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(Guardian)   After a career full of iconic roles, Joe Pesci's only been in three movies in the past 24 years. Retirement? Or because THEY FARK YOU AT THE DRIVE-THRU?   (theguardian.com) divider line
    More: Followup, Joe Pesci, My Cousin Vinny, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Martin Scorsese, Pesci's work, famous scene, Robert De Niro  
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1281 clicks; posted to Entertainment » on 11 Jan 2023 at 2:20 PM (11 weeks ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



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2023-01-11 11:48:43 AM  
Maybe he got tired of playing a stereotype.
 
2023-01-11 2:09:23 PM  
Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

Lethal Weapon 2 was great, and everything before that. The comedies though, not so much. When these tough guys try to do comedies, it rarely works. I know Home Alone was huge money-wise though.

/he was the comic relief in LW2, true
 
2023-01-11 2:17:26 PM  
I bet he makes a good living off residuals and investments.
 
2023-01-11 2:26:05 PM  

Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

Lethal Weapon 2 was great, and everything before that. The comedies though, not so much. When these tough guys try to do comedies, it rarely works. I know Home Alone was huge money-wise though.

/he was the comic relief in LW2, true


My Cousin Vinnie holds up as amusing, but it's a well supported cast.
 
2023-01-11 2:30:21 PM  
Isnt he working as a gangster in Las Vegas now?
 
2023-01-11 2:30:51 PM  

Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

Lethal Weapon 2 was great, and everything before that. The comedies though, not so much. When these tough guys try to do comedies, it rarely works. I know Home Alone was huge money-wise though.

/he was the comic relief in LW2, true


A lot of the tough guy actors are secretly funnier than HELL.

Liam Neeson is the best example I can think of. Go watch the episode of Warwick Davis's show "Life's Too Short" he was in. I was gasping for air laughing so hard.

That's a great show. We also lost our breath laughing at the Val Kilmer episode where they're trying to pitch Willow 2.
 
2023-01-11 2:40:18 PM  

vudukungfu: Maybe he got tired of playing a stereotype.


People say this. Though he has a very specific acting style, he stretched it many different ways. In Goodfellas, he was an happy go lucky agent of chaos. In Casino, was plainly and coldly evil. In My Cousin Vinny, he was a flawed wannabe and eventual savior. Again, he knew his range, but he adapted it as needed. Honestly, as much as I like them, when DeNiro and Pacino found their niche, they settled into it. They had the advantage of being relatively good looking guys. Pesci didn't have it so easy.
 
2023-01-11 2:42:51 PM  

a perfectly serviceable can of spooge: A lot of the tough guy actors are secretly funnier than HELL.


I guess I was thinking of Pacino and DeNiro. I'm not saying their comedy movies didn't make money. Just that they weren't good and were caricatures of themselves.

Schwarzenegger, I never bought as a comedy guy. Stallone, despite "Stop or I'll Shoot My Mom!" was actually pretty good in Demolition Man.

Liam Neeson didn't really start out as a tough guy.

And the martial arts action guys don't do comedy. Obviously I'm not talking about Jackie Chan.
 
2023-01-11 2:43:36 PM  
Fark user imageView Full Size
 
2023-01-11 2:45:30 PM  

evilmrsock: Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

Lethal Weapon 2 was great, and everything before that. The comedies though, not so much. When these tough guys try to do comedies, it rarely works. I know Home Alone was huge money-wise though.

/he was the comic relief in LW2, true

My Cousin Vinnie holds up as amusing, but it's a well supported cast.


Its also regarded as the most accurate movie when it comes to court procedures. INAL but I have heard this from several actual lawyers.

/Head of the Department of Useless Knowledge
 
2023-01-11 2:45:45 PM  
"They F*ck You At the Drive-Thru" could have been a great porn spoof, but whoever directed it felt compelled to ensure the whole cast looked like Joe Pesci. The men, the women, the fast food mascot, the hamburgers, the condiment-filled dildos... Everything had Joe Pesci's face.

If anyone needs me, I'll be at my new therapist's office until at least June of 2050.

