpiece The Sopranos (1999-07)). IMDb's users have voted the film in at #17 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between The Matrix (1999) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). Scorsese returned with Made in Milan (1990, short documentary) and theatrically with Cape Fear (1991). Liotta returned in Women and Men 2: In Love There Are No Rules (1991, TV movie) and theatrically in Article 99 (1992); Robert De Niro (The King of Comedy (1982)) in Awakenings (1990); and Pesci in Home Alone (1990). Goodfellas is certified fresh at 96 % with a 9.01/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Goodfellas?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (17-24)

3/06/2020