Goodfellas Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Hyperbole aside, Goodfellas is pretty much the best movie ever. Every single shot and sequence is filled with virtuoso style - a perfect marriage of filmmaker and material. Despite the existence of (at that time) two Godfather films, Once Upon a Time in America and his own previous efforts to chronicle the criminal underworld, Martin Scorsese's 1990 adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi's novel Wiseguy manages not only to be distinctive but the definitive film about life in the mob.

It's also a film that has endured a long and sordid history on home video, and a title that many, many, many people want to own, but aren't sure whether they want to buy again, and again, and again. All of which is why Goodfellas is the subject of this installment of Making The (Up) Grade.

What's Already Available:

No one can make a brutal mob-related murder look as beautiful and poignant as Marty Scorsese. Part of the reason why he's so good at what he does is because of his fantastic musical choices -- and in 1990, Scorsese decided to take the piano interlude at the end of Layla (performed by Derek and The Dominos) and use it for a brilliant montage that pans and scans its way through several wiseguy murder scenes, ultimately winding up at the point where Tommy (Joe Pesci) thinks he's about to become a "made" man ... and, well, we all know what happened next.

Not all montages are the same, and I always love when filmmakers play around with the technique -- either by slowing down the pace, by adding in a voiceover or by taking us through a series of scenes we wouldn't necessarily expect (or want) to see -- and, here, Scorsese does it all in what is perhaps one of his most memorable career-defining moments. The crane shot into the meat truck alone is worthy of a round of applause. C'mon, when this song comes on the radio, tell me you don't crank up the piano part and think about watching Goodfellas.

Check it out after the jump ...

It's no secret that Martin Scorsese likes his gangster flicks -- and judging from box office numbers, best-of lists and Academy Awards shoveled out, something tells me moviegoers like them just as much. Ever since The Departed won Oscars, folks questioned whether Scorsese and his crew would ever attempt either a prequel or a sequel (especially since the film it's based on, Infernal Affairs, was part of a trilogy). While that's looking less and less likely, word out of Boston is Marty might want to return to the city to once again adapt the true-life story of a dangerous mobster for the big screen.

According to the Boston Herald, Scorsese secretly met with Winter Hill Gang hitman John Martorano while in town shooting Shutter Island, then had Departed producer Graham King acquire the hitman's life rights. That last part we already knew about, as it was reported in Variety earlier in the month, but we did not know that this all came about from a secret meeting with Scorsese. The Boston Herald says that most likely Departed screenwriter William Monahan will write the script, which will tell Martorano's story -- one that includes murdering 20 people before flipping for the feds after learning other members of his gang -- like James Bulger, who some say Jack Nicholson's character in The Departed was based on -- were government informants.

This, of course, wouldn't be the first time Scorsese took on the life story of a famous mob snitch -- not only was The Departed all about sniffing out "the rat," but the film Goodfellas told the real-life story of gangster Henry Hill, who eventually flipped on his guys and entered the witness protection program. No official word on whether Marty is involved with Martorano's story -- or if this would replace any Departed follow-up -- but I don't think any of us would be surprised.

It might seem strange to see Martin Scorsese's name in front of a film called Frankie Machine since, as far as we know, he's not attached. But according to Deadline Hollywood that's all changed, and apparently Scorsese will team up with his favorite Goodfella on yet another mob-related flick. But let's backtrack: Last year, Robert De Niro picked up the rights to adapt The Winter of Frankie Machine -- written by Don Winslow -- as a potential starring vehicle for himself. From there, the duo of David Levien and Brian Koppelman (Ocean's Thirteen, Rounders) were brought on to pen a screenplay, and not much has been heard about the project since aside from Latino Review calling the script "a masterpiece." Wonderful. Thrilling. Tell me more!

Well now, Nikki Finke says that Scorsese will direct Frankie Machine (the title has since been shortened so that it sounds like Goodfellas meets Robocop -- dare I ask why?) under his deal with Paramount and, furthermore, he'll do so right after he finishes up this Rolling Stones documentary. The film, in case you're wondering, centers on a retired mob hitman (De Niro) who now spends his days running a bait shop. But when the son of a mob boss asks for Frankie's help settling a dispute, and he agrees, our hero soon finds out that he's been set up. Not with a tall, beautiful blonde, mind you, but with a potential bullet to the head. If the deal goes through and things become official, Frankie Machine will become the ninth big-screen collaboration for Scorsese and De Niro, with the latter recently alluding to the fact that he'd like to shoot an even 10 films with Scorsese before both men retire for good. But is that 10 mob-related films, or just 10 films? And, most importantly, since there's an opening for the role of Mob Boss's Son, will we finally get to see Scorsese's two main men, De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, go head to head in a Scorsese film? I'd certainly dig that.

There is just something about a 'best of' list, isn't there? We can't help ourselves I guess; I mean, how many AFI specials are we up to now, anyway? The Independent has compiled the best and worst film lines of all time, so automatically I started to think about my favorites and not so favorites. I have to admit, they've got a pretty good list: The usual candidates are there, but there are also a few surprises. I wholeheartedly agree that "As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a gangster. ... " from Goodfellas, is possibly one of the great movie intros of all time.

Now, the ones on my list? I'm a sucker for a one liner so, some of my favorites would be Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons; "Like most intellectuals he's intensely stupid." And George Sanders in All About Eve :"You're maudlin and full of self pity, you're magnificent." And my worst list would be pretty much any line from Showgirls -- do I have to pick just one? So now it's your turn ...what would you're best and worst list look like?

[via Independent ]

Martin Scorsese is tired of working in the restrictive studio system and needs a break from big-budget Hollywood -- at least, according this Reuters article. Even though his most recent film, the hugely successful The Departed, is the best-performing film of his career (and financed by a major studio -- Warner Bros.), he feels his creativity is being stifled by the major studios that don't want to take as many risks with their money on edgier and less audience-friendly films.

He does go on to praise Warner Bros. in the article for its support during the production of The Departed and its commitment to allowing him to achieve his creative vision for the film. However, he insists he now wants to focus on smaller-scale, lower-budget films that will give him even more creative control. So, in keeping with that philosophy, what's his next film going to be? Well, according to Scorsese, it most definitely will not be another one of the crime dramas, like Goodfellas, Casino or Mean Streets, that he is so famous for.

Instead, his dream project is the story of two 17th century Portuguese missionaries, adapted from the novel Silence by Shusaku Endo. This is a project, according to Scorsese, that he has wanted to do for 15 years. His desire to turn Endo's novel into a film actually makes sense if you think about it. The main character's struggle in the novel to balance his life as a Japanese man and a Catholic in a country where the percentage of the population who are Catholic is barely 1%, must surely have resonated with the director. He is, after all, a man who makes no secret of his Catholic background and the influence it has on his films; this project should not come as a surprise to anyone even remotely familiar with Scorsese and his work. Besides, in the hands of a master filmmaker like Scorsese, this adaptation could prove to be very interesting indeed.

Of course, even with his desire to make these kinds of "riskier" films outside the studio system, he isn't completely ruling out the possibility of going back to work for the major studios, given the right circumstances. All it would take, according to Scorsese, would be a script like The Departed with the same type of budget and freedom to do things his way. Said Scorsese: "I'd be tempted, because it's like a disease. It's like a drug." I, for one, can't wait to get my next Scorsese fix.

How about you? What's your favorite Scorsese film?