Board 8 > Board 8 Watches and Ranks Organized Crime Films: THE RANKING

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's funny just yesterday my brother in law was talking about how much he likes Kevin Costner. I was like yeeeeah, well I do love Field of Dreams...

SeabassDebeste posted...

i considered doing this ranking but realized there was no way i'd be able to watch through them all, but i'd seen around half the list. so far, i've seen very few though (maybe only little caesar?)

Same here. I've seen exactly half but I was struggling to find a way to watch the others.

Guess White Heat again

It's funny that everyone else got the same breezy feeling from watching The Untouchables after what I assume was a string of villain protagonist movies. Definitely benefited a lot from that first watch as a result.

Guessing Scarface 1932.

White Heat til it dies baby

I'll echo the feeling that Untouchables benefits from being sandwiched between all these cynical anti-hero movies, where its corny wholesomeness is actually refreshing

and speaking of De Palma's references I loved how he introduced Capone in the barber's chair, calling back to Paul Muni's face-reveal introduction in the '32 Scarface.

21. Miller's Crossing (1990)
Directed by: Joel & Ethan Coen
Runtime: 1h 55m
Score: 206

rockus: 6
seginus: 6
John: 9
ssbm: 14
Mythiot: 19
Karo: 21
Snake: 22
Vis: 25
plasma: 27
Poke: 28
Tangy: 29

rockus
You can see the Coen brothers really coming into their own with this, their third movie. Maybe even more than a good crime movie I just love a film about a guy playing both/multiple sides and Byrne is better than hes ever been in this. John Turturros weaselly Bernie is one of my favorites from him as well. Also, some incredible looking exterior stuff and those scenes out in the woods have always stuck with me.

seginus
I'm a Coen fanboy, I've always found their stuff uniquely entertaining and this is no exception. I'm keen on their recurring motifs by now - the metaphysical bent of all their Schrodinger's cat scenarios, the natural signs from god (their movies often involve some kind of deus ex gaia - flood, fire, tornado, here it's the crack of thunder), greed always a central plot driver. They always get interesting performances, minor characters rarely feel wasted. Admittedly I think Buscemi's character should have been established more this time since he becomes a plot point in the twist. But this scratches a noir itch I had that L.A. Confidential couldn't scratch.
Partly based on a Dashiell Hammett story, this actually nails the snappy dialogue and convoluted plotting it's harkening back to. Turturro is fantastic in this. I loved the scene
where Regan takes a phone call and Bernie is in the chair, but we don't see him from behind this huge chair until it cuts to the reverse shot. Really creepy and funny at once.

John
Some of the best work the Coen Bros. do is in the movies easiest to overlook. Perhaps my favorite surprise gem from them is Barton Fink, and Miller's Crossing has a lot of what made that one so good. The subtle performances slow burning over time to some of the most off-the-wall vicious violence and camerawork of the time, almost as if it's coming from an action thriller, which this movie definitely isn't. John Turturro gives what might be the best performance I've ever seen from him here, and the constant war of greed and blackmail is enough to make every character's fate feel unsafe.

ssbm
Rating: C

I don't particularly like the characters of Miller's Crossing, but I do really like the plot. I like all the mixing character relationships and how that affects the plot. Once Tommy becomes part of Johnn'y gang and is tasked to assassinate Bernie, things get really good. I play this tabletop RPG called Urban Shadows. One of the main mechanics is Debts, where a character owes another character and they can cash it in or refuse to pay the Debt. This movie feels like a straight-up session of Urban Shadows and I just love it.

Out of the entire cast, I particularly like The Dane. He's loyal to Johnny and feels that Tommy is yanking his chain, so he investigates Tommy and ends up as the primary antagonist for the latter half of the movie. The scene between Johnny, Tommy, and The Dane with Bernie on the outskirts is really great and I wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen.

The reason that this only gets a C is that Tommy is not really a great protagonist. He has all these one-liners, but they're not good one-liners. If this is a tabletop RPG, Tommy's the player that's trying too hard to be cool all the time and doesn't necessarily have a good character concept. I also have to stress how slow the beginning is. I also feel that the Leo/Verna sideplot doesn't really...go anywhere? Which is strange, considering it's the inciting incident and the first third focuses so much time on it.

Karo
Two rival gangs face off with the protagonist caught in between in this extremely generic mobster movie set (of course) during prohibition. There are a few witty quips, but the film is on the whole very unmemorable and I struggle to name any aspect that some other movie on this list didnt do much better.
Plus, there is dumb shit like hey lets have the new guy who we don't trust fully wander off to whack someone in the woods with no supervision for some reason and then be like I'm sure he totally killed the guy and didnt betray us, there's no reason to go and check, lulz.
It just didnt leave any impact on me whatsoever, and although I enjoyed other films from the Coen bros, I don't really understand the appeal of this one.

Snake
Miller's Crossing (1990) - The thing about watching all of these gangster films back to back is they all start to blend into one another - only the names and faces change. While there is certainly an allure to the Coen Brothers always stylish direction, Millers Crossing feels almost drowned out in this sea of films, a detriment that unfortunately detracts a lot of enjoyment from it for me, despite also having some upper tier performances.

Vis
I dont know what it is about the Coen Brothers, because I can generally find amusement and enjoyment in their comedies, and I even REALLY liked No Country for Old Men, but while half the time I enjoy their films, the other half, I just get very bored. Im not really sure why I feel the way I do about Millers Crossing, because it definitely has some interesting aspects. The goofy, over-the-top acting from John Turturo and Jon Polito made for weird, interesting scenesbut they were just so spread out among scenes of Gabriel Byrne being especially dull and emotionless all the time. Seriously, I dont want to see a lead character thats constantly stoic and unphased by just about anything, but thats what Byrnes Tom is. I dont understand his motivations really, because hes clearly acting as a mercenary for some reasonbut then I dont know WHY hes acting like a mercenary, because its not like hes gaining anything out of it. Ultimately, its just a very dry movie, punctuated with the occasional intriguing scene (like the triple cross ending), and I didnt enjoy it all that much.

plasma
Theres some god-tier dialogue here. Theres also a pretty interesting character web, with clever motivations driving everyones actions, betrayals, non-betrayals, etc. And I even liked how the ending subverts expectations when Tom kills Vernas brother and ultimately decides not to grow a heart. Instead he grows independent, and at the end, Vernas line Drop dead carries a very different subtext from the first time she said it.

So, yeah, I liked parts of this movie.

