The Warped Shelf - Goodfellas (AFI Top 100 #92)

As far back as we can remember, we've always wanted to talk about Goodfellas. And Casino, by extension. It's all mobs all the time today.
Episode #160

Episode Transcript

(00:30):
Hello, and welcome to the WarpShelf. I'm Frank Rand, I'm Deshaun
Beasquez, and today we're diving backinto the AFI Top one hundred Movies of
all time. You know, we'vebeen doing a couple of these every every
so often, So now we're talkingabout probably one of my favorite movies,

(00:52):
you know, like one of thosemovies that influenced me a lot. And
it's kind of sad that's up herein the nineties for me, but I
you know, I understand, youknow, like I get it. But
we're talking about Goodfellas. Goodfellas isone of those movies that as a young
filmmaker and a young kid, Iit spoke to me so huge. It

(01:14):
just inspired me so much, youknow, like it really changed how I
wanted to like make movies and stuffand then make videos and how you know,
I want to approach those things.And so it's funny to go back
to it now, and but we'realso going to be comparing it. So
we got Good Fellas right here.So any of these AFI Top one hundred
movies, you know, on theWarpshelf, we decide what goes on your

(01:38):
warp shelf, Like if it belongsthere or not. These two belong here.
You know, we already got themright here. I got good Fellas
and I got Casino. This isa full K remastered of Goodfellas old DVD
at Casino. Oh oh yeah itis, Oh yeah, because I remember
I remember you like letting someone barthat and then they just never gave it

(02:00):
back. I finally got it back. I got it back and watched it
finally like the past couple of days. So it's my first time watching Casino,
which is wild because most people havetold me that, like, yeah,
you should have seen Casino by now, and I'm like, I'm like,
especially because I'm such a big Sasefan and Goodfellas fan that like people

(02:23):
were like, well, that's abig gap, and I'm like I'm like,
yeah, I you know, eventhough I've you know, watched thousands
of thousands of movies, there's gotto be gaps somewhere, and yeah,
Casino was one of them. Andnow I've remedied that's that. But today
we're mainly talking about Goodfellas, butwe do want to get into Casino because

(02:45):
they're often directly compared, and italso sort of is a leading into like
a couple of works from Scorsese thatalmost works like a thematic saga. Yes,
whether intentionally or not. And andI mean the comparison is very parent.
It's you know, the only personmissing is a ray Loetta from U

(03:05):
Casino. You know it's it is. It is Robert de Niro and Joe
Pesci again in both movies and MartinSosese directing. So it's like it's an
obvious comparison. But we'll get intowhy they are compared and what you know,
what this what that means and whatyou know, how if they compare,

(03:28):
why Casino isn't on this list andGoodfellas is? And I think and
Deshaun you could you can like andI just came off Casino you can say,
I'm gonna say it like right offthe bat. I think it's because
Goodfellas you can connect with it almostright away, you know, like you
connect with the characters, you connectwith the you connect with ray Loetta's character

(03:53):
right away. Leota, sorry,uh you and you and you kind of
go and you kind of go alongwith his journey even as a kid,
and it kind of grows up withit. Yeah, I think Casino is
more of an epic sort of youknow, it's yeah, it's kind of
it's for sure a matter of scale. Yes, So, and because you

(04:15):
have like different povs and we're tryingto widen it out, there is sort
of like a harder in. Ido understand what you were saying when you
were first watching it, because youwere messaging me as like you were going
along about like it's it's tough foryou to connect at this beginning because it
seems like they're throwing so much atyou and there is there is kind of
like it The first twenty minutes ofCasino does feel kind of info dumpy because

(04:39):
they need to get you to theend of just like everyone's seen a mob
movie, so we don't really needto go into that. But not everyone
knows how a casino is going topotentially work and how they worked at the
time, so we have to likereally get into it. We have to
establish a different povs. We haveto get a lot of it through and
in fact, this movie when itwas originally screened, had a lot less

(04:59):
near to it, but it lostpeople in the beginning, so they had
to add more. Oh interesting,that is interesting. I do think that
it's good to bring up that thesetwo are both books too. It's wise
Guy and uh and I don't knowthe name of the Casino book, but
it is like a true story,you know, like kind of but the

(05:21):
interesting thing about Casino, and tobe honest, I could speak as to
why it doesn't like it's not astight as Good Fellas in a few places
is the book for Casino was kindof being worked on around the same time
the screenplay was for the movie,because it's the same author as A Wise
Guys who also wrote the screenplay forGoodfellas with Scorsese. They work together again

(05:43):
for this interact, but it wassort of a simultaneous project where they were
working on the book and the movieat the same time, and one was
kind of influencing the other, kindof like two thousand and one, it's
just kind of a singular project withtwo different iterations. Yeah, but I
think so there's some behind the sceneswith Goodfellas that like he took the Wise
Guy's book and he and Margeisese waslike, we can shorten things up,

(06:06):
we can lengthen things out, wecan cut things out completely, just to
get that feel that he was goingfor. And I kind of worry.
Casino is almost more clinical and it'suh in it's kind of storytelling than it
than Goodfellas is is that Goodfellas isis Uh, it's kind of accumulating.

(06:28):
I mean, both these movies arecumulative experiences. It's not just like,
oh, the first twenty minutes,I'm in love, you know, like
which I mean that the first tenminutes I'm in love with Goodfellas. But
I feel like Casino is one ofthose things where it's more of an overall
feeling for the whole thing, Andso is Goodfellas, where uh it's more

(06:49):
of that like how Wolf of Whenyou walk ont a Wolf of Wall Street,
you feel like you took drugs.I feel like I feel like Goodfellas
you feel the pair and no ofthe of the like the whole empire falling
apart, and Casino it's more oflike it's like sorry to hard to explain

(07:10):
because it's another descent into madness,but uh, it's more of a descent
into just it's focusing on each other'slives. Yeah, I agree, It's
like it's one of those things whereit's sort of getting to each other's lives
too much, you know, likeand that's what goes wrong. You could

(07:31):
almost view like Good fellow it alwaysit starts from mean Streets. You could
almost argue, like the Mob moviesthat Scorsese has done is sort of like
an ongoing saga that tackles a particularversion of that or beginning, middle and
end. You start with mean Streets, which is about a bunch of kids
who are sort of on the cussof that sort of life. Goodfellas is

(07:54):
about what those kids grow up tobe. Yes, Casino is how big
the scope of like the are withthe mob and to the point where you
have them like controlling the casinos inLas Vegas, having politicians in their pocket.
And you could almost argue, evenin addendum to that, that The
Irishman is sort of an epilogue,Yes, kind of like where does the

(08:15):
lines? Yeah, what's the endof it all? That's interesting, that's
a good that's a great point.Is that, like we've it's kind of
like a lifetimeline thing for all ofthese Yeah, yeah, the Irishman is
is that great? Like what happensto a mobster when not when there's you
know, when there's no nothing left? You know? Yeah, because structurally
the Irishman is a lot like thoseother movies. But what's interesting about The

(08:39):
Irishman is that it's just so cold, yes, like that there's not that
glamour is gone in The Irish Irishman. It's just kind of sad. Yeah,
Like all the scenes with them talkingon the phone. You know,
like if you compare it two scenesin Casino and Goodfellas when they talk on
the phone the Irishman, they're they'rejust talking, you know, it's Alpacino,

(09:00):
Robert Danaio just talking on the phone, having the whole scene and hang
up good Fellas Smash smash smash aphone. Casino, they they like keep
trying to like trick the FBI whilethey're listening in sort of things. So
it's all rushed and yeah, likenow it's like the enticement of it,
the what the life actually is,how deep it goes and what you're left

(09:22):
with if you want to talk aboutit in like four parts it's like whether
intentional or not, kind of likeuh, just one big saga, yes,
exactly. And you know, definitelydifferent time periods here, because like
Goodfellas starts with the sixties and goesinto the seventies and ends at the eighties
and definitely like Casino is very seventies, you know, like it's very like

