This movie blew my brains! I friggen loved it! These actors, Scorcese, the way he filmed it, the pacing. every.single.thing! PATREON LINK: patreon.com/HoldDownA Thanks so much for being here! Love to you all!! Xx Ames
Fun fact: Tommy's mother is actually Scorcese's real-life mother, and the vast majority of the late night dinner scene was improvised. All Scorcese told his mother was to show the painting at some point, and everyone else did the rest. My favorite scene by far!
You should watcha mini documentary about Scorcese's childhood, where his mother STEALS the whole show. That lady had so much charisma in one finger; today's stars wished they had it.
A bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. As a caporegime, there were a few people he would have to move for if they told him to. Even as the Lucchese underboss, he would still have had to move for Carmine Tramunti. In 1975, he literally did have to move for Anthony Corallo, to Miami, out of the way of the new underboss Salvatore Santoro.
It's 33 years later.. and to this day I can't eat a meatball parmagiana or chicken parmagiana "hero"(we call them wedges where I'm from) without replicating that closeup on Paulie as he slowly starts munchin that "sangwich!"
@@jtconley7647A Bronx Tale is far superior. It is a life story, with remarkable characters and an intelligent script. Casino is boring, that actress managed to screw it up.
@@pemp9606 Of course, just having the presence of both of them is worth it. But it's far from the level of a story in the Bronx, Donnie Brasco, Godfather..
RIP Ray Liotta. The Copacabana one shot scene is one of the all- time cinematic shots ever. Scorsese changes lives like Francis Ford Coppola did with the Godfather.
Also look out for the dolly zoom when Liotta and De Niro are eating at the diner. Scorsese moves the camera as they zoom so the actors remain the same but it appears that the world outside the window is closing in - just like the paranoia was.
Though the epilogue says that Jimmy Conway would be eligible for parole in 2004, the individual his character was based on (James Burke) died in prison in 1996 of cancer. Henry Hill died in 2012 from complications of heart disease.
Growing up in an Italian household this movie and The Godfather was on a constant loop every weekend. Big get togethers with relatives and bigger meals all day long. Miss those days so much 🍝🍠🍷☕
Yeah I'm from an italian family myself, with a shit straight job. No connections with the mob whatsoever. Like the blues song says, if i had no bad luck i'd have no luck at all.
Ain't it something how time passes. My time was 20 years earlier in the 70s. Being in the same area and neighborhood the family.. cousins, uncles, aunts.. always around somewhere and getting together wasn't such a special event. Now everyone is 1000 miles away on their phones!
Oh yeah, everybody wants to be related to the those bastards. I wonder why lots of the so called Italian Americans (actually they aren't Italians at all) love being represented in this way. I mean, have you ever thought that Hollywood wants to ridiculate you, giving a bad image of you?
@@xaviersanches4466 Casino is a masterpiece as is the Godfather it's just that the first two I mentioned in my original comment hold a special place in my heart. A Bronx tale was the first 'gangster movie' that I ever saw and Goodfellas was introduced to me by my brother and we sat and watched it together.
@@holddownaI really hope you do get to watch it and share it with us of course it also stars Robert DeNero & Joe Pesci but Chaz Palminteri steals the show in my opinion. Although it is a gangster movie its actually more focused on a young boy growing up in a neighbourhood where wise guys rule the streets. Against threats and warnings from his hard working father he cannot resist hanging round the 'bad guys' one of whom takes him under his wing and tries to educate & guide him through life.
As someone who grew up among criminals, I've known guys like Tommy. Joe Pesci should have got an oscar for his portrayal, it's the most convincing performance I've ever seen, so realistic it made my blood run cold. Way scarier than any slasher movie psycho k1ller!
@@fiox8170 - Henry said that Tommy used to pick out someone in the neighborhood and randomly kill them when he wanted to test out a new gun he got. Henry said that he was convinced Tommy was a true psychopath.
The wonderful thing that Scorsese does is recreate periods in time, the fashion, the music, the wisecracks, sums up exactly what the 60's 70's or 80's were like in perfect time stamps
Goodfellas might have the best ensemble acting of any movie ever made. Literally every performance, big or small, is absolutely perfect. Throw in the pace, story, (amazingly quotable) dialogue, direction, cinematography, and soundtrack, and you have the best movie ever made. I've literally watched this movie over a 100 times and it never gets boring. Every viewing seems almost like the first.
