WAR ROOM LOUNGE V12: Mao With Noir

[HereticBD]

You know one American fascination that I don't understand? Italian crime families.

I tried getting into The Sopranos, and I just can't. There is nothing about stereotypical Italian mob story lines that are anything but annoying to me. From the annoying accents, to the tired genre tropes, to the gelled hair and leather jackets, to the constant emphasis on family, as if Italian people are the only ones with families - I just don't get the appeal.

It likely has something to do with your shit taste.

 

[Fawlty]

You know one American fascination that I don't understand? Italian crime families.

I tried getting into The Sopranos, and I just can't. There is nothing about stereotypical Italian mob story lines that are anything but annoying to me. From the annoying accents, to the tired genre tropes, to the gelled hair and leather jackets, to the constant emphasis on family, as if Italian people are the only ones with families - I just don't get the appeal.

Also, American mob movies are perpetually overrated. Godfather was great, not amazing. Godfather 2 and Goodfellas were good, but not great. The Departed was hot ass garbage (but at least it wasn't saturated with Irish American ethnic shit). As far as The Sopranos goes, James Gandolfini (sp) is the only character who doesn't annoy the bejesus out of me.

I enjoyed Godfather, Goodfellas, and Casino a lot. Departed was overbilled but solid imo. Other than that, I like the mob to be more of a background element in the story, instead of the whole damn thing. Sopranos was way too much saturation for me.

 

[sickc0d3r]

You know one American fascination that I don't understand? Italian crime families.

I tried getting into The Sopranos, and I just can't. There is nothing about stereotypical Italian mob story lines that are anything but annoying to me. From the annoying accents, to the tired genre tropes, to the gelled hair and leather jackets, to the constant emphasis on family, as if Italian people are the only ones with families - I just don't get the appeal.

Also, American mob movies are perpetually overrated. Godfather was great, not amazing. Godfather 2 and Goodfellas were good, but not great. The Departed was hot ass garbage (but at least it wasn't saturated with Irish American ethnic shit). As far as The Sopranos goes, James Gandolfini (sp) is the only character who doesn't annoy the bejesus out of me.

 

[PEB]

MAGA oh wait this is China.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/photos-s...s-162028272.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=fb

"The president might like to tout his support for American workers, but those workers aren’t the only ones making flags for his Trump 2020 supporters."

 

[Social Distance Warrior]

You know one American fascination that I don't understand? Italian crime families.

I tried getting into The Sopranos, and I just can't. There is nothing about stereotypical Italian mob story lines that are anything but annoying to me. From the annoying accents, to the tired genre tropes, to the gelled hair and leather jackets, to the constant emphasis on family, as if Italian people are the only ones with families - I just don't get the appeal.

Also, American mob movies are perpetually overrated. Godfather was great, not amazing. Godfather 2 and Goodfellas were good, but not great. The Departed was hot ass garbage (but at least it wasn't saturated with Irish American ethnic shit). As far as The Sopranos goes, James Gandolfini (sp) is the only character who doesn't annoy the bejesus out of me.

Goodfellas, godfather 1 and 2, casino are classics.

I might get hate for this, but a Bronx Tale should get recognition as well...
I may be biased due to the whole interracial romance in it.

Other "gangster " films that should be ranked up with goodfellas are some of the mexican ones.


"Blood in blood out" is an epic film...
As is" American Me."

"American Gangster " started strong but fizzled out.

 

[Social Distance Warrior]

Such beautiful scenes in this movie ..

 

[HereticBD]

"American Gangster " started strong but fizzled out.

Have you seen it more than once? I wasn't that impressed when I first saw it, but It grows on you. I think it's one of the more underrated crime epics of the last 20 years. It's pretty damn tight. Probably Ridley Scott's last great movie.

 

[Social Distance Warrior]

Have you seen it more than once? I wasn't that impressed when I first saw it, but It grows on you. I think it's one of the more underrated crime epics of the last 20 years. It's pretty damn tight. Probably Ridley Scott's last great movie.

Maybe I need to watch it again...
I just wanted Frank Lucas to get away with it all..

 

[Gregolian]

Once Upon a Time in America

That movie doesn't get enough credit when talking about mob movies. Especially the way it ends.

