Well, I pretty much expected the sworn Scarface fans would mind its being there in the first part. Just to make it clear, I would any day love to watch Scarface more than a couple of movies in this part. But that's majorly due to Pacino and the overall influential style. As far as the genre goes, the plot, the treatment, the technology (as much as I understand) and the overall impact as a Gangster movie helps the following movies make the cut in the top 10.
Tagline: Based on a true story.
Nothing new. Misguided, intelligent, good-at-heart protagonist makes it big in the drug peddling industry. But the very fact that it's inspired from a real life saga makes us stop and think. Father-child relationships: Liotta-Depp and Depp-daughter well explored. Liotta, by the way, is outstanding, understated, touching. Depp's one of the finest performances. Emotions. Love. Greed. Desperation. Power. Rise and fall movie. Nuances, nuances, nuances. Funky. Sixties to Eighties well captured. Empathy invoking climax. Penelope's sensual (in her clothes). A must-watch!
# 9 Casino (1995)
Tagline: You don't stay at the top forever.
Scorsese-De Niro- Joe Pesci: my fave hollywood trio. After an awful lot of cheap comic flicks about Vegas and casinos, I came upon this classic lately. A fabulous exploration of the work that goes on behind the lights, moolah, greed and deception. Relationships captured beautifully. De Niro-Pesci; De Niro-Stone; Pesci-Stone. Not a dull moment. Unbelievably under-appreciated. Complex. Multi-layered. Betrayal. Lust. Power. Destruction. The finest details. Great homework. Rise and fall movie. Profanity reaches dizzying heights and yet it never seems forced. 398 uses of "Fuck". Magnificent performances. De Niro's one of the understated best. Pesci: well, he's a gem of an actor who never got his due. Quintessential him: the same crazy dialogue delivery. And Sharon Stone...gosh! An unbelievably fine performance as a psychotic who makes us hate her like hell. Go watch!
First of the nine Scorsese-De Niro. The gangster stuff. The streets. The hoodlums. Their bonds. Their relationships. Their (lack of) ideals. Their life. Charlie(Keitel) doesn't fail to impress. Johnny Boy(De Niro) stands apart. The simple yet surreal string of "Wha(t)"s or the wild rebel dance with respect to nobody towards the end, he's one of my all-time favourite characters. Energy. Vivaciousness. Flamboyance. The very fact that it was made way back in '73 makes us realize the influence it has on the so-called cult crime sagas. Honest. Real. Into the skin. Highly under appreciated. Crude. Minimalist. It's said that Scorsese wanted to be either a priest or a gangster and he could be none. The movie, though, does full justice to both the themes.
Tagline: Lies. Betrayal. Sacrifice. How far will you take it?
Scorsese fiiiinally gets an Oscar! Its a treat. Di Caprio-Wahlberg-Nicholson-Damon. The most enchanting plot I've ever seen(credit to Infernal Affairs). Fantabbbulous performances by all. Probably the best by Di Caprio. Quirky, hilarious lines for Wahlberg. One of my fave characters - Dignam!
"Let's say you have no idea and leave it at that, okay? No idea. Zip. None. If you had an idea of what we do, we would not be good at what we do, now would we? We would be cunts. Are you calling us cunts? "
Intelligent. Edge-of-the-seat. Flawless. Refined. Violence. Gore. Profanity. Stunning. Engulfing. Twists and Turns. Unpredictable. Entertaining. Fresh. Dark. One of the most interesting screenplays. A story-telling that keeps you involved. A cant-afford-to-miss!
Tagline: Seven perfect strangers team up for the perfect crime. They don't know each other's names. But they've got each other's colour.
God Tarantino's debut. Quintessential him: razor-cut characters - each a masterpiece; supreme wit; crazy funny dialogues; cynical; stylish; violent; non-linear; motormouth; profane; debauch; dark humour. Real. No-nonsense. No comic relief. No romance. No big stars. No make-up. Just a gang where trust is the last thing to be found. Intentionally ludicrous at times. Plot revolves around a jewel heist, never touching it. Almost entirely within the four walls. It's a movie that grows on you. No one can watch just once! Michael Madsen's best performance among the ones I've seen. Every other just eases into the character. Dialogues just make you wonder and get amused at things not funny at all.
"Listen kid, I'm not gonna bullshit you, all right? I don't give a good fuck what you know, or don't know, but I'm gonna torture you anyway, regardless. Not to get information. It's amusing, to me, to torture a cop. You can say anything you want cause I've heard it all before. All you can do is pray for a quick death, which you ain't gonna get. "
"You shoot me in a dream, you better wake up and apologize."
"Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?"
P.S. Go watch it even if you have already watched and loved "Kaante". It has got much more to it. Kaante was just a masalized version of Dogs.