But much like with The Italian Job, the humor here failed to click with me. Sure, the dialogue is snappy and clever, but I had a hard time caring about anyone speaking it, which caused me to have a hard time caring about the plot itself. This is a common problem I have with Coen Brothers movies, and while Millers Crossing shines at times (the Oh Danny Boy scene is comedic gold), watching this movie often felt like getting punched down multiple flights of stairs. D

Poke
Leo could have saved himself a lot of trouble by just listening to Tom. But hey, everything worked out in the end....uhh for them. Not so much everyone else.

Tangy
Millers Crossing was fine, I guess? There was nothing here that stood out to me as interesting. Its by far the most generic gangster movie on the list and is sorely missing that Coen charm. I wouldnt say it was bad though. All the actors bring their A game, theres some great shots and I adored the scene where Byrnes character hits the guy with the chair, but aside from that it was mostly just forgettable

Outlier Ranking
rockus: 88
Poke: 70
John: 69
Snake: 64
plasma: 65
ssbm: 60
Vis: 57
Tangy: 55
seginus: 55
Karo: 48
Mythiot: 50

Big jumps for the lads sitting in first and last... or, what was last.

awww man, Miller's Crossing is so good. you gave it the high hat!

Guess Scarface (1932) again I guess.

I've been watching a lot of Siskel & Ebert lately, so it's kind of interesting how some of us seemed to have the same issues with The Untouchables & Miller's Crossing that Ebert did since Gene liked both films way more - for one thing Siskel was struggling to think of anything wrong with Miller's Crossing only for Ebert to point out at least one massive logical fallacy (Ebert still gave the movie a recommendation though, but more as an exercise in style and a treat for fans of mob movies). I have not actually seen the film, but it is on Disney+ where I live.

I have actually seen The Untouchables and went into it mostly as a fan of De Niro and Connery as well as the same director's Scarface. I didn't like it as much as Scarface, but I still greatly enjoyed it - I particularly enjoyed the interactions between the characters and the attention to period detail in addition to the train station shootout being pure win. On air Roger Ebert gave the film a marginal thumbs down for finding the film to be filled with lifeless characters, which I don't agree with, but I get why since none of the characters really rise above their archetypes. I thought they were enjoyable archetypes though and felt they were well-done within the film itself, however. As for Costner, I think he passed that "handsome young-ish leading man" test in the late '80s and early '90s before notorious flops like Wyatt Earp, Waterworld, and The Postman did in his career as a leading man, although he has kept working as a character actor and filmmaker. Costner was basically a precursor of sorts to the likes of Keanu Reeves and Ben Affleck who used to be pushed heavily as handsome young leading men before finally finding their footing when they were much older.

I also remember the end recap on the episode of Siskel & Ebert where they discussed The Untouchables to end with the former saying he thought it was the best gangster movie since The Godfather and Once Upon a Time in America and deserved to be spoken of in the same breadth. Curiously the duo split the exact opposite way on Scarface (and later Carlito's Way), which might have colored Ebert's perception on The Untouchables.

Smh

LinkMarioSamus posted...

As for Costner, I think he passed that "handsome young-ish leading man" test in the late '80s and early '90s before notorious flops like Wyatt Earp, Waterworld, and The Postman did in his career as a leading man, although he has kept working as a character actor and filmmaker.

Costner has been the lead of a wildly successful cable tv show the past few years that already has 2 spinoffs with a third planned. He's still making serious bank.

Yeah, but that's not quite the same as being a big movie star. Point taken though, I only know about that show because of Bob Chipman.

20. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Directed by: Sergio Leone
Runtime: 4h 11m
Score: 205

plasma: 2
Tangy: 9
Mythiot: 13
Poke: 15
Karo: 17
rockus: 22
John: 23
Vis: 23
seginus: 23
Snake: 28
ssbm: 30

plasma
Incredible. Three hours and forty-nine minutes of incredible.

When I started Once Upon a Time in America, I feared the worst due to the four-hour runtime. Then I saw Directed by Sergio Leone in the opening credits, and that changed everything. Leone, of course, directed several Spaghetti Westerns, most notably The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. I figured if the guy could make a three-hour western entertaining, I was in good hands with his epic crime drama.

And was I ever. Normally I dont like nonlinear stories, but the time jumps in this one enhanced the movie by conveying how a man remembers his past and how he (possibly) imagines his future. We meet Noodles as an adult, then see him as an old gray-haired man before heading back in time to see his troubled childhood as Jewish gangster in New York.

Though the acting during the child segments is spotty, the story grips hard with its honest approach to the characters. Theres this nervous tension hiding within every childhood scene because of the battle between innocence and corruption. Key example: the romantic subplot. At one point Noodles gets caught peeping on Deborah while she dances; though she displays interest in him, he frustrates us by banging a prostitute with his buddies. Its infuriating in a good way, and it highlights how messed up these kids are. Theyre caught in this no mans land between childhood and gangsterhood, and when Noodles gets revenge for the murder of his little buddy Dominic, he crosses the line into full-on gangster.

And yet its hard not to empathize with him and root for him. Hes messed up, but he has loyalties to his buddies, particularly Max, whos the perfect foil to Noodles. Whereas Noodles is all about survival, Max is ambitious. But at the same time, Max values his friend and is the one waiting for Noodles the day hes released from jail twelve years later. Thats one hell of a bond.

The adulthood parts show how fractured Noodles is. In certain segments he displays wisdom and charisma by warning his group to avoid aligning themselves with powerful bosses who can eliminate them. Then, during a staged diamond robbery, he inexplicably rapes the prostitute who staged the whole thing. Its jarring and alarming, but not until his date with Deborah do we see how twisted and lost this man is.

Theres a bittersweetness to the Noodles/Deborah relationship, and I was naturally rooting for the two of them to get together. Then he rapes her in the back of limo, and its probably the most harrowing scene Ive ever watched outside of the The Red Wedding in Game of Thrones. I was completely gutted after what Noodles did to Deborah. Many rape scenes in film fail (at least IMO) because they dont convey how horribly soul-crushing the act is; instead such scenes typically come off as clumsy or preachy or plot-devicey. But not this one. No, this one felt especially tragic because its the main characterthe guy weve been invested in for two-plus hoursraping the girl who was his main motivation for staying alive while he was in jail for twelve years. She was his light at the end of the tunnel, and when she seeks her own light in the form of a Hollywood acting career, he dumps an unthinkable darkness on her. Its horrible, its brutal, and it took me through emotions that no other movie ever has.