(09:48):
what happens in the seventies. Andit's funny because like you see the mob
kind of end in the eighties ofGoodfellas, they you know, they kind
of like shrink down and they mayyou know, make a lot less,
like hide better, and Casino isvery much that like the eighties has come
boom, you know, here's theFBI. It's over. You know,
Like it's like it's very interesting thatthey kind of both have the similar timelines,

(10:13):
but you see it from different perspectivesof that because like Good Fellas,
it's like they know they're being chased, but they don't have any up on
the cops the whole time. AndI think Casino they have the up on
the cops pretty much the whole time, you know, like they have people

(10:33):
inside they know. The Casino kindof like stretches it, like pushes it
as far as it can go.Like casinos a lot more about excess.
I think, yes, yes,exactly. And you can tell that by
even the lighting. I would saythe Casino's lighting is very high key above
their heads. They're all haloed behindtheir heads with light. So it's supposed

(10:54):
to show off that like casino lighting, you know, like very right,
you know, I mean it openthe movie open explosion, explosion, I
and it has like that fucking beautifullike sall bass opening credits to You're like,
damn all right, I did think. I think my first off putting
part of Casino, other than theinfo dump at the beginning, was that

(11:16):
intro because just the Robert de Nirofloating through the air through the flames,
I was like, what the fuckam I about to watch? Like,
you know, like which is whereDeadpool two of all that? Right?
And like Goodfellas has that amazing introwhere it's like I've always wanted to be
a gangster. But it's funny becauseI love that scene not just because for

(11:37):
what it is, but because ofnarratively, it starts the movie off with
the thing that ruins their lives,you know, like with the It's like
it starts with this massively brutal sceneof them stabbing the guy in the trunk
and dumping his body, but inreality, that's the moment that ruins them.

(11:58):
And I think that that's really great, you know, like is that
that's the real thing that gets JoePeshi killed, you know, like and
it like gets everybody kind of soldout, and it's just it's it's wild
that that's how we start the movie, and then we go directly into his
childhood and like talking about how he'salways wanted to be a gangster and what

(12:20):
he did. I also think soI was talking about connections with with Goodfellas
and Casino, and I do thinkthat the kind of immigrant story we're telling
here with Goodfellas is is easier toconnect to than Casinos, kind of just

(12:43):
like here's a book, and becausethey're both outsiders to the mob because neither
are like Italian men. Yeah,they're not made men, they're not,
but they like but they push itfurther because you get into like Henry's childhood
and the like and how he kindof just started hanging around these people and
he kind of earned his way up. Yeah, exactly. And I also

(13:05):
think it's important when we talk aboutmob movies to talk about the power in
them and why, uh, youknow, why the mob rose to power
in the first place, and whyyou know, people are obsessed with mob
movies because you know, people lovethe Godfather, people love Goodfellas, people
love Casino. It's it's it's likemy movies are big time movies, you

(13:26):
know, like, and they're not. There's not a ton of them,
you know, per Se. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I but
I think it's an important thing totalk about because it's usually first generation or
second generation immigrants, you know,like, these are not just people coming
over on the boat. These arepeople who realize that their parents were fed

(13:48):
a false American dream and and theyhave to make it on their own,
you know. Like that that isthe usual kind of ingredients for mob movie,
you know, like because if you'relooking at al Pacino's character in the
in The Godfather, it is definitelylike I can change the mob to be

(14:11):
better Slash. I can you know, take care of my whole family,
you know, instead instead of justrelying on you know, my uh Sicilian
roots, you know. Like,and it's like and Goodfellas is very much
like my father is a socker fordoing nine to fives. I can do
I can do this and be youknow, a bigger man, you know,

(14:33):
per Se. And I don't thinkit happens as much for casinos.
So that's what I maybe don't followit as well. You know, like
also a good comparison to make betweenThe Godfather and Goodfellas because you have like
this, the good Fellas, thegod the good Fellas that combine the two.
The The Godfather is very operatic,yes, and Goodfellas is a lot

(14:58):
more grounded. It kind of remindsme of like Apocalypse Now versus Platoon.
Yeah, Like one is very heightenedand very almost esoteric into its and like
to its advantage, and the otheris like grounded. It's sort of like,
you know, more of a dramatizedversion of what it is as opposed
to someone with more experience. Youhave Wise Guys as a book that's you
know, an account of what actuallyhappens, and you have something like Platoon

(15:20):
where Oliver Stone was a Vietnam vet. Yes, exactly, And I think
it's I always love the story ofMario Puzo, you know, he he
he wrote The Godfather the screenplay andlike you know, after his book,
and like he but he never wrotea screenplay before. And I always loved

(15:41):
the story that he went to ascreenplay class after The Godfather And the first
thing on the list is watch TheGodfather to find out how to write a
screenplay, and he was like,what the fuck, you know, like
he was just like wait, waita goddamn minute, you know, like
like he's like, wait, Ididn't know what I was doing. And
I think that's it arresting, youknow, like a book writer going into

(16:02):
a screenplay and that can that cango wrong in so many ways. You
know, We've seen a lot ofmovies that are written by the actual authors
that just don't go well. Andthen you have things like The Godfather,
you know, like and Or oreven Goodfellas or Casino. You know,
like sometimes you have even rarer instanceswhere you have the author of the original

(16:25):
work actually directing the adaptation, Yeswhich or Hell Raiser and Exorcist three,
and that's the only ones I canthink of, Or you have I think
one of the best examples of this, and this is so outside of what
we're talking about, but Princess Brideis one of the best examples of that,
where the guy did the book andthen he did the screenplay and it's

(16:47):
kind of like the screenplay answers questionsfrom the book and they kind of work
interchangeably. Like it's one of thosethings where you can't just see the Princess
Bride movie and then be like,oh, I don't need to read the
book because the book is so goodby itself and does other things. You
say you can't, but most peoplehave Yeah, yeah, most people have

(17:10):
never read the book. But Iwould guys, if you're gonna get anything
for this podcast, go read thePrince's Bride book. It is worth it.
There's a fundamental connection, yeah,between the Princess Bride and Goodfellas.
It's all connected. It's connected.But okay, so let's let's kind of
get into Goodfellas because I do.I mean, I think that it comes

(17:33):
down to that, you know,it's a story you can connect with,
uh, you know as a youngkid. It's it's like, it's kind
of it's funny because I feel likeit's a good Fellas is a hot is
a weird watch because it's definitely it'slike a sad tragedy. But in a
lot of ways, the guys init think they're in a comedy, you

(17:55):
know, like the like you know, like not I'm not saying the actors,
but like the care themselves feel likethey're in sort of an up and
up comedy more than they are alike sad tragic, yeah, like fall
Out of Grace like it is,which is an honest take on like getting
kind of wrapped up in that sortof life where you have nothing to really

(18:17):
worry about, like money isn't anobject to you. You can control people's
lives, which I think, inturn, also gives people every single time
one of these movies comes out,it gives people the wrong interpretation as if
these movies are trying to glamorize thelife because the movies are fun to watch,
just like, No, it's showingthe enticement of it eventually falling apart,

(18:41):
Yeah, exactly. And it's likeI feel like Sirsez goes hard on
Wolf of Wallstreet for trying to belike, this is how badly it can
fall apart, even though inherently worstthings happen in Goodfellas and Casino, you
know, like it's like nobody fuckingdies really at the end of Wolf of
Wall Street or of the main characters. They just all go to jail and

(19:06):
like, and it's like he triesto show off how much things fall apart
because I feel like he has heardthat criticism, you know, like he
has heard that maybe Goodfellas and othermovies he's done kind of glamorize that life
when reality is just trying to showthat these guys were having fun, you
know, like they were Iris waslike a direct response to that, just

(19:29):
in its tone. Yeah, exactly. It's But one of these things that
I do love about The Godfather andGoodfellas is that, you know, I'm
Italian and I grew up you know, with my you know, my Italian
side of the family, and likeso a lot of what's happening in the

(19:49):
movie, like family wise and thepeople around them make so much sense to
me. And just like I've seenthese people, you know, I know
these people. And one of thethings that stands out in this movie,
and I don't think it was there'sa little bit of it in Casino,
but like the food, the foodis so fucking important Goodfellas, you know,

