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173.57.160.247
Here's my favs.
1. The Godfather
2. The Godfather Pt 2
3. Goodfellas
Follow Ups:
"The Killing of a Chinese Bookie". Once you've seen this masterpiece from John Cassevetes all other mob flicks seem contrived and cliched. Chilling scenes and great performances throughout.
Baba-Booey to you all!
Wow, AMAZING film (just saw the 1976 cut last night on dvd).It is ART - almost surreal moments wrapped in a natural unfolding of time. Philosophical yet unjaded, credible and "just", well paced and shot with an eye for letting the life of the picture unfold naturally, "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" had me entranced. Ben Gazzara didn't get an Oscar for this?!! The writing and dialogue is fabulous. It somewhat reminded me of Wim Wenders' "The American Friend", from the same era.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Edits: 09/18/10
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Baba-Booey to you all!
..."Smokin' Aces" (the first one) - a guilty pleasure.
..as to Smoking Aces, well, I don't know. ;-)
J
I am a real fan of this movie which I don't think has been given its due.
..no one has yet mentioned A Prophet or Gomorrah. Both these would be in my top 5 or 10.Also, A History Of Violence is mighty tasty. Wonderful beginning to it.
J
Edits: 09/16/10 09/16/10
"Confessions of a Police Captain" is a very good Italian film.Plus some fine films with Lino Ventura, like "Boulevard du rhum"
Frankly, most US-made mob films are cookie-cutter junk, made to fit a couple standard formula.
Edits: 09/16/10
Not that I've got any problem with yer top three, they'd be mine also.But Miller's deserves some serious mention if for nothing else than Torturro's turn as the "Schmata", specifically, begging for his life in the woods..
"I'd like to own a squadron of tanks"
Edits: 09/16/10 09/16/10
smug 'guess what, I'm back, what are you gonna' do about it'. Subtlety is always more difficult than wild histrionics.
"dammit"
He got his just desserts, begging didn't quite cut it that second time.
"I'd like to own a squadron of tanks"
...the hat???
I love it. The begging scene is amazing. Great cast.
I can't find Blood Simple DVD after my move and I'm having withdrawal symptons. I can't imagine what Zhang Yimou will make of BS in his remake.
.
Share a bowl of grits with someone you love tonight.
lots of great Coen Bros movies, but the one I would keep above all others if a fire struck, would be Lebowski. Simply entertaining as hell and great performances from the entire cast. The one we've seen more than any other.
"I'd like to own a squadron of tanks"
Edits: 09/16/10
..my fave Brit mob movies: Mona Lisa, The Long Good Friday, Sexy Beast and Performance.
I adore Croupier, but is it really a mob picture? It's a crime/heist movie but I didn't really detect the mob in it. The Grifters is another personal favorite but it has only one character tied to the mob (Lily) and he's a pretty low level mobster (although he's plenty darned scary).
Once Upon A Time In America is a great mob pic that deserves praise, as does the brilliant Point Blank, which hardly gets mentioned these days.
Then there's the Irish mob in Mystic River and The Departed. And with Goodfellas getting all the attention I think Casino is often underrated.
For classic films my faves are The Public Enemy, Scarface, Blood Money and Night And The City - which is possibly more noir than mob, but for atmosphere especially the grubiness of the small-time crooks in London - Dassin's masterpiece is without compare. Waxman score is good too.
I also confess to having a soft spot for The Untouchables - I love Sean Connery (improbable accent and all) as well as all the shameless cribbing from classic films.
The Godfathers are brilliant, but I personally love Goodfellas best of all mob flicks.
..from Christopher Walken...
At Close Range
The Funeral
King Of New York
Heck, add a fourth, True Romance...
J
realism.
Those criminals looked and acted like the real McCoys. Kind of like the cast of, "Winter's Bone."
The film also had something few do: a gripping emotional center. I can't understand why this film isn't very, very famous. It's certainly as good work as ever Penn or Walken ever did.
Absolutely!
The confrontation scene in the kitchen....(chills).
"At Close Range" has very powerful and connected ensemble work that few films equal.
If I recall it looks like Q. Tarantino lifted the eating scene for his "Reservoir Dogs".
Great films.
=
When Martin Scorcese tells me what a gangster looks and acts like, it means something to me because he grew up on the streets of New York city, and lived among and knew gangsters. On the other hand, when someone who has spent years in the mafia/gangster havens of Brazil, Sanibel Island, and Oregon tells me a certain gangster film is better than another gangster film because the former is more realistic than the latter, I smile. Your experience with real life gangsters is what, exactly?
...this isn't a competition, James. It's opinion.Here's what Scorsese says about his favorites...
Edits: 09/16/10
No, it is not a competition. No, it is fact. Whether a film is more 'realistic' to the subject is not an opinion because it can be an objective, provable fact. And whether it is considered an opinion or fact, both should have a foundation. I think it fair to ask Tin his foundation as to why the film he named was more 'realistic.' No, Scorcese does not say those films are his favorite gang films. He says those are the films that influenced his filmmaking, which is why he stopped at 1970.
Mine? I dunno'. I liked Donnie Brasco a lot. Casino. Godfathers I and II. If you extend the definition of 'mob' beyond the Italian mob tie, I'd add City of God. I really liked that film. Certainly Pulp Fiction.