Then we have the old man parts, and whats cool about these is that they may or may not be imagined. The films final image suggests that everything after 1933 mightve been an opium dream. Theres plenty of evidence to suggest this: Deborahs surprisingly lukewarm reaction to seeing Noodles in her dressing room, the stunning revelation that Max staged his death, and the garbage truck scene where Max (was it Max?) appears to commit suicide after Noodles refuses to kill him. What were left with is an unreliable narrator who may be trapped within his own twisted concoction of reality.

Couple last-minute things I want to mention before this writeup becomes as long as the movie itself. First, I loved the soundtrack. Powerful, chilling, emotional. Its like a character of its own. And second, I love how Leone opens the film by using minimal dialogue and alternating between wide shots and close-ups. I imagine it was intended to pay homage to the silent films of the 20s and 30s, but more importantly it eases the audience into a lengthy film and creates an appropriate dreamlike quality. This movie gripped me from the start, and those early shots had a lot to do with it. From there on, Once Upon a Time in America was a trip through hell, but in the best possible way. A+

Tangy
This was the hardest movie to rank by far. I considered putting it as high as number 2 and as low as the bottom third, but I think this is a solid enough placement. The main factor here for me was the ending. The whole It was all a dream trope is so hit and miss and especially if it happens after 3.5 hours of investment, but honestly it works great here! Throughout the list weve seen character after character praise the mob life, just for them to get killed or sell out their friends for their own safety, but here its different. Sergio Leone shows us the reality of gangster life. Its harsh, its cruel and mobsters arent the glamorized anti heroes that keep leading these films. Theyre villains flat out and regardless of how much carnage they cause, sure a few regret their actions and get out, but many many more just sit back and remember it fondly while smoking in an opium den.

Poke
What a marathon. I think a lot of people might have felt that way. But even though it's slow at times, I did enjoy it. Funnily enough, I liked the portion of when all the characters were growing up as two-bit hoods. A real sense of comraderie was displayed and I was a bit disappointed that there was a time jump. But it was still a gritty look at that time...in America.

Karo
This is the story of a young street criminal told from childhood through middle age, presented slightly out of chronological order like it wants to be a store brand Pulp Fiction. It is the tale of the capers of his gang, his turbulent relationship with his best friend, and all the girls he tries to rape along the way. Which is regrettably quite a large number.
I know this is a movie about lowlifes and to be realistic they gotta do lowlife things, but the problem is the way the narrative repeatedly treats rape as a minor inconvenience or something the girl secretly likes. Absolutely deplorable.
So at the end it is revealed that Max was not dead after all, it was all a conspiracy or something that he set up somehow without any knowledge of Noodles' betrayal because he is just that much of a motherfucking chessmaster or whatever.
I feel the part of the film I enjoyed the most was when they were all scruffy little street brats causing mischief in the 1910s, nothing else really clicked despite how long the movie was. And the movie was really really REALLY long.
Sergio Leone should maybe just stick to making cowboy movies. Did you know he almost ended up directing The Godfather? Thank fuck that deal fell through.

rockus
Im not sure what version of this everyone watched but I (re)watched the extended cut I have on DVD, and frankly Im not quite sure what cuts are available at the moment otherwise anyway. Overall I kind of find it to be a mixed bag with some interesting highs but considerably bloated at nearly four hours long. Tuesday Weld has a rad Jean Harlow look going for her though, so thats something.

John
I like long movies. Not always, but some of my all-time favorites are over three hours. The length really provides the opportunity to tell an epic story; to really dive deeply into the characters, and Once Upon a Time in America did an excellent job with that. The best thing Leone did here was give a full examination of Noodles, Max and their dynamic. I kind of want to try and examine it from the lens of homoeroticism, because the connection between the two is so strong compared to their relationships with women. If there's one thing these two have in common, it's how much they really fucking hate women. Do we need two different long, unprovoked rape scenes? Did that help establish and develop the characterizations of any of the characters involved? Not really! And in a four-hour movie, scenes like this really raise questions of why it was included at all. There's a lot of good throughout the massive runtime, but ot just doesn't have the consistency or eloquence to hold up to other epics in the genre.

Vis
Im going to get me major criticism out of the way right up front. This movie did not need to be almost four hours long (longer, based on the directors cut). Theres just so much padding and so many unnecessarily slow scenes throughout the film (ESPECIALLY during the 1968 timeline, which is a great example of why most gangster movies end with a violent shootout and demise for their criminal protagonists, rather than fast forwarding over thirty years to show how everyone is old now). While I certainly disagree with studios making arbitrary cuts without Leones approval to trim the runtime down for theater audiences, the movie DEFINITELY needed some trimming.

Additionally, Im just gonna say that Im not a fan of the multiple rape scenes. The one with Deborah at least characterizes Noodles, but I personally dont feel like it added anything to the film overall. Carol thoughthat felt pointless and gratuitous, and her character in the context of the movie felt pointless and gratuitous. Also, gonna throw this out there, but I dont need to have MULTIPLE scenes sexualizing underaged characters. Thats just me.

But on a positive note, when the movie was focused in its narrative, I think it did a good job of telling the story it wanted to tell. The child portion of the movie (outside of the unnecessary sex stuff) was actually pretty interesting, because it gave a real view of these kid characters and how they scrapped and survived in the world, and them came together to form an organization for all of their benefits. This is one place where I think the movies length works in its favor, because instead of just a couple random scenes of childhood, the movie gives at least an hour of screentime to developing the characters early on. It makes Dominics death all the more impactful, because hes the littlest kid among them, yet he still gets gunned down all the same.

The adult section of the movie is pretty standard mafia stuff, but Ill also give credit because once De Niro arrives on the scene, its largely smooth sailing for the gang. Theyve already established themselves in a strong position, theyre pretty much set for life, and they even get further bolstered when they start helping out the union in getting what they want in exchange for a little piece of the action. Its only when prohibition is ended and their illegitimate business is no longer illegitimate that they have to come up with a new plan, and it winds up getting the gang killed (seemingly). In that regard, it feels like a unique twist, since the gangsters arent taken down by rivals or by trying to think too big. Its just time that works against them. Noodles and Max get old, everyone else gets waylaid by the end of prohibition.

So yeah, I think if you trim a lot of the fat from this film and tighten it up by removing even just one hour (2:40 is still a LONG movie), this couldve been a lot better than it was. As it stands, I like Sergio Leones westerns, but this just didnt feel like it rose to the level of his Dollars trilogy).

seginus
I have mixed feelings about this one. There's a lot to admire between the great acting, laborious period recreation, the ambitious scope and structure of the story. I really got into the historical New York atmosphere and I love the way the Brooklyn Bridge looms so large in the background, as if a passageway between the stages of life. I dig how the framing device of the 'Chinese Theater dream' could inform the story's parallels (e.g. Noodles learns about Max being burned to death in the newspaper, so his altered mindstate invents a scenario where his childhood self burns a newspaper stand down).