(20:12):
like it's almost like a narrative device, you know, of like what
he like, like even when he'scrumbling at the end of the movie and
like worried that he's being chased downby the FBI, he's still worried about
his sauce and he's got to keepit stirring and make sure it's good,
you know, like and I thinkthat that's just like part of it is

(20:33):
that like even in my Irish household, it's like it was always all day
what you were gonna eat, youknow, like what's at the end of
the day, what's you know,like what what what we're building to?
You know, like so you know, like, well, you know,
we'll, we'll. It's one ofthose things that like I do, I

(20:53):
think that food is such an importantthing to Italians and Irishmen and like and
and to the life that like that'san important party brought to this in a
realistic part of this fun fact,cutting garlic really thin doesn't liquify it.
That's not how that works. No, No, it doesn't work like that,
but it does. It does makeit easier to cook, and it's

(21:15):
very good if you do it thatway. I've done it that way with
an actual resermelade. It's tasty.But that's no, the garlic doesn't just
melt. It's a little bit ofa little bit of play there. But
uh yeah, I think that that'sone of those things that's sort of realistic
here, and that's where I kindof connect with goodfellas and even the Godfather,

(21:37):
you know, and even the Irishmanin those ways that like the food
is so important, you know,like even in these these situations where they
are, you know, killing people, they're plotting things, you know,
like they're still like, well,where's where's the sandwiches, where's the copa
cola, where's the you know,like where's my bread with my wine?

(21:59):
Which turns out into like a cheapjust like a cheap French red with some
grape juice, right, It's it'sit's wild. I do think that there's
a lot of realistic bits in thisand that's what kind of humanizes these characters
for me and why you know,as a young kid, I was so
like, oh god, yeah,this is this is this is like real,

(22:22):
you know, like it's an exampleof like what you can potentially use
when you choose to go bigger.Yes, and honestly doesn't it's not unlike
knives Out versus glass Onion. Hmmm. Interesting. That's an interesting comparison,
like because that was something we hadbrought up when we had talked about Glass
Onion, that like I prefer knivesout overall, and it mostly comes down

(22:45):
to like how much I how fleshedout the characters of like the entire family
family feel they feel each like realpeople, whereas like when you get to
Glass Onion they feel a little morearchetypal, yeah, and not as specific.
And I think that that happens herewith Goodfellas comparing it to Casino.

(23:06):
Is that you know, you seewhat type of character Robert de Niro's uh
is, you know, like inGoodfellas, you kind of like see that
he's you know, handing out money, He's making things happen, you know,
like and uh and and and justwants to like make good with his
fit, with his friends and family, and same thing for like uh for

(23:30):
regular Lionta's character here, and likeand I feel like in Casino it's a
lot more just like general bad guys, you know, in a lot of
ways. You know, like there'sno like that. It's it's like because
Robert Deinio's character just wants to makemoney, you know, like the whole
time. You know, like there'sno there's no real like other motivation than

(23:56):
you're fucking with the money, youknow, which you know is true of
some people, you know, Andthere is a lot of ego. Again,
how big can you get, andbut I feel like Joe Peshi's character
in this. I mean, yousee him in Good Fellows, you see
him grow up, you know,like you see him uh kind of get
to the place he's going to be, but kind of right off the bag.

(24:18):
Casino, he's a fucking psycho,you know, like, and I
do get that. But honestly,I actually prefer Pesti's performance at Casino just
because it's so fucking entertaining. Theis it is. It is definitely based
on like everyone really thought Joe Pesciwas funny and good fellow so we gotta
really ramp up the Peesti and Casino. But god damn it, every line

(24:38):
that comes out of his mouth inCasino makes me laugh. Yeah right,
I will sometimes, like with myfriends who have seen it, will just
go out of nowhere. You motherfuck you, motherfucker you. Or that
bit where he's watching the cops withthe binoculars, bikaboo, you fucks you.
Yeah, it's like he's he ishe is in Casino. Let me

(25:00):
not, let me be serious,like, but let me be fair,
Like, I get what you mean. As far as like characterization goes characterization,
it's very much just like he's badnews to Robert de Niro's character there,
and then he shows up and he'sbad fucking news, you know,
like and even if he's like afriend, you know, like and I
feel like in Goodfellas and there's moreto like know and and and and kind

(25:25):
of you know, get used toand more personfiz with Yeah, more personable
because it's like and and that happens, you know, with with you know,
a lot of that. I feellike a lot of Good Fellas is
that there's a lot more characters youcan believe than uh, say, the
Casino, which is very much,you know, bigger than life an epic,

(25:48):
you know, which is ironic consideringlike they're both based on actual events,
and from what I can gather doinga little bit of digging, it
seems like Casino was actually truer tolife to what they were based on.
The Goodfellas was. Yeah, Goodfella'svery kind of like condensed and and very
much from uh Ray Luetta's character there, Yoda like Yoda, sorry Leoda he

(26:14):
that I forget the name of hischaracter there, Henry Henry Hill. Okay,
so Henry Hill is based off areal guy and the and the book
was based off testimony from that guy, you know, like he was telling
the story. Turns out a lotof what he said was fucking lies or
just stretching things. Does that makethis not entertaining? No, not at

(26:37):
all. You know, a narrativefilm is not a documentary exactly. So
it's like one of those things where, yeah, it might not be as
true, but does that make itany less? No, absolutely not.
And because it's still from his perspective, you know, so it's kind of
just like, all right, youknow that's like the only points because I've

(27:00):
joked about it before because I've shownthese movies, not maybe back to back
because that's a long day of moviewatching, like one pushing three hours and
one is three hours. So butI've had them. But I've shown it
to people, like relatively not toolong after the other, and it's interesting
seeing how they feel and they seemto sort of be more of my side,

(27:22):
just like Casino has the more entertainingJoe Peshy, like Goodfel's is the
better movie, but also Casino hasJoe bob Riggs. So that's my bias.
Did you catch that when you gotto that actually watching this? Yeah,
you're just like the dipshits uh brotherin law to that fucking they fire
a politicians. Yeah, wait afucking minute. Like I saw it and

(27:45):
I was like, wait a fuckingminute. I know this guy, like
like one of those moments where I'msitting there looking up on IMBD I'm like,
wait a fucking second here, likelike that was like, wait,
wait a minute. So I dowant to like point out that the casting
at the very beginning of the movieof the kid actors, I feel is
perfect. I feel like the littleJoe Pesci, the real little Henry Hill

(28:11):
is a is amazing. I thinkthat they it perfectly ages up and it's
one of those like perfect kid castingsthat you don't see in many movies.
Uh. And it's like sort ofhard, you know when they kind of
jump to being an adult and you'rekind of like, eh, that's not
exactly that kid grown up. Butit feels that way here, you know,
like it just it definitely or sometimesthey draw attention to it and end

(28:34):
up kind of making it worse.Yeah, I'm looking at you, Looper,
which is a great movie, butit's I could have suspended my disbelief
that Joseph Gordon Levitt was going togrow up into Bruce Willis. You didn't
need to give him prosthetics. Youjust threw attention to it more, just
like, please calm down, wedon't need to go this far. But

(28:56):
I feel like that's one of thoselike those those things that you're just like,
that's perfect. Another little thing thatI think is funny about Goodfellas that
h that you know Casino does too. Uh, But like Martin Scorsese is
known for, it is actually usingzooms, you know, like actually zooming
out from a scene and revealing thescene, which you know, me and

(29:19):
Deshn went to film school. Theytell you don't fucking do that. They
tell you don't use zoom because ofyour eye doesn't zoom, so why zoom?
But and it often you need touse it carefully because it sticks out.
Yes, it needs to be appropriate, and so you can see someone

(29:40):
likes Scorsese using it to pretty goodeffect here. Kubrick would also do it
sometimes, like I remember, they'relike straight up like zoom outs and like
a clockwork orange. Yes exactly.And I feel like he does it here
to reveal a scene like uh whenwhen they're uh when the restaurant owner finally
gets in business with the mob,and he's writing those checks to kind of