 

[Jack V Savage]

The first one is mocking the notion that everyone with the same racial background is responsible for the crimes of individuals by showing how absurd it would be if the thinking were applied to whites and the second is just straightforwardly saying that it's stupid. Same point made in different ways. Do you disagree with the point?

 

[Gregolian]

The first one is mocking the notion that everyone with the same racial background is responsible for the crimes of individuals by showing how absurd it would be if the thinking were applied to whites and the second is just straightforwardly saying that it's stupid. Same point made in different ways. Do you disagree with the point?

I'd agree with that assessment if it wasn't coming from Salon's Twitter page.

The page it's for is a huge reason why I don't buy this argument.

 

[kpt018]

You know one American fascination that I don't understand? Italian crime families.

I tried getting into The Sopranos, and I just can't. There is nothing about stereotypical Italian mob story lines that are anything but annoying to me. From the annoying accents, to the tired genre tropes, to the gelled hair and leather jackets, to the constant emphasis on family, as if Italian people are the only ones with families - I just don't get the appeal.

Also, American mob movies are perpetually overrated. Godfather was great, not amazing. Godfather 2 and Goodfellas were good, but not great. The Departed was hot ass garbage (but at least it wasn't saturated with Irish American ethnic shit). As far as The Sopranos goes, James Gandolfini (sp) is the only character who doesn't annoy the bejesus out of me.

My take is that the characters in these films illustrate a part of human nature we wish we could act out on but obviously can't. They're powerful, feared, lead exciting lives and will take vengeance as they see fit. I think many people would to find those in their lives they hate and enact violence, would love to do whatever they wanted and say whatever they wanted. It touches on something deep inside a lot of us that is thankfully suppressed for most people!

These films and shows present these characters, who are sociopaths, in humanized ways. They're funny, love their families, protective, ambitious, etc. despite being monsters. They have a code to keep them from being total maniacs and those who don't follow the code are off'd.

I totally get why these films aren't for everyone, but I am not ashamed to say I absolutely love them. And the Godfather 1 and 2 are widely recognized by critics as among the greatest films of all time. It doesn't mean you have to agree, obviously, but it's ok that you're wrong (lol!).

 

[Gregolian]

If God or some form of deity exists... it's obvious that fucker has become either a Viqueens or Burrs fan with the way he's treated the Packers the last three or four years.

 

[HereticBD]

Once Upon a Time in America

That movie doesn't get enough credit when talking about mob movies. Especially the way it ends.

Good, but you have to clear your schedule if you're gonna watch the whole thing uncut, which is the only way to watch it. The studio fucking BUTCHERED that flick.

 

[Jack V Savage]

Can I suggest we segregate the race-baiting content to the non-stickied threads?

Especially when it's based on a three-year old tweet and a weird misreading. Really gotta wonder where @waiguoren came up with that. I suspect the answer would reveal more about the dude than he wants us to know.

I'd agree with that assessment if it wasn't coming from Salon's Twitter page.

The page it's for is a huge reason why I don't buy this argument.

I see the joke made all the time. "Why are none of the leaders of the white community condemning (recent crime committed by a white person)?" Just illustrates the ridiculousness of MSM framing of racial issues.

 

[Trotsky]

My take is that the characters in these films illustrate a part of human nature we wish we could act out on but obviously can't. They're powerful, feared, lead exciting lives and will take vengeance as they see fit. I think many people would to find those in their lives they hate and enact violence, would love to do whatever they wanted and say whatever they wanted. It touches on something deep inside a lot of us that is thankfully suppressed for most people!

These films and shows present these characters, who are sociopaths, in humanized ways. They're funny, love their families, protective, ambitious, etc. despite being monsters. They have a code to keep them from being total maniacs and those who don't follow the code are off'd.

Yeah, I definitely get the human element, but I think that's actually ground down by the tropes of the genre that I touched on. Like I said with the Sopranos, I don't know how anyone (who isn't a meat-headed Italian American) can identify at all with any of the characters other than Tony. Like Paulie, et al just make me think of this:


Also, the only way I can synchronize the praise for Godfather II is on the same basis as the critical praise for Breaking Bad Season 5: critics getting up their own asses because of the critical notoriety of earlier work and not realizing the drop off in being ham-handed and telegraphing. I don't think Godfather Pt. II is nearly the drop-off that S5 was from S4, but it smacks of the same pretentious phenomenon.

Goodfellas, godfather 1 and 2, casino are classics.

