Goodfellas review

Is it bad if you prefer this to The Godfather? I'm asking for a friend. 

Watching The Wolf of Wall Street reminded me of how much I love Martin Scorsese. Over the summer, I went on a Scorsese kick and watched a lot of his films. Even his lesser known and more obscure stuff like Who's That Knocking at My Door and After Hours. The movie everyone talks about when they talk about Martin Scorsese is Goodfellas. It's a film I saw a while back and loved, but for some strange reason, have never returned to. Well, recently I picked up a copy on DVD. Let's just say I will be returning to it a lot in the future. Goodfellas is about Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). As he says in the beginning, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. To me, being a gangster was better than being President of the United States." Hill grew up with the gang. He got an after school job at the cab stand, doing deliveries and occasionally blowing up cars. He loved it. Hill grows up to be a respected figure in the Italian mob. This isn't a Scarface rise-and-fall story though. Henry never gets to be a boss or a big name in organized crime. But he does have a very interesting story to tell. With the help of Martin Scorsese, it is told remarkably well. Back in 1990, when this came out, it lost to Dances with Wolves in the Oscars. Now it's considered a classic and arguably Scorsese's best film to date. And it's considered that for good reason! Goodfellas does so many things right, and is a blast to watch. Citizen Kane may have been important and had some revolutionary camera angles, but is the story all that great? And is it really all that exciting to watch? Didn't think so. Goodfellas is a masterpiece in filmmaking, and also truly entertaining. Scorsese's signature use of the constantly moving camera is not only used very well here, but incredibly appropriate for the movie. The life of a gangster is fast and constantly on the move. Perform a hits, make money, sell drugs, go to jail, repeat. It's a violent and exciting lifestyle, with it's own twists, and turns. The film reflects that well. Scorsese collaborated with Nicholas Pileggi (who wrote the book on which this is based) to write the screenplay. I'm not sure why Scorsese doesn't write his scripts anymore, because they were damn good. The dialog here flows really well, it's a lot harder then you'd think to write dialog that flows as well as this does. The actors certainly help deliver the dialog too. Ray Liotta gives what was probably his best performance as Henry Hill and did quite a good job. He falters occasionally but the rest of the time he's golden. Robert De Niro is playing a part that nowadays would be considered a cliche Robert De Niro role. But he does it so well. It's a shame De Niro has to be in stuff like Little Fockers now when he used to be the Oscar bait star that he was. Lorraine Bracco gives a great (and Oscar nominated) performance as Hill's wife, Karen. She plays her part of head over heels in love in the beginning, and quickly transitions to coke addicted and jealous wife towards the end. Her role here is probably how she got on The Sopranos. The best performance here is obviously Joe Pesci, as the insane gangster, Tommy DeVito. While Pesci never really proved himself in other films, here he's absolutely nuts! And he makes it work beautifully! It's no wonder he was awarded an Oscar for his role. Although this should have won Best Picture before anything else. I don't know if this is my favorite film, but it very well might be. The directing, soundtrack, editing, acting, and everything else about this make it just so great. I doubt my review can do this any justice. If you haven't seen this yet, you are crazy and are missing out! Goodfellas is fantastic and Martin Scorsese is a genius. That's all there is too it. Happy Viewing. If you want to keep up with my reviews and other movie related things, follow me on Twitter @WhitsMovies and like me on Facebook at Facebook.com/WhitsMovies.            

American Hustle review

American Bullshit was the original title for the film. Which is so much better in my opinion.
American Hustle is a movie about cons, tricks, hustles, and lies. The plot itself is about that, and much of the movie has little things that reflect the whole "con" theme. In the beginning of the film, the screen reads the words, 'Some of this actually happened'. It's hard to tell what's real here. The whole movie is one big con. That's what makes it so damn fun. American Hustle is the kind of movie that you want to see again. You want to pick up on all the little things you missed, and also just enjoy it all again. The film is about a con artist named Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) who, through a series of not-so-legal business transactions, gets himself involved in a sting operation led by federal agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) involving the mafia and Camden New Jersey Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). Swept up with him are his business colleague/lover, Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), and his crazy wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence). This is directed by David O. Russell. I'm not as familiar with his filmography as I should be, but his last movie, Silver Linings Playbook, was one of my favorite films of last year. He's done it again with American Hustle, because this is one of my favorite movies of this year. It's actually pretty amazing that this guy can make a spectacular film one year and pretty much immediately make another hit. This movie is crazy entertaining with some awesome performances and a really good screenplay. The film takes place in the 70's. Although it was the actual time the ABSCAM operation, it's also an ideal setting for the movie. The 70's was an era of fake hair, which there is a lot of in this film, and fake music. This whole movie is about fakery, cons, and other stuff of that nature. The whole 70's setting works perfectly for the film. The whole movie just works so well. If you haven't heard by now, the acting here is terrific. Christian Bale is the obvious standout playing the head con artist, Irving Rosenfeld. He gained a decent amount of weight for the role, but his performance is much more than aesthetic. He portrays his character perfectly. Everything from his Bronx accent to his 'elaborate' comb over. While his character is funny, it could be easily turned into a thin caricature. Bale, despite all his cons and tricks, makes the character seem completely real. It's amazing how damn versatile he is. Going from a psycho killer, to Batman, to this takes some skill. Christian Bale obviously has skill. The female leads here are also great. Amy Adams gives another knock out performance as Rosenfeld's partner with a fake British accent, Sydney Prosser. Amy Adams has continued to prove that she is a more than capable actress. She was awesome in last year's The Master. She's even better here and I hope she wins an Oscar for this role. I can honestly say she is one of my favorite actresses. Jennifer Lawrence already won an Oscar for David O. Russell's last film. I wouldn't be surprised if she won again. It's incredible how she can give a great performance in a small indie film, then star in The Hunger Games and in the new X-Men movie, then star in two smaller, more acclaimed films. You could say she's the female Christian Bale. Anyway, she's fantastic here. most of the time she plays a very likable character. Here she's playing a crazy and generally annoying character. And she does it very,very well. Bradley Cooper is really good too. Which if two years ago you called Bradley Cooper a very good actor I would have laughed in your face. After Silver Linings Playbook, The Place Beyond The Pines, and this, I have a lot of faith in Mr. Cooper. Jeremy Renner has a smaller role as Mayor Carmine Polito and i know he's going to get zero recognition for his role but I thought he did a great job. Renner is a very underrated actor. Although American Hustle has done very well critically, recently I've heard a lot of complaints about how overrated it is and how it will win Best Picture but won't deserve it. It's not The Wolf of Wall Street but I'd be perfectly happy if this won Best Picture. It's certainly making my Best of the Year list and I would certainly see it again. American Hustle is one of the most enjoyable films I've seen all year and it entertained the hell out of me. It combined comedy and serious filmmaking very expertly. It's soundtrack also worked really, really well. I am going to give American Hustle 4.8 out of 5 stars. Happy Viewing you guys. Remember you can always follow me on Twitter @WhitsMovies and like me on Facebook at Facebook.com/WhitsMovies.