(30:02):
zoom out to reveal that, likeeveryone's running around selling shit around them,
and it's usually your reveal zoom,you know, like it's it's not just
like out of nowhere or something likethat. It's to show the scope of
what is going on. And Ifeel like that's a very appropriate use of
zoom. But I think it's funnythat Sorcese's out there just breaking film rules,

(30:23):
you know, like and being likewhatever, I do what I want,
you know, like I'm one ofthe greatest. Fuck it, you
know. Like Another thing that Ithink is really great, just like on
the production side, is how oftenpractical lighting is really used here, Like
it's it's it's interesting how often yousee see the source of the light and

(30:47):
that's the only light in the scene, you know, like and and he
almost creates a neo noir look,like especially when they're bearing the bodies out
there. Yeah, it's just it'sall red and like, and it's only
from the car, and it's it'sseveral of those scenes where it's just like
it's the lighting comes from one placeand it's used to like heighten the drama

(31:08):
and like the kind of weirdness ofwhat's going on, because what we're dealing
with here in Casino and Goodvellas areliteral villains, you know. Like I
feel like that's kind of narratively likethese are not good people. We empathize
with them, you know, likewe go along for their story, but

(31:29):
in reality, these are literal villains, you know, like literal bad guys,
you know, doing fucked up shit, and like and I think that
that's sort of the what he triesto accomplish with the lighting there is to
be like, hey, this isfucked even though it's fun, you know,
like like like we may be playinga rock soundtrack in the background,

(31:49):
you know, but like that thisis not good shit, you know.
Like and I think that that's youknow, if if he's not coming out
narratively and saying it, you know, like he's coming out with the lighting
and the setting and what he hasalways been interesting about his music too,
Yes, his movies, Yeah,Casino too. I was like I was

(32:09):
just like when he when like themusic plays as what's the name of his
of his helper who plays one ofthe Pixar characters John Rickles, Don Rickles,
Thank you Don Rickles. When hecomes up with the gun and the
music is playing, and then asthey hand over the gun, the music

(32:30):
goes silent and he takes the gun, and then the music starts up again,
like just to be like this isa big moment where like he's kept
his hands clean it per se,and now he's taking a gun into his
hands, you know, like sortof like a big kind of like stop
of this rock music and then backinto it and you're just like okay,

(32:50):
all right, Like but I meanGoodfellas the soundtrack is is iconic and in
just incredible. I mean everyone alwaystalks about using is it Loretta as as
the reveal scene for everybody being deadin the car and the kids seeing the
car, and like that is justand I always think of like the Sid

(33:14):
Vicious version of Byway for the credits. Yeah right, you're just like super
interesting. It is really interesting.I do think it's funny because like I
feel like Goodfellas is sort of casino. He's kind of experimenting more than what
the ideas he has in Goodfellas,And I think one of those other than

(33:37):
the music is narration because I feellike in Goodfellas, it's Henry Hill,
Henry Hill, Henry Hill, untilhis wife comes in and she starts her
narration and it almost comes out ofnowhere, like you didn't expect to hear
her narration in a way, andlike and I do love that because you
kind of like hear her perspective ofwhat she thought of him, you know,

(34:00):
not just like you know, notjust like seeing what's on her face
and letting the scene play, youkind of like hear why she finds that
attractive, you know, like whatshe's thinking in those moments. And I
think that that's interesting. And thencasino, they're just like, let's do
three people doing different narrations even backto back, and you're just like hold

(34:21):
on, you know, like you'relike, well wait, hold on,
this is too many, like youknow, like and and it's one of
those unreliable not narrators in casino,like where all three of them are narrating,
they all have from one of you. They're each like criticizing the other,
like they're getting details wrong, theydon't understand the perspective, and two

(34:42):
of them are dead by the end. So how are you know, like
narratively, how are they doing thatnarration, you know, like sort of
thing. But like because in Goodfellows, it's like him writing the book,
you know, like sort of thing. Like that's what it comes across as,
like he's the narration is him writingthe book. So when her narration
comes in, you're kind of like, oh, this is her putting in
her two cents into the book,you know, like in Casino, it's

(35:07):
very I also see it in GoodFellas. I also also see it as
like the testimony for the entire lifebecause there's like that fourth wall break at
the end where he's looking directly atthe camera. It's like, now it's
all over. Now it's all over, you know, as a young kid.
I mean you you could check outmy old YouTube channel. It's like
I loved that fourth wall break,you know, like I love the talking

(35:30):
to the camera, you know,and a lot of other movies do it,
but like Goodfellas was one of thefirst ones I saw that they did
that, and I was so like, I was just floored by it.
And like I have a whole shortfilm that I did in high school as
my like capstone for high school thatwas just you know, a guy meeting
a girl at a bookstore and theyoh, you're yeah talking about woman and

(35:52):
it's like one of those things wherethey it's like that moment in Goodfellas.
Like I did Mobster movies, youknow, and high School and stuff like
that, and that was definitely influencedby Goodfellas, but it was almost more
influenced by Guy Ritchie films, youknow, like you know, like that
it was more you know, therewas like the whips and the freezes,
you know, like yeah, likelike that sort of thing going on.

(36:15):
But I feel like Goodfellas, Imean, Goodfellas definitely influenced Guy Ritchie.
I feel like there's you know,Rock and Roller where they're talking to the
camera is absolutely just taken from Goodfellas, you know, like and trying to
like embellish on that and keep moving, you know, like, and I
think that that's super interesting, youknow, to see kind of the influence

(36:37):
of Goodfellas on filmmaking, because likeeveryone loves Sorsese, you know, like
they take little things and they sprinkleit throughout. And I think that Guy
Ritchie's you know, there's so manymovies of his that are obviously taking an
influence, you know, and you'rejust like, all right, not just
Rock and Roller, which I knowa lot of people have not seen,

(36:58):
but you should. It's it's interestingthat, like public perception of Scorsese is
altered, mostly because everyone keeps tryingto fucking drum up drama with asking him
about Marvel movie shit. But it'sinteresting that there's like and it's in this.
It's the same way with Christopher Nolan, like the perception of the man
versus the actual man's like attitude wholeLike, oh, Scorsese only does mob

(37:23):
movies, et cetera, is likeone, No, he doesn't. He's
done plenty of other movies that havenothing to do with the mob. He's
very versatile, and he's also notas much as a snob as you guys
want him to do. Yeah,just because you're insecure about people criticizing the
MCU. I do feel like that, like the TikTok he has with his
daughter that he's been doing a lotof not his granddaughter, right, it's

(37:45):
his granddaughter. He's doing those commercialswith the tiktoks, and like those those
really like show you him in alot of ways, you know, like
the person. And I feel likethat's kind of in port and I feel
like it's happened with Christopher Nolan recently, with the people finding out he likes
the Fast and Furious series, youknow, Like I feel like a lot

(38:07):
of people always were like, oh, he's a snobby makes snobby movies,
you know, like, and thenyou hear that he's just like, yeah,
I love all the Fast and Furiousmovies and I actually have like thoughts
about the mythos of these movies andlike how a watch order of the Fast
and Furious like series and you're likethe fuck. You know, You're like,

(38:28):
wait a fucking second, what youknow, Like, yeah, when
the DGA, the Director's Guild ofAmerica, has their own podcast called the
Director's Cut when a new movie isscreened, and they usually bring on the
director or some sort of filmmaker tocome and talk about it, and they
have another filmmaker interview with them.Yeah, they did one where Nolan was
interviewing Edgar right when Baby Driver cameout. I'm like, that's a fucking

(38:51):
conversation. Yeah right, You're like, I like, that's sick as hell.
And of course, you know Nolanloved Baby Driver. You're just like,
of course, it's all his favoritethings, you know, like it's
just all the good stuff put together. But I do think, yeah,
it's important to like be like,you know, Sorsese loves these immigrant stories.