/if it's okay for Superman to wear his undies on the outside then it's okay for me
 
2023-01-11 2:47:08 PM  

Tr0mBoNe: I bet he makes a good living off residuals and investments.


Do the work, invest everything, live simply, and he found himself able to say "no" to anything that didn't interest him. The exact opposite of Nick Cage.
 
2023-01-11 2:48:19 PM  

Mugato: a perfectly serviceable can of spooge: A lot of the tough guy actors are secretly funnier than HELL.

I guess I was thinking of Pacino and DeNiro. I'm not saying their comedy movies didn't make money. Just that they weren't good and were caricatures of themselves.

Schwarzenegger, I never bought as a comedy guy. Stallone, despite "Stop or I'll Shoot My Mom!" was actually pretty good in Demolition Man.

Liam Neeson didn't really start out as a tough guy.

And the martial arts action guys don't do comedy. Obviously I'm not talking about Jackie Chan.


When I was working on movie sets I met Van Damme several times. Got to drive him around for a whole day once. He is a very, very funny dude. Awesome outlook on life and very quick witted. Self-deprecating, appreciative for what he has, does not take himself too seriously at all. It was a real blast.
 
2023-01-11 2:52:03 PM  

evilmrsock: Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

Lethal Weapon 2 was great, and everything before that. The comedies though, not so much. When these tough guys try to do comedies, it rarely works. I know Home Alone was huge money-wise though.

/he was the comic relief in LW2, true

My Cousin Vinnie holds up as amusing, but it's a well supported cast.


Are you guys saying that he's funny? You mean, let me understand this ... cuz I ... maybe its me, maybe I'm a little farked up maybe. He's funny how? You mean funny, like he's a clown? He amuses you? He makes you laugh? He's here to farkin' amuse you? Whattya you mean funny? Funny how? How is he funny?!

/Great balls of fire!
 
2023-01-11 2:53:09 PM  
Bonus part of that Van Damme story: he spent like 45 minutes while we were driving around ROASTING Steven Seagal. I asked if he had ever met him or worked with him.

"Oh boy, here we go" he said, and proceeded to tell me the worst, most hilarious Seagal stories I have ever heard. Then he ends it by saying "He... doesn't like me very much."
 
2023-01-11 2:56:07 PM  

The Wooden Pickle: [Fark user image 220x220]


CSB

A long time ago, I wanna say 2000, I was in a beach house, and one of the guys borrowed his dad's dodge durango for the weekend.

It had one CD in the player, and we listened to "Mi Primo Vinny" wherever we went. And it was funnier because our house was in Lavalette NJ which is where Joe Pesci had his shore house (he sold it recently and there was a thread about the listing here). There was a sign out front that read "Mr. Pesci does not get to relax here with his family often, so please respect his privacy" or some such. We respected his privacy.

But I like to think Joe Pesci heard us blasting that CD riding down RT 35. Odds are, he didn't.
 
2023-01-11 3:02:01 PM  

H31N0US: The Wooden Pickle: [Fark user image 220x220]

CSB

A long time ago, I wanna say 2000, I was in a beach house, and one of the guys borrowed his dad's dodge durango for the weekend.

It had one CD in the player, and we listened to "Mi Primo Vinny" wherever we went. And it was funnier because our house was in Lavalette NJ which is where Joe Pesci had his shore house (he sold it recently and there was a thread about the listing here). There was a sign out front that read "Mr. Pesci does not get to relax here with his family often, so please respect his privacy" or some such. We respected his privacy.

But I like to think Joe Pesci heard us blasting that CD riding down RT 35. Odds are, he didn't.


Still hating that all the places in Seaside Heights/Park that had pinball, don't anymore! I am hoping the guy at Park Arcade (Seaside Park, next to Sawmill) was right and they will get two new pinball machines to replace the Guardians of the Galaxy and The Munsters machines they sold off, but I doubt it. Wishing I saw Joe Pesci when I was playing in these places, but no fun Pesci stories for me.
 
2023-01-11 3:27:35 PM  

Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.


It definitely was my main criticism, at the time... but then again... had it NOT been that, i would've been disappointed too.   

