There is no Al Pacino in Goodfellas.
I love both, but to me there is more depth to Godfather. It desdribes not only mafia but society in general. Goodfellas is a proper mob movie, more than Godfather.
Film RedCafe's Favourite Movies Of All Time Contest (THE RESULTS)
- Thread starter Dirty Schwein
- Start date
I love both, but to me there is more depth to Godfather. It desdribes not only mafia but society in general. Goodfellas is a proper mob movie, more than Godfather.
Yeah, the catharsis one is the usual point - it allows you to live through emotions without them affecting you directly, and get different perspectives on life and circumstances. Feel-good films are actually unsatisfying in that sense, just like eating only dessert doesn't usually leave you feeling good beyond the very moment where you're eating them.
(And just so I'm not misunderstood: I am not necessarily disagreeing with the idea that more dramatic stories are better. There's a reason this has been thought since the ancient Greek distinction between tragedies and comedies - and probably earlier and elsewhere as well. But it's something I'm kinda interested in examining from different angles.)
Actually, this one is probably not a great example, because it's a historical movie and a quick Wiki will tell you that Fred Hampton died through a police assassination. So it's not a case of a story coming together in a dramatic sort of way that you might not get or appreciate until later ('why didn't the scenarist just let the protagonist just walk away and avoid this crap?!'), it's rather a story coming to its inevitable conclusion - and it's thus really much more about the voyage than the famous conclusion (just not famous enough for me
) in this case. But yeah, it's the same kind of idea, and I do agree with what you're saying here.I thought Get Out managed the balance of satire and entertainment much better than Nope. And the pacing was better. I enjoyed parts of Nope but came away underwhelmed tbh.Yeah, it is - and that's probably also part of why it has dropped a little in my estimation: it's 'just' a feel-good film, there's not much else to get out of it. I personally wouldn't be able to put a romcom in my top-whatever either, they're just too light-weight to me - as much as I do enjoy watching them (especially when I'm tired or otherwise drained). And kinda similarly, as I've been saying in the review thread, I prefer Jordan Peele's Nope over Get Out as I think the latter is too obvious in terms of its themes and messages.
I'm not sure I really agree with myself on this (why would art have to have meaning, messages, and/or references beyond what's obvious at face-value?), but then I don't care enough about rankings to figure this out in detail and I'll just go with my feeling.
It's hard to put in words but I just find The Godfather has more gravitas. It really strikes a chord as a series about the delicate balance between personal ambition and family/community values.
Arguably being a series gives it that because I suppose Goodfellas does the same thing but needs to wrap itself up much quicker.
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Godfather is a margherita pizza from Napoli and Goodfellas is a NYC slice with pepperoni.
Both are great in their own right: the latter you can pick up and consume anytime, whilst the former you could also do the same but is something to be savored and considered. Or…something like that…
No. 7 - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Total Points: 119
Number Of Lists: 22
Highest Position: 2
Voter Of Highest Position: @BeforeKeanetherewasRobson @Revan @GueRed @Solius
Total Points: 119
Number Of Lists: 22
Highest Position: 2
Voter Of Highest Position: @BeforeKeanetherewasRobson @Revan @GueRed @Solius
Ah, this brings back some memories. Top work @Dirty Schwein
This is the only film in the top 10 that didn't actually make anyone's top spot.
Haven't really been a big fan of Star Wars... Just don't see the hype. Might try again with my daughter's when they get to the right age to try and enjoy it.
Anyways, that's the last one tonight... Will return with the top 6 tomorrow.
Anyways, that's the last one tonight... Will return with the top 6 tomorrow.
Still 2 more ITV2 primetime movies to come - Matrix in the top 5 and Fellowship in the top 3. Yuck.
Matrix is amazing! Popularized the Nokia banana phone. And long leather coats.
LOTR... Yeah that's not really my cup of tea.
And popularised franchising and milking an idea with ever worsening sequels whereby the end the milk has turned into an infected yeasty mouldy broth.
I did consider it just for the twist at the end. How they kept that quiet is beyond me even in those days.
Have to say I agree that everything matrix related after the first film was utter tripe.
Nah it wasn't, it was just bog standard SciFi action movies with a thin plot. Nothing better but also nothing worse
Godfather is basically a perfect movie one of the only movies I feel comfortable branding so, it's as good as it gets in the classical confines of cinema , every part of it is jacked up to the the highest quality possible, the acting, the cinematography, the music, the script, the pacing etc etc all done with utter perfection.
You can't really call Goodfellas that, perhaps more enjoyably if it's your personal taste but it's far from what Godfather achieved.
Godfather is a tragedy and more of a drama to be honest than a mob movie, the latter is just a facade.
Yep. That ending ruined the movie for me. Preferred Get Out by far.
To each their own, I was just explaining how it works for me.
Gomorrah, Hand of GodYeah can't disagree with that I guess.
I wish there was a good gangster film or two these days... Instead we got The Irishman where RDN had to get stunt support to lift his leg and kick someone who was already on the floor
100% deserved though. Shane Hurlbut is a dipshit and anyone who knows how Bale works would give him the professional courtesy to not walk around and adjust lights in the middle of a strenuous take.