I expected this!u r a sworn tarantino fan.:-) i disagreed on scarface in the last post,i disagree on casino/departed.casino had de niro,departed had nicholsan-the actor to be nominated for an oscar in evry decade 4m 1970 i presume.but casino was so real,characters so well scripted and script was a no-nonsense one.departd was also nice but as far as i cn see,casino is better than departed.caprio was outstanding but i liked wahlberg more in the italian job.he was weak in front of nicholsan and decaprio.(as i cn undrstand).bt then again its ur list.reservoir dogs at 6,a bit surprising,should have been higher.but i undrstand there is a godfather,a pulp fiction,a untouchables waiting!what bout miami vice and if u r a true tarantino fan,do think bout true romance!tarantino wrote it!nice endeavour as usual!
ReplyDeleteHere i am, much earlier than my comment for the earlier part :)...
ReplyDeleteWell, a couple of surprises here, in particular Blow; i'm surprised you could keep it ahead of Road to Perdition (& maybe Scarface)...
A few films glaring by their absence so far (& i guess they will remain absent as i've a fair idea of ur top 5 too) -
Traffic (one of the ultimate films of drug trafficking, frankly blows Blow out of the water)
Heat (a highly stylised Goon flick...the movie inspite of being 2.5 hrs long, seems to race away and made up for the otherwise lacklustre performance of Pacino)
Gangs of New York (the uncelebrated Scorcese epic. Beautifully shows the rise of the mob from unorganised to organised crime; shows the Irish influence in the 19th century just like the Italian influence in the 20th cent)
I'm assuming u may not have watched these films...if so, they r certainly worth a watch...especially Traffic (not the typical fast paced flick but a great work)
Also, u certified ur fanfare for Tarantino by Putting Reservoir Dogs at #6 (not tat it doesnt deserve the place, in fact, i personally rate it even higher than Pulp Fiction, blasphemous it might sound !)
ReplyDeleteAlso, seeing that u have put Departed in the top 10, i suggest u watch the Hongkong mafia trilogy that inspired a remake (more of a frame-by-frame rip of the most important scenes, if u ask me !)....seriously, by high respect for Scorcese took a dip after i realised that Departed was copied from Infernal Affairs...its essentially Infernal Affairs with a lot of F words, jazzy dialogue and unnecessary plot extensions; it even lacks the taut storytelling of IA Part 1 , which is 1 hr shorter, yet both r telling nearly the same story...except Departed has a mushy justice-for-all "fair" ending
PS - Some in defense of Departed say tat it has better character development...i would say it true to some extent for Jack Nicholson but the rest r really overblown versions of the more realistic characters in IA (even Nicholson was over-the-top but acceptable)
I was the first 2 comment on your part 2 post.here i defend u.michael mann's 1995 heat starring al pacino,de niro,val kilmer and ashley judd is nt a movie exactly of the 'ganged up' genre!u can count it in the 'heist' movies genre.its nt the italian job or the thomas crown affair but its not even a story where mafia and goons rule.its basically a thief vs police movie.its a top notch direction but i liked mann's miami vice more!Colin farrel was a treat 2 watch.about reservoir dogs,when it was screend at Cannes,many top directors walkd out of the hall during the premiere.later it was revealed that they couldn't withstand the ear-ripping scene and they praised tarantino for such an emphatic scene.dat is master tarantino for you!his movies are less on substance i agree but yes reservoir dogs was higher than pulp fiction just coz the script was a tighter one!travolta,uma thurman,samuel jackson were fantastic but steve buscemi and madsen were anyday far better,period!
ReplyDelete@ anonymous and potty:
ReplyDeletetarantino is god :) btw casino and departed don't depend on any actor as pointed out by u.its just dat departed had some edge-of-the-seat thrill (the two 'rats') dat wz sth new while casino, though awesome, didn't quite match dat energy. btw u are in fr a surprise my friend in the next post :P
blow wz all abt appreciating the nuances. thnks fr the suggestions. i hvnt watched em bt m lukin frwrd to :) n it duznt sound blasphemous at all.dogs wz sth very diff.even i wz torn btwn the choices.even tho u know i just love pulp fiction, but as a purely gangster movie, it took me some time to give it a nose ahead of dogs.(@ anony: less on substance! they r style+substance!)