Rewatching it today, though, i truly do appreciate it.  Its an impeccably well-made film.   Beautiful cinematography by (in my book, the GOAT), Robert Richardson, great script, excellent performances by Deniro and Sharon Stone... wonderful cameos.... so many awesome quotable lines...

Goodfellas is better because it created the mold, so it gets extra credit, deservedly, though i'm not sure i can say its much more than marginally better than Casino.
 
2023-01-11 3:29:37 PM  
Fark user imageView Full Size

Almost if not as bad as:
Fark user imageView Full Size


If I were ever forced to watch these back to back I would end myself.
 
2023-01-11 3:43:07 PM  

DarkSoulNoHope: Still hating that all the places in Seaside Heights/Park that had pinball, don't anymore!


You are too old for sleazeside anyway, lol. I think the arcade down on 9 south of Manahawkin has pinball. Eagleswood, it's called.

I had a house in PP this past summer and apparently, the Jenks family bought that town wholesale. Beaches and everything.

I went over to squan (which was my home base beach when I lived in Howell) for a day and it was a world apart. Love that beach, and the waves are great there by the inlet. LBI still my favorite beach in NJ now.
 
2023-01-11 3:44:43 PM  

T.rex: Goodfellas is better because it created the mold, so it gets extra credit, deservedly, though i'm not sure i can say its much more than marginally better than Casino.


Obviously Goodfellas was more fun (at least until everything went to shiat) but that alone doesn't make a better movie. I just thought the characters were more interesting and it followed almost the entire life of one character really well.

Also see the after witness protection sequel, My Blue Heaven with Steve Martin.
 
2023-01-11 3:51:33 PM  

T.rex: Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

It definitely was my main criticism, at the time... but then again... had it NOT been that, i would've been disappointed too.   

Rewatching it today, though, i truly do appreciate it.  Its an impeccably well-made film.   Beautiful cinematography by (in my book, the GOAT), Robert Richardson, great script, excellent performances by Deniro and Sharon Stone... wonderful cameos.... so many awesome quotable lines...

Goodfellas is better because it created the mold, so it gets extra credit, deservedly, though i'm not sure i can say its much more than marginally better than Casino.


When I rewatch Casino I skip pretty every part involving Deniro and Stones relationship. Makes for a much shorter and enjoyable movie. The parts involving the mob and the casino day to day are enthralling.

Wiseguys failed relationship with a obvious gold digger, not so much.

/casts no shadow
 
2023-01-11 3:53:45 PM  

Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

Lethal Weapon 2 was great, and everything before that. The comedies though, not so much. When these tough guys try to do comedies, it rarely works. I know Home Alone was huge money-wise though.

/he was the comic relief in LW2, true


Fark user imageView Full Size


/shout out to all the knee fetishists!
 
2023-01-11 3:55:11 PM  
I will say the scene in Casino where they were beating Joe Pesci and his brother and burying them alive was really disturbing. That doesn't make it a better movie, just disturbing AF.

/Sufferin' saddle soap!
 
2023-01-11 3:56:46 PM  
Got a copy of 8Heads In A Duffel Bag that's been on the shelf since Halloween, been meaning to watch it but just haven't had the time or energy. Get the feeling I'll love it though when I finally do pop it in.
 
2023-01-11 4:00:01 PM  

a perfectly serviceable can of spooge: Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

Lethal Weapon 2 was great, and everything before that. The comedies though, not so much. When these tough guys try to do comedies, it rarely works. I know Home Alone was huge money-wise though.

/he was the comic relief in LW2, true

A lot of the tough guy actors are secretly funnier than HELL.

Liam Neeson is the best example I can think of. Go watch the episode of Warwick Davis's show "Life's Too Short" he was in. I was gasping for air laughing so hard.

That's a great show. We also lost our breath laughing at the Val Kilmer episode where they're trying to pitch Willow 2.


Liam Neeson is a tough guy actor?
 
2023-01-11 4:01:12 PM  

Tr0mBoNe: I bet he makes a good living off residuals and investments.


I know for some, acting's a bug and they have to do it and if they can't get a gig they'll do a commercial.  And some just do the commercial's for money.  Haven't really seen Pesci in an commericals except the Snickers one.  Good for him for not feeling the need to overexpose himself.

