Goodfellas (1990)
Ray Liotta plays the lead in this epic story about the rise and fall of real-life gangster Henry Hill. As much as I love The Godfather (and I do love it), I must admit that it glorifies the gangster world in many ways. Goodfellas does the same thing initially, but slowly the story shifts. It becomes dark and nasty, and it gets its hands dirty on a completely different level. When all is said and done the gangster world is suddenly not as alluring any more.
Some people claim Martin Scorsese is the greatest living director. It's hard to agree with that unless you ignore two-thirds of his filmography. Having said that, this is a masterpiece. A perfect film on every level.
I always point to this, as a film to watch if you want to learn how to make movies. It's got it all: Drama, humor, romance, action. Explosions of raw violence, mixed with gorgeous montages, set to period song. The rhythm of the music, the camera moves, and the sound creates a unique flow, unmatched by any other film. It never ceases to amaze me how some filmmakers fumble their way through a film, when there's a perfect instruction manual is available in Goodfellas. All you've got to do is watch and learn. You can't be a serious filmmaker unless you know it by heart. It's that simple.
Never forget to love it. I'm not asking.
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