Oct 1 2012

‘Vegas’ Series Premiere Review – 1.01

I’m sorry people, but this DID NOT live up to my expectations at all. I was very disappointed. It’s about the mob, Las Vegas, and sheriff’s from the mind of Nicolas Pilegii. The third god of Goodfellas and Casino with Martin Scorcese and Robert De Niro. So what went wrong?

First of all, CBS is taking a huge gamble here. Last fall proved that period shows do not go so well with the straight off cancellations of ‘Pan Am’ and ‘The Playboy Club’. That’s two shows. Not one, but two.

So why would CBS take this gamble? They are putting this whole show on the line advertising Dennis Quaid as the star and god here and there along with Michael Chiklis. To be honest, I don’t find Dennis Quaid all so cool. He’s nothing special really. Sure, he’s a good actor. But the only thing I find of him to be memorable is ‘The Parent Trap’. And Michael Chiklis? He’s trying so hard to be tough but just like ABC’s ‘No Ordinary Family’, he fails to be a tough guy even though he tries so very hard. As a side note, No Ordinary Family was cancelled after its first season with a huge ass cliffhanger.

The beginning was kinda lame. Dennis Quaid comes to the airport pissed since Vincent Savino’s plane flew in and disturbed his herd. Then Quaid just beats everyone up.

As the episode went on, we saw that the blueprint of each episode is going to be ‘case of the week’ style. The case for this pilot episode was extremely boring and not interesting at all. No twists, no turns, just a plain case to solve.

I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to like this one. It’s Nicolas Pileggi as the writer for crying out loud. I do hope it picks up a lot as the season progress.

See the promo to episode 2, ‘Money Plays’, below!

Sep 17 2012

‘Casino’ 1995 Review – Movie Monday

Plot: Greed, deception, money, power, and murder occur between two mobster best friends and a trophy wife over a gambling empire.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Nicholas Pileggi (book), Nicholas Pileggi (screenplay), and 1 more credit »
Stars: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci | See full cast and crew

Story: This was a real good one. Before seeing this, I know lots of people compare it to Goodfellas all the time and stuff, since it has Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Billy Batts (Frank Vincent) in it. Now lets get this over with, Casino was not better than Goodfellas. Although it is a lot lke Goodfellas with the same actors, freeze frames, a De Niro stare, Mafia, etc, etc. Goodfellas is different, there’s just something about the storyline and Henry Hill we all love.

I found the narration by De Niro and Pesci to be way too much at parts. Mainly, the first 30 or 40 minutes of the film. Then I got used to it. But it was like, “Is this gonna be like I’m being read a book?” The parts where it was too much kind of needed that since it was introducing the characters and the Tangiers hotel. but still, I think that was just lazy writing.

The ending was a bit bland. Sure, I was blown away when De Niro said what happened after the explosion in his car, but still, the very ending was Ehhhh for me. I expected something better, like Goodfellas.

One of the things I also realized was some very lazy edits that were very noticable. In the opening scene when De Niro gets into the car and it blows up. If you look closely at De Niro, right before it blows up, a dummy is switched in instead of De Niro, then the car blows up. he other lazy edits were just skipping frames, weird angles, etc.

Music: The music also, did not live up to Goodfellas. Sure, it had some pretty sick choices at parts, classics, you know. But there were not many favorites in this one.

Characters: As they always were Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci were amazing. There’s something about De Niro smoking a cigarette and his walk with that New York accent that is absolutely perfect for these kind of movies. Joe Pesci did the usual psychotic, awkward, and provocative guy who kills people whenever he wants.

Sharon Stone was amazing also. Throughout the whole movie, especially the middle, she really changed. She went from this nice girl, to this brat that was depressed, angry, and miserable. And De Niro really didn’t do anything to her. It was her love she still had for James Woods (who also did great for his role even though it was small) instead of De Niro and the lust for money that dr0ve her to be like that. We all knew it wouldn’t work out well in the end for her.

Rewatch Value: High

Verdict: Although not as great as some of Scorcese’s other works, Casino is a classic of the 90s and one of their best performances from the duo of Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.

Sep 10 2012

‘Once Upon A Time In America’ 1984 Review – Movie Monday

Plot: A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to Brooklyn over 30 years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
Director: Sergio Leone
Writers: Harry Grey (novel), Leonardo Benvenuti , and 7 more credits »
Stars: Robert De Niro, James Woods and Elizabeth McGovern | See full cast and crew

Story: To be honest, I did not like the film in the first 1/3 into it. Children prostitutes who work for cupcakes, raping of each other, bad language, being rude to women, etc. But hey, that’s just me. And that is how some people grow up. But now that I’ve re-watched the film and really thought about it. I really loved the whole thing, even the first 1/3. When it gets into when the group of guys are older, it gets much better. Dealing with prohibition and those they loved, the story has the same components as The Godfather.

Which is better? Once Upon A Time In America or The Godfather? The Godfather gets the edge due to acting performances, story, and the depth we go into each and every character. But don’t get me wrong, this film is up there in the list of the greatest mob movies of all time. With many twists and turns and clever acts by Noodles and his pals, the film never gets boring. You really feel for Noodles pain. We also feel so sorry for Deborah and just want Noodles to suceed and get the girl. She’s so charming and loving as a child, but as a woman she’s much more confident and wants good in her life. When Noodles rapes her just cause she gives him a kiss makes us and her so heartbroken. That is the definite turning point in the story, making Noodles a villain.

Music: We must not forget Ennio Morricone. This man is very underrated and is surely one of the greatest composers of all time. With countless classic themes and scores on his record with the Dollars Trilogy and now Once Upon A Time In America, the man never dissapoints.

