I Don't Want To Build It Up Too Much But...

"maybe we do, maybe we don't, maybe fuck yourself."

One great line of many. Want to go back and see it again to soak more of it up.

Saw this movie in the first matinee on Friday, and twice more since. How good is this movie? This is the movie that made me stop referring to Mark Wahlberg as "Marky Mark" and may have put an end to the Funky Bunch jokes for good.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Me? I'm the guy who did his fucking job. You must be the other guy."

I'm hearing this from all sorts of people, but most or perhaps all of them have an extreme love of GOODFELLAS in common. As far as Scorsese's concerned, I'm more of a THE LAST WALTZ/THE COLOR OF MONEY/THE KING OF COMEDY/THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST kind of guy (those are my four favorite Scorseses, APPROXIMATELY but not DEFINITELY in order from best to fourth-best). GOODFELLAS is, of all the Scorsese I've seen (which comprises those above, GOODFELLAS itself, and BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, GANGS OF NEW YORK, RAGING BULL, and TAXI DRIVER) my least favorite, in fact.

Still, I am interested in seeing this movie; unfortunately I won't be able to drop everything and do so for a few days yet.

Rob,

I know everyone is entitled to their opinions, but saying that Goodfellas is the worst of anything is factually wrong.

Sorry, Mike

Brown and Jackson,

Great lines, two of hundreds. I'll be seeing it again as well, ASAP.

Marky Mark was really great in this wasn't he? I'm a little surprised at how much I've liked him in things, from "Boogie Nights" to I Heart Huckabees," he's done some good work.

Rob,

Scorsese is my favorite director and I love all of the movies you mentioned, although I wouldn't consider "Last Waltz" or "Color of Money" anywhere NEAR his best.

I'll do a post with my ten favorites of his perhaps. As for "Goodfellas" being least, I agree with Mike: foolish.

I do like how even the guy who prefers Scorsese's B-sides doesn't find Kundun worth mentioning.

Funniest line maybe in "Sopranos" history...when Scorsese is walking into that night club, Christopher yells out: "Hey Marty! "Kundun!" I liked it!"

"Kundun" blew hard, the only movie he's made I would say I didn't like. Although it was better than "Seven Years In Tibet" or "Seven Hours In A Movie Theater."

By the way Rob, "Goodfellas" and this movie are not very similar at all, depsite some lazy critics calling it "Goodfellas with cell phones," so have no fear.

Speaking of Alec Baldwin, (we weren't but I have to threadjack for a second) did anyone else catch the premiere episode of 30 Rock tonight? Son of a bitch, Page brethren, I do believe they were making fun of us!

That bit where the Page pointed out one of the stars of the show was the only part that I thought was a bit off. When I was there, pointing out one of the cast who were trying to get to their dressing room was a quick and fun way to get yourself fired. Uniform was spot on, though.

MIKE! Before ya go off all half-cocked like, if ya read my comment again, you'll notice I didn't say GOODFELLAS was the worst of anything!

What IS factually wrong, though (and as a disclaimer I realize you did not directly state as such!), is that some OPINION can be "incorrect"!

Rob,

You did however say that it was you least favorite of the films of his you had seen, which would make it, to you, the worst of his films.

Further, that opinion can be/is wrong.

Jackson! i also was mad at 30 rock for making fun of us pages. Did you think it was funny? i really wanted to like it, but i thought it was pretty lame. As much a I want to like Tina Fey, i dont think she is a good actress or a funny actress. I think they should have gotten someone with better tv performance! pat did you watch it?

I did watch it and it wasn't much different than the original version I saw months ago. I found it spotty, with flashes of genuine laughs here and there. Agree with you on Fey, but Baldwin was great of course. "5 inches...but it's thick."

Overall, I'd give it a B, but I think it will improve. It looked like the best comedy of all time, however, if you saw "Twenty Good Years" last night, an example of just how bad the sitcom can be. I was thinking as I watched, "If I was writing this script I wouldn't even use these jokes as placeholders that no one would see." What an absolute piece of shit.

By the way, I plan on doing a full TV season report, but I have to catch up on a bunch of stuff.

Jill, my problems with the Page character were mostly bullshit technical stuff like, "Hey, he wouldn't be working SNL (or 'Girlie Show') Desk and giving tours the same day!" I will say that the fact that they cast the Page character as a synchophantic, awkward weirdo perfectly reflects the condescension that you get in 30 Rock when you wear that blue blazer. With a few exceptions, the fact that we had to wear a uniform just brought something evil out in people. We got talked down to more often that Carson Daly interns, and there is legitimately nothing more useless on this earth than a Carson Daly intern.