And honestly, now it should be a lesson about protecting your brand.  Like, WTF Matt Damon, are you so strapped and wanting for work that you need to do a crypto commercial?  Whoopsie.

Adrian Brody, wins an Oscar, next up, Pepsi commerical.
Tom Selleck, residuals and current work paying truckloads: I'ma do a reverse mortgage scam commercial.
 
2023-01-11 4:02:04 PM  

mcmnky: Liam Neeson is a tough guy actor?


For over a decade, ever since 2009's Taken. In fact, making Taken sequels and knockoffs is about all he does now.
 
2023-01-11 4:02:51 PM  

H31N0US: DarkSoulNoHope: Still hating that all the places in Seaside Heights/Park that had pinball, don't anymore!

You are too old for sleazeside anyway, lol. I think the arcade down on 9 south of Manahawkin has pinball. Eagleswood, it's called.

I had a house in PP this past summer and apparently, the Jenks family bought that town wholesale. Beaches and everything.

I went over to squan (which was my home base beach when I lived in Howell) for a day and it was a world apart. Love that beach, and the waves are great there by the inlet. LBI still my favorite beach in NJ now.


Asbury Park has the Silverball Pinball museum that you can play.  And there's a place in Nashville that is a bar with lots of pinball machines. I like this trend.
 
2023-01-11 4:03:34 PM  

mcmnky: Liam Neeson is a tough guy actor?


Well there are the Taken movies and when I walk by the RedBox at the grocery there are like a dozen movies with him of that same type, that's what he's known for now.
 
2023-01-11 4:08:39 PM  

Mugato: mcmnky: Liam Neeson is a tough guy actor?

Well there are the Taken movies and when I walk by the RedBox at the grocery there are like a dozen movies with him of that same type, that's what he's known for now.


akns-images.eonline.comView Full Size

"I have a very particular skill, a skill I have acquired over a very long career. A skill that makes me a nightmare for people like you, who don't want to see the same movie remade over and over by an actor milking the shiat out of his biggest hit."
 
2023-01-11 4:15:03 PM  

EdgeRunner: mcmnky: Liam Neeson is a tough guy actor?

For over a decade, ever since 2009's Taken. In fact, making Taken sequels and knockoffs is about all he does now.


I thought he nailed Hannibal in the A-Team movie. I think the entire cast nailed their parts, and it's a shame there were no more A-Team movies made.
 
2023-01-11 4:15:04 PM  

Mugato: T.rex: Goodfellas is better because it created the mold, so it gets extra credit, deservedly, though i'm not sure i can say its much more than marginally better than Casino.

Obviously Goodfellas was more fun (at least until everything went to shiat) but that alone doesn't make a better movie. I just thought the characters were more interesting and it followed almost the entire life of one character really well.

Also see the after witness protection sequel, My Blue Heaven with Steve Martin.


Goodfellas was more emotional for me... Like the first time, i saw the Layla piano part with Johnny RoastBeef and wife dead in the Cadillac, and Carbone in the meat-truck... i had absolute chills.  Just the beauty of cinema.   
Clearly, Casino doesn't have any one scene that rivals that, though i'm not sure if that would even be possible.  Once its done...it can't be done again for the first time.   Goodfellas kinda invented a whole genre.  So we become jaded of everything to follow.
 
2023-01-11 4:17:57 PM  

H31N0US: DarkSoulNoHope: Still hating that all the places in Seaside Heights/Park that had pinball, don't anymore!

You are too old for sleazeside anyway, lol. I think the arcade down on 9 south of Manahawkin has pinball. Eagleswood, it's called.

I had a house in PP this past summer and apparently, the Jenks family bought that town wholesale. Beaches and everything.

I went over to squan (which was my home base beach when I lived in Howell) for a day and it was a world apart. Love that beach, and the waves are great there by the inlet. LBI still my favorite beach in NJ now.


Even when I wasn't too old for sleazeside, I was uninterested in what sleazeside was selling beyond the arcades and some restaurants.