Agreed! It seems everybody on the cast was particularly selected just to portray that certain character... Very few movies attain such perfection in casting! (Similar to The Godfather trilogy, which happens to be part of my favorites)
Every time I see this on YT or late night on TV, I cannot stop watching this one. And the agent that speaks to Karen and Henry is the real agent who dealt with their real counterparts! And #RIPRayLiotta!
... keeps getting me at Christmastime.. last year just when the weekend came in was about to turn in and saw Bravo or some channel had it on at 11:30 and I stayed up til 2AM. Just draws you in and you're there right till the egg noodles and ketchup!!!
AFI is tripping. Top 10 for me! Few films get me as excited about filmmaking and films than Goodfellas. It’s the definition of top tier filmmaking and is endlessly rewatchable. Loved seeing your reactions!
Hahah! I did see that I was t on the right list and they did a revised 10yrs anniversary! This is just one list! And the list will prob be diff from mine just thought it would be so fun to see these movies! Thanks for watching!!!
@@holddowna thanks for responding! Yeah you’re right, everyone will have their own opinion/ list and Goodfellas is on many. I remember using the AFI list to watch some classic films I’d never even heard of, so it’s cool that they made these lists that feel somewhat official. Goodfellas is a unique classic. It kind of rebels against what people normally see as a classic film or best picture winner (because it didn’t win 😩). It’s anarchic, not deeply emotional, it’s brutal and ugly, there’s not a single “good guy”, no sense of morality, etc. but somehow it’s a perfect film.
I grew up in the 70’s. I lived right near the airport and grew up hearing stories about these guys. The motel up the block had a bar restaurant that these guys used to hang out in.
Pesci improvised the entire "funny how" inquiry during rehearsal with Liotta. Scorsese apparently loved the exchange, especially the way it illustrated how suddenly DeVito's mood could sour and added it to the script without telling anyone else.
not only that, but that entire scene was something that Pesci saw an actual mobster do in a restaraunt , he told Scorsese about it and he had to green light it for the movie, if there was one scene where Pesci earned his Academy Award, it was that one scene
Martin Scorsese was so committed to making this movie as real as possible that the FBI agent who was talking to Henry and Karen was not an actor. That was the real FBI agent that was in charge of Henry’s case.
Yes Scorsese did his best to stay as true to Henry Hill's book as best as possible, but Hill's book, while entertaining and a good story, was mostly bullshit. Henry Hill was a notorious liar and exaggerated the true facts a great deal. He was so bad that when he testified against Jimmy Burke, Jimmy Conway in the movie, he told so many lies and dates mixed up etc that the prosecutor in the case said if they had to rely on Hill's testimony alone Burke never would have been convicted. Burke was put on trial not for murder but for extortion in his involvement in the Boston College Basketball point shaving. He was later put on trial for murder after he was already convicted and in prison Hill story in the movie and book and his importance was highly exaggerated. He was just a low level thug in Burkes crew. He never knew Paul Vario, Paulie Cicero in the movie. Vario had no idea who Henry Hill was. When told by his attorney they had a witnesses to various crimes Vario was charged with, Vario asked who it was. When he was told he said, who the F is Henry Hill. Hill was so low level in Burkes crew that was why he was not involved on the Lutansa heist and why Burke didn't even bother to have him killed like he did to about 15 other people, people who just knew Burke did it he had killed or killed himself. Hill didn't know it was Burke and not at all in on the planning But still a great movie and one of my all time fav mafia movies. The acting was great and I love this movie and have seen it so many times. BTW when you mentioned the FBI agent playing himself, he was not an FBI agent was an attorney for the NYC DAs office...but what is funny is during an interview he did he talked about how erraratic and how much of a liar Hill was then he laughs and said the scene in the hotel room where he was talking to Henry and Karen, in the real event Henry had a mistress in the toom next door and when Karen stepped out he asked the DA if he could take his mistress with him in witness protection. I thiught that was funny and wished it would have been in the movie. ESPN did a great 30 for 30 aboit the Boston College Point shaving scandal and he mention Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke often as the main focus of the scandal.
@@beebo5100 Michael Franzese has a you tube channel were he talks all about this stuff. I saw a biological TV show about him and his gas tax scam. It was very interesting and he scammed the federal govt out of millions
Goodfellas along with The Godfather, Casino, The Departed and A Bronx Tale are the must-see mob movies. Also, movies that are in a similar vein that you should check out are American Me and Blood in Blood Out.