(39:14):
He loves these these the sense intomadness. He doesn't love the mob,
you know, Like it's not likethat's his And as far as accolades
are concerned, it's not like he'sone of those directors that they're continuously just
like pushing him forward as the onlyfilmmaker that exists. Like we forget how
long it took Scorsese to actually likewin some Academy awards right, or be

(39:38):
accepted at all. You know,Like it's like it's one of those things
like yes, everyone's always like,yeah, but what about Raging Pool,
you know, like and you're like, yeah, but that was a couple
of movies in you know, likethat was not just right off the bat,
He's he's making Raging Bull, Likethere was a bunch of movies before
that. Yeah, everyone always talksabout like, you know, Raging Bull,

(40:00):
mean streets, et cetera. Iwant to hear people talk about some
of the ones that I never hearpeople talk about. What about Age of
Innocence? What about Silence? Yeah, exactly, knocking at my door,
you know, like you know,like Box Card, Bertha, you know
what about his remaker, Kate Fear, which fucking rules. It's it's absolutely

(40:22):
one of those things. And likeand I feel like, you know,
even you know, you look atall his his movies and it's like these
movies that are not mob movies,you know, like yeah, The Big
Ones, Casino, Goodfellas, Gangsof New York means streets, like yeah,
the Departed, you know, likethat's that's what he's remembered for.

(40:44):
But you can't forget things like ShutterIsland or you know, like or Hugo
or Wolf of Wall Street, youknow, like those the Flower Moon recently,
Yes, exactly, it's like,yeah, he he he's the king
of the Mob movie. But doesthat you know, like does that negate
everything else? Absolutely not. Youknow, like I feel like the same

(41:06):
thing happens for Francis port Coppola.Everyone just kind of remembers Godfather and you're
like, yeah, but Apocalypse now, you know, like in the conversation,
yeah, you're right, You're like, come on, let's be real.
I am excited for Megalopolips. I'veheard some mixed things. It is
I am. Honestly, the mixedreception to it makes me more interest right
than either just like wholly negative orwholly positive. I'm like, Okay,

(41:27):
what this tells me because people annoyme and I think there's there's a real
lack of nuanced conversation, is thatit's challenging and people don't know how to
feel about it. That makes itmore enticing than me. Yeah, exactly,
So Goodfellas. One of the thingsthat uh, you know, people
bring up all the time is howmany fucks are in this movie? Are

(41:51):
derivatives of fucks? There is threehundred twenty one fucks in this movie.
You know, like no, likethat is up there with some of the
highest swearing movies. You know,like that is that is up there.
But at the same time, it'ssort of part of the language, you
know, like it's just part ofit. So like I, you know,

(42:14):
I feel like that is and it'skind of the way they are.
And as a person who uses fuckas an adjective, you know, I
feel like, you know, likeit just kind of works, you know,
is kind of the way it is. I do think Casino sometimes will
not swear as much, but willuse it to bigger effect, you know,

(42:37):
like you motherfucker, you know,like you can you can always sort
of like immediately like smell the differencebetween like swearing or that type of language
as part of the dialogue or partof the culture. It's just part of
how they talk and the sort oflike we're trying to be edgy, so
we're swearing, which I'm I'm takingshot. That's some contemporary TV right where

(43:01):
it sounds like they sound like kidswho are swearing when their parents aren't around
for the first time and they puttoo much emphasis on it. Yeah,
I completely agree. I think it'sone of those things where you could swear
like an adult or you know,or you could swear like you don't actually
swear that often. Really, That'swhy something like it chapter one never bothered

(43:23):
me. I'm just like, oh, that's kind of how I talked with
my friends when no one else wasaround, Like we were swearing like sailors
as a kids, when we werejust hanging out in the neighborhood and like
doing stuffy. It was just whenwe got home that we would just tone
it down. Yeah, exactly.It's like, you know, I grew
up and it was like I gotin trouble for saying crap around my mom.
But now it's like I try notto swear about my mom because she

(43:46):
definitely is like Frank. But itjust the way it is, you know,
It's just the way it is.I do. I think it's just
part of the authenticity, authenticity thatthat word like this bucks me up to

(44:07):
of this movie. One of theother things that I feel is very authentic
for this movie, and you know, isn't captured in many other movies,
is how brown the seventies were,you know, like how just there wasn't
psychedelic colors everywhere. It wasn't peoplein colors. It was brown. Like
people like to bring the same thingup about the eighties, like just like

(44:28):
the eighties, wasn't this like Pastellefever dream. A lot of the times
it was just wood paneling, woodpaneling, wood paneling, exactly. And
I feel like this movie kind ofnails that look, especially when you when
they go to the bar where theyyou know, get your shine box,
Like that bar is so brown,it's wild, like you're just like god,

(44:51):
damn, you just look around andlike Karen being like showing off her
new apartment and it looks so gaudy. Now yeah, right, it's just
like, god damn it is.It's one of those things where it's it's
funny, like how well they nailthat down instead of trying to like be
like it's romanticized, you know,like in the seventies was psychedelics and rainbows

(45:13):
and and fun you know, likeno, no, no, no,
no no. Everything was plastic andbrown, you know, like that is
that's the way it was, youknow, like but I uh, you
know, but beyond the aesthetics,I think one of these great things about
this movie is the slow descent intonot just madness, but like kind of

(45:39):
losing uh you know joy, youknow, losing what makes you happy,
you know, like sort of thingis what happens in Goodfellas. One of
the main examples is raylo raised laughlike at the very beginning is so big
and hearty and like and wild,you know, like and by the end

(46:00):
it's barely there. You know.Sometimes he's doing the laugh just to make
people feel better, but you couldtell he's not. He doesn't feel that
way, you know, he's notas he's not as loose, not as
having as much fun, you know, like is very just that he kind
of just loses his laugh throughout themovie, and I think that's sort of

(46:21):
an interest that's a first off.Just more I miss him as an actor.
I feel like, you know,like I absolutely miss him as an
actor, and I feel like that'sone of those little details that somehow he's
able to keep up with the oneof the goats, Robert de Niro,
you know, like where he's youknow, Robertino is viewed as one of
the greatest actors of all time,and I think he had a good reason.

(46:44):
He had to fight for the parttoo. That's the interesting thing.
Like Scorcese wanted him from the jump, but the producer like didn't really think
he could like carry off the charm. He knew the the menace of it
would be there, but he didn'tthink he could be charming and it didn't
really convinced him. This was broughtup because I watched this movie again with
a commentary, because I hadn't seenwhat commentary yet. Nice and the producer

(47:07):
talked about how like Gray Liota cameup to him one day as at a
dinner and just talked about, look, I know you're on the fence about
me. I swear to you,I can do this nice. I'm like
that, and he's like, Ijust admired the balls that he actually came
up to me. I mean thattakes some serious balls, it really does.
Like, you know, I thinkhe's absolutely fantastic in this movie.

(47:29):
I think it's his best movie,hands down, and you know it.
I don't know if you can sayit's Robert de Niro's best, because I
feel like he has more involved rolesin other movies, kind of just a
side character here in a lot ofways. But I feel like this might
be Joe Pesci's one of his best, you know, Like I feel like

(47:50):
this is there's a lot of goodJoe Pesci. Don't get me wrong.
I think that it's hard to choosewhat which is Joe Pesci's best. I
do think he is fantastic in thisand is able to bring this like ferocity
and madness that like actually shows onscreen, you know. And I would
just hard even though I had saidthat, like I prefer him in Casino

(48:13):
just because he's more entertaining. Iwould probably say his best performance is in
The Irishman. There's a there isa menace to his performance in The Irishman.
In a way that there's not inGoodfellas in Casino and Good Fellas in
Casino. It's the like, oh, this dude is wild, He's a
wild card. He could just gooff at any moment. In The Irishman

(48:34):
he's played a lot more low keyand it's scary. Yeah, yeah,
I feel I feel that. Ifeel that. I think that that is
you know, it's kind of oneof those things where Joe Peshi does he's
kind of almost jokerish in this whereit's just like wild you don't know what
he's going to do next, sortof thing, because he'll do anything,

(48:55):
you know, like and and likefinish the fight, no matter or what.
And you know, I think thatthat is very true of some small
Italian men, you know, likeI feel like that's a very like they
might not be scary and imposing whenyou look at them, but you know
that they might chop your head offand leave you in the desert. You

(49:17):
know, like that is you know, like that is Joe Pesci's vibe is
that, like, you know,he might not be the tallest, most
intimidating looking motherfucker, but he willkill you. You know, he will.
The short complex I say only havingtwo inches on j Yeah, it's
not like we're we're short kings here, like yeah, you know, but

(49:39):
I've also heard that from people.They're like, Frank, I wouldn't fight
you, and I'm like, youshouldn't, you know, you know,
like it's not that I'm a scaryperson, but I will finish the fight,
you know, Like, and Ithink that that is something I yeah,
that's the It reminds me of aTom Sagura joke. It's just like
I can't fight, but I'll fuckingbite your nose off. Yeah, that's

(50:02):
that's perfect, you know, likeyou're just like yeah, no, no,
no, no, it's not it'snot about if you will win the
fight. It's about how you willleave the fight, you know, that
sort of thing. Like, uh, but I I think that there's there's
so much to to love about Goodfellas. Uh. But it is interesting.

