For me Paul Sorvino as Paulie was very under-rated. That look he gives Sonny when he says they should just whack Tommy is better than words.
I think that Paul Sorvino as Paulie "made" this movie.
It was DeNiro's performance that I wasn't as impressed with -- as I thought I would be.... but it's a Scorsese film -- so whatya gonna do????
One thing that bugged me about Scorsese's use of the Rolling Stones background music.... in one scene of the film, it states across the frame 1980, but Scorsese has a 70's Stones track playing.... That just didn't seem right.
I know you can choose any track to set the mood.... but when you go out of your way to put the year on the screen, then I'm expect something.... from that year in a period specific film like this.
But the Stones releases around that time, Some Girls in 1978 and Emotional Rescue in 1980 may not have had what Scorsese wanted for this film. I figure Scorsese was going to put his favorite Stones tracks in the movie, period.
Remember the scene where Henry is meeting Karen's family..and right before they enter her house...she tells him to hide the cross on his gold chain?
Much later in the film, when Paulie and Jimmy are advising Henry to go back home to his (then)wife...editing team let one slip by
Camera cuts to Henry seated three times.....the first time....he has on a star of david..... the second time..he appears to have both the star of david and the cross...and in the third clip..he just has on the cross
*So, the joke he tells Karen's mother in the first scene about being half jewish (the good half) is even funnier after seeing him (apparently)swap pendants in the second scene.
It was a goof for sure, Gets. But it's ironic because in real life Hill did convert to Judaism.
He claims to this day, over twenty years after his marriage to Karen ended, that he's still a practicing Jew. In that awful book "Gangsters and Goodfellas," he states that "Judaism is the only religion that makes sense to me."
"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.
For those of you doubting (or were discussing it in 2009 anyway) whether Paulie or Jimmy would have whacked Karen... well, FWIW, their real life counterparts butchered Theresa Ferrara, a woman who was the girlfriend of pretty much everyone, for suspicion of her being an informant after the big Lufthansa heist.
I've heard they tortured her first by shoving broken glass down her throat, pouring acid on her, etc.
Edit: the way I wrote this makes it sound like they did this personally - they probably didn't
Last edited by Ivan; 05/16/1203:24 AM.
Re: Goodfellas
[Re: Legend]
#651705 06/16/1208:42 AM06/16/1208:42 AM
I watched Goodfellas again the other night (been a while, I admit) and I was amazed by just how many of the supporting actors in this movie later each played a significant role in The Sopranos.
This has probably come up before, but just out of curiosity does anyone happen to know how many people have actually appeared in both? (I'm just fascinated by this kind of trivia).
Interactive Fiction Author Current project - 1920s Prohibition novel 'Vendetta: Rise of a Gangster'
This has probably come up before, but just out of curiosity does anyone happen to know how many people have actually appeared in both? (I'm just fascinated by this kind of trivia).
Tony Darrow is who you are thinking of goombah :)Pussy Bonpensiero (soprano character) is in goodfellas, hes the guy in restaurant who helps with the coats
Last edited by short841; 06/18/1209:52 AM.
"You shouldn’t be embarrassed by your wealth. This contempt for money is another trick by the rich to keep the poor without it" - Michael Corleone
"You don't have to count the dead to understand the business of the Camorra" Gomorrah, Roberto Saviano
Re: Goodfellas
[Re: Legend]
#652047 06/18/1210:16 AM06/18/1210:16 AM
Tony Darrow is who you are thinking of goombah :)Pussy Bonpensiero (soprano character) is in goodfellas, hes the guy in restaurant who helps with the coats
Thanks Tony. Wow, I do not remember Big Pussy being in Goodfellas. I do remember Moe Greene from GF in the myriad of people young Henry is being introduced to in the bar.
Also, Vito Antuofermo (former boxing champ) was seen briefly in one of the Copa scenes. He turned up in Sopranos as a garbage contractor or strong-arm guy.
