Goodfellas

Goodfellas (1990)

Noms: Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci), Supporting Actress (Lorraine Bracco), Editing, Adapted Screenplay

Wins: Supporting Actor

Why I watched it:

1) It's one of those movies I was told I NEED to see every time I mention I hadn't

2) My good friend Yoni wanted to watch it with me - he's a big Scorsese fan

I finally saw it! For my fellow film-bluff friends, my not having seen this movie until now was a travesty. They all seem to love it, and I can see why. It's a fun movie to watch and very well made. Some of the shots from the movie are spectacular. For instance, the astonishingly long shot tracking them into the Copacabana - I can't believe how much was tackled in one take - wow! The performances were so great, these actors at their best and the Scorsese method of incorporating improvised dialogue into the script used to its greatest effect. Joe Pesci's character is so disturbing due to all the horrible things he does, yet I loved how you could see how insecure he was at the same time. Lorraine Bracco so powerfully portrayed going through the ups and downs of being a mob wife. De Niro was fantastic, as ever (glad he got the nom for Awakenings instead though - this wasn't really a lead role). Ray Liotta is one of those actors that I know I've seen in a bunch of things, but I think this is the first time I've seen him carry a movie.

It took a while to get used to the lack of plot. Each scene was great, but it me a while to get where it was headed. By the end, I was totally invested though. My favorite scene by far was when they stopped at Tommy's (Pesci) mom's house on the way to dump the body from the opening sequence (does that count as a spoiler?- sorry). She was so adorable and accommodating - she made them a full meal at 3 am! It was just so deliciously normal, and totally bizarre. Also, Yoni told me that she is Martin Scorsese's mom!

This was weird to see after seeing The Wolf of Wall Street. Perhaps I would be more blown away by Goodfellas if I had seen it first, but as it is, I definitely enjoyed watching it and I am very glad I got around to it. 

Also, it was fun seeing why the comparisons were made between Goodfellas and American Hustle. They are vastly different, but they have some common elements: the time period, the setting, voice overs, etc.

Unexpected appearance: Where did Samuel L. Jackson come from?!