The Mob | Mafia | Syndicate | Cosa Nostra
Guns | Goons | Gangsters
Sex | Dope
Power
My favourite genre of movies. Here starts the trilogy of the top 15 Gangster movies I've watched. You might, rather, you are bound to differ. I have my own criteria of "judging". :P
I definitely haven't watched all of them. Its just the list of the ones I have.
Tagline: There are two sides to the American Dream.
Loooong movie. Interesting casting of the lead pair. Denzel Washington vs. Russel Crowe. Top-notch performances. Honest. True story. Thoughtful. Drug Trafficking. No cheap drug peddler but an elegant, suave, black one. No fireworks, no frills. An amazing glorification of the drug trade. Rise and fall movie. Highly under-appreciated.
Simplicity at its best though too easy to forget if not appreciative of the nuances. Go watch!
# 14 Donnie Brasco (1997)
Tagline: Based on a true story.
Pacino-Depp-Madsen! Reminded me slllllightly of Hrishikesh Da's Namak Haraam but in a whole new avatar. Underrated. Honest. No frills, what-so-ever. No great camera shots, no great dialogues. Not the most original or something out of the way but a nice taut plot. Depp is the angry-silent-hunk while Pacino is Pacino! Michael Madsen at his best. Watch it for its honesty.
Tagline: Stealin' Stones and Breakin' Bones.
Crazy. Confusing. Pulp. Funny. Hilarious. Weird camera angles. Pitt's goofy accent - "Dags!". Freakin' unbelievable dialogues! Wit at its supreme.
- "Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity"
- "You take Sugar?" "No thanks, Turkish. I'm sweet enough"
- "Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible c*nt... me."
- "Yes, London. You know: fish, chips, cup 'o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary fucking Poppins... LONDON."
Better watch "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" before it to appreciate it better. In either case, you won't have a friggin clue of what's going on!
Tagline: Pray for Michael Sullivan.
American Beauty fame director Sam Mendes. Few dialogues, bordering on none. A dark, cold, rainy feel. Silhouttes. Coarse overcoats. Tom Hanks's poker-face throughout. Daniel Craig's close-ups. Emotionless. Full of emotions. Father-son relationships: Paul Newman and Daniel Craig, Paul Newman and Tom Hanks(surrogate) & Tom Hanks and his son. Revenge. Jude Law, the mystery. "I shoot the dead. Dead bodies, that is. I don't kill them."
Tagline: He was Tony Montana. The world will remember him by another name.
Epic. Cult-following. Visceral. Loud. Over-the-top. Unrefined. Dope. Violence. Gore. Greed. Corruption. Death. Al Pacino does what he does best - getting into the skin of Tony Montana. Razor-cut characterization - Cult. Hypnotic Cuban accent - Cult. Bucketloads of swearing - Cult. "Fuck" used 207 times. One of the most influential climaxes - Cult. Dialogues - Cult. #8 on Entertainment Weekly's Top 50 Cult Films.
- "I always tell the truth. Even when I lie."
- "This is paradise, I'm tellin' ya. This town like a great big ***** just waiting to get fucked"
- "Is that coke in your bra or are you just happy to see me?"
- "My boss is gonna stick your heads up your asses faster than a rabbit gets fucked."
- "You wanna fuck with me? You fucking with the best! You wanna fuck with me? Okay. You little cockroaches... come on. You wanna play games? Okay, I play with you; come on. Okay. You wanna play rough? Okay. SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!"
I do differ a bit with the order of the movies but yeah, you got all the movies in here that are great. Described to the point and something i totally agree with about all the movies. Good work :)
ReplyDeleteagain i post as anonymous...
ReplyDeletei havent watched all f em but from what i ve seen and heard...
i rank brascojust after scarface...
though i ve doubts as to which moovie would beat scarface...
if u think pulp fiction or else, u r mistaken...
scarface is legend...scarface is pacino at his best...
i sign out
Abhishek
Will comment after part2 ;)
ReplyDelete@ prankster: thanks...needed it :)
ReplyDelete@ dassani: scarface is legend dude, scarface is cult...pacino's one of the best performances...but with all due respect it had its share of corniness and the rest of the movies are superior...