Scorsese knew how to pick his extras--everybody (and everything) looked authentic in "Goodfellas." In the introduction scene in Sonny's restaurant, Fat Andy is played by Louis Eppolito, a former NYC cop who was later nailed with his partner, Steven Caracappa, for doing hits for the Lucchese family. In a later scene, the guy that Batts greets with "Vito!" (tall thin guy, beard, chain) is Vito Piccone, former lead singer of the Elegants, an Italian-American doo-wop group that had a big hit in 1958: "Little Star."
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
Tony Darrow is who you are thinking of goombah :)Pussy Bonpensiero (soprano character) is in goodfellas, hes the guy in restaurant who helps with the coats
Thanks Tony. Wow, I do not remember Big Pussy being in Goodfellas. I do remember Moe Greene from GF in the myriad of people young Henry is being introduced to in the bar.
Cant say i've ever noticed Moe Greene in Goodfellas..
The Mafia Is Not Primarily An Organisation Of Murderers. First And Foremost,The Mafia Is Made Up Of Thieves. It Is Driven By Greed And Controlled By Fear.
Between The Law And The Mafia, The Law Is Not The Most To Be Feared
"What if the Mafia were not an organization but a widespread Sicilian attitude of hostility towards the law?"
Thanks guys--it's good to know I wasn't just seeing things!
Y'see I have a bad habit of prodding my gf with an elbow and shouting out "Sopranos!" every time I spot an actor from that in any other series or movie (a surprisingly common occurrence, it must be said). Needless to say--while watching Goodfellas again--she soon became more than just a little annoyed with me, and after the fifth or sixth time she decided I was lying . . .
'Scuse me while I go drag her here to read the proof!
Last edited by Gangster_Fiction; 06/18/1206:42 PM.
Interactive Fiction Author Current project - 1920s Prohibition novel 'Vendetta: Rise of a Gangster'
Tony Darrow is who you are thinking of goombah :)Pussy Bonpensiero (soprano character) is in goodfellas, hes the guy in restaurant who helps with the coats
Thanks Tony. Wow, I do not remember Big Pussy being in Goodfellas. I do remember Moe Greene from GF in the myriad of people young Henry is being introduced to in the bar.
Cant say i've ever noticed Moe Greene in Goodfellas..
I can't find anything with him in the credits, but I swear he is in the scene where Henry gets introduced to a bunch of hoods in the bar. The actor is wearing glasses and is in the scene where we are introduced to Jimmy Two Times.
That sort of looks like Moe Green, but it's definitely not the same actor.
Originally Posted By: goombah
Originally Posted By: DE NIRO
Originally Posted By: goombah
Originally Posted By: short841
Tony Darrow is who you are thinking of goombah :)Pussy Bonpensiero (soprano character) is in goodfellas, hes the guy in restaurant who helps with the coats
Thanks Tony. Wow, I do not remember Big Pussy being in Goodfellas. I do remember Moe Greene from GF in the myriad of people young Henry is being introduced to in the bar.
Cant say i've ever noticed Moe Greene in Goodfellas..
I can't find anything with him in the credits, but I swear he is in the scene where Henry gets introduced to a bunch of hoods in the bar. The actor is wearing glasses and is in the scene where we are introduced to Jimmy Two Times.
The Mafia Is Not Primarily An Organisation Of Murderers. First And Foremost,The Mafia Is Made Up Of Thieves. It Is Driven By Greed And Controlled By Fear.
Between The Law And The Mafia, The Law Is Not The Most To Be Feared
"What if the Mafia were not an organization but a widespread Sicilian attitude of hostility towards the law?"
I always love to point out Eppolito in this movie..."that motherfucker right there really was a hitman!"
Also, at the time my cousin was dating the actress playing the blond wife of...whatever that guys name was, that ended up shot in the noggin with her in the pink Cadillac. But, but...in was in her mothers name! wtf!
Probably like many others on this forum, I feel like a tour guide every time I watch this flick with others! Like a mix of pop-up video, and MST3k! lol
Johnny Sach im sure is in it somewhere aswell if i remember.
Or maybe im thinking about Gotti, between Gotti and Witness To The Mob you have Big Pussy, Paulie and all the usuals, even Uncle Junior.
