Goodfellas released

Goodfellas Released: September 19, 1990 Studio: Warner Bros. Genre: gangster/crime drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 46.84 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 99.0 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Martin Scorsese Screenwriting: Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese Starring: Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino Review: “Another Mob picture: De Niro and Scorsese again, both in top form.” T98 “Based on Nicholas Pileggi’s non-fiction book Wiseguys,” FS this is a “fascinating look at the allure – and the reality – of day-to-day life in a Mafia family.” LM This is a “definitive and stylish, violent gangster film” FS “Screen murder has rarely been committed with such cocky assurance.” T98 “The violence is (necessarily) harsh and off-putting, like the film itself at times, but it’s brilliantly realized by Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus.” LM The story “chronicles the passage of time through three decades of crime (the 50s to the 70s) in the life of a mid-level, aspiring mobster Henry Hill (Liotta).” FS He “dreamed as a kid of becoming a member of the glamorous mob who ran his New York City neighborhood.” A07 As an adult, “he marries Karen (Bracco) and slowly advances up and climbs the Mafioso ladder.” FS “In the end as his life unravels, after dealing narcotics and becoming hooked, Hill protects himself and his wife by testifying and becoming part of the federal witness protection program – and being left in anonymous, suburbanized exile.” FS With superb performances by Joe Pesci as meanly psychotic wiseguy Tommy DeVito, and Robert DeNiro as paranoid James Conway.” FS “Producer Nicholas Pileggi has gone on record to say real mobsters were enlisted as extras. Mystery surrounds how these men were paid, since they were unable to give Warner Bros. their Social Security card numbers.” MSN Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” LM Leonard Maltin “100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud T98 Time Out (1998). “Readers’ Top 100 Films”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 1 – Best Supporting Actor (Pesci) Nominations: 6 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Bracco), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Guillermo del Toro Roger Ebert Leslie Halliwell/John Walker Leonard Maltin First posted 8/15/2019; last updated 6/2/2023.

Raging Bull released

Raging Bull Released: November 14, 1980 Studio: United Artists Genre: sports drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 23.38 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 77.50 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Martin Scorsese Screenwriting: Mardik Martin, Paul Schrader Starring: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci Review: “The most beautifully brutal sports film ever made, and one of the best movies of the 1980s regardless of genre.” TV “This brilliant biography” VD of boxer Jake LaMotta is “a poetic meditation on the nature of violence” RS and “the rigid and sentimental codes of masculinity which he clings to even as they destroy him.” T95 It is “beautifully photographed in rich black and white” VD and contains “some of the most intense fight scenes ever filmed.” VD It is “often noted for Thelma Schoonmacher’s achievement in editing.” A98 “De Niro gives one of his greatest performances” VD as “the anti-Rocky,” TV “a man whose only true emotional outlet was fighting.” VD The “hard-headed, animalistic, unlovable slum kid…becomes the 1949 middle-weight champ,” FS but his “opponents in the ring are no match for the demons he fights in his personal life,” A98 including domestic and emotional violence with his brother Joey (Pesci) and wife Vikki (Moriarty). “De Niro’s transformation from a sleek professional boxer to an out-of-shape, stand-up nightclub entertainer is simply remarkable.” FS “The movie was actually Robert De Niro’s passion project. It took him years to convince his friend and collaborator, Martin Scorsese, to make it. Scorsese wasn’t a fan of sports, and less so of boxing, not finding it to be a good visual medium.” MSN The result is “as a moving and beautiful film as anyone could make about an intolerably nasty, screwed-up man.” ML “That such an unappealing man could inspire so vivid a portrait is a tribute to the collaboration of Scorsese, De Niro, and writers Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin.” LM “There’s not a false note in characterization or period detail.” LM “Scorsese’s best.” ML Sources: A98 American Film Institute (1998). “AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” LM Leonard Maltin “100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century” ML Movieline (Dec. 1995). “100 Best Movies Ever Made” by Virginia Campbell and Edward Margulies MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud RS Rolling Stone (12/30/1999). “100 Maverick Movies of the Last 100 Years” T95 Time Out (1995). “Centenary Top One Hundred Films” TV TV Guide (August 8-14, 1998 issue). “50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video” VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 2 – Best Actor (De Niro), Best Film Editing Nominations: 8 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Pesci), Best Supporting Actress (Moriarty) Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Francis Ford Coppola Roger Ebert Leslie Halliwell/John Walker Leonard Maltin First posted 8/11/2019; last updated 6/2/2023.