But I have to say I thought the movie had a lecherous vibe that really put me off. While this genre does commonly depict misogyny, racism, murder, and torture I think there are lines between depicting something and excusing, forgiving, or even endorsing it. This movie's bit with a woman identifying her rapist from a lineup of dicks and it being played for laughs was just too much. And then there's another rape scene and the movie still wants me to be sympathetic to this guy! I'm not gonna be sad that a serial rapist gets old because you play a 'Yesterday' instrumental as he reminisces about being a pervy kid. This whole aspect of the movie really dragged it down for me, dream logic or not. Maybe I'm the only one who felt this way, though. It's hard to say why it bothered me so much more in this movie than in the others.

Snake
A good movie I dont really have too much affection for. While I recognize everything here as solidly crafted with great performances, the films length and overly dramatic feel just dont really hook me as well as the other films I have above on this list.

ssbm
Rating: F

This movie's pretty to look at. I think Jennifer Connelly's performance as Young Deborah is pretty good. And Morricone has some good tunes in this movie. That's about all the praise I have for this. I could not stand this movie. It's slow. Unbearably slow. The first 30 minutes is pointless as far I can tell. For me, the movie really starts once we go into the past and, even then, it's real slow. It's also just kinda weird. It's a boy gang, but they're pretty fucked up for boys. They're having sex with Peggy, who I believe is like some 14-year-old child prostitute. They're spying on Deborah as she dances. A kid gets shot on the streets. It's just....jeeze. There's no likable characters in this, even from the beginning.

Then there's the rape. As weird as the voyeur thing was, there was something to the Noodles/Deborah romance. And then it just devolves into rape and it's just...fuck Noodles after that. And then I think Max rapes Carol during a heist and she likes it? Enough to continue doing it with him later on in life? I can't stand that. The actual plot just doesn't mean much to me. It's about the friendship of Max and Noodles, but it's just not compelling to me. Noodles is such a whatever protagonist and Max is fine, but not really engaging enough to capture my attention. I'm not even going to touch the ending. Everything starting with the party and the ending with the opium den is complete nonsense to me and it appears that others online agree with me on this. I don't watch a lot of movies, but this might be the worst movie I've ever seen. Either this or Rise of Skywalker. Rise of Skywalker insults my intelligence, but this movie takes away nearly 4 horus of my life for a complete waste of time.

One of the best movies of the '80s they said. Needless to say, Siskel & Ebert were over the moon for the non-theatrical cut (the film was initially released to US theaters in a shorter version with every scene in chronological order). Also available on Disney+ where I live.

Outlier Ranking
rockus: 90
plasma: 83
Poke: 75
John: 72
Snake: 72
ssbm: 70
Tangy: 66
Vis: 60
seginus: 58
Mythiot: 57
Karo: 51

That's the movie that made me quit the project! It isn't the one that I struggled with at the beginning (that hasn't dropped yet), but it was the first one I was going to watch from the films I hadn't seen at all before just because of how outrageously long it was. I could never motivate myself to start, and I kept procrastinating to the point where I basically skipped an entire month.

Fully understand why it was included, but a 4+ hour long movie that I'm not particularly interested in watching is just brutal. Again, I know literally nothing about it and watched zero of it so it might be the best movie of all time.

Yeah Once Upon a Time In America is something that really kinda has to be included in an Organized Crime Film list but I absolutely understand the hesitance toward it and the mixed feelings (which I share). I think it's the longest movie we've ever seen included on one of the Gauntlet Crew/Board 8 movie rankings? And it's not exactly a fun movie at that.

Back-to-back wins for the House! (Not that I had either one of them on the odds board)

Vegas Odds on #19:

+600 Scarface (1932)
+600 White Heat
+1000 Donnie Brasco
+1000 Gangs of New York
+1250 Casino
+1250 L.A. Confidential
+1250 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
+1500 Training Day
+1500 The Irishman
+300 Any Other Movie [+2000 if you guess correctly]

Leaderboard:
1) PokeWars: $1100 (+600 The Public Enemy, +500 Gangster No. 1)
2) Fortybelowsummer (+750 Sicario)
3) BetrayedTangy: $600 (+600 The Public Enemy)
4) Inviso $500 (+500 Gangster No. 1)

This is the only one in my Top 10 that I'm not sad to see go.

The rape stuff was in particular pretty hard to watch, yet I also found it to interesting from a story perspective. Carol's rape represents how it's normalized within the mob life. Whereas Deborah's shows the gritty reality of it. I appreciate Leone choosing not to water things down, while still understanding why it can lower someone's opinion of the film.

Also guessing White Heat again.

gonna go back to guessing the Irishman

Guess Scarface (1932)

Suprak_the_Stud posted...

That's the movie that made me quit the project! It isn't the one that I struggled with at the beginning (that hasn't dropped yet), but it was the first one I was going to watch from the films I hadn't seen at all before just because of how outrageously long it was. I could never motivate myself to start, and I kept procrastinating to the point where I basically skipped an entire month.

Fully understand why it was included, but a 4+ hour long movie that I'm not particularly interested in watching is just brutal. Again, I know literally nothing about it and watched zero of it so it might be the best movie of all time.

This just reminds me of how I wasn't bored for one minute of Lawrence of Arabia. I get the whole deal of 4-hour movies being intimidating but that and Gone with the Wind are masterworks.

19. The Irishman (2019)
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Runtime: 3h 29m
Score: 194

Mythiot: 4
John: 10
rockus: 10
Snake: 16
seginus: 16
Vis: 20
plasma: 21
Poke: 21
Karo: 23
ssbm: 26
Tangy: 27

John
The Irishman attempts to be the last great gangster epic, and in pretty much every way it succeeds. It's a culmination of everything came before it; a gathering of some of the best 20th-Century gangster-film actors together for one last hurrah that manages to simultaneously be the instant classic rise-and-fall story of the corrupt and the even more corrupt while also drawing everything to an unusually final conclusion. What makes The Irishman stand out the most is its ending. There's no Scarface-shootout blaze of glory or a Godfather-esque last show of power, but a slow fadeout with age that one has to assume the aging actors, writer and director are all similarly feeling.

rockus
While Goodfellas and Casino showcase the allure of the excess and luxuries of a life in crime in The Irishman Scorsese primarily focuses on the emptiness and meaninglessness of it. With detachment and a life of distancing family and loved ones for what largely amounts to loyalty for an organization that ultimately cares very little for years of dedicated service. Ending up empty and alone and unremarkable. Some of the digital de-aging effects can take some time getting use to but overall its another great Scorsese film.

