Review of Goodfellas (1990)

Goodfellas (1990) is a Biography/Drama/Crime film, that is an adaptation of a non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi. The film follows Henry Hill and his crime associates over a period from 1955 to 1980.

Directed by Martin Scorcese (Taxi Driver (1976), Mean Streets (1973)), who often makes movies portraying crime.

Written by Martin Scorcese (I Call First (1967), The Age of Innocence (1993)) and the author of the book Nicholas Pileggi (Casino (1995), City Hall (1996)):

Starring: Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Robert DeNiro, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Frank Sivero, Christopher Serrone, Joe D’Onofrio and others.

Not every movie can pull off freeze frames and voice overs, but this one definitely does.

We follow the life of a gangster from his youth, when he’s trying to be one, up until the end where he is some other thing, which I won’t spoil. This is basically summarized by the very famous quote „As far back as I can remember I’ve always wanted to be a gangster”, which is said by Ray Liotta, who plays the main character, but from time to time is shown in his teenage years. Both the kid actors for him and Pesci’s character are pretty good.

Speaking of Joe Pesci, he really gets to shine here, going all out and playing a total maniac. He totally deserved the Oscar he got. Scorcese just knows how to use the guy. The character is a total mental case, as the movie goes on, he becomes more and more short-tempered, like in a restaurant, when Ray Liotta tells him he’s funny, he acts like he’s insulted and asks in what way he’s funny to the point where you think he’s going to pull out a gun, but it turns out it is a joke. A little later in the film and he actually would.

Although it is a bit fractured in the narrative, since it goes over a very long period, the movie is incredibly fluid, well paced and you can get lost in the great story, it is a fun watch.

Wish De Niro had more screen time, but oddly his character is not very interesting, he is kind of passive, but I found him enjoyable nonetheless.

There is one amazing tracking shot and I as most film fans absolutely love them, they’re really sort of hypnotizing, you feel pulled in the film, since that is a lot closer to the way you actually see things, sadly you don’t enjoy a conversation or a walk from multiple angles.

Punches look really painful in this move and that’s not even mentioning the instance when Liotta punches a guy several times with a gun in his hand, that’s just brutal.

I think this movie has both Pesci’s and Liotta’s best performances on film. Although I’ve never really thought of him much seeing his other movies, but I’ve always found his eyes rather trademarkable, because his eye color is very light blue and has the kind of eyelashes that are so full that it looks like he’s wearing eyeliner, you know, like Nestor Carbonel.

Also has a very young Kevin Corrigan in a small role. Just saying. There’s really nothing more to say about that. Umm… the soundtrack is full of great songs!

Martin Scorcese just knows how to do Italian-American movies.

Overall, a great movie, recommended for everyone, a late gangster film classic.

Pictured: A guy you don't want to call funny, even though his shirt kinda is. (seriously though, that's a pretty cool shirt)

Review of Killer Elite (2011)

Killer Elite (2011) is an action/thriller film, loosely based on the 1991 novel The Feather Men.

Directed by Gary McKendry, whose short film Everything in This Country Must was nominated for an Oscar in 2005 and this is his feature-length debut.

Starring: Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro, Dominic Purcell and others.

The plot of this movie is a bit more intricate than I had expected, the misleading trailer made it look like Jason Statham and Clive Owen bashing the shit out of each other the whole movie, but that is not the movie at all. I doubt I can explain the plot without confusing myself, so my version is that De Niro is kidnapped because he was in Little Fockers and to prove he has realized the fault of his ways Statham is brought in to kill some ex-SAS guys. And then Clive Owen appears and all kinds of shenanigans ensue.

Robert De Niro isn’t actually in the movie a whole lot, but when he is, he’s awesome. Watching this I realized how perfect he would be for the Death Wish remake, he’s about the same age, looks like an ordinary man and the subway scene could be easily, if out of context, a scene from a Death Wish movie.

Statham, of course, plays the same character as always, but I forgive him. And I do, just because, I only recently started liking him. Why? Because I finally accepted that, yes, he might be the only current real major action star in the sense Arnold and Sly used to be. And I miss that so much.  Haven’t seen someone do a front flip while strapped to a chair. Also he’s really good at balding.

Clive Owen is, on the other hand, a completely different, more modern action hero. Where with Statham you’re pretty sure he’d easily kick your ass if you met him in person. Owen represents how modern action heroes are still with six-pack abs and all that, but more lean and handsome. And Owen might be my favourite actor of this type doing these movies in the recent years, I thought Children Of Men and Shoot ‘Em Up were both incredibly cool movies. And in this one he’s just bad-ass, stealing every scene he’s in. In case you’re wondering about his glorious moustache, the movie is set in 1980-81. Also he has a glass (or just badly damaged) eye. Despite all that he’s not the villain of the movie and that is clear pretty early on and you could just as well put the focus on his character and make a similar movie.

Dominic Purcell’s huge handlebar moustache was pretty damn impressive as well  and that guy is fucking huge himself.

Yeah, it had its cheesy moments, but actually I expected more and what I got instead was some actual plot.

The fight between Owen and Statham in the hospital was great and you could tell what is happening, which is not so common in modern action movie editing.

Overall, it’s not a great movie, but it’s entertaining and kicks ass, I enjoyed it. If you want non-stop mindless action, you’ll be disappointed or if you want super interesting and original plot and character drama, this is not for you. But if you want some old-school action that’s not too dumbed down, check this out.

Knock knock. Who's there? Reuben. Reuben who? Reuben my eyes 'cos I can't believe how ugly you are!