Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Choice Blog 2 - Goodfellas

When it comes to favorites, I usually cannot identify one thing that I can confidently claim. With an overwhelming amount of choices, it's usually easier to cherry-pick things that stand out from the rest. Colors, food, music, teachers, this is always applicable. The idea of the story has always been cherished though, which makes this particularly difficult when it comes to movies. On my list I have a few greats.

Goodfellas - a mob story, love story, drug story, thriller. This is a historically revered movie, conclusively agreed to be an american great. It doesn't matter what your style is, it portrays a unique culture of gangsters in 60's/70's New York, a strange era of United States history. What makes these guys: Henry Hill, Tommy DeVito, and Jimmy Conway, so great is they are criminals never before seen in American history. Advocates of class, honor, respect, family, reciprocity - in the abstract their values were pretty admirable. (Although that does entail honor of the men to cocaine, survival at all costs, and Russian Goomahs - this may or may not make it more engaging!) It's a story though, so it's even better to the Italian and Irish mobsters  put those morals to their uses, whacking with revolvers whoever they dear please in order to impress the boss, Paulie Cicero. To be made into the family is the ultimate achievement.

This isn't supposed to serve as a summary, I just wanted to suggest a type of film that many before have loved. This blog should serve as a request that those who think they may like this movie and have not seen it, watch the movie! The best stories are ones that are much different from our lives because they seem the most unachievable and therefore desirable to human nature. Step into the mind of a gangster for 2 hours, and realize how enticing that era was in the history of american crime.

--Preempting criticism - I haven't seen any of the Godfathers yet and am quite guilty for it.  I realize it's a terrible thing, someday soon! --

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