Snake
Martin Scorsese's latest release isn't exactly a "list stealer"; much has been said of its length - daunting yes, but that doesn't stop this from being another incredibly well-made, well-written, and engaging crime epic. Scorsese still holds onto the themes and ideas they started with back in the day and though they feel older, more tired than before, in a way it ties this movie into being a sort of introspection and commentary on the genre as a whole. Do I think it ranks top-tier? No not really, but when it comes to Martin Scorsese there's no need to nitpick too much.

seginus
The de-aging effect is still a bit too 'Polar Express' to truly fool the eye, but it's an admirable effort and a nice full-circle concept for a genre that has told this kind of story from the other direction so many times. And this feels consciously in conversation with those roots. And it's depressing, coated in a sort of blue haze of regret and nostalgia. The oldies tunes Scorsese uses are even oldier now. It's all apologetic and remorseful and lonely for De Niro's stoic cool guy image. I like what this movie is going for, but on rewatch, I'm not convinced it's got that extra oomph of a great movie.

I do have to note this movie has an impressive collection of fancy neckties.

Vis
Holy SHIT this movie was long. I know thats oversimplifying it, but its still true. I liked a lot of things about this movie, but the length just made it feel very drawn out in a way that ultimately brought me no joy to watch. Dont get me wrongin some aspects, I think stretching the plot helped to better characterize Frank, but at a certain point, when theres too much bleakness, it just gets overwhelming for me as a viewer. This is not a movie I would ever watch again for that reason, and I feel like the major problem is that it takes itself very seriously, so you lose some of the innate charisma that helps otherwise sell a mafia movie like this one.

All that being said, there are two things I think this movie does EXTREMELY well. First off, Im someone who was aware of the CONCEPT of Jimmy Hoffa, but otherwise had NO idea who he was or what he stood for. Explaining thatvia Al Pacino losing his goddamn mind and acting like a total asshole for the mid-to-late portions of the filmwas interesting to me. Plus, it was nice to see just how many off-ramps he was given to kind of correct his behavior, but it came down to his personal pride that prevented him from sitting down and just letting things pass him by. The fact that Frankwho CONSTANTLY tried to protect Jimmy throughout the filmwas the one who had to carry out the hit was heartbreaking. I also liked the little touch about Frank not wanting to sit in the backseat of the car.

The other thing I will give MAJOR credit for is De Niros acting in the ending section. After Jimmys hit, I was frustrated that the movie still had 45 minutes to gobut then those 45 minutes played out, and it was really well-acted. So many of the movies on this list end with either the main character dying from their hubris, or if theyre good guys, they get out while the gettings good. But watching De Niro as this crippled, elderly man whose family doesnt come to see him and whose mafia friends are all deadit was genuinely depressing. Depressing in a well-directed way though. That ending kept me enraptured, even though I was starting to fade in the lead-up to it. And I thought it finished things off quite solidly for the film.

plasma
Goodfellas on Geritol.

When The Irishman released in 2019, it arrived with staggering levels of hype, especially in my area (Im from Pennsylvania). The idea of a Scorsese film that featured De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino (!) was simply to die for, and the fact that the story was based on a critically acclaimed book about Jimmy Hoffas disappearance only sweetened the deal. Early reviews glowed, and the hype mounted and mounted until I sat down with my family on Thanksgiving weekend for three-and-a-half hours to watch the movie on Netflix.

When it ended, we all had the same reaction: Eh.

Coming into this rewatch, I couldnt help but wonder if my 2019 disappointment was the result of the hype. But as I sat and watched this mammoth again, I realized what I already knew: this thing is a slog. Unlike Once Upon a Time in America, which breezes by despite its runtime, The Irishman feels every minute as long as it is. Thats not to say its boring, but its definitely not gripping like it should be.

That said, its great to see De Niro and Pacino in the same movie together, with both actors playing to their strengths. De Niro is cool and subdued while Pacino is high-strung and over-the-top. I wanted more out of Pesci, but honestly I was just thrilled to have him here after his long hiatus from acting. The star power of the main cast propels this movie through hours of history lessons and mob life. Theres plenty to like here, but I couldnt bring myself to love anything.

Overall, this is a frustrating movie. Its consistently good but never great. At times it feels empty, but then it gets emotional in the last hour (which gives me Godfather II vibes). Also, Im not sure how I feel about the ending. After Hoffa gets killed, theres roughly thirty minutes of resolution, and thatlike the rest of the filmtends to drag. C

Poke
The boys...or old men now, are back together. Pacino, De Niro, Pesci. One last hurrah for them? It was long, it wasn't as good as Scorsese's other giants, but it was still a fine entry. Just the length, it's hard to watch it multiple times, and ultimately that hurts it.

Karo
Scorsese's latest mobster flick, featuring a runtime that is dummy thicc even by his standards, and a cast of characters so old it probably involves more pairs of depends than I want to think about.
So it is about a truck driver who joins up with the mafia and does various things set against the backdrop of events the boomers that this film was made for probably remember. This goes on for three and a half hours of one of the most boring movies I have ever seen.
The titular protagonist is just extremely uninteresting to an extent that he feels like a supporting character in his own movie. Frank is seemingly just there to smile and wave and occasionally do the bidding of the more colorful underworld figures that surround him. He doesnt have the ambitious dreams of Tony Montana, the desire to avenge a transgression like Amsterdam Vallon, or anything else that would make for a compelling story.
Maybe he is meant to be an 'everyman' kind of character, but even then he should do something that makes it worthwhile to watch this many hours of his mind-numbing life. Frank lived a tool and died a tool in a nursing home for tools and that's the movie. No thanks.

ssbm
Rating: D

There's good elements to this movie. I'm always interested in historical pieces and Jimmy Hoffa in particular is a fun subject. I know of Hoffa, but I honestly can't tell you much about him. Having a whole movie about him is really nice and it's interesting to see Hoffa and Frank's life be disrupted by the history of the 1960s. There's also this theme of age going on in this movie, especially at the end. Frank's reminscencing to...no one throughout the whole movie. All his mafia friends are dead and his family wants nothing to do with him. Hoffa himself also has to do with age, with his stubbornness about being the union president after prison and how this eventually gets him killed. They're both people of a bygone era with the ending having both of them practically be forgotten by history.

