GOODFELLAS (1990): Our favorite, absurdly deep-cut details ONLY
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Episode 97: OOoohh! Tom, Evan and Marcus spend one fucking hour exploring their favorite, absurdly deep-cut details within …
Debi Mazar was hotter than Scarlett Johansson back in the day!!!!
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I loved this film because I discovered who Don Rickles was through it. In the UK he was never talked about despite being a comedians comedian. How about 'The Conversation' soon guys?
Great observation about the coke scene being made in such an outrageously accurate way that you actually FEEL like you’re on that awful drug watching it; only adds to the so many bravura ways in which the punch lands during that scene. I still can’t think of another film that nails that better. (Maybe “boogie Nights” comes close but even then gotta think PTA was heavily influenced by this aspect of this scene). Makes those similar type scenes in a movie like “Scarface” almost seem like a parody in comparison. (I love DePalma too)
In the scene where Tommy shoots Stacks, if you play the DVD frame by frame, you can see the blood being flung onto the bed, from behind Pesci.
Wow, The need for Canceling Eric Clapton in a Goodfellas commentary, layers upon layers of mental corruption 🤫
great episode…..I'm pretty sure there's an "ohhhhh" in Mean Streets…….possibly even "Saturday Night Fever"
love the weird scene in the jail during the family visit, where the kid's toys/blocks are re-stacked in every reverse-shot… Easy to miss on the first viewing, but once you notice it, it's obviously so intentionally done. Just a weird Scorsese detail…
Okay, so I gotta point out another very deep cut, again, based off the commentary here. Fun fact: the original "Deborah," the FBI agent on the Sopranos who "befriends" Adriana–that role was originally played by Debi Mazar. Turns out that she didn't want the recurring role and dropped out, but you can still find the original scene where she meets Adriana at the mall on YouTube.
Great one, so far. I'm pausing to point out that the walking scene–Henry's walk with the gun–with the cherry trees: that shot is borrowed from "The Searchers." Homage, if you will.
Two of my favorite scenes in the movie have Karen in them. I love the hostess party scene. Great use of the song "Leader of the Pack". I like the woman sitting across from Karen. Especially that moment where she crosses herself after hearing the story about the shooting. There's some interesting discontinuity. There's also some interesting discontinuity with Paulie's cigar when he's talking to the restaurant owner who's having problems with Tommy. And other places in the film. The other scene I like a lot is when Jimmy offers to give Karen some dresses. "No Jimmy. I'm in a hurry. My mom's watching the kids and I gotta get home. I'll come back later". That is a great, great scene.
DEPTH
Tom has such a grudge against the 1980s.
Cop-to-young Jimmy Conway: “HEY JI-MAAY! Got’anytin’goooot???”
Great episode! The keyboards on Layla were composed by, and played by session drummer, Jim Gordon. Gordon was a member of The Wrecking Crew and appeared on multiple classic songs, and albums like All Things Must Pass. Gordon battled with substance abuse and schizophrenia and tragically murdered his mother. He died in March 2023 at the age of 77 while serving his sentence.
Goodfellas, in my opinion, is one of the three greatest films ever made that wasn't directed by Stanley Kubrick. The other two are Apocalypse Now, and Citizen Kane, for what it's worth.
Congratulations on nearing 100 episodes. I hope you guys do more Scorcese, and more Kubrick, in the future. Also would love to see you take on a personal favorite, John Huston's The Man Who Would Be King. Seems like everyone on YouTube has forgotten or overlooked this treasure featuring superb performances by Sean Connery, Michael Caine, and Christopher Plummer.
For ep 100: Porn! But classic porn….Radley Metzger.
Amazing show, fellas. And you did it again: I was hoping you’d single out Morrie’s cheapo but fantastic commercial! No one does these movies better than you three… “And remember, Morrie’s wigs don’t come off!”
My favorite deep cut pull is after Henry's arrest when the police are bringing in Sandy's coke mixing equipment and that one officer tries the powder while the arresting officer taunts Henry about the evidence.
"What we gonna bake a cake? We making a fuckin' cake? Is it good? Hahaha see you in Attica, fucko."
I’m going to nerd out for a second. Scorsese had seen a local ad in the NYC area for a guy’s small business. He loved the feel of it so much that he tracked down the company and discovered the owner had created the ad himself. He hired that guy to create Morrie’s wigs’ ad.
