Tagarchief: GoodFellas

Did You Notice This ‘GoodFellas’ Reference in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’?

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

The latest Scorsese is out! Let’s not hope it is his final film, but if it is, it’s a great one and it contains all the elements of a typical Scorsese movie: criminal conspiracies, the founding myths of America, sin and morally corrupt men… they are all there.

If you know Scorsese’s oeuvre, you might have thought about his other movies during the viewing of ‘Flower Moon’. I certainly did. There was one reference in particular that caught my eye. Logically, since I have seen GoodFellas probably more than 30 times, so I couldn’t miss this reference.

At the end of GoodFellas, protagonist Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) decides to join the witness protection programme and testify against his former superiors James Conway (Robert De Niro) and Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino). In the scene before the final scene, Hill is in court and he is asked by the prosecutor to point out Conway and Cicero for the jury. Hill does and the prosecutor says:

“Your honor, please let the record reflect that Mr. Hill has identified the defendant James Conway.”

In Killers of the Flower Moon, De Niro’s role is similar to James Conway, since his character – William Hale – is like Conway, leader of a major criminal conspiracy.

Towards the ending of ‘Flower Moon’, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Ernest Burkhart is testifying against Hale in the Osage murder trial. And when I saw De Niro sitting there in the courtroom, I knew it was coming. And yes, Burkhart is asked to point out Hale and surely the prosecutor says:

“Your honor, please let the record reflect that Mr. Burkhart has identified the defendant William Hale.”

Nice one, Marty!

Wiseguy Guide for Rookies

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Terminology

Agita: Stress
A good earner: What wiseguys are supposed to be.
Associate: Involved with Mafia but not yet a made guy.
Bada Bing!: Stripclub owned by Silvio Dante (in The Sopranos).
Busting someone’s balls: Bothering somebody with sh*t.
Bust Out: Ordering on a company’s account till it runs out of credit and goes bankrupt.
Capo / Captain: Crew boss. Leads a number of soldiers. Reports to underboss.
Consigliere: Counselor of the Don. For example Tom Hagen in The Godfather and Silvio Dante in The Sopranos.
Contract: Someone needs to disappear by means of a hitman.
Don: Boss of organised crime family.
Fanook: Gay
Goomar: Steady girlfriend on the side. Of course most wiseguys are married like good Catholics ought to be.
Illegal gambling: A wiseguy’s main source of income
La Cosa Nostra (LCN): Literally ‘our thing’. Mafia. Organised crime families.
Made Guy: Connected to the mob by blood-oath.
Making one’s bones: Performing a first kill for the mob.
Mustache Pete: An old-fashioned mob boss.
OC: Short for Organised Crime. Term used by the FBI.
Omerta: Bow of silence. Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.
Opening the books: New members (made guys) are accepted by the mob commission.
Outstanding loan: It’s time for a weekly visit to collect or bust some skulls in.
Points: Interest over debt. Average mob rate is two points weekly.
Pop someone: To shoot someone.
Rat/stoolie/turncoat: Wiseguy that betrays his friends. Usually because he fears a lengthy prison sentence or getting whacked (or both).
RICO Laws: Main government tool for prosecuting members of the Mafia. Stands for ‘Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations’. According to the federal statutes, RICO can be applied to anyone who is involved in the ‘operation or management’ of a ‘pattern of racketeering activity’ designed to acquire or maintain an interest in an ‘enterprise’.
Sit down: Conversation between the Don and two conflicting made members.
Soldier: Lowest rank under made guys.
To eat: To be allowed to earn.
To flip: To turn FBI informant.
Vig: Amount charged by bookmakers for services. Short for Vigorish. Also known as juice.
Whack someone: To kill someone.
Wiseguy, Goodfella: Made member of the mob.

Expressions from The Godfather

Moe Green Special: Gunshot clean through the eye because someone’s eyes became bigger than his stomach.
Going to the mattresses: Going to war.
‘Take the gun, leave the Cannoli’: What you say after you have popped a guy.
An offer you can’t refuse: Either your brains or signature will be on the contract.

Rules

Never insult, threaten or hit another made guy. (*GoodFellas, The Sopranos, Gotti)

Stick to the omerta (never rat out your friends). (*GoodFellas, The Sopranos, Gotti)

Money should be carried in a bundle. Not in a wallet. (*Donnie Brasco)

Mustaches are not acceptable. (*Donnie Brasco)

Who kills a don can never become a don. (*Mobsters, Gotti)

A made guy is untouchable for anyone except of course the bosses. (*GoodFellas)

A soldier kicks up money to his capo who gives a piece to the (under)boss. Never keep income secret from the bosses. (The Sopranos)

Never start an affair with another member’s wife. (Casino)

* Examples of movies in which those rules were broken.