But if I had to describe the movie, it's a different story. It's a lot of things. It's Frank rising from driver to hitman, which is told pretty well, but I'm a little surprised how easily everyone takes him in. Especially Hoffa, you would think he would be more cautious about who he lets sleep in the same room as him. But more importantly, it's a story about protecting Hoffa's life despite Hoffa's actions. The middle of the movie is particularly ridiculous, where Frank is basically a messenger between the mafia and Hoffa. He's trading messages between the two for...a long period of time. It was hard to take this movie seriously with Frank being this middleman. It's just absurd on its face.

I have to mention the kicking scene. It's...uh...yeah! You should watch it on Youtube. Back in high school, I had to do a short film. I played the main actor and it was an action/superhero movie. In the final fight scene, we really had to show that we hurt each other without actually hurting each other. That's what I remembered when I saw this scene live. It even has the really fake "stomping on fingers" while the other guy screams in agony that I did in my short film.

Tangy
I have a feeling The Irishman is going to be one of the more divisive films here. On one hand its a great return to form for Scorsese and de Niro, Pacino and Pesci are absolutely on point. On the other hand the pacing is garbage. I dont have an issue with films being three hours, but when they are Im automatically going to be more critical of them. If you feel like your movie needs to be three hours then it better keep me invested. Which naturally The Irishman failed to do. I ended up needing to watch it in chunks (similar to what plasma did) and honestly that served it a lot better. In fact Id argue this movie works way better as a miniseries, with each episode focusing on one of Franks stories. With all of it culminating in the tragic death of Hoffa in the final episode. Its just such a shame though as at its core we have a great concept. Seeing these classic actors come back to essentially play older versions of their typical archetype is
great. Joe Pesci especially shines here as his character is a complete reversal from his typical stuff.

Outlier Ranking
rockus: 99
plasma: 85
John: 81
Poke: 77
ssbm: 77
Snake: 75
Tangy: 74
Mythiot: 72
Vis: 61
seginus: 61
Karo: 55

With the first Scorsese down, and two pre-70s classics still in the running, Vegas is anyone's game. Over on the Outliers, rockus is the person to beat, but everyone's still overall pretty close.

Woohoo! Big money from Vegas!

Good riddance to Once Upon being out. I don't mind watching movies with a clearly villain protagonist, but I just felt the whole thing is pointless and disgusting. I also will take a good, shorter movie over a good, longer movie any day of the week. If you're pushing 4 hours, you might as well go for a TV series.

The Irishman is fine. I think I might have been a little too harsh on it. I would put it a little higher, thinking back. I liked the dialogue quite a bit and Hoffa is an entertaining person to watch. I also thought the de-aging was completely fine. I might even call it impressive if I knew more of the behind-the-scenes about movie production.

Guessing Scarface 1932. It has to fall eventually!

Glad I'm not the only one who was put off by Once Upon a Time in America. Between the rape scenes, dick lineup, and the camera ogling a 12-year-old Jennifer Connelly I came out of it side-eyeing Sergio Leone a bit. The whole movie was too horny in the worst way.

I'll pick L.A. Confidential, no way it should have lasted this long

Inviso gets a HUGE payout for wagering on a HUUUUUGE movie. Have to say, I'm shocked the Irishman is the first Scorsese movie to drop.

Vegas Odds on #18:

+600 Scarface (1932)
+600 White Heat
+1000 Donnie Brasco
+1000 Gangs of New York
+1250 Casino
+1250 L.A. Confidential
+1250 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
+1250 Snatch
+1500 Training Day
+300 Any Other Movie [+2000 if you guess correctly]

Leaderboard:
1) Inviso $2000 (+500 Gangster No., +1500 The Irishman)
2)PokeWars: $1100 (+600 The Public Enemy, +500 Gangster No. 1)
3) Fortybelowsummer (+750 Sicario)
4) BetrayedTangy: $600 (+600 The Public Enemy)

Karo
Scorsese's latest mobster flick, featuring a runtime that is dummy thicc even by his standards, and a cast of characters so old it probably involves more pairs of depends than I want to think about.

Hahah!

The titular protagonist is just extremely uninteresting to an extent that he feels like a supporting character in his own movie. Frank is seemingly just there to smile and wave and occasionally do the bidding of the more colorful underworld figures that surround him. He doesnt have the ambitious dreams of Tony Montana, the desire to avenge a transgression like Amsterdam Vallon, or anything else that would make for a compelling story.

Frank's lack of agency bothered the hell out of me the first time I watched it. Second time around, I was more forgiving of it (Frank/Hoffa is basically a Nick/Gatsby type of dynamic) but it still contributed to some of the pacing issues that others mentioned.

Hmm knew I should have bet on another long film.

Guess Scarface 1932 again though.

Gonna guess Snatch.

Let's go with Scarface '32

so did mythiot not give writeups for the last three movies?

PrinceKaro posted...

so did mythiot not give writeups for the last three movies?

I really didn't expect so many of the films I missed write-ups for to show up so early and in a row, lol. Less work for me this weekend I guess.

Might as well just stick with White Heat at this point

Seginustemple posted...

Glad I'm not the only one who was put off by Once Upon a Time in America. Between the rape scenes, dick lineup, and the camera ogling a 12-year-old Jennifer Connelly I came out of it side-eyeing Sergio Leone a bit. The whole movie was too horny in the worst way.

I'll pick L.A. Confidential, no way it should have lasted this long

To be fair the way I understand it Once Upon a Time in America is more about setting than people. I know it was the director's passion project he had wanted to get off the ground for decades.

18. Donnie Brasco (1997)
Directed by: Mike Newell
Runtime: 2h 27m
Score: 188

ssbm: 2
Karo: 7
John: 13
Vis: 13
plasma: 13
Poke: 14
Mythiot: 18
Tangy: 23
rockus: 28
seginus: 28
Snake: 29

ssbm
Rating: A+

I love the psychological angle of the classic "undercover cop" story. For starters, Lefty is not exactly a crime boss. He's second-rung or even third-rung. He has a lot of problems in his life and Donnie is actually a really good influence on his life. He gets someone to mentor and someone that he can truly say is his son. So Donnie has to first deal with the fact that he's basically going to fuck over this guy that he's really grown to like. Then you have Donnie's marital problems as a result of his job and how the job is affecting the true Donnie. I really loved Donnie's monologue to Maggie explaining that he's become one of the mafia by being so close to the mafia.