@ dipa: waitin :)
Awesome reviews,dude. You are ready to give Roger Ebert a run for his money. I can only comment on the ranks once you come up with the next two installments. Eagerly looking forward to them.
ReplyDeletewaiting for the next 2.....
ReplyDeleteNice group of movies
ReplyDeleteScarface at 11 was a surprise, expected it to be higher
haven't watched a couple of these btw..
nice job though....eagerly awaiting the top 10
@ sayan: gosh! appreciation teri taraf se!!!! unbelievable...chalo lets c the appreciating human in u persists after the next two parts as well :) thanks man...
ReplyDelete@ anony: they'll be out soon :)
@ ishan: again, scarface as a movie n not the lord...btw thanks man...u are one of the four people i wanted to comment on this space :)
not interested..:P
ReplyDeleteIn Al Pacino's words-'tony montanna may nt be my most emphatic performance but yeah,its my most formidable one'.i agree dat its nt better dan tarantino's pulp fiction or brian d'palma's CARLITO's WAY but its definitely nt so bad to be so low.there cannot be another GODFATHER i agree but....its ur list,so ur choice.nice endeavour,truly so!don't forget ROBERT DE NIRO in once upon a time in america.last 2 mention jack nicholsan in the departed!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@ devil: i know :)
ReplyDelete@ anonymous: trust me, it was a helluva task to rank the classics...the top ten deserve to be there...scarface will always remain cult....n regardless of me ranking it #11, i would love watchng it anyday more than some of the top ten...the appeal and charm of scarface is majorly due to pacino...the other movies are a better gangster package :) btw u are in for a major surprise i guess...one of the four mentioned by u do not feature in the list...i believe its the most hyped movie ever...
If u talkn bout the godfather as the much hyped movie,i wouldnt be surprised.xcept for the godfather 2,the other two are weak.infact godfather3 where coppola's daughter acted was pathetic,quite in contrast to marlon brando's brilliant performance in the first.if u talking bout pulp fiction,i will tell u a truth.his non-chronologically treated movies have movies have more of style but less of substance,as i perceive.but still pulp fiction rocks,the dance scene is a classic,what say bout the scene in which ving rhames bends over...he he!
ReplyDeletei actually love creating mystery here :P but nope, godfather trilogy is not the one i wz talking about...godfather3 was a bit weak and actually the girl u're toking abt sucked big time but the sheer frustration of michael corleone who wants to get out of the syndicate but cannot is so brilliantly captured that it turned out to be a fantastic movie (GF2 rocks anyday...views on GF1 reserved till the post)...
ReplyDeleteand tarantino is god...the inherent style in his filmamking actually takes the focus away from the substance: sharply sketched characters(almost always round) and their idiosyncracies that make one salute the maestro along with a really taut plot that keeps u glued to ur seats...pulp fiction wz a classic :)
i wz tokin abt sumthn else :P
Sorry for replying so late...coudnt comment till i had seen ur 2nd part...so here goes now..
ReplyDeleteOverall, a good set of films in 11-15...& though i would put Scarface in the top 10, i agree with ur views that the movie was made only on account of Pacino all the way. Pacino "made" the film; otherwise its no more than the normal gangster film.
Good to see "Road to Perdition" too, but again i believe its should've been a top 10er, especially as u have films like blow in that list. Road to Perdition is one of those classy mafia films that brings to memory the dark, slow style of Godfather with themes like honour, betrayal, family (as contrasted to more "loud" mafia films like Scarface & Goodfellas)
@ potty: road to perdition was a classy flick, dude but don't you think once it gets over, you don't have much to remember it by when compared to the others? the movie was unbelievably honest but there were no moments of sheer brilliance that characterises this genre...innit? thanks for commenting mr.movies :)
ReplyDelete