Infernal Affairs cud never affect these rankings.its abt hw is this flick in totality wid no connection to IA. i think you gotta agree with my critique of the movi nt considering IA.
exactly man, this is nt a 'crime' movie list coz ther r hundreds of em.wud lyk to reserve my comments on miami vice fr some time.n definitely nt in dis post.i wud agree on possible editing of pulp but dat wud actually take away fr it the inherent appeal of the movie.wot is pulp f widout the nonsense? its a plain simple plot dat wud take 10 minutes to capture on screen :)
@ anony: thanks fr commenting.you seem like a hardcore fan of this genre.its cool havin u arnd here...but who are you?? :)
I am a movie buff!i can gulp in anythng bout lyf,death,politics,religion,philosophy,history but nt my books...he he! Wud lyk 2 suggest u smthng!just see a movie called city of god,a brazilian crime masterpiece bout growth of organisd crime in rio de janerio.i knw u are goin 2 lv it man!check on IMDB if u want a review.i have never seen such a powerful film on gangsters.download it or get a CD,and watch it b4 u write ur top 5.and dnt 4get scorcese's goodfellas!it was a nice effort!so go ahead and proclaim ur top 5.lets c who made it to the top 5! And yeah,gangsters is nt my fav genre,i would prefer a psycho,a frenzy,a rebecca anyday than godfather!hitchcock is my god!i even lyk the 'neo-noir' movies loads,the usual suspect and the game are my fav.hope u come up with lists n such genres soon!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteinteresting, dude! u r fr sure an enggr! city of god is something i've been trying to watch for months now.i have it on my comp but somehw m nt able to.i've seen some of the scenes of the street kids dat reminded me of salaam bombay...chalo i'll watch it before coming out with the top5! and m ashamed to say dat i hvnt ever watched a hitchcock though rear window, psycho, vertigo and strangers on a train are in my watchlist. nice interacting with ya :)
ReplyDeleteI thought vl comment after part2..but haven't seen any of the above :(
ReplyDeleteI still think Scarface deserved a better rank..
If 'The untouchables' is not among the top5..I'm not commenting :P
And some interesting comments there :)
where is goodfellas and dont tell me godfather 3 makes it to the top 5
ReplyDeleteTop 10 for me:
ReplyDelete1.the godfather/godfather 2
2.the untouchables
3.goodfellas
4.pulp fiction
5.get carter{1975}/white heat
6.city of god
7.casino/scarface
8.reservoir dogs
9.internal affairs
10.true romance/gangs of new york!
@ dipa: thnx fr putting down ur thots but hw can u judge these masterpieces widout even seein dem? scarface as a gangster movie has its share of flaws...n regarding 'the untouchables' ... well...no comments till the next post!
ReplyDelete@ ganesh: wait n watch.
@ anony: nice compilation man though i wud disagree on a few of them :)
Why be ashamed boy!its nt necessary to knw evrythng,see evrythng!by ur xcellnt presentation u have made 2 thngs certain: 1.u write at par with metacritic's xpert critics. 2.u really knw about what people call flicks,and i call cinematic art! Hitchcock was great,so is speilberg,polanski,palma,tarantino,coppola,mann!the funniest thng bout us is dat we remembr coppola's godfather but 4get his apocalypse now dat 4 me was a war classic in line with schindler's list.we remember pacino for being corleone but we 4get his frankie and johnny or scent of a women.we remember speilberg 4 jurassic park bt 4gt his poltergeist.i frankly remember nicholsan 4 one flew ovr the cuckoo's nest and the shining bt tend 2 4get his 'a few gud men' dat inspired shaurya!so wat is the conclusion-wat we remembr becomes a classic 4 us and r higher n our list!
ReplyDeletethanks a lot for the appreciation.m ashamed coz the movies are here in my comp frm time immemorial bt i somehw find new ways to nt wztxh em :P btw u dint include scorsese in the list of greats man!
ReplyDeletei liked ur logic...coz watching a film is an experience dat depends on many extraneous factors like even our mood or the recent turn of events in our life...dat brings a bias in the way we follow certain characters...but for wotever reason, (it might sound blasphemous) i didn't really "love" cuckoo's nest or nicholson in it...i didn't understand the big deal and hype associated wid the movie! enlightenment plz... :)
and its high time, kindly temme who r u or at least do i know u??
and now wen m finally on my laptop....just to add a bit more....wenwe talk about gangster movies we necessarily dont talk talk bout mafia movies...gangsterism can be organised like the syndicate or disorganised for eg. on the strets...now wen u talk bout scarface it was a transformation from on the street crime to an organised crime handled from air conditioned rooms...here the transformation was important....same in godfather the transformation of michael corleone from a learned and a peaceful man to the one who went on to kill his own bro was important!but on the other hand the departed was more of a masala flick with the concept of 'rats'.on the same line reservoir dogs is a movie in between heist and gangster genre...not touching the heist but everything rotating areound it...not strictly comparable with the real gangster movies.so for a list to be made there must be comparability..pulp fiction was a gangster movie....it had no story but then it summed up the lifestyle and attitude of gangsters in a prudent manner....when i see the names of movies like get carter and white heat missing i am surprised but when i see the names like mean streets and donnie brasco i m happy too....if we talk bout gangsters lets not talk bout crime....EVERY GANGSTER IS A CRIMINAL BUT NOT EVERY CRIMINAL IS A GANGSTER.....so reservoir dogs desrved a place below scarface coz scarface was out and out a gangster movies but reservoir dogs was not....they were theives,criminals without trust amongst them..but not xactly criminals....regarding the godfather it should be on the top coz of its impact....it was the thing that started it all.....same stands for city god as it has an unparalleled depiction of the preparation and aetiology of becoming a gangster....these movies are of colossal importance not coz they were hit but they left an indelible imprint on th minds of people regarding gangs and gangsters....we imagine gangsters as we have seen them in such movies.....so as i already had disgagreed before on three things:-
ReplyDelete1.scarface should have been in top 10.