(50:23):
I said earlier that like these charactersthink they're, you know, living the
life. They're having such a goodtime, they're they're living the life as
it's a comedy, but you cankind of see the ever as everything starts
to unravel around them, as thingsgo wrong, you know, like and
like and Joe Peshi's character. Howit goes from being just like, oh,

(50:46):
he's kind of crazy, you know, like he threatens that you know,
that that store, that that restaurantowner, you know, to being
like, you know, killing thatman for making a joke about his shine
box, you know, like andit's just kind of that like descent into
so much and it's like also likekilling kid just because the kids stood up

(51:07):
to him. Yeah, right,that that was I do love that.
That's one of the guys from theSopranos and stuff like, yeah, Michael
Imperioli, Yeah, like I lovethat that little bit there. But I
think that like that shows, youknow, like that he's completely he's just
a wild dog, you know ina lot of ways. You know,

(51:29):
like it's it doesn't matter who's fuckingwith them, it's it's it's the end,
you know, like and you're justlike shit and the moment and the
moment like he's gone. Jimmy Robertde Niro's character starts to become exactly like
that, just in a different likesort of tone, just like that paranoia
seeping in, right, and he'sgot to take care of these right,

(51:51):
Like that fucking scene where he triesto get Karen to go in the store
and she likes watching is terrifying.It is terrifying because it's it's one of
those scenes that you know, ifyou're watching from the outside. He doesn't
actually do anything, you know,like he doesn't threaten her, he doesn't
do anything. But it's that littlebit of like him not wanting to go

(52:13):
with her, him just kind ofpointing around the corner that is just scary
and you can seeople Like people arguethat it's ambiguous. I don't think it's
ambiguous at all. No, notat all, especially if you actually like
listen. No, but the factthat everyone stops in their tracks when she's
like in front of the store andyou can hear the people talking about like,
oh, block out the windows,and as soon as he shows up,

(52:34):
everyone's like yes, like uhh,that's not ambiguous at all. No,
it's not ambiguous. Because that's theother thing about this movie is they're
always walking together, you know,like that is this movie, Like if
if if the Irishman is people talkingon phones. This is guys walking together
down hallways, leaving restaurants. Youknow, like that that is this movie.

(52:58):
You know, it's It's epitomized bywhen he takes her into that restaurant
through the back for the first timeand she's impressed by everyone knows him and
all that it's very much these guyswalk together. So for that one scene
where he doesn't want to walk withher, you're kind of like, Okay,

(53:19):
something's fucking wrong, you know,like because we all walk together here,
you know, like we all standtogether, yeah, and face when
she drives away like that like irritation. Yes, right, it's it's it's
ambiguous because legally it needs to beambiguous, you know, like for him
to get away with it all.But like it's not ambiguous, you know,

(53:40):
like you're just like no, no, no, no, no,
no, not at all. ButI I I think that this the reason
why this movie's on the FI Topone hundred list is it's not only three
really good actors, but the wholecast is fantastic throughout the entire movie.
There's no we glinks, there's nostanding out, don't have as big of

(54:04):
a presence as you think when youwatch it because they're focusing on other characters
like paul Servino as Paulie is sogood in this too. Yes, I
do love Pollie and and Mary's favoritecharacter. This was her first time watching
good Fellows, which I don't knowhow that happened. That's one of my
favorite movies and I've watched it.I've watched it so much, but she
must have just missed it. Soand it's funny. Pollie was her favorite

(54:25):
character. She was like, that'syou know, I like Paullie and I
was just like, I was like, that's funny, but also makes it
was funny. She was like,wait, is Polly dead? And I'm
like, no, Polly's fine.Like at a certain point in the movie,
I was like, no, Polly'sfine. Everything's good. Nobody kills
Poullie, you know, don't worry. But yeah, I thought it was
funny that she had never seen thattoo, so it was like a double

(54:45):
feature of good Fellaw's Casino and shehad never seen him before. And Paul
Servino, actually he talks on thecommentary about how he didn't know how to
feel about Good Fellas when he'd like, once it was done and it was
screened, like he thought initially thathe was terrible in it because you know
actor, yeah, right, hethought he was bad in it, and
he thought the movie wasn't very good, and he had everyone around him being
like, no, you're insane,even his daughter, Mirror Servino, who

(55:08):
was an actress too. Yeah,it's just like, this is the best
thing you've ever done. You're insane. Yeah, you're saying this, and
it said it didn't. It tookhim some distance from it, like the
first few days after the screening tolike realize that, like, holy shit,
this is actually something special. Iwas just overwhelmed by it and couldn't
like take it in. Yeah,and I think that. I think that
not. So I was saying whyit deserves to be on this list is

(55:29):
that, like the cast is is, there's no weak links. It's an
amazing The soundtrack is incredible. Thefilmmaking alone, some of the shots just
blow your socks off, as likea film lover, you know. But
one of the things about this movie, and I kind of mentioned it earlier,
is the cumulative feeling of the movie, because it's not just like you

(55:51):
know, scene to scene to scene, it's how you feel as you watch
it at the whole impact of themovie as you walk out the theater.
And I think that's important here becauseyou know, some movies just don't have
impact, you know, like they'rekind of just nothing movies, and you
know it when you watch it,you're kind of like a nothing movie.
I'll probably forget about this, youknow, like but you know, I
had a good time, you know, like, but this is the impact

(56:15):
it has on you as a viewer. It's it mounts and it eventually kind
of boosh you out at the otherend of the movie and you're kind of
like, shit, that was athat was a film, you know,
like and you know that that's howThat's also one of those ones that despite
how like violent it is, willstill like unite people, yes, and

(56:37):
be entertained. I I was mentioningbefore we were recording that I've been listening
to Mark Millard's interviews with like comicbook industry ve rents and stuff. And
one of the people he talked tois Juck Dixon. Chuck Dixon like prolific
writer, like help crafted like Nightfalland No Man's Land et Cent. He's
the creator of Bane and he's likehe's on the conservative side politically, and

(56:59):
he talked about how like, nomatter what side of the spectrum you lie
on, everyone loves a gangster movie. Yeah, it's true. It's true.
It's like, yeah, it canbe violent, but you know,
like it's there's a lot to love, you know, like and what and
and a lot to connect to.And I think that that's what where Goodfellows
kind of prevails over Casino. I'mnot saying I didn't like Casino. I

(57:22):
feel like the info dump at thebeginning is rough, but I feel like
once we get into his interpersonal lifewith Sharon Stone and you know, his
wife, you're kind of like,Okay, I get this, you know,
like, yeah, she's fantastic inthis. It really just brings it
all. And I think that oncewe're kind of like in the groove of

(57:46):
him trying to like sustain this jobat the casino, you know, like,
is where the movie really takes offand drags you in and kind of
brings you along for this ride.Now. I do think that they try
to do at the end of Casinolike the Godfather ending where everyone's kind of

(58:06):
whacked off, you know, andit's supposed to be, but that Godfather
that takes your breath away because it'salmost like, wow, I can't believe
Michael did this. When Casino,you're kind of like, well, I
saw this fucking coming from a mileaway. You know, like you're like,
God, this wasn't gonna end good. You know, like this,
nothing about this was gonna end well. And like I feel like with Good
even with Goodfellas, though you wanthim to end well, you know,