It’s like preferring The Rolling Stones over Aerosmith, or The Beatles over Oasis. The Godfather created so many iconic moments, and without it there never would have been a Wonderwall.
Were you as surprised as I was to find out The Wolf of Wall Street was supposed to be a comedy? I loathed that film. I wanted DiCaprio and Jonah Hill to die horribly (in the film). I’m not sure actively hoping for the leads to get murdered is a an indicator of a good script. I found it cliche ridden and boring. feck!!!
Are you thinking of James Bond, perhaps?
I'll check those out thanks.
What if the light was causing some issue that was rendering the takes unusable? I don't know the ins and outs but don't think humiliating someone like that is necessary.
It's supposed to be what now? I guess I'm surprised now! I certainly didn't find it funny, and yes, all the main characters were loathsome. That's not a bad thing in and of itself (although it would make any movie hard to watch), but watching those characters have the time of their lives (which to me was an orgy of unpleasantries) for over two hours (minus the start and ending), and then get off pretty lightly (the real person the story is based on even gets a cameo at the end) - I just didn't enjoy or appreciate that at all.
I haven't seen Hand of God yet (highly reviewed though), but Gomorrah was excellent. It's purely the gritty side of gangsterism though; none of the luxury and decadence (however short-lived) of the usual mob films.
It's a TV show... No wonder I haven't seen it.
I thought so too, but upon further reflection, I think I actually disagree. Gangsterism is always a context. In Goodfellas, it's the context for the rise and fall and behaviour along the way of its characters. These could also have been in other professions (like business people - and then it's suddenly a lot like The Wolf of Wall Street!), but the gangster setting us required to really make the story bloom. Same in The Godfather. Yes, the family could also have been in another business, but then the menaces, deaths, and Al Pacino's character's development would have been much less pronounced and tragic.
I'm not sure about the series aspect. Isn't The Godfather pt 1 perfectly fine as a standalone film? Knowing pt 2 might make you feel like it's a required part of the story, but I think no-one would have thought less of pt 1 had there never been a sequel.
Yes, but earlier, in 2008, it was also a film. I've never actually seen the series, but I'm reading now that it's based on the same book but a separate adaptation. (I.e., it doesn't build on the film.)
Gomorrah the movie. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomorrah_(film)
The light wasn’t. Hurkbut was just being self-involved and disrespectful, because he was the director’s boy, and the director was a talentless hack. If anyone did that, they’d be fired. When you are rolling, everyone is quiet and doesn’t move. That’s basic set knowledge. Bale didn’t need to have a meltdown like he did, but I’m glad he did anyway.
Ahh I'll add it to the watchlist. Cheers fellas.
Right, I didn't know it was when they started rolling. I always thought it was in between a take, when it is pretty common for DOP's to adjust stuff.
As for the director being a hack... He calls himself McG professionally... Of course he's a fecking hack
It also blows my mind Gomorrah was 15 years ago! Feels like just a couple years.Ahh I'll add it to the watchlist. Cheers fellas.
Right, I didn't know it was when they started rolling. I always thought it was in between a take, when it is pretty common for DOP's to adjust stuff.
As for the director being a hack... He calls himself McG professionally... Of course he's a fecking hack
No. 23 - Old Boy
Total Points: 58
Number Of Lists: 11
Highest Position: 1
Voter Of Highest Position: @hobbers @oneniltothearsenal
Just catching up with this thread after a few days not able to check the caf. Imo this is too low for Oldboy but shouldn't be surprised and should be happy it at least made top 30.
Even taking into account my huge anti-lotr bias, I am a little surprised that lotr fellowship is so high up and the highest of all three lotr when I thought it was easily worse than the other ones (though none would be in top 250 movies)
I'm guessing you're too young.
If you were a kid when you saw Empire in the theaters, you'd get it. It shaped my whole worldview growing up in the 80s and no joke hearing Yoda's watered down Buddhism as a kid basically spoke to me far more to me than growing up in Catholic school and was the first catalyst to me not considering myself Christian. Hard to really capture that impact unless you grew up during that era.
Yeah I was born in the late 80s so didn't see it until mid 90s earliest.
You should not forget that Goodfellas is based on true events as told by the real Henry Hill. The gangster setting isn't there for the purposes of making it an interesting story, it is the story.
It is but it's an adaptation of a novel that includes the backstory of Vito coming to America and becoming the Don that we saw in part II. While those elements could have been included in the first film it would have made it unbearably long. Those De Niro pieces of part II really add weight to the newer elements of the story, especially Michael's family breakdown and the Frank Pentangelli and Fredo arcs.
I didn't know that, but either way, films also need to be be able to stand alone, regardless of historical facts or books or whatever else they may be based on - and I think you can look at them that way as well. So I don't think that invalidates my point that both the Goodfellas and The Godfather stories could be told outside the mob context, but that both stories work better within it.
But again, none of that matters while you're watching pt 1. I've never read those books, loved pt 1, and I have never seen anyone claim that pt 1 isn't a good standalone film.