Cast & Characters: An amazing cast also makes the film even greater. Robert DeNiro plays the menacing and lovable gangster as he does in all of his mob movies. He becomes a hero and a villain in this film. We feel sorry for him at one point and want to punch him in the face at another point.

James Woods plays a convincing boss and villain throughout the film. As Noodles right hand man and Noodles right hand man at the same time. He’s “really crazy”.

Rewatch Value: High

Verdict: A true Leone gangster epic that will live on as one of the greatest mob movies of all time that will never get boring and shows the values of frienship and promise.

Sep 5 2012

‘The Departed’ 2006 Review – Movie Wednesday

Lets make this a little Scorcese week, shall we? Taxi Driver on Friday!

Story: To be honest, I was a little dissapointed by this one. I heard this was ‘the Goodfellas of the 2000s’, and it even won Best Picture of 2006.It wasn’t anything too special. Sure, it was a good film. But it was predictable.Yeah, the ending was a little out there, but it was good. It got better towards the end of the film when the tension was building higher and higher and we didn’t know if he was going to get out or not.

Visuals: With the cinematography, I really felt the Goodfellas feel to it. The only thing is, they didn’t bring the awesome story of Goodfellas with it. Look of the film was great and was probably the best thing.

Music: Some weird and boring music choices at parts, since Scorcese seems to not to like usings scores. And if he does use a score, it’s a one track score that plays through the whole film (Taxi Driver).

Characters: I think one of the things that might also be bringing this film down is the many characters. Too many perhaps. The casting choices for these roles were great. But I don’t really believe someone like Matt Damon could be in a crime family. I don’t know. It’s just me. DiCaprio did excellent, as well did Nicholson.

Rewatch Value: Maybe I”ll like it better a second time? That’s what happened with me and Goodfellas. And now Goodfellas is in my Top 10 favorite movies of all time.

Aug 10 2012

‘GoodFellas’ 1990 Review – AMC Mob Week – Movie Friday

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Story: Everybody knows about GoodFellas. Everybody. Not a soul that does not know that GoodFellas is one of the greatest mafia movies ever. This was the very first time I had ever seen it. Perhaps not as great as The Godfather, but still a classic for all time. What makes a great mob movie like The Godfather, Scarface, and GoodFellas? I believe it’s when a movie shows other parts and things of how the mob works. What do they do, why do they do that, where do they do it, when? All of those question, when those are answered, make a great mob movie. GoodFellas, The Godfather, and Scarface each show different parts and stories in American history of honor, betrayal, glory, love, hatred, etc, you name it, everything you’d think of in the mafia. Not only does it have these aspects of a good mob movie, but it introduces new mob movie aspects to the film audience. Sure, if you’ve ever read the mafia books, some of these movies are based on real life events, just condensed into movie format. This also was a really funny film. It had some great ‘haha’ moments.

Visuals: I got the real 40s to the 80s feels throughout the film. Cinematography and set was great.

Music: Also, to help the change in years, the songs would change too according to the years, which was cool. Plus, to top it off, they were all classics. Scorcese also seems to like Tony Bennet a lot, which is cool.

Characters: I really liked Ray Liotta as Henry Hill. When he started snorting cocaine in the movie, his appearance REALLY looked like he was on drugs. For Karen, I loved her most of the time, but I didn’t sometimes. She just got annoying at some parts. Robert DeNiro. Him and Al Pacino are the ultimate mob guys. The only thing is, Al Pacino wasn’t in this film. Joe Pesci was. I really wanted mroe of Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci, this was one of the only things I didn’t like much. I felt like we didn’t get enough of them. And Joe Pesci’s mother in the film. LOVED HER. She looked just like him and had somewhat of he same hairstyle as him.

Rewatch Value: A true classic. Everyone who loves mob movies like The Godfather or Scarface needs to go watch this film.

Aug 8 2012

‘Copland’ 1997 Review – AMC Mob Week – Movie Wednesday

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Story: Going into this after watching the trailer I was thinking “Ah man, this is probably gonna be another stupid Stallone movie” When I say stupid Stallone movie, of course I mean Rocky 4-6. But throughout the trailer I recognized a ton of faces. My attitude was like “Oh my god, all this is missing is some Al Pacino”. Also, after watching the trailer and reading the movie’s description, I was thinking how this was considered a mob movie and why was it being shown on AMC Mob Week? I let it go since it had the biggest stars from other mob movies. Anyways, I really enjoyed this one. I really felt the nice 90s cop mystery vibe. The actors were great and it had a nice and twisted storyline. It had a few “wut” moments toward the end, but overall, I really liked this one. This leads me to wonder why it only has a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.9 on IMDb.

Visuals: A really awesome 90s cop mystery vibe. The night scenes were the best really. Especially the crime scene on the bridge. I really loved how it looked. They made it look and fell very realistic.

Music: I didn’t really hear much music throughout the film. This happens sometime, it’s no big deal, it’s just hard to rate. Do I rate it low since there is no music? Or will that make people think that the music was terrible?

Characters: Amazing. I loved them. Stallone had one of his greatest performances of his career here. He plays a slow and dumb guy very well. The look and voice help too, (no offense). Harvey Keitel really looks like a cop for than a mob guy like in Mean Streets or a pimp like in Taxi Driver. He looks like a legitamate veteran cop, “Oh my god he jumped!” Robert DeNiro was great in this also. “I gave you a chance to be a cop, AND YOU BLEW IT!” Loved him. He wasn’t in it much, but when he was, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the screen. And lets not forget Ray Liotta. This is the only other movie I’ve ever seen him in besides Goodfellas, which I will be reviewing tomorrow. But he was great too. He’s real good at playing a mest up and terrible looking guy. I thought he was on drugs or something in the movie.

Rewatch Value: I was impressed. I admit it, I was very impressed. I’ll have to watch more Stallone movies besides the Rockys, Rambos, and Expenables.