Speaking of great monologues, Lefty begins to catch on that Donnie might be a cop and he basically says that he'd rather commit suicide than know that Donnie's a cop. And, in the end, when he does find it, he makes peace with it and is glad that if anyone was a cop that it was Donnie. He gets things in order and eventually takes his life. It feels like a deconstruction of the undercover cop in a way. Yeah, Donnie gets the medal for getting this mob, but at what cost did it come to Donnie and Lefty?

There's also some great humor in this movie. There's, of course, Donnie's rambling about "forget about it" and how it could mean just about anything. I also like the "friend of mine" or "friend of ours" speech patterns that happen. In one scene, Lefty is trying to get close with a mob boss in Florida and he gets a Hallmark card that says "From one friend to another." I just think that's hilarious, having gangsters send Hallmark cards that have a second meaning to them. Speaking of the mob boss in Florida, that is a whole other subplot to the movie that's great. Throwing in a second undercover cop to muck up Donnie's plot is a great challenge that makes the second act pretty engaging to watch. Like I said, really good movie!

Karo
An undercover cop gets a little too caught up in LARPing as a mobster, and is torn between his mission and the real friendships he makes along the way.
I was disappointed that Pistone's inner turmoil was not properly brought to fruition thanks to a conveniently timed FBI raid, but I guess that is what happens when you base things on real life.
If you told me before watching this that Johnny Depp as a serious mafia goon would be something that would work out I would have laughed, but I enjoyed his portrayal of Pistone.

John
You know, Johnny Depp in the last two decades or so has become so directly associated with the quirky Tim Burtony stuff and over-the-top Pirates of the Caribbean that it's easy to overlook the more subtle performances from earlier in his career. Some of his best work came from around here. Ed Wood, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Donnie Brasco. Part of me was honestly surprised to see him showing up in a 90s mafia movie, but he blends into the role pretty effortlessly. Pacino, on the other hand, is the near-indisputed king of mob films (only De Niro can really even compare) so you ultimately end up with this compelling balance between the this long-established and beloved genre actor and the young character actor just hitting the peak of his careeer, and it really gives weight to their characters, because in the same way you get the well-established but aging mafia hitman in Lefty pairing up with the young undercover agent in his prime in Donnie. Their friendship, mentorship and ultimate betrayal are what carry the film, and they do so in a believeable way.

Vis
The main thing that lowers this film in the ranking is actually something it does a very good job with: its very slow and personal. A lot of these crime movies are big and brash and have a ton of backstabbing and whackingbut this one really feels like its just a personal story about Donnie Brasco (the fake identity of an undercover FBI agent), and his friendship with Lefty, whos just an aging, hapless mobster. Its certainly different from other films on the list, but Im just more interested in the stuff thats a bit faster-paced is all. I didnt think it was boring or anything like thatit just cant measure up to some of the other films Ive watched.

I still think the characterization of Donnie and Lefty is great, because you genuinely feel bad for Lefty, and you KNOW Donnie was just desperate to pull him out of the life and give him something better. Honestly? Pacino has been in a lot of these movies, but I really appreciated the subtlety his character displayed, and the willingness to show vulnerability in general. While Donnie is rapidly getting in over his head and damaging his marriage to do so, I think its nice to see him get into that mindset that these criminals are still human beings, and he feels bad for the ones who are good, deep down. So yeah, its a solid movie, but I just prefer things to be a bit faster-paced.

plasma
At first I was like, Forget about it. Then I watched a little more of the movie and said, Forget about it. And by the end I was all Forget about it.

Donnie Brasco didnt rock my world, but its a fun, smoothly paced movie from start to finish thanks to Al Pacino and Amber Heards beloved husband. Great performances, and you gotta give props to Michael Madsen, whos attached to a cigarette in every movie hes in, as well as to Anne Heche, who brought a strong human element to this story.

The best part of this movie is Donnie/Joe becoming lost within his mob persona. Its nothing I havent seen before, but its nonetheless engrossing to watch him develop a father-son bond with Pacinos character. Near the end, when Donnie is distraught over the idea of abandoning his cover and putting Pacino in danger, its a legit dilemma. You want to see Donnie get back to his family, but you dont want to pay the admission price of Pacino get whacked.

For the most part, this movie felt paint-by-numbers to me. It ventured out in a certain direction and did exactly what I expected it to do. I went in blind, so I didnt realize it was a true story until the end, but even after factoring that in, Im left feeling lukewarm. Donnie Brasco is a good movie, but it does little to stand out among the others on this list. B-

Poke
Do I like this film? Fuhget about it! Was I invested in the characters of Pistone and Lefty? Fuhget about it! But seriously, I think it was a solid film with good bits of real dialogue, interesting dynamics, and a good cast to see it through.

Myth
I enjoyed this film probably more than it probably deserved, mostly because Pacino and Depp have fantastic chemistry as an old gangster and the undercover FBI agent he befriends. I could listen to Pacino and Depp chat while feeding their unwanted pet lion for hours. I wasnt a fan of Depps family drama, and the ending is pretty anticlimactic, but otherwise its a very fun drama about how easy it is to become what we pretend to be.

Tangy
Donnie Brasco feels like a straight to DVD movie that got lucky and landed two top tier actors. Pacino and Depp carry this movie so hard its not even funny. Everytime I started losing interest these two powerhouses would just force me to start paying attention again. Seeing the way their relationship develops over the course of the story was great. Neither of them are completely sold on their jobs, but stick to them anyway and it results in such a tragic end for their friendship.

rockus
While Donnie Brasco features peak era Johnny Depp, for me it ends up as just a pretty good undercover cop movie in a weight class that it cant really contend with. Newell just doesnt have the chops to compete with the likes of Scorsese, De Palma, or Coppolas directorial talents here and the writing doesnt have the depth to stand out, especially in a list that features films like Carlitos Way. Pretty decent but nothing more than that really.

seginus
Quality ingredients, Depp is good as the undercover cop juggling a double life, and Pacino as the gangster vet with a fatal soft spot for the kid. There's a respectable degree of truth in this being based on Pistone's personal experience. But I couldn't help being reminded this dynamic was already outdone by Reservoir Dogs, since this movie basically opens with a nod to Reservoir Dogs. And true as it may be, the story here is too conventional to really stand out amongst such a heightened - sometimes to the point of operatic - genre. This isn't a bad movie but it suffers in a gangster marathon.