"Casino" you'll love pretty much by extension. It's another Scorsese/Pileggi film that's told in quite a similar fashion to this, to the point where some tend refer to it as "Goodfellas 2".
Wow. I thoroughly enjoyed your reaction to one of my fav films. I can't wait to see your future reactions to the Godfather 2 and 3, Casino, A Bronx Tale, Scarface and Donnie Brasco...which I know you're going to enjoy!!!!
All good films, but A Bronx Tale is in my opinion the best. Coppola devotees will argue that Godfather 2 is one of the best movies ever made, but for me the pacing was painfully slow. Bronx is simpler but far more personal and relatable. DeNiro watched the play the same year he made Goodfellas, bought the rights, co-wrote the screenplay and it became his directorial debut.
I love your personality Ames, you're such a benevolent, sweet, classy lady, you're so witty, intelligent and perceptive, I love coming here and getting a dose of your positive vibes, you radiate nothing but love, sunshine and brightness, you're such a bright light in this world 😇
If the younger people don’t know the “You’re a funny guy “ scene actually happened to Joe Pesci when he was a waiter and a real Wiseguy did that to him. Joe told Marty about it and the only people who knew that Joe was going to do that in the scene was the Henry character. That’s why the other people’s reactions looked so genuine. The real Tommy was 6’2” and over 200lbs and even crazier in real life. He also didn’t get killed because of the Billy Bats situation. Tommy also killed Foxy who was John Gotti’s protege and good friend. But what really got Tommy killed was he tried to rape Henry’s wife and Paulie was having a affair with her.
“And a lot of other things…”😂 Paulie was “protecting” them more than they realized, and the reason he was able to is because the real Paulie was friends with John Gotti. By the time Tommy finally got whacked, everyone probably wanted him dead anyway 🤣 In the Book, the real Henry said he was secretly relieved, because he knew that Tommy would kill him, even though they grew up together, after all the good times. Tommy would STILL kill him. He said Tommy “got off” from killing people who didn’t expect it.
@@KingRemoji I have read “Wiseguy” ,the book that turned into Goodfellas for those that don’t know and I agree with you. They had enough of Tommy and I think that when he tried to rape Karen that was the final straw. Also Gotti was really good friends with Foxy,who was basically John’s protege, and when Tommy killed Foxy he basically wrote his own death certificate. But what happened with Karen ,because Paulie was messing around with her(because that’s what a good friend does lol), was it for Tommy
I love watching young people experience these movies for the first time. You've got a huge catalog of classics to go through and you're becoming wiser than your peers just from having seen these classic movies.
My Father was one of the arresting officers of Henry Hill at the end of movie. My two Uncles went to School with Billy Batts. My mom grew up down crossbay blvd from all the Gambino crime syndicate who came after this crew
RIP Paul Sorvino (April 13, 1939 - July 25, 2022), aged 83 And RIP Ray Liotta (December 18, 1954 - May 26, 2022), aged 67 You both will be remembered as legends.
"What about me is funny? You know. No I don't know. How am I funny?" That scene makes me laugh every single time. The writing in this movie was some of the best ever. I wish more writers today were still this good.
Seeing Joe Pesci go from this to Home Alone/My Cousin Vinny is definitely an experience. I went the opposite direction, and it felt like things really escalated quickly. The soundtrack here is definitely one of the better ones I’ve heard.
Yeah, he's got some range. I also compare his role as Leo Getz in the Lethal Weapon sequels, to him playing Nicky Santoro in Casino. In one he's a completely harmless pushover, in the other he's a violent maniac with anger issues. o.O
This and Dazed and Confused are my favorite movies. I used to watch them at least two or three times a week when I was a teenager. You should check out Gangster No. 1, a british ganster film about a guy who will do anything to get to the top spot. It's a great movie about a man who loses himself in his journey to become the number 1 gangster.
My ex-wife had a best friend who was a niece to Henry Hill (If she hadn't shown me pictures I wouldn't have believed her). She said he constantly got into trouble with the feds because he hated being "unknown" and kept coming out of witness protection to got to dinners and events and talk to journalists. He came out with at least one cookbook using his real name... He came close to being "wacked" at least a few times because of his antics....the mob never forgets!
I like that you rolled with it. Your reaction made it seem like you hadn't maybe seen too many mob movies, but you accepted its terms and came out on top. Good work. Great channel. Thank you for the sincerity. Cheers!
Love this channel. Your reactions are so deep and genuine, you can tell it's all truly from the heart and you're so passionate about each scene and the characters. Definitely subscribing.