Pat, I don't think Twenty Good Years would have pissed me off quite as much if it hadn't been such a massive waste of talent. Lithgow is a funny guy, and Jeffrey Tambor was so great on Arrested Development that I think it came out worse than if they had just hired, I don't know, Alan Thicke and Michael Gross.

On the upside of NBC television, Amy Sedaris is guest-starring on My Name Is Earl right now and is fucking hilarious, as usual. So there's some hope.

Finally saw The Departed. It was great. Surprisingly hilarious.

SPOILERS

Anyone else wish there was more of a "showdown" between DiCaprio and Damon? All the bullets to the heads (another two or 20 of those would've been sweet) were shocking, but sorta anticlimactic.

Just saw some interesting theories floating about on imdb. What say you of these:

1- Damon's character was a closet homosexual 2- The kid was DiCaprio's 3- Nicholson was actually an undercover T-Rex.

Mike,

Your argument is fallacious, bud. A rudimentary comprehension of aesthetics allows a person (though not you, I am assuming, based on the last comment you made) to make a distinction between "best" and "favorite" (or "worst" and "least favorite"). I make no claims to what the best or worst Scorsese is, as I haven't seen them all, and therefore to do so would be premature. Furthermore, saying definitively (rather than that "I think..." or "my opinion is...") that something is the best or worst without possibility for error or argument is presumptuous and pretentious--as is the notion that, based on what I've written about it, you could confidently say ANYTHING "would make , to [me], the worst of films." What do you know about what GOODFELLAS is to me? Maybe I think it's his best film, and it just happens to be the one I like least.

For example! I can understand fully why the AFI (and countless other organizations and people) named CITIZEN KANE the best movie of all time, and essentially, I agree that it may very well be as such. The groundbreaking technical aspects, the intriguing story and complicated method of telling it, the extraordinary cinematic achievement that it was on almost every level and the rich history surrounding it--the movie was unprecedented and remains unequaled on a great number of levels. However, by no means does it therefore have to be my favorite movie. In addition, who does NOT consider the AFI (and the other aforementioned organizations and people) presumptuous and pretentious for coming up with all these stupid lists in the first place?

Which is, of course, not to say that they can't act as good guidelines for what movies might interest people or give them a better cultural consciousness. Hell, that's part of the reason I watched GOODFELLAS to begin with.

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN DEPARTED, and please take Danny's precedent and ALWAYS write SPOILER if you're going to discuss plot points.

Danny,

I actually thought the blood splattering conclusion was perfect, and those are the images that really stick with me. Particularly a certain character's fall from above, one of the most gut-wrenching and heart-sinking movie deaths EVER. I think a showdown could have been cool, but really I loved the shocking brutality of just BAM! over and over, and that last half hour just left me feeling drained. Those sprays of blood, the relentlessness of it all, wow.

I don't feel Damon was a homosexual necessarily, although that's very interesting. I do think they were STRONGLY trying to suggest that he was impotent. (the morning after "It happens to all guys" scene with Farmiga, Baldwin giving him shit about "keeping his cock hard" at the driving range and Damon's trying-too-hard response, Nicholson's dildo attack, etc.) However, he must not have been TOTALLY impotent because if he'd never nailed Farmiga, he would have flipped out when she told him she was preggers.

Which brings me to your next point, I do totally think that DiCaprio was the father. I think that was the point of all the Damon impotence hints, (Or "impohints," thank you). And also right after Farmiga shows Damon the sonogram (pointing out his penis, natch), she listens to the Nicholson recording and says to him "I thought I was the liar." Boom.

Not to mention she clearly had better sex with DiCaprio, AND he understood her better, as was suggested by the childhood photo reactions. I know that's not proof of fatherhood, but in movie terms maybe it is...

As for Nicholson being an undercover T. Rex...I'm on the fence. I do think that the T. Rex in "Jurassic Park" was an undercover COP however. And very convincing too.

Great points, and I love that for once we get a movie where we CAN have a discussion about all of this and what it meant, and everything isn't totally spelled out for us and obvious.

Honestly, this flick grows in my mind with each passnig day. I'm seeing it again this weekend. Well, that or "The Marine" with John Cena. He's a talent to watch.