2.reservoir dogs shuld have been on no.3 but in a list of crime movies amidst training day or in the list of heist movies.its not a typical gangster movie!
3.the departed was not as true as casino...casino was a classic....it had the flavour of de niro's effortless acting and sharon's ooomph....but departed as i already said was a normal masala flick that may be liked once but does not have the potential o beat casino....
but again its ur list....and with an average guess o ur top 5 i sign out still appreciating ur presentation...neat,suave and cut to the point!bilkul masala cutting chai ki tarah!(pardon the typing mistakes)
*correction:amidst movies lyk heat!
ReplyDelete*Nt xactly gangsters.
I wrote I remember ‘one flew over the cuckko’s nest’.i didn’t write I liked it in particular.but yes it was nicholsan all the way…..not comparable but for an xample…..agneepath in hindi was carried alone by amitabh by his stellar performance.it was amitabh all the way….quite nicely supported by mithun.same way
ReplyDeleteOFOCN was nicholsan all the way…..his performance made an ordinary film xtraordinary and to such an xtent that it became the best movie in american cinema.the asylum was a perfect setting for the movie…brilliant in parts so often that the whole movie glows…..lobotomy was a painful procedure…the plight,the madness,the eccentricity made it a masterpiece.i liked it in parts not the whole………though I distinctly remember the poem from which its title is taken…a few lines:
One flew east
One flew west
One flew over cuckoo’s nest!
And dude I can’t enlighten u.u already enlightened……..i liked ur older posts too….keep up the good work….
@ sri 'anonymous' jan:
ReplyDeleteso finally the mystery unfolds and i get to know ya name :)
frst thngs frst, i totally agree wid d distinction btwn gangster n crime genres n dats the reason i dint include flicks lyk oceans 11...its all abt the raw gangster appeal, nt sum suave bannk robbery bt the sadakchhap tapori or the organised sector(mba effect)..i dint quite get the transformation bit cuz der r several gangster muviz whr der wznt any...anyway get carter and white heat r conspicuous by deir absence coz i hvnt seen em(disclaimer in frst post :P)
But dude...Dogs wz an out n out ganster movie dude. thr wz NO plotting n planning invlvd of d supposed heist bt it wz the hoodlums'(both organised n otherwise) interaction wid one anoder...IT JUST CANNOT BE PIGEONHOLED AS A NON_GANGSTER CRIME MOVIE! they were gangsters who didnt trust each other in the backdrop of a botched up heist!
departed wz no doubt masala but an elegant one...it wz an edge-of-the-seat masala, very stylish with loads of substance, n btw, wahlberg was weak!! cummon pal, u must be kidding me! dignam is one of my all time fave characcters :)
OFOCN - 'best' movie!!! it wz nicholson all the way, but still the performance wznt that big a revelation...when it ended, i felt like cheated as it left a lot to be desired!
thanks man, it has been a pleasure interacting like dis :)
different perspective,different views....dats all i can say but i still hold dogs was more of a crime movie rather than a gangster movie.regarding wahlberg...i never said that hi acted badly...i just said he was weak...his role was enterprising but he was pitted against nich and caprio...better actors by any means...never has it happened in cinematic history that a smaller actor has acted better than the big fish...with a few xceptions amongst which i can remember
ReplyDeletePRIMAL FEAR......were norton outplayed richard gere....but wahlberg never did that.that was ma point!he was brilliant but overshadowed...
and ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKKO'S NEST is widely regarded as the best cinema in american history....maybe i even dont relate to the fact but its a fact!eagerly waiting for ur top 5....:-) i know u are gonna write it but with much controversy...is it not? he he he!
dude i think der hv been MANY such occasions wher the small fish beat the bigger one fair n square...inglourious basterds fr example...waltz wz simply outstanding...n i can never accept wahlberg as weak in departed...bt as u said: diff prsptive, diff views :)
ReplyDeleteu knw wt i'm so glad scarface wz ther at 11...loved the controversy...exams ending on the 19th...den city of god...n den the top 5!