Your thinking of Gotti, Johnny Sack and Uncle Junior are in it. Uncle Junior is also in Godfather 2 as Johnny Ola. Uncle Junior's real life son Dominic Chianese jr plays a member of the Lupertazzi family called Dominic in the final season
Tommy Shots: They want me running the family, don't they know I have a young wife? Sal Vitale: (laughs) Tommy, jump in, the water's fine.
I just saw herny hill do a.mob story on amc for mob week. He said there was 36 min cut out of goodfellas or it would have been rated x. Any way we could get this?
Can't believe you guys forget to mention Carmella's mother plays Karen's mother in Goodfellas.
Dr. Jennifer Melfi's ex-husband plays Michael in Mean Streets
Ive mentioned it 100 times in th sopranos forum. Actually there are a couple threads where all the actors who were in both are named. Ray L that played Henry was almost cast as Tony Soprano as well, and thee lady that played Dr. Melfi actually tried out to be carmela but was offered the role of melfi. Go look for th thread on beensie in the sopranos forum, it names them all i think as well as all tue mob movies beensie was in.
I think Jimmy had every intention of whacking Karen.
True, Karen and Henry were paranoid, but so was Jimmy... maybe even more so.
He was afraid that Henry was going to rat him out and Karen already knew too much and if he whacked Henry, then what was to stop Karen from going public, as revenge?
Can't believe you guys forget to mention Carmella's mother plays Karen's mother in Goodfellas.
Dr. Jennifer Melfi's ex-husband plays Michael in Mean Streets
Ive mentioned it 100 times in th sopranos forum. Actually there are a couple threads where all the actors who were in both are named. Ray L that played Henry was almost cast as Tony Soprano as well, and thee lady that played Dr. Melfi actually tried out to be carmela but was offered the role of melfi. Go look for th thread on beensie in the sopranos forum, it names them all i think as well as all tue mob movies beensie was in.
I was just gonna say tht lol i've seen that mentioned loads on this site.
Re: Goodfellas
[Re: Legend]
#659656 08/11/1210:30 AM08/11/1210:30 AM
In the book Wiseguy (which is the book that Goodfellas is based on) it says that after Henry went to prison Tommy DeSimone (Danny Devito's character is based on) that he tried to have sex with Karen and when she refused he tried to rape her. Apparently Tommy getting whacked under orders by Paul Vario (Paul Cicero- the Lucchese Capo in the film) was partly in revenge for DeSimone's attempted rape (it was another excuse to put Tommy down because he was out of control). None of this was included into Goodfellas, however it gives you an idea of what Jimmy's fate may have been if he had killed Karen; clearly Vario was against women being involved in violence, etc. So i doubt that Jimmy really would have whacked Karen...
I believe that Jimmy though Henry was going to rat and by him kidnapping Karen, Jimmy could get some information out of her if he went into the WPP or been seen with the Feds/Cops.
Two thieves looted nearly 4,000 new iPad minis from a John F. Kennedy Airport cargo building and authorities believe the heist may have been an inside job, according to a published report.
The bandits stole into the same cargo building that was the site of the infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist featured in "Goodfellas" shortly before midnight Monday, reports The New York Post.
They used one of the airport's forklifts to load two pallets of the mini iPads, worth about $1.5 million, into a truck, and may have stolen more had an airport worker not returned and questioned their activity, the paper reported.
The Post says detectives believe someone may have let the thieves into the area near the cargo building and then let them out once they had stolen the iPads.
Authorities have questioned airport workers and administered polygraphs to three.
The suspects remain at large.
The 1978 heist at Building 261 was the largest robbery of cash in the country's history. In that incident, thieves stole $5 million ($21 million today adjusted for inflation) and about $900,000 in jewelry. Luchese crime-family associate James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke was considered the mastermind behind the heist.
I am not sure what Jimmy stood to gain by killing Karen, it would give Henry more incentive to flip. You would want both of them in the same place at the same time to whack them both and decrease the chance that they may escape.
I felt that if anything, Jimmy was gonna hold Karen hostage.
One thing that a viewer should look out for is possible symbolism. After all, this is a movie and it's directed by a legendary director.
Toward the end of then scene, you see a sign that reads "One Way" and another that says "DON'T WALK".
A one/way walk to death? I don't think Scorsese just happened to have that in here, he's a very detail-oriented director.