I went to Eagleswood twice, first for my grandfather's funeral dinner and then years later for my grandmother's funeral dinner (they got buried in Stafford), neither time they had pinball. Now they took out the amusement  park rides and replaced them with a golf driving range, I don't know if they still have the arcade.

PP is pretty much owned by Jenks, no freedom to go on the beach afterhours without Jenks' approval. Jenks does have pinball machines in their "Jenkinson's South Arcade", but they barely maintain them.

Squan just closed up their arcade (Gee Gee's) and sold off all the machines at auction, Summer 2021 was the last year they had pinball machines (I got some great scores on their Game of Thrones machine, would have been more if they fixed that damn battering ram so I could complete everything), Summer 2022 they had an outside company run their arcade (sans pinball) and apparently didn't do well enough since they just recently auctioned off their machines, not sure what Gee Gee's is doing with the arcade space and it looked mostly empty except for one fully assembled and one disassembled skee ball machine, Gee Gee's pizza is still open though since my wife and I's last visit in late December.

I am starting to get jealous of people living in states where there is no beach, since their arcade entertainment isn't as neglected (as it appears) than New Jersey! Only Silverball has a large number of relatively maintained machines, other Jersey arcades are mostly miss when it comes to maintaining their pinball machines (like Yestercades in all three locations, Jilly's in Ocean City, NJ, Lucky Snake at Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City, and Starcade at Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing).
 
2023-01-11 4:21:58 PM  

The Wooden Pickle: [Fark user image image 220x220]


oh my I just learned of this a few weeks ago and could not believe it. thanks for the reminder
 
2023-01-11 4:23:41 PM  

Schmerd1948: H31N0US: DarkSoulNoHope: Still hating that all the places in Seaside Heights/Park that had pinball, don't anymore!

You are too old for sleazeside anyway, lol. I think the arcade down on 9 south of Manahawkin has pinball. Eagleswood, it's called.

I had a house in PP this past summer and apparently, the Jenks family bought that town wholesale. Beaches and everything.

I went over to squan (which was my home base beach when I lived in Howell) for a day and it was a world apart. Love that beach, and the waves are great there by the inlet. LBI still my favorite beach in NJ now.

Asbury Park has the Silverball Pinball museum that you can play.  And there's a place in Nashville that is a bar with lots of pinball machines. I like this trend.


I am aware of Silverball, I was their first paying customer when they first opened on Cookman Avenue. Just wish the repairman wasn't so afraid of non-Jersey Jack machines (Silverball has no Stern, nor other new machines from other companies) when it comes to new machine purchases (I want them to buy a The Big Lebowski pinball machine). I mainly drive around, dragging my wife, to arcades to find pinball machines I can't find nearby me on my days off from work. I use pinballmap.com to help me indulge in my pinball addiction.
 
2023-01-11 4:27:32 PM  
What do Jimi Hendrix, Felix Cavaliere, and Joe Pesci have in common?

/You lazy farkers, you're welcome.
//You know who you are.
 
2023-01-11 4:37:54 PM  

nursetim: EdgeRunner: mcmnky: Liam Neeson is a tough guy actor?

For over a decade, ever since 2009's Taken. In fact, making Taken sequels and knockoffs is about all he does now.

I thought he nailed Hannibal in the A-Team movie. I think the entire cast nailed their parts, and it's a shame there were no more A-Team movies made.


He was good in that, and he also played it as much more of a tough guy role than Peppard did. It really is his thing now.
 
2023-01-11 4:43:30 PM  
akns-images.eonline.comView Full Size
 
2023-01-11 4:55:43 PM  

max_pooper: evilmrsock: Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

Lethal Weapon 2 was great, and everything before that. The comedies though, not so much. When these tough guys try to do comedies, it rarely works. I know Home Alone was huge money-wise though.

/he was the comic relief in LW2, true

My Cousin Vinnie holds up as amusing, but it's a well supported cast.