(58:30):
like you want like when they killedJoe Pesci, you're kind of you're you're
almost in Robert de Niro's corner whereyou're like they killed you know, like
you're like, god, damn.Like even though he's a terrible person,
you're kind of like, God,damn, they killed him. But he's
just so much fun. He's justa little guy. He's just a little
guy. I feel like that ishuge, you know, Like, uh
that that like the that's the difference, you know, there is like you

(58:54):
know, like the just shifting aPOV can have in the way you like
empathize with the character. It's true, doesn't matter if they're an anti hero
or not. If you spend thattime viewing what they go through in their
shoes, it makes you a lotmore open. Yeah, and if you're
if they're completely in the wrong.It's the same thing with like breaking bad

(59:15):
arguments, Yeah, breaking bad oreven more more. You know, A
very popular one is Thanos. Youknow, like people like, you know,
he was just kind of an offshootcharacter for you know, a big
bad in the background for a while, and then you get, uh,
you get you get Tanos. Soyou get like this pov of what Danos
is up to, and you're kindof like, you know, like,

(59:37):
could he be right, And you'relike, no, no, that's genocide.
You know, like you're like stillgenocide, and they made that joke,
but like it's you know, likenot no, no, Thanos,
that's still gena side, you know, like, and I feel like even
taking that time to spend with himand kind of seeing what he's doing is
h makes you kind of empathize withthem in a little ways, even if

(59:59):
you don't you're wrong, but Isee how you got there. Yeah,
right, exactly, you're wrong,but I see how you got there.
I feel like that happens with TheJoker, with Fight Club, you know,
like you're kind of like you're kindof like, ah, you're wrong,
but I see how you got there. And that's why I feel like
there's all that toxic bro feelings aroundmovies like Mob movies like The Joker,

(01:00:21):
you know, like is an inturn, it not only breeds that,
but it also in turn breeds people'sbelief that the filmmakers or creators or writers
believe what they're trying to tell astory about. Yeah, I've made the
joke before that, like I sweardo some of you people just need a
huge disclaimer at the beginning of theevery movie. It is just like the

(01:00:43):
rogers who not gonna doone the actionsof these characters who've created right, swear
to God. Swear to God.Because it's one of those things that I
feel like it's the media literacy argument. We always bring it up that like
media literacy has gone down the tubes, and I feel like a lot of
people watch movies and maybe it's theirfirst time watching a bunch of movies,
and they're like connecting with these charactersfor the first time, and that's where

(01:01:06):
they got and got misled, youknow, like or watching or watching anything
from the first time that's not fluff. Yes, exactly, because I feel
like, you know, a lotof people are used to Marvel where you
know, like it's fun, it'sexciting, you know, like and the
and I'm not saying Marvel is andit's fluff in the perspective of a kid
who's only grown up with that beingthe only thing they like go out of

(01:01:28):
their way to see in theaters andmakes them think that's the only type of
movie there is. So and Ifeel like, I love Goodfellas, but
there's a lot of you know,toxic bro idy going around this fight club.
And it's and it's strictly because theyempathize with the characters that we are
following, even though these characters are, like I said earlier, villains,

(01:01:51):
you know, like straight up badguys and like and a lot of people
are like, wow, I can'tbelieve they're empathizing with a bad guy,
and you're like, yo, thisis a very famous literary device, you
know, like this has been happeningsince fucking Shakespeare, you know, following
a villain, you know, likeand seeing his side of what he's doing.
You know, like this is notnew but for some but if it's

(01:02:13):
their first, like that all thepeople who are really into scarface, it's
like one of those things where it'slike it's their first very serious you know,
look at crime you know crime movies, and it's like and that's what
they just it's so exciting that theykind of like take it as like this
is the greatest thing that's ever fuckinghappened, you know, like and then

(01:02:36):
they run with it instead of watchingmore movies and more movies like it to
see you know, what are thosemovies like and what's happening and maybe have
some context and you know, likeactual like what's happening in these narrative devices,
you know, like it's it.It does happen a lot, and
I feel like I love Goodfellas,but it is looked around as like the

(01:03:00):
film bro movie in a lot ofways, you know, same as like
Fight Club, where people are like, oh, yeah, of that movie,
that's why a guy into filmmaking,you know, Like and I'm the
same way. So I can't fuckingtalk, but like it, I do
know that these aren't the guys youwant to be, you know. And
that's the same way that like youand I like Zack Snyder's like work a

(01:03:24):
lot of the time, not always, but not all of the time.
But we have to clarify that we'renot nuts. Yes, Like I'm not
sitting there being like Rebel Moon isthe greatest hinct in Star Wars, and
I still haven't watched part two,but part one is such a fucking mess
that I have to, you know, you have to call it on his
bullshit. And I feel like Armyof Army of the Dead is way better

(01:03:47):
than Rebel Moon, you know,like and but the Army of the Dead
is still not Zack Snyder at hisbest either, you know. Like I
feel like there's you know, yougot to make those distinctions. And there's
also there's also that like don't listento the vocal minority as well. Yes,
Like it's very easy to avoid thetoxic, like the toxic section of

(01:04:09):
anything, whether it be in fandomsor the way people like follow movies or
anything or any sort of entertainment.Like I have this discussion constantly with my
friends, just like you guys reallydetermine what you want to watch, like
show wise because of a fandom beingannoying. M right, just like you
really giving the fandom that much powerthat it determines what you want to enjoy.

(01:04:32):
And I mean to bring it toGundam. I'll like a lot of
people hate on Gundam Seed and andmobile Suit Gundam Seed, and like one
of those things is that I don'tlike the original series, but I think
that everything that has come afterward hasas really you know, evolved and does

(01:04:53):
its own thing, and like Stargazerand the Newest Movie, and I think
that there's a lot to like inSeed. But the thing is that there's
this huge minority that is yelling thatthey hate this thing. They think it's
real bad. But Gundam Seed isthe number one selling Gundam series, number

(01:05:14):
one, number one. It sellsso much fucking merch in Japan, Like,
if you're looking at Gundam is oneof the highest selling series in the
top ten of like merch and salesand all that, like literally fifty percent
of it is Gundam Seed. Likeyeah, well, it's like it's crazy.
It's sort of like the argument oflike the James Cameron Avatar movies,

(01:05:38):
Yes, where it's just like,oh, second one will never do well.
It's had no cultural significance, noone ever talks about anymore, no
one even cares, And then whenthe second one came out and made fucking
bags, they're like what what whatI would even say? It goes to
our last review about Godzilla. Everyone'shating on Godzilla X Kong and being like
oh, you know, it's justa pop movie. It's not that good.

(01:06:00):
I don't like the way Godzilla looks. Is shin Godzilla and Minus one
of the only two Godzilla movies I'veever seen. So everything Now that the
number one gross in Godzilla movie ofall time surpassed even Godzilla twenty fourteen,
it fucking smashed it. And it'sstill going like this is It's like,
yes, you can hate on it, but obviously the majority of people are

(01:06:24):
like fuck yeah, you know,and you have to remember that, like
social media, especially Twitter, isnot the conversation. That is not a
reflection of what the general public likes. Yeah, exactly. I feel like
that is that is so apparent Godzillamovie. You're like, there's there have
been statistics about how like one notevery country has like internet or terminally online,

(01:06:45):
and two amongst that bubble of peoplewho even have access to it own,
I think there's a percentage of likeless than five percent of people even
use Twitter, right, and wetreat it and we treat it like it's
news. Yeah, I like,I mean, it came out this week
that YouTube is on the ratings charts. Like if we're talking like streaming rating

(01:07:06):
charts. YouTube is one of themost watched services on people's TVs at an
astounding I think it was sixteen percent. I could be wrong, but that
is smashing, like paramounts ten percentor like Anybody or Max it smashes Max
and like Disney Plus isn't doing aswell as you'd think. YouTube is smashing

