LMP
Blue Crack Supplier
My computer started bugging midway through my Casino review and I really don't feel like writing that shit again, so here are my notes I starting typing around the first hour:
Focused light on certain characters - awesome technique
Dual V.O. - like GoodFellas, but kept the movie rolling along
Nicky - not a retread of Tommy from Goodfellas, more complex, vindictive character
Sequence where Nicky starts knocking off high-rollers - amazing use of music/editing
P.T. directly takes "inside the safe" shot and uses it with Donnie in 'Magnolia'
"muddafuckin'" - I just love whenever Pesci says that.
"An equal amount of blueberries in each muffin" - brilliant line that helps show Sam's need to control everything
De Niro not wearing any pants in his office - oddly comical
subtitled convo btw Nicky and Ace - another nice touch, showing how fucked up their lives are becoming
Nicky saying "peekaboo" - I love Pesci
Aces High, omg - the whole idea of that cracked me up.
dissolves within action, to shorten run time? - since it was about 20-30 minutes too long anyway
camera dip when the phone convo changes between wives and husbands - nice little move
Glasses in the desert, wow. - arguably my favorite shot in the whole film, which is saying a lot
Whip It? - along with the Devo version of "Satisfaction," Scorsese really outdid himself here
Music in scene with Ginger and Lester arguing - another great use of music
Ace and Ginger in the restaurant after she gets back - awesome scene of Sam and his need to be in control again
Inside of the straw snorting coke. - brilliant shot
My problem with this film wasn't just the runtime or the pacing. The scenes all moved at a brisk pace and along with the script, helped flesh out the three main characters well enough. They just weren't relateable (sp?) characters to follow for that long? De Niro's good in this, don't get me wrong, but I didn't feel his character make the big shift you expect to see in 3 hours, you know? He wants to keep control in his life and within the casino, desperately loves Ginger, who you know will never love him back, and tries to keep Nicky in check, who threatens to bring his whole world down. That's fine, I get that, but it's a cold character. The whole film is filled with these guys. At least it doesn't glamorize the lifestyle without showing the consequences, I hate when films do the former and ignore the latter, but that sense of family or connection present in GoodFellas just isn't here. It's probably intentional, showing how life was out alone in the oasis of the desert, aka Vegas, but in any film, you have to at least care about one character enough to want to follow them all the way through and this film lacked that. Also, Sharon Stone bugged the hell out of me, but she was supposed to be the money-grubbing, conniving bitch, so she did a good job with that.
I didn't go into this with huge expectations, so I wasn't as let down by this like NSW and most others probably were, but I sure hope this is in the lower half of Scorsese's canon - which would still be better than most, anyway. As I've said above, trim about 20-30 minutes of this, make Sam a little bit more sympathetic (not too much that it'd betray the film though) and you've got a better film.
Focused light on certain characters - awesome technique
Dual V.O. - like GoodFellas, but kept the movie rolling along
Nicky - not a retread of Tommy from Goodfellas, more complex, vindictive character
Sequence where Nicky starts knocking off high-rollers - amazing use of music/editing
P.T. directly takes "inside the safe" shot and uses it with Donnie in 'Magnolia'
"muddafuckin'" - I just love whenever Pesci says that.
"An equal amount of blueberries in each muffin" - brilliant line that helps show Sam's need to control everything
De Niro not wearing any pants in his office - oddly comical
subtitled convo btw Nicky and Ace - another nice touch, showing how fucked up their lives are becoming
Nicky saying "peekaboo" - I love Pesci
Aces High, omg - the whole idea of that cracked me up.
dissolves within action, to shorten run time? - since it was about 20-30 minutes too long anyway
camera dip when the phone convo changes between wives and husbands - nice little move
Glasses in the desert, wow. - arguably my favorite shot in the whole film, which is saying a lot
Whip It? - along with the Devo version of "Satisfaction," Scorsese really outdid himself here
Music in scene with Ginger and Lester arguing - another great use of music
Ace and Ginger in the restaurant after she gets back - awesome scene of Sam and his need to be in control again
Inside of the straw snorting coke. - brilliant shot
My problem with this film wasn't just the runtime or the pacing. The scenes all moved at a brisk pace and along with the script, helped flesh out the three main characters well enough. They just weren't relateable (sp?) characters to follow for that long? De Niro's good in this, don't get me wrong, but I didn't feel his character make the big shift you expect to see in 3 hours, you know? He wants to keep control in his life and within the casino, desperately loves Ginger, who you know will never love him back, and tries to keep Nicky in check, who threatens to bring his whole world down. That's fine, I get that, but it's a cold character. The whole film is filled with these guys. At least it doesn't glamorize the lifestyle without showing the consequences, I hate when films do the former and ignore the latter, but that sense of family or connection present in GoodFellas just isn't here. It's probably intentional, showing how life was out alone in the oasis of the desert, aka Vegas, but in any film, you have to at least care about one character enough to want to follow them all the way through and this film lacked that. Also, Sharon Stone bugged the hell out of me, but she was supposed to be the money-grubbing, conniving bitch, so she did a good job with that.
I didn't go into this with huge expectations, so I wasn't as let down by this like NSW and most others probably were, but I sure hope this is in the lower half of Scorsese's canon - which would still be better than most, anyway. As I've said above, trim about 20-30 minutes of this, make Sam a little bit more sympathetic (not too much that it'd betray the film though) and you've got a better film.
