Directed by Martin Scorsese Alright so we know the story, the rise and fall of Henry Hill from "I always wanted to be a gangster" to "I'm an average nobody... get to live the rest of my life like a schnook." It's a classic gangster story and even more than that an American story. You … Continue reading Goodfellas (1990)
goodfellas
Black Mass (2015)
Directed by Scott Cooper Black Mass is another Boston-set mob movie, this time about Jimmy "Whitey" Bulger (Johnny Depp), a mob boss who cut a deal with the FBI that helped him and the Winter Hill Gang flourish for years. It follows in the footsteps of Goodfellas and, perhaps even more so, in the shadow of The … Continue reading Black Mass (2015)
American Made (2017)
Directed by Doug Liman There's a good story somewhere in here, but American Made doesn't see it. This is a crazy story based on true events, the type that has to someday become a movie, though much of that insanity is watered down by the ways in which this feels like it's ripping off so many … Continue reading American Made (2017)
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Directed by Werner Herzog Fitzcarraldo reminded me of Apocalypse Now (1979) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Both films concern single-minded obsessions deep in the jungle, and in the case of Apocalypse Now, the troubled story behind the film parallels the narrative, but not quite as much as this Werner Herzog film. Now I don't know the … Continue reading Fitzcarraldo (1982)