My favorite scenes or shots are, and two were mentioned, the very brutal scene, and true, also imo, the most violent scene, of Henry Hill beats up Karen's neighbor (and especially the sound design, I think it's metal knocking on a wooden table lol), Jimmy looking at Morrie (at the bar, with Sunshine of Your Love), probably my favorite scene of the movie. And the most intense scene, with Henry waking up with Karen pointing a revolver at his face (actually at the audience pov), and the scene when Jimmy and Henry sitting across at the diner (dolly out, zoom in, or vice versa, like everything changes from then on, the freeze frames and Jimmy's looking at Henry, with his thick eye glasses, and the stupid look of Henry on his face hahahaha), and Henry realizes at that moment that Jimmy wants to wack him. Greetings from the Netherlands. Oh, and that beautiful shot of outside the bar, with its title on the screen ''June 11, 1970 Queens, New York'', with The Crystals – ''He's Sure the Boy I love'' song…..actually, that's a very pivotal momen that has huge consequences for all of them….
I love De Niro's "Look what that mutt did to my shoes" as if Billy Batts' face assaulted his shoes.
Also for some reason Henry yelling "Just do it ya stupid hick" always makes me happy. Maybe because I've never said anything that insulting to anyone in my life, and probably never will, and she doesn't even blink.
I believe Cary Grant was noted for his "Oh"(s) in various films!!
Tom definitely has the right take on the decor of the apartments/houses you guys were talking about. I was raised on Long Island and I was around in the 70's. That is most definitely your dumb suburban nouveau riche idea of what rich & classy looks like. Around 1976 I actually sold vacuum cleaners by appointment to those kind of households. Whoever did the that set design for Karen Rossi's apartment got it spot on! And the other place with the entertainment center and standing metal houseplants and all those tacky nick nacks and furniture? Fucking nailed it!!!
I’ve seen Goodfellas well over a dozen times but it’s been quite a few years since my last viewing. So, any of the interesting minutiae has since vacated my memory.
There’s always this one scene though that comes to mind when I think of Goodfellas and it’s when Jimmy tells Karen to walk down the street to pick up some dresses. Appears thoughtful and kind at first, but soon turns menacing. While she’s walking, the paranoia begins to set in and she sees these two shadowy figures inside the place where Jimmy is directing her to go. Karen quickly turns tail and books it the hell out of there. I recently read an article where it was pointed out that the camera climbs upward to where the street signs read ‘don’t walk’ and ‘one way’. Of course it plays out to be ambiguous and unclear, but I reckon Karen sensed impending doom. That whole scene has a gradual creepy vibe going on that’s unsettling. The line between close ally and deadly enemy is now blurred. Monsters possibly lurking under the bed, in the closet or around the corner. A sudden awareness that you’re now vulnerable and there’s no more certainty, security or safe haven. That’s truly frightening.
Great show guys. Enjoyed it. Always loved the scene when Jimmy tells Karen to walk down the ally to pick out some free swag but she doesn't trust him and scampers away. Can really see the reptile in DeNiro's character in that moment. Off to rewatch Goodfellas yet again.
I swear every moment of every scene is riveting…and only gets better with a million rewatches
The greatest American film ever made, in my humble opinion
"You gotta slice the garlic reaaal thin … ".
I've always thought that pistol whipping scene is one of the most violent moments I've ever seen on film. Scorsese is so good at making you feel the violence and that's probably the best example of it.
Scorsese produced Sopranos, which explains so much of the same casting.
Yes! Goodfellas!
Totally do an audio commentary for this one.
I'm fascinated by Scorcese's use of music in this. Why Layla for the corpses? Can someone tell me? It… seems to work? But defies logic. Some kind of farewell? Did he just want another option to differentiate his montage from the baptism/hits montage of Godfather? I kind of think it's Scorcese communicating directly to his boomer audience. I don't think any of these guys listened to Derek and the D.'s Even so, what is being communicated? Another weird choice that somehow works.
Jim Gordon, the drummer from Derek and the Dominoes, wrote the piano coda of Layla. He's in jail for killing his mother. Turned out he was schizophrenic. Great musician, bad brain.
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