Welcome in the club!! I saw it for the first time in 1991 at 10 years old. At 19, I remembered that it was the best mob movie I had ever seen, rented it (we used to rent movies in a video rental store), convinced some friends to watch it and they fell in love with it. It's one of those rare movies that strikes people's minds and stays. Favorite bits : "Now go get your f*****g shine box!", prison dinner, "So, what does she do after she hangs up with me? After everything I had told her? After all her yeah, yeah, yeah, bullshit? She picks up the phone and calls from the house." The cop who speaks to Henry and Karen at the police station is the real guy. Scorsese is a master, now go watch Casino if you haven't!! Sharon Stone is fabulous in it, but so is the rest of the cast. You'll also see a nice "revenge" from a Goodfellas' character unto another, but I won't spoil it for you. You'll know when you see it. Cats!! One of my female cats (Princesse) used to put her face right in from of mine when she was younger to get my attention, especially when gaming, and I mean like one inch distance nose to nose. It was so cute and funny! Now, she stares at me for half an hour like a psycho for food without moving an inch!
Hope "Raging Bull" is on your future watchlist. It has DeNiro and Pesci again, but it's another violent, bruising, nihilistic depiction of a person on a path to self-destruction. (One trend in Scorsese films is that they are increasingly dark and nihilistic as the years go on.)
I just saw Raging Bull on the big screen at a local art theater. Probably the 70th time I've seen it, yet it's still startling how incredible Deniro is in that film. The definition of throwing oneself into a role. He must have been exhausted after doing it.
@@paulymar5996 It's a line in the sand that performance. There's Brando in Streetcar, and then there's De Niro in Raging Bull (and Meryl Streep doing the female equivalent a couple of years later with Sophie's Choice). (I also put Bette Davis in "Of Human Bondage" in that class, and that's it. Those four performances changed the game and trajectory of acting. There are lots of fantastic, groundbreaking "method" performances before "Raging Bull" (including others from De Niro, and a slew of others from the 60s and 70s) but that took it to a new level of commitment. And ditto Streep in "Sophie's Choice". After those two performances, EVERY actor upped their game. And that's why you've got someone like Daniel Day Lewis - a British trained actor, who are not usually known for their embrace of American "method acting" - staying in character for entire shoots and going to great lengths of commitment and preparation. (I know Gary Oldman cites either Taxi Driver or Raging Bull as his inspiration for being an actor).
I come from Italian family , my uncles had a large house set in 70acres the locals thought they were the mob . This is one of the best films ever there is nothing I don’t like about it , a classy film.
Top ten of all time movies. Liotta, Pesci and de Niro are top performers that totally made the movie another level (add Scorcese and you got this gem) extremely Rewatchable (at least 3 or 4 times a year) The whole "what do you mean I'm funny?" was an improv between Pesci and Liotta (Scorcese saw them rehearsing and told them to go with it without telling the rest of the cast)
The opening to this movie with young Henry up until he meets his wife is some of my favorite parts of cinema ever. The voice over and the way Ray talks about the life just gets me goin.
O que mais gostei desta reação foi saber que ela é Portuguesa. Claro que ela tinha que revelar isso numa cena que a mãe oferece comida ao filho e aos amigos. É mesmo á tuga...
Fun fact: No matter how angry you might get at the mob shooting your friend, you would not be able to push a telephone box over. Power cables from the phone box that run into the ground are locked in place on a concrete base preventing the box from being tipped over from being simply being shoved/pushed with force.
Timeless, no one paces a movie like Scorese does. The cast is one of the best ever assembled and there are so many incredible performances in this. Marty's best film when it comes down to it. So many lessons too. I've seen this so many times that the dialogue is almost like a language to me.
Dom is an expensive brand of champagne. Lorraine Bracco was a real hottie back then. Henry should have listened to Paulie. A whole lot of trouble would have been avoided. The FBI agent in the film is the real one who talked to the real criminals.
I love "Good Fellas"! Fantastic cast, fabtastic performance of all actors and actresses involved. Joe Pesci is just incredible. "Funny how?" I love the scene! The book is great! And I love Ray Liotta's line "As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster".
GoodFellas is one of my favorite movies of all time...closely behind The Godfather Trilogy- Parts I, II & III. The direction of the story makes the viewer feel like they're really living the lifestyle of a Mob crew...with such intricate and touching moments interspersed with the aggressive composition of the storyline...