I might get hate for this, but a Bronx Tale should get recognition as well...
I may be biased due to the whole interracial romance in it.

Other "gangster " films that should be ranked up with goodfellas are some of the mexican ones.
"Blood in blood out" is an epic film...
As is" American Me."

"American Gangster " started strong but fizzled out.

I like American Gangster more than all of those, again, because it was more human to me and less caricature-like. I also liked Mean Streets (Scorcese's first mob film), Road to Perdition, Pulp Fiction, Eastern Promises, and the original Godfather. I've never seen A Bronx Tale.

Those "mexican" ones - are they Spanish-language films I'm guessing?

I enjoyed Godfather, Goodfellas, and Casino a lot. Departed was overbilled but solid imo. Other than that, I like the mob to be more of a background element in the story, instead of the whole damn thing. Sopranos was way too much saturation for me.

I really don't remember Casino. Departed is easily the most overrated film that I've ever seen. Holy hell, what a pile of garbage. I really gave it a hefty handicap because I wanted to like it, on account of it being a mob film that I knew wouldn't be dowsed with Italian American stuff, but that had to be the most sterile, insincere, unmoving, and poorly acted "good" movies I've ever seen.

 

[sickc0d3r]

"American Gangster " started strong but fizzled out.

This was a huge disappointment to me because it had so much potential. Scott, Denzel, Crowe, Brolin, Chiwetel; yet, somehow, it managed to land with a thud. Too shallow to be immersive like The Godfather, no scene stealing, off the chart performances to elevate it like Goodfellas, and lacked the balls to be thrilling like Scarface. Just felt like perfunctory film making to me. I might have to watch it again to see if it changes with a second viewing.

 

[HomerThompson]

You know one American fascination that I don't understand? Italian crime families.

I tried getting into The Sopranos, and I just can't. There is nothing about stereotypical Italian mob story lines that are anything but annoying to me. From the annoying accents, to the tired genre tropes, to the gelled hair and leather jackets, to the constant emphasis on family, as if Italian people are the only ones with families - I just don't get the appeal.

Also, American mob movies are perpetually overrated. Godfather was great, not amazing. Godfather 2 and Goodfellas were good, but not great. The Departed was hot ass garbage (but at least it wasn't saturated with Irish American ethnic shit). As far as The Sopranos goes, James Gandolfini (sp) is the only character who doesn't annoy the bejesus out of me.

 

[kpt018]

Yeah, I definitely get the human element, but I think that's actually ground down by the tropes of the genre that I touched on. Like I said with the Sopranos, I don't know how anyone (who isn't a meat-headed Italian American) can identify at all with any of the characters other than Tony. Like Paulie, et al just make me think of this:


Also, the only way I can synchronize the praise for Godfather II is on the same basis as the critical praise for Breaking Bad Season 5: critics getting up their own asses because of the critical notoriety of earlier work and not realizing the drop off in being ham-handed and telegraphing. I don't think Godfather Pt. II is nearly the drop-off that S5 was from S4, but it smacks of the same pretentious phenomenon.

There is bad work out there, for sure. As far as the Sopranos I thought Eddie Falco was great (almost as good as JG) and I thought Michael Imperioli was wonderful as well. A lot of the other characters ended up as stereotypical been there done that type mobsters, so I feel you there.

Good comparison on the GF 2. And let no one mention from this point forward the GF 3 (just atrocious).

 

[Trotsky]

That was a disappointing scene. I knew of it before watching and was expecting it to be really climactic and moving. It was not. In fact the pacing of the whole thing dragged on to me .

There is bad work out there, for sure. As far as the Sopranos I thought Eddie Falco was great (almost as good as JG) and I thought Michael Imperioli was wonderful as well. A lot of the other characters ended up as stereotypical been there done that type mobsters, so I feel you there.

Good comparison on the GF 2. And let no one mention from this point forward the GF 3 (just atrocious).

I'm not sure I know who Eddie is yet. I've only seen 3 episodes.

How many times did you stop writing that post to admire your Fedora in the mirror?

If there was ever a hipster manifesto when it comes to American TV and film - you just wrote the prologue

I'm not sure how this fits.....especially considering persons in those films wear fedoras.

To me, a hipster is someone who mindlessly cosigns trends, so to like mediocre films just because others say they are good and deeper than they are is hipster to me.