Its also regarded as the most accurate movie when it comes to court procedures. INAL but I have heard this from several actual lawyers.


i learned the movie was filmed in Monticello, Georgia, when i was rumbling back from Warner-Robins on my motorcycle.  Came up GA 11, a wonderful 2-lane country sweeper road, and into Monticello's town square and had the craziest deja vu id ever had.  I rode around the square 3 times before i finalyl saidfark it and parked to take some pictures.  I knew had had seen it before but just couldn't place it until i got home and could do a little Googling.

The place where they got pulled over is a really cool pecan grove just outside downtown.  They are some strange lookin' trees.
 
2023-01-11 5:05:47 PM  

EdgeRunner: Mugato: mcmnky: Liam Neeson is a tough guy actor?

Well there are the Taken movies and when I walk by the RedBox at the grocery there are like a dozen movies with him of that same type, that's what he's known for now.

[akns-images.eonline.com image 850x630]
"I have a very particular skill, a skill I have acquired over a very long career. A skill that makes me a nightmare for people like you, who don't want to see the same movie remade over and over by an actor milking the shiat out of his biggest hit."


i.pinimg.comView Full Size
 
2023-01-11 5:18:09 PM  
Pesci essentially confronts the other characters over his own scene-stealing: "Funny how? What's funny about it?" he demands to know when Henry tries to compliment him on a well-told story. After a minute, Tommy relents, and everyone laughs about it, but the scene still feels like a warning from Pesci: don't trust that this mouthy, magnetic guy is going to settle into comic relief. Indeed, he doesn't: another round of barroom joshing ends with Tommy murdering a lackey in cold blood.

No, that's not correct. Tommy was just busting Henry's balls, and it was obvious they didn't like Billy Batts as the walked into the bar. There was no joshing, just insults.
 
2023-01-11 5:29:38 PM  

SBinRR: Pesci essentially confronts the other characters over his own scene-stealing: "Funny how? What's funny about it?" he demands to know when Henry tries to compliment him on a well-told story. After a minute, Tommy relents, and everyone laughs about it, but the scene still feels like a warning from Pesci: don't trust that this mouthy, magnetic guy is going to settle into comic relief. Indeed, he doesn't: another round of barroom joshing ends with Tommy murdering a lackey in cold blood.

No, that's not correct. Tommy was just busting Henry's balls, and it was obvious they didn't like Billy Batts as the walked into the bar. There was no joshing, just insults.


All the same, Pesci is expertly shown to be a fun, friendly guy who can turn murderous in an instant if he imagines he's been slighted. When the local kid who acts as their gopher playfully tells Pesci "F*ck you," clearly in a buddy-buddy way with no malice, Pesci flares up and immediately kills him. Liotta is nervous and desperately trying to cool him down during the "Am I a clown to you?" scene because he knows the gun could come out at any second.

The whole counterpoint of showing Pesci firing towards the camera at the end is to show how rose-colored the protagonist's memory is of the "good old days". Sure, he had money and power, but he also could have been snuffed out at any second by his own best pals for the mildest of unintentional slights.
 
2023-01-11 5:32:46 PM  

EdgeRunner: SBinRR: Pesci essentially confronts the other characters over his own scene-stealing: "Funny how? What's funny about it?" he demands to know when Henry tries to compliment him on a well-told story. After a minute, Tommy relents, and everyone laughs about it, but the scene still feels like a warning from Pesci: don't trust that this mouthy, magnetic guy is going to settle into comic relief. Indeed, he doesn't: another round of barroom joshing ends with Tommy murdering a lackey in cold blood.

No, that's not correct. Tommy was just busting Henry's balls, and it was obvious they didn't like Billy Batts as the walked into the bar. There was no joshing, just insults.

All the same, Pesci is expertly shown to be a fun, friendly guy who can turn murderous in an instant if he imagines he's been slighted. When the local kid who acts as their gopher playfully tells Pesci "F*ck you," clearly in a buddy-buddy way with no malice, Pesci flares up and immediately kills him. Liotta is nervous and desperately trying to cool him down during the "Am I a clown to you?" scene because he knows the gun could come out at any second.

The whole counterpoint of showing Pesci firing towards the camera at the end is to show how rose-colored the protagonist's memory is of the "good old days". Sure, he had money and power, but he also could have been snuffed out at any second by his own best pals for the mildest of unintentional slights.