Read also: The Sopranos – 100 Greatest Moments

VIDEO: Trailer Nicky & Mugs (1999)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Ik heb een nieuwe video op mijn YouTube-kanaal gezet: een trailer van één van mijn vroegste video’s. Nicky & Mugs is een nooit afgemaakte amateur gangster film. Voor deze trailer heb ik ook geput uit de wel afgemaakte korte video Half 6 waarin de personages Nicky en Mugs geïntroduceerd worden.

Het zes minuten durende Half 6 heb ik samen met mijn oude maat Max gemaakt op de videocursus Open Studio in Charme, Frankrijk. Het gaat over de twee jonge criminelen Mugs en Nicky (gespeeld door Max en ikzelf) die door de straten van een klein Frans dorpje zwalken. Mugs steelt een set jeu de boules ballen en de twee vrienden doen een potje in een steegje. Een Franse toerist vraagt de weg (logisch!) en de gangsters slaan hem finaal in elkaar.

In de volgende scène lopen ze door een bos. Nicky beledigt Mugs door te zeggen dat hij er als een wijf bijloopt. Mugs gooit hem voor straf van een heuvel af. Vervolgens komen ze bij een bar waar Mugs alleen een biertje voor zichzelf besteld. Nicky gooit woedend zijn brandende peuk in het biertje en de twee kemphanen beginnen te knokken. Als Mugs met een bloedneus op de grond ligt ziet hij dat het half zes is (“shit, half zes man!”) en de twee vrienden zetten het op een rennen.

Na een keiharde spint komen ze bij een huisje, bergen hun pistolen op en gaan naar binnen. Nu komt de punchline. Een vrouw die hun moeder blijkt te zijn vraagt of ze hun handen al hebben gewassen en begint ze te meppen als ze toegeven van niet. De harde criminelen blijken niets meer dan puberjongens te zijn.

Half 6 is duidelijk geïnspireerd door Scarface (mijn kapsel is hetzelfde als Tony Montana), GoodFellas (er zit een heuse freeze frame in!) en Reservoir Dogs (gangsters wandelend over straat met coole muziek). Helaas kan ik het niet online zetten, want er zit gelicenseerde muziek onder.

De bedoeling van het vervolg getiteld Nicky & Mugs was om er een échte gangster film van te maken met drugs, rip deals en liquidaties, maar omdat het mijn eerste zelfstandige videoproject was maakte ik een aantal grote beginnersfouten. Zo begon ik met filmen voordat ik een script geschreven had, zodat ik slechts een vaag idee had van waar het verhaal heen ging. Ook filmde ik op plekken, zoals de McDonalds (geïnspireerd door Pulp Fiction?), waar achtergrondmuziek opstond, zodat montage achteraf niet mogelijk bleek.

De trailer is dus eigenlijk een fake trailer (want er is geen film en die zal er ook niet komen), maar ik vond het fijn om nog iets met het – vaak best grappige – materiaal te doen. Kijk dus hier mijn regiedebuut, mijn eigen Mean Streets:

Bekijk hier: Trailer Nicky & Mugs (1999)

Bullets Over Hollywood

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Bullets Over Hollywood (2005, USA)

Director: Elaina Archer
Written by: John McCarty (book), Elaina Archer, Tom Marksbury
Features: Paul Sorvino (narrator), Leonard Maltin, Michael Madsen, Edward McDonald, ao.

Running Time: 70 mins.

This Hugh Hefner produced documentary shows the fascination of moviegoers with the mob. ‘Once in the racket, always in the racket’, Al Capone said who became the archetype of the gangster and role-model for some legendary movie characters like Caesar ‘Rico’ Bandello (Little Caesar) and Tony Camonte/Montana (Scarface) This also applies to Hollywood when it comes to making gangster films. Every time you think the realms of the genre have been fully explored, some new masterpiece comes along. After the time that Cagney, Robinson and Bogart dominated the screen, a new generation of filmmakers emerged in the seventies with Coppola, Scorsese and De Palma. Then at the brink of the new millennium, the Hollywood gangster legend continued on the small screen with The Sopranos.

Bullets Over Hollywood opens with the very first gangster film: The Musketeers Of Pig Alley, made in 1912. It then goes on to chronologically move through gangster film history right up until The Sopranos. The documentary combines film fragments, interviews and real gangster footage while Paul Sorvino (GoodFellas) provides the narrative. It is an interesting viewing for enthusiasts of the genre, but misses real insight in the works that it covers. Some interesting facts are revealed such as the story that Howard Hawks was forced by Hollywood to add ‘the shame of the nation’ to his gangsterfilm Scarface, because they didn’t want to glorify gangsters. Also interesting is some behind-the-scene footage of gangster classics, but these fragments are unfortunately a little brief. Altogether this is worth a look. If only to hear Leonard Maltin rave about The Godfather and to re-experience some of the finest sequences in the history of this fascinating American phenomenon.

Rating:


The Musketeers Of Pig Alley (1912, D.W. Griffith)