Thanks for the long reaction, got to see a lot of scenes that I haven't seen in previous reactions. I love this movie, and have watched it over and over again. I think the great thing about this movie is that it shows the attraction of the life and the downsides at the same time.
Well hell, I'm glad you showed up in my suggestions today. It's obvious that I watch a lot of these reactions, and I'm a picky one. I believe it's a matter of finding that sweet spot between highlighting yourself as a reactor as well as the film you are reacting to. You found that spot. Knowing when to chime in and when not to. Despite the limitations you have with RU-vid, the editing was great, because you left in your reactions to different types of emotional situations. Kudos, really well done. Looking forward to more. Subscribed. Cheers from Toronto Canada.☮️🎬
i totally agree. as much as i enjoy reaction channels the hosts start believing that they are bigger than the movie. Especially when they constantly make surprise faces, then check themselves out on camera TO SEE IF THEY MADE A GOOD THUMBNAIL.
thanks im also canadian! so thanks for being here! I try to tell a story within the story of the movie. and Im new didn't know this was a niche, and starting to find my flow! so thanks for the sub and for being here!!!! means a lot to me!
Fun fact: The cop who arrests Ray Liotta's character Henry Hill at the end is played by Bo Dietl, the highest decorated police detective in the NYPD. Fun reaction. Cape Fear is another good Scorsese movie
@@holddowna Don't ever change! Btw my channel is starting to come back to life lately and you kinda gave me a little push to maybe do some reactions as part of my relaunch. I appreciate it.
One of the all time classics by Martin Scorsese, I highly recommend watching The Departed and a TV show: The Sopranos at some point, and I also still can’t wait to see your reaction to The Godfather: Part 2
I had this movie waiting on my HD recorder for at least 5 years, because of the 146 minutes running time. The moment I finally started watching, about 10 years ago, I was on the edge of my seat for the whole 146 minutes, i.e. finishing it in one go and immediately regretted waiting so long. 🥴 It's probably my favourite gangster/mob movie, beating for example 'The Godfather' (1 & 2), 'Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels', 'True Romance', 'Casino' and 'Scarface'. 😎👍
Joe Pescis line when he looks at the painting always breaks me “Look at that, one dog lookin one way the other dog lookin the other way, and this guys just like HEY WHADDYA WANT FROM ME”
Tommy DeVito is based on Thomas DeSimone, who was affiliated with the Lucchese crime family. He went missing in January, 1979; his body has never been found.
I always recommend my fellow men to watch "Goodfellas" as early as possible, when they get a new girlfriend: When Henry beats up the guy with the gun, who allegdly assaulted Karen, and then asks Karen to hide the gun afterwards: If the new girlfriend´s response is along the line of "why is he making her hide the gun?" then walk away from that girl immediately. She won´t support you or have your back, if s*** ever goes down.
It's addicting You just have to keep watching it over and over again it's so entertaining the music is so Kick-Ass I probably watch it at least once every two- 3 weeks Still
Interesting to note the differences between your reaction upon first watching Goodfellas and mine. I remember watching this as a kid on VHS a year after it came out and one of the things I was assailed by was the foul-mouthed dialogue. Like it really made you flinch in your seat. I even think it set a record at the time for the amount of swear words. Nowadays, this might go unnoticed as we are so used to gangster movie dialogue. Also, while you were sad/uneasy about Tommy getting whacked, I was cheering at the screen in relief that he had been eliminated. The ending of the film is so abrupt, with Henry breaking the 4th wall and addressing the camera, it almost feels like someone has pumped the breaks in the middle of a rollercoaster ride, and I even remember feeling nauseous that someone who led that lifestyle, betrayed everyone close to him, had lived to tell the tale. Great reaction.
I’m so glad you loved the film!! It’s like top five movies of all time for me! I love its structure! Great story, great dialogue, great cinematography, soundtrack, great characters, everything works!! Goodfellas is a masterpiece and it’s one of the greatest films ever made!! I can’t say enough good things about this film!! A+ from me!! P.S. Watch Pulp Fiction if you haven’t seen it yet!!
Great reaction. I love the classics. I used to go to the Copa back in my day and that famous scene always brings back a lot of memories . ❤ It actually had two levels: the main floor shown in the movie was street level. Then there was a lower accessible via a stairway. Good times!
Goodfellas and Casino are epic retellings of actual events. There are always liberties in based on true stories, but this is just so authentic. I love Scorsese’s use of narration in this because it helps all of us non mob folks learn what exactly is happening and why:)