SPOILERS for THE DEPARTED

Pat,

Yeah I don't think Damon was a homosexual either, but some guy on some thread on imdb was making a huge case for it. Something about Damon’s character being molested by priests as a boy—the scene with the nun and the priests in the restaurant, I dunno. But it seemed interesting enough to mention. Maybe see if you draw anything when you watch it again.

I do agree that the kid was DiCaprio's. I think everyone probably does.

The ending: Anyone seen the original version? Did it have the same climax?

In any event, it definitely succeeded in what it was going for--the "shocking brutality," "relentlessness," etc., as you put it. And I think 20-50 years from now, that will be the first scene people think of when the film is mentioned (this is called a “No crap, Craphead.” prediction).

Having the two leads go head to head in a shootout or fistfight probably would’ve led to a more clichéd ending, but I would’ve liked to see it. It’s kinda like, well, I dunno… I’m sure on one cold winter’s day or another we’ve all bought two siamese fighting fish and fantasized about which one would win the entire ride home. Well it’s like that. And then right when you get home, your older brother yanks one of the fish bags away, tosses it into the burning fireplace, and walks away without ever saying anything.

Reading back over this stream of consciousness simile now, yeah, it’s EXACTLY like that.

Danny,

SPOILERS FOR THE DEPARTED

I will look more closely at the priest/nun scene, at the time it seemed a bit out of place, I just assumed it was Scorsese's obsession with all things Catholic.

I have not seen the original, due to a distaste for both foreign films and Asians, but I plan to. I really doubt it will hold a candle. It's actually at the New Beverly Cinema here in LA this week, maybe I'll go.

Yeah, I'm glad they avoided the showdown. Especially in Damon's case, it's just a more fitting weaselly way for his character to take care of business. Plus, a punchout between Damon and DiCaprio? I'm betting it'd involve a lot of flailing arms and shrieking.

Actually, both impressed me with their ability to pass as tough in this one. I take that back.

Also, you are a funny man. Do I know you? Where you writing in from?

Pat,

We haven't met, unless you count those ever-increasing moments of “déjà vu” you have. You know--the ones where you’re being followed by a shadowy figure in a fedora and high heels.

No actually, we haven’t met. I was piss-faced on a Thursday (score!) and somehow stumbled onto your site and bookmarked it.

I’m making the permanent trek to LA in five weeks, to pursue my keg of glory. I’m coming all the way from the other coast. Recently graduated with a BA in journalism from UNC (yes, the Tar Heels are indeed going to win another bball championship this year) and currently live at the beach.

I’m extremely excited about blowing all of my money on car insurance and gas.

That’s enough thread hijacking about me. What’s your email? When I get out there, I’d love to get a drink and watch the scenery walk by with ya. Or you can hit me at newelldanny@gmail.c om if you don’t wanna post it. On your own blog. With your full name already there. Hmm, maybe I should be a stalker.

Oh yeah, forgot to say earlier about THE DEPARTED-- loved the Dropkick Murphys on the soundtrack.

Although I would normally agree that Dicaprio couldn't hold his own in a fight, he looked sufficiently jacked in this one that I think he could probably take care of at least a little business. And Matt Damon, fuck, he was Jason Bourne. No less an authority than Paul Rudd has weighed in on Damon's non-Streisand characteristics in that film.

I actually did see Infernal Affairs (terrible, TERRIBLE title) and anyone who says that that film is superior is either a snob who automatically give the nod to foreign language films as the better product, or has a fetish for Asian girls.

I guess the best comparison would be between Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai and Sturges' The Magnificent Seven. Both amazing films, both based off of the same essential story, but it's the difference in directorial style and character interaction that make them unique and fully realized films individually. Now, Infernal Affairs was no Seven Samurai. It was good, don't get me wrong, but it was more of a straight up Hong Kong potboiler. Kind of reminiscent of some of Chow Yun-Fat's early stuff. There were definitely some flashes of visual brilliance, but I just didn't feel like it had the texture or character of Scorsese's version. Just my opinion, anyway.

OK, got a few mins on my lunch break - So, I went back to re-read your Departed entry. I don't know… people were laughing, but I think they were laughing AT the film.

The veteran actors keep this film in believability-land... but once the old folks go (Sheen and Nicholson) it turns into a whacky Greek tragedy. I think Damon and DiCaprio are talented - but they seem way out of their league towards the end of the film.