Snake
I like the concept of it, Johnny Depp as an undercover cop, it's good, but at least to me, the film never really translates into anything truly compelling or next level. Other than the strong performances, which I mean is practically a staple of the gangster genre in general, the film feels predictable on all accounts and there are just way better examples of this sort of thing done better elsewhere.

at this point I almost just wish the older movies would drop because the Vegas losses are painful to watch

Outlier Ranking
rockus: 109
ssbm: 93
plasma: 90
Snake: 86
John: 86
Poke: 81
Tangy: 79
Mythiot: 72
seginus: 71
Vis: 66
Karo: 66

Rockus becomes the first (unsurprisingly) to hit the big triple digits! Last place is finally tied up!

Pretty surprising.

Guess Scarface 1932

Scarface and White Heat continue to make Vegas rich, and I love it.

Vegas Odds on #17:

+600 Scarface (1932)
+600 White Heat
+1000 Gangs of New York
+1000 Casino
+1000 L.A. Confidential
+1250 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
+1250 Snatch
+1250 Training Day
+1500 City of God
+300 Any Other Movie [+2000 if you guess correctly]

Leaderboard:
1) Inviso $2000 (+500 Gangster No., +1500 The Irishman)
2) PokeWars: $1100 (+600 The Public Enemy, +500 Gangster No. 1)
3) Fortybelowsummer (+750 Sicario)
4) BetrayedTangy: $600 (+600 The Public Enemy)

Screw it I'm gonna say Casino.

BetrayedTangy posted...

Screw it I'm gonna say Casino.

You heathen!!

I'm going to guess City of God.

sticking with L.A. Confidential

Awww. Im a little surprised by what surpassed it but I had a feeling I was alone in truly loving Donnie Brasco.

Im giving up on Scarface 1932. Ill go with Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

plasmabeam posted...

Frank's lack of agency bothered the hell out of me the first time I watched it.

It's kinda the point of the movie.

rockus posted...

It's kinda the point of the movie.

Oh definitely. He's Nick to Hoffa's Gatsby.

I just prefer protagonists who take action and control their own destiny.

I'm so sorry

17. Scarface (1932)
Directed by: Howard Hanks
Runtime: 1h 33m
Score: 187

Vis: 7
Mythiot: 8
rockus: 8
seginus: 10
Tangy: 16
plasma: 19
ssbm: 20
Snake: 23
Poke: 23
John: 26
Karo: 27

Vis
Reading Wikipedia articles about this, and the other two films on the list from the 1930s, always highlights the trio as some of the most influential mobster movies of all time. And watching them in order, from the start, I can certainly understand that. Now, I normally dont like referencing other movies in my write-ups, because it spoils my rankings, but I feel like I almost have to in this case. Scarface builds upon what was started in Public Enemy and Little Caesar, and it just improves dramatically. Public Enemy had a strong central character, but the editing and the narrative was extremely sloppy. Little Caesar had a solid narrative structure, but the central character was devoid of charisma. Scarface fixes the flaws of both films and combines them into one.

I know its a cliched story, but we watched Tony Camonte rise from a position as a standard bodyguard, to the guy willing to do whatever it takes to gain power and success. At the same time though, hes built up as this control freak with rage issues that lead to him making some extremely impulsive and short-sighted decisions. Yes, hes able to rise so far so quickly, but I find it amazing that his downfall isnt because of his mob work, or because of the various crimes he committed in his rise to the top. No, his downfall is that quick temper, leading to him making the stupid decision to kill his best friend (who had, unbeknownst to Tony, become his brother-in-law) in a rage over the thought of a man taking advantage of his little sister. That murder had him stone cold busted by the cops, leading to his inevitable demise. Thats a great narrative, and it feels much less Hollywood than a standard bad guy does bad guys and is defeated because crime doesnt pay storyline.

Myth
From that great opening scene where Tony whistles in the shadows just before making his first kill to the climactic showdown in the apartment, Scarface is a blast. Feels like the first "epic" crime film despite its limited running time. Only big flaw is that awful scene with the police where they hammer in the message in the opening title and propose "tough on crime" policies directly to the audience. Maybe that was the only way they could get away with the copious gun violence back in 1932.

rockus
While De Palmas film has peak/end of peak Al Pacino behind it Howard Hawks film is also lucky to have an equally gifted actor, and one of his generations best in Paul Muni. Like many of Munis roles he disappears into this one like a chameleon. Pre-code sensibilities and a strong supporting cast including a great turn by Ann Dvorak help situate Hawks early talkie into the classic it is today.

seginus
Hawks' classic character study stands apart from its contemporaries with striking visuals and layered themes and motifs. It's the same basic plot as Public Enemy and Little Caesar - gangster Icarus flies too close to the American dream - but with greater craft and attention to detail, and Paul Muni brings a perfect balance of charm and menace to the titular role. I love how the wardrobe is motivated by story elements, like Tony admiring and later stealing his boss' robe, or wearing flower pins after a hit at the flower shop. I love how the fatalistic 'X' motif is hiding in plain sight right on the character's face. And this is the rare movie that works so well without a musical score you don't even notice it lacks one (which makes the ominous whistling so effective). I even thought there was some interesting meta commentary about the shift from Western to Gangster movies. On this list, I think it's genre's first real masterpiece.

tangy
Its crazy how much of an improvement this is over the other 30s flicks. Scarface (1932) kind of blew me away with how advanced it was if Im being honest. The cinematography, writing and especially the editing (the tommy gun/calendar scene was amazing) were all a colossal step above what we saw in 31. Paul Muni also gave a great performance as Tony, he carried so much more
energy than most of the other actors from this era. By far the best part though was Angelo, the secretary. He couldve just as easily been a cheap source of comic relief, but by the end I genuinely loved his character. His death probably hit harder than anything else on this list.

plasma
This is not your daddys Scarfaceits your great-granddaddys Scarface, and it feels like this mightve been the first action movie ever filmed. This flick sizzles with flashes and bangs, but the best parts are the quieter moments, particularly those between Tony and his searingly hot sister Cesca.

Tony Camonte (not Montana!) is a standout character thanks to his swagger and mannerisms. The moment he lit a match off a cops badge, I was sold. His oddball backhanded wave conveys charm and arrogance, and its part of what makes the guy so compelling despite the fact that hes more or less the same ambitious mobster as Little Caesar.

Cesca carries the supporting cast with attitude. Not only is she a fiery side character, but she fleshes out Tony by crossing lines and pushing him over the edge until their subplot culminates with his impassioned murder of her husband. The fake-out at the end with Cesca intending to kill Tony but relenting because theyre one in the same was great, and this surprising character moment elevates the entire movie.

However, much like with Little Caesar, I didnt care about the plot in this one. I already watched two straight Ambitious mobster rapidly rises to glory and gets killed at the end movies, and while it works here, its hard to deny that 1930s fatigue is setting in. C