..an "objective provable fact" in a film, prove it.
Just a few mm above where it says "by Martin Scorcese" is the headline "Scorcese's FAVORITE gangster movies". Is that real?
I can tell you're not a movie lover because apparently you just copied a few titles from those who came before you. Can you name one that is fresh? Mob means organized crime with multiple participants.
J
I'll speak to something that I have some experience in for an example. I am a lawyer, and unfortunately find myself in a Courtroom on an almost daily basis. You have seen A Civil Action starring John Travolta? Remeber the scene in the beginning of the film in which his injured client is sitting at a table, moaning, which prompts Travolta to pass a note to the defense lawyer, who then looks like a deer in the headlights, who then, after several notes are passed back and forth, agrees to add some zeroes on the settlement? Someone who has no idea about the way lawyers and insurance companies work would know that would never happen in reality. It is simply a fact. The defense lawyer would know everything about that Plaintiff, would have had him surveilled, and would not be adding zeroes to a settlement based on some moans. It certainly makes for great entertainment, but it hardly reality.The headline may say that, but Scorcese does not. The day I start believing headlines as fact is that the day I stop reading the content. Someone else mentioned City of God? I missed that. Pulp Fiction? Missed that too. I mentioned those other films because they came to mind, and I like them a lot, by which I mean I can watch them multiple times and still be entertained. It is not my fault if other people feel the same way.
I did not realize I was supposed to look for obscure films no other people mentioned in an effort to prove how much of an erudite film watcher I was. How 'bout Key Largo with Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart, my favorite actor. Or Tsotsi, from South Africa. Brilliant and violent film.
I will admit that my film watching has gone from about 25 films a month to about 5 a month. I prefer to spend what little free time I have playing with my 7 and 4 1/2 year old boys, plus with swimming lessons, karate, soccer, football, cub scouts, homework, my own softball, I will shamefully admit that watching movies takes a back seat. Plus, my Music Reference amp. and Ayre disc player have ratcheted up my music listening. I really like what they do for my music.
Edits: 09/17/10 09/17/10
..I'd never hire you for your lawyerly skills if this is an example of "proof", as you see it.
Question: Which is more "realistic" A Civil Action or At Close Range?
I understand and agree with your priorities with regard to family. Your boys are at a wonderful age.
Congratulations.
Also like your taste in amps. Which Music Reference model do you have? If it's the RM10 you can be my new best friend.
J
This is what you asked me: '"...objective provable fact" in a film, prove it.' It is a provable fact that the opening scene in A Civil Action was contrived. Made up. Whatever you want to call it, it simply does not happen as depicted in the film. That is simply a fact, whether you care to admit it or not. I've proven it. I cannot force you to accept the proof, anymore than I can prove to some people the Government did not blow up the twin towers.
RM-200. I'll get the RM10 when I have room for a second system.
.. you mean "in my experience" then you have..........your argument. You've taken your experience and compared it to a fictional account. That's no broad proof.
Don't you stray. Don't forget how this started. We're talking about film realism. Repeat: which is more realistic (like real life), A Civil Action or At Close Range.
I'll bet there are people who saw Travolta's scene and imagined it to be quite realistic.
The fact is that proof is always relative/contextual. First of all it is personal. That takes us back to our beginning. One man's ......... is another man's ___.
BTW, why would you consider it unfortunate to be in the courtroom practicing law? In my short career as a military defense counsel I relished courtroom action.
Walken's "eggplant" was an ad lib that was too good to cut.
Share a bowl of grits with someone you love tonight.
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Share a bowl of grits with someone you love tonight.
r
Kung Fu Hustle
We'll have to agree to disagree about global warming until the next global cooling scare comes along
*
Goodfellas; an amazing cast, Joe Pescis wisecracking psychopath is one scary guyTrue Romance: not strictly a mob film but the mobsters in it are great, James Gandolfini managed to spin a whole career out of this role
Sexy Beast: Ray Winstone faces off against Ben Kingsley in a character driven low budget mob masterpiece
GW
Edits: 09/15/10
Tie between the three.
Can we do mob movies from other countries? For starters, for English mob movies I would add:
The Long Good Friday
The Krays
.
Share a bowl of grits with someone you love tonight.
Hard to pin this genre' down to one greatest.
J.B.
I like both, but I particularly like "Sexy Beast" for Ben Kingsley's over-the-top performance.
For Brazilian films, I like the gangster-in-the-making film "Pixote," about juvenile criminals, with "City of God" a distant second.
I am not up on Yakuza films, if you have some recommendations, I would love to hear them.
fsd
"yes! yes! yes! yes! yes!" *
*Don Logan
good call Larry...
Phil
.
I guess "Snatch" is also a gangster film, though I did not consider comedies. In US films, I guess "Get Shorty" could be on the list too.
.
Share a bowl of grits with someone you love tonight.
All but killed Penn, too.....
The one good collaboration they did was an extended advertisement for BMW (part of the BMW film series) which Guy Richie directed. Madonna plays an uber bitch diva who gets taken for the ride of her life by Cive Owen, the chauffeur, she abuses verbally.
yeah, great fun!
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