There was nothing playful about Spider's retort. It was after Tommy shot him in the foot because everyone was laughing at how mad Tommy was getting over being slow with the drinks.
 
2023-01-11 5:43:47 PM  

Spartapuss: There was nothing playful about Spider's retort. It was after Tommy shot him in the foot because everyone was laughing at how mad Tommy was getting over being slow with the drinks.


The kid is trying to prove he's one of the guys, not get killed by one of them. His only crime is not being bright enough to grasp the situation and realize he's committing suicide by standing up for himself in a joking manner.

You're not seriously trying to justify Pesci's actions, are you? Because he's intended to be seen as a violent sociopath, and his sudden bursts of rage are supposed to be shocking. Liotta's reactions are stand-ins for how the audience is expected to feel.
 
2023-01-11 6:01:24 PM  

EdgeRunner: The kid is trying to prove he's one of the guys, not get killed by one of them. His only crime is not being bright enough to grasp the situation and realize he's committing suicide by standing up for himself in a joking manner.


Pesci might not even have killed him if DeNiro didn't keep busting his balls about Spider telling him off. Pesci even looked a little shaken up after it, like maybe he over reacted but he couldn't look weak in front of his friends.
 
2023-01-11 6:23:15 PM  

EdgeRunner: Spartapuss: You're not seriously trying to justify Pesci's actions, are you?

img.playbuzz.comView Full Size


Goodfellas : Spider Gets Killed by Tommy HD (Remastered)
Youtube IDYKslnO0r0
 
2023-01-11 6:28:57 PM  

mcmnky: a perfectly serviceable can of spooge: Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

Lethal Weapon 2 was great, and everything before that. The comedies though, not so much. When these tough guys try to do comedies, it rarely works. I know Home Alone was huge money-wise though.

/he was the comic relief in LW2, true

A lot of the tough guy actors are secretly funnier than HELL.

Liam Neeson is the best example I can think of. Go watch the episode of Warwick Davis's show "Life's Too Short" he was in. I was gasping for air laughing so hard.

That's a great show. We also lost our breath laughing at the Val Kilmer episode where they're trying to pitch Willow 2.

Liam Neeson is a tough guy actor?


Name another movie star who punches a pack of wolves in a film.

/easily distracted by quokkas
 
2023-01-11 6:43:02 PM  

snowshovel: mcmnky: a perfectly serviceable can of spooge: Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

Lethal Weapon 2 was great, and everything before that. The comedies though, not so much. When these tough guys try to do comedies, it rarely works. I know Home Alone was huge money-wise though.

/he was the comic relief in LW2, true

A lot of the tough guy actors are secretly funnier than HELL.

Liam Neeson is the best example I can think of. Go watch the episode of Warwick Davis's show "Life's Too Short" he was in. I was gasping for air laughing so hard.

That's a great show. We also lost our breath laughing at the Val Kilmer episode where they're trying to pitch Willow 2.

Liam Neeson is a tough guy actor?

Name another movie star who punches a pack of wolves in a film.


Does Mike Tyson count?

/stepped on Lego just last night
 
2023-01-11 8:10:26 PM  

snowshovel: mcmnky: a perfectly serviceable can of spooge: Mugato: Casino was, along with the rest of the film, unfairly dismissed as Imitation Goodfellas at the time of its 1995 release.

It kind of was, with more accounting and domestic disputes.

Lethal Weapon 2 was great, and everything before that. The comedies though, not so much. When these tough guys try to do comedies, it rarely works. I know Home Alone was huge money-wise though.

/he was the comic relief in LW2, true

A lot of the tough guy actors are secretly funnier than HELL.

Liam Neeson is the best example I can think of. Go watch the episode of Warwick Davis's show "Life's Too Short" he was in. I was gasping for air laughing so hard.

That's a great show. We also lost our breath laughing at the Val Kilmer episode where they're trying to pitch Willow 2.

Liam Neeson is a tough guy actor?

Name another movie star who punches a pack of wolves in a film.


Milla Jovovich roundhouse kicks a bunch of zombie dogs. Does that count?
 
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