April 22, 2001

1:55 PM

You've seen the movie, maybe even read the book. But have you experienced the website? When the flash intro comes up, click on "You're a dead rat" for a good chuckle.
posted by inviolable (7 comments total)

I never understood why people love Goodfellas. I mean some people treat it as their IChing. Alright, it's fun, but it certainly doesn't effect me on the same visceral level as Go or Out of Sight. But time and again it's on top ten lists, which does the director of Kundun and The Last Temptation of Christ a great disservice. If any UK viewers saw Scorsese on the Mark Cousins show 'Scene by Scene' he seemed much prouder of those films and the seminal Taxi Driver.
posted by feelinglistless at 2:15 PM on April 22, 2001

For that matter, what's the attraction to mobsters in general? Make a movie or a tv series about the mafia and you're 75% on your way to having a hit.

Fuggetaboutit.
posted by crunchland at 3:43 PM on April 22, 2001

With the exception of Mafia!, of course.
posted by fusinski at 5:53 PM on April 22, 2001

Make a movie or a tv series about the mafia and you're 75% on your way to having a hit.

I'd venture to say that there's at least hit in every mafia movie, making that figure 100%. Face it; the creators just a bunch of hitmen. <grin>
posted by Danelope at 7:27 PM on April 22, 2001

I think Goodfellas affects people viscerally because, after all, it's real. All the other big mob movies are fiction, or highly exaggerated. This movie's reality is used to deconstruct the other movies' fanciful storytelling.

It's no secret why gangster stories are compelling: these people live seemingly larger lives than ours, with every dispute life-or-death, every confidence a fatal risk, every encounter a confrontation. The sotto voce conversations and agreements are reflective of modern work life; where the earlier genre of Westerns tended to be about loners, gangster movies are about teams and organizations. Problems are solved by meetings and deals. It's no surprise that the mafia in The Sopranos seem tamed and corporate: that's what the genre is about.

I am as entranced by a beautiful, philosophical film as anyone, but there's something about good old-fashioned action moviemaking that overrides those qualities. The latter may be less high-minded, but that doesn't make them any less an accomplishment.
posted by dhartung at 10:21 PM on April 22, 2001

it certainly doesn't effect me on the same visceral level as Go or Out of Sight

...or the gut-wrenching level of Beaches?
posted by Mocata at 4:19 AM on April 23, 2001

Is that sarcasm, perchance?
posted by feelinglistless at 10:06 AM on April 23, 2001