(01:07:30):
these people. And I say witha shows like Yellowstone are huge fucking shows
because it's all the people still oncable like watching it who don't care about
following trends exactly. So yeah,people on Twitter may not be talking about
Yellowstone, but it's found its audience. It's just the people who don't care
to post about shit, yes,exactly. And I'm not condoning Yellowstone because

(01:07:53):
it is it's not. From whatI've seen, it's not very good.
But I but I get why peoplelike it, you know, like I
see people being like why they fallin love, you know, like and
and And that's the thing about themedia literacy is you have to understand why
people like these things instead of justgoing into all out hate mode. What

(01:08:15):
the fuck? You know, like, you know like that, it's like,
well, why didn't you like it? Because it sucked? Because it
sucked. You're like, okay,why you know, like and yeah,
exactly, you have there's someone nuancedconversation like this in the same way that
like, you know, poor isits own bubble. Yes, like you
could, yeah, you could,someone could tell me. It's just like,

(01:08:35):
oh, the Friday thirteenth movies areall just like poorly made trash.
And I'll be like, yeah,I love it, yes, yes,
and that's why here's my ranking ofall the movies, and that's why it's
peak entertainment. Yeah exactly. AndI feel like same thing happens for anime,
where you'll hear all the time thisis peak anime or this is peak

(01:08:56):
fiction, and you're like, Ihaven't even heard of this fucking thing,
you know, like, and I'min the anime sphere, you know,
like I'm a big gun to guy. I hear constantly about other anime.
But then you'll be like, oh, yes, Fearin is the new uh
peak anime, and you're just like, fres really, fudo. I hear,
it's good. I hear it's I'mnot sitting on it, but I'm
not shitting on it. But it'sfunny because I understand outside of the bubble.

(01:09:20):
No one would even know what thatis, you know, like,
people know more about Kaiju number eightthan they know about that show, you
know, like and I know somepeople have been hating on Kaiju number eight,
you know, like and I thoughtthe first couple of books of the
book. But anime is bigger thanjust the shown groener but the show genre

(01:09:41):
is the most popular thing. It'sin the same way that like, comics
are more than just superheroes. Butthose are the money makers, those are
the big two exactly. So guys, uh, I'm pretty sure you got
what our feelings on Goodfellas and whyyou should have it on your shelf.
You should absolutely we own Good Fellas, I think, DeShawn, do you

(01:10:02):
agree? I do, I sayhypocritically as I don't own either, but
you should. You should mean touh. And I as somebody who loves
Martin Srsese, I've bought like bigcollections of Martinsese, and I think people
should do that. Also, youknow, you should see his other things.

(01:10:23):
I don't think I have any bluray for Scorsese. I'm thinking about
it. Oh shit, remedy,it must be yes, it must be
fixed. I don't think I haveanything. I don't think there's any reason
to try to rate these movies whenthey're already on the top if I want
one hundred. That kind of sumsup that these are peak movies, you

(01:10:45):
know, in a lot of ways, and any reason I've learned you'd be
talking about it hardly. Reason I'velike moved away from ratings a lot of
the time when I talk about thingsis because people focus too much yes on
the number. Like I've had conversationswith this with friends where like you ignore
everything I've just said about this nuancedconversation and it just turns into like,

(01:11:06):
but you gave this to this whenyou gave that to that, you know,
like yeah, and it's it's literallythat Twitter that is just like it's
it's just called IGN thinks this isbetter than Fortnite because they gave Fortnite at
nine and if anything's better than it, they'll like say it. And they're

(01:11:27):
always just like Chris, they think, you know, Interstellar is worse than
Fortnite. You know, like youknow, like don't like throw shit like
that out there, and you knowit's like that, yeah, God,
Twitter users like do not let thingsgo. No, It's just like that
poor girl from that one reaction video, the like this is why I hate
video games. It appeals to themale fantasy. That woman has gone on

(01:11:49):
to do like so much other stuff, like she's written books and stuff like
that, and anytime she posts anythingon social media, you just get a
fucking flood of like but isn't butdoesn't represent the male fantasy. And you're
like, oh god, and we'reso we're so many years removed from that
too, and they just refused tolet it go. The meme never dies,
that's the real issue. Will neverdie. I mean that. I

(01:12:13):
did think it was funny though,Speaking of memes, Casino, I did
never I never knew what the likelook at making Joe Peshy look at something
was from, you know, likelike you know, oh yeah, breaking
remember and like and it's from Casino. And I remember I was watching it
earlier and I was like, ohshit, it's the meme, you know,

(01:12:33):
Like I was like, oh shipthere it is. More media literacy
is needed for that. Even Ineed to up my media literacy because I
was so like, oh shit,it's the meme, you know, like
like in that you know, BigHall, It's so funny. How long
it took you to watch Casino whenyou owned it for so long, I
know it was one of those thingsthat I owned. It was just like

(01:12:54):
I own it, so fuck it. You know, I'll definitely get eventually.
Eventually. We had that DVD whenI met you. Yeah, because
literally one of my high school girlfriendswas like, oh man, you're such
a big Godfeather, a Good Fellasfan, You've got to watch Casino.
It's one of my family's favorite movies. She gave me the DVD. I've

(01:13:15):
owned that DVD forever, just notwatching it, just just sitting on it.
And thank god, I've finally seenit. And I don't like it
as much as Goodfellas, but Idon't. But it's but it is very
strong despite it despite its issues,Like there is a lot of like info
dumping at the beginning, but theyare trying to set some pretty complicated pieces

(01:13:36):
up compared to Goodfellas, Like theyneed to tell you the ins and outs
of like the Casino stuff before,so the rest of the movie you're not
just like what huh did? Ifeel like Cercease learns from this though,
in like Wolf of Wall Street wherehe's explaining penny stocks and stuff like that,
and I feel like it moves alot faster as someone like me who

(01:13:58):
doesn't understand how stocks work at all, even remotely outside of movies. It's
good for me, Like that's fordummy like me who doesn't understand that.
Yeah, and you know, likethere's movies like The Big Short that also
are able to explain these big,complicated things really fast. And maybe they
use Margot Robbie in a bathtub todo it, but they do it,

(01:14:18):
you know, like they get ita crea. I mean, there are
worse to worse things to exposit.It was the joke with Game of Thrones,
just like, oh, well,watch what is basically just the West
Wing in medieval drag if you putsome boobies and dragons in it, Yeah,
that's fair. I feel like that'sreally it with a House of Dragon
too. It's like everybody. There'sa lot of people who are into that

(01:14:40):
show. And for me, I'mlike, no, I'm good, you
know, like I'm not like likerabbit about it. But I did watch
House the Dragons season one and itwas very good, nice. Nice.
It's just one of those things whereI'm but I'm not trying to sell people
on it because people are still soburned by the ending of the original show.
Tho, I'm like, well,whatever, whatever. I think they'll

(01:15:02):
eventually, like the prequel movies,gain the audience back, you know,
like in in trust and then beable to continue on with Game of Thrones
and offs. And maybe you don'thave their own fandom that like only cares
about House of Dragon really right,Yeah, I think there is some people
like that. I do. Imean that's the benefit of doing a prequel

(01:15:24):
that takes place so far behind isthat you can kind of just keep this
own bubble just like, yeah,we all know where it ends up,
but kind of like history, wecan just still enjoy it doing. But
thank you guys for watching this,Thank you for listening to the podcast all
the way through. You can listento our podcast on any podcast platform,
or if you want to see ourbeautiful faces, you can watch on YouTube

(01:15:45):
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(01:16:08):
all you have to do is makethe algorithm move down below. May that
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so I thank you for your support, but you know, we just like
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(01:16:32):
I am yep frank on pretty mucheverything, or yep Gundam if you like
gundams, or if you like fishing, that's yes, that is a mech
fishing, it's yet fish, Socheck those out. You have to make
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(01:16:53):
mad karaka pretty much everywhere. Themost I've been up to is just continuing
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That's crazy. That's insane, myman, I mean, hats off.
That is incredible. That is amazingstuff. But guys, thank you
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(01:17:15):
a great rest of your week.We'll see you next time. Audios