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The podcast discusses the film "Goodfellas" and its various scenes and characters. The hosts talk about their favorite scenes, the impact of certain moments, and compare it to other films by Martin Scorsese. They also mention the re-releases of the movie and the importance of watching it on the big screen. They discuss the comedic elements and the unpredictability of the characters. Overall, they agree that "Goodfellas" is a perfect film and a favorite among mob movie enthusiasts. Welcome to the podcast. It's a Binghamton thing. Hot takes on pop culture, beauty, and local legends. We're talking goodfellas. Yes, baby. Okay. You know, I have obviously lots of thoughts on it because it's one of my favorite films. Of course. If not my favorite. Yeah. And to me, it's like a perfect film from start to finish. Agree? Absolutely. Probably my all-time favorite movie from the soundtrack, the actors. I mean, think about who you have there. Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Scorsese, of course. Right, right. What's your favorite scene? Oh, wait, you're supposed to ask the question. No, no, it's fine. I think my favorite, there's a lot of scenes that I love. Like I said earlier, there's a perfect film. Every scene is amazing. But there's certain parts of the story I like better. And mostly I like when Henry Hill hasn't gone down to the dark side where he's, you know, the cocaine, the drugs, Polly's let him go. I mean, that's where it gets kind of sad, you know? Yeah. And so the beginning of the film is just so much hope. They're excited. They're getting married. You know, oh, he's going to start this life. He's going to make money. And there's just lots of hope. And people are happy. And there's parties. They're at the beach. And then the reality of that lifestyle, the second half or the last third of the film hits you. And it's just, it's sad. But the whole thing is perfect. Yeah, I agree. And the happy times, even from the, you know, I think it's the opening song, Gone from Rags to Riches. Oh, yeah. And the scene that's going on there. And then, you know, another one that sticks out is Henry coming home with the white Christmas tree and telling Karen, look, I got the most expensive one they had. And it's going to be a happy Christmas. Right. But it's not too long after that, that things go a little south for these guys. Yeah. One of my all time favorite scenes in the movie is when Tommy, Joe Pesci goes to get made. And not the scene, they kill him, obviously. He doesn't know it until the last minute. He thinks he's going to get made. And when Henry and Jimmy are in the diner, and they call him. Yeah. And Jimmy calls to find out what's going on from the payphone. And you have the guy on the other end just tell him that, you know, he's gone. And Jimmy keeps saying, so what do you mean he's gone? And what's the guy say? He's just gone. He's just gone. There's nothing we could do. And he's slamming the payphone. And that's one of my favorite scenes in the movie. Yeah, it is. I would agree. Again, I can't say enough about it being like a perfect film. And in order to talk about it being a perfect film from the casting in the story, but another film with Scorsese's, and I know we're not going to talk about it too much, but it's Casino, and where that is an incredible film also, but to me, it's not as perfected as Goodfellas. I always thought that the character played by Sharon Stone, she was too pretty to be that character and not gritty enough. So there's little flaws I see in Casino that again, Goodfellas, it just doesn't have. I can't think of a time in that story where it's just perfection from the directing and the acting and the music. The music is just, oh my God, I love the music. Casino, great film. Yes. Another one of my favorites. Of course, I'm a big mob movie guy. Anyway, but the scene you and I have talked about many times also, I guess it's one of the biggest continuous scenes in any movie is Henry and Karen going into the, no, is it Karen or is it Kumar? No, it's Karen. It is Karen. Okay. Yeah. Henry and Karen going into, I believe it's the Copacabana, through the back entrance and Henry's giving everybody a tip and putting $20 bills in everybody's pockets. And they swing them a big high top table that's already, or a table that's already got the tablecloth on it. It swings across the room. They come over and put the lamp down on it. And that's just perfection. Yeah, it is. And just you talking about it, I see it all in my head because I've seen the film numerous times, countless. And it is just like that feeling. It's so exciting and you're there with them. And I mean, that's just, you know, again, Martin's first says he's just so amazing. And, you know, I think people probably would try to replicate that. I know I would if I was a director and it wouldn't happen. I wouldn't be able to do that. You know, so yeah, it's just, I mean, how many times do you think we've seen that movie? I've thought about that. Not that it matters, but it's just I've watched it start to finish. I would guess seven or eight times. That's a great film. I love that movie. But okay, so I because I don't remember going to the movies. It was in 1990 that came out. And back then, of course, we go to the movies, we go to the theaters, and it would be a minute not like today where it would be a minute before we'd be able to get it on TV. So I don't know, but it doesn't matter. I don't think I saw it in the theater. Okay, but that would have been, you know, they re-release this movie from time to time at different anniversaries of it. Of course, in Binghamton, we don't get it here. But New York City, I'm sure LA, they'll re-release it because to see it on the big screen with the movie with the music and just the whole, you know, I think that would be pretty cool. So maybe we can try to do that sometime. I think we've seen this movie more than seven times from start to finish. If you think, I probably watch it once a year, if not once every two years, for sure. I watch it whenever I see it's on. Yeah, but I don't like watching it on regular TV. And the commercials, it's not so much the commercials, but they cut it. Oh, never, yeah, never on regular TV. Right, it's better to watch it, you know, on a brand, on a streaming device that's, you know, not going to cut the scenes up and everything. Yeah, let's not forget about, I didn't mention him earlier, but Paul Cervino, Paulie, it's who he is in the movie, obviously, the boss. Right. And, you know, famous line from Henry, he's sort of narrating. So Henry's narrating and they're just showing some scenes of Paulie. And he said, Paulie, you know, he moves slow. But the reason he moves slow is because he didn't have to move for anybody. I think that maybe in that scene, the guy's running around with an umbrella and he's running to Paulie and he's asking him, you know, giving him a message. And Paulie gives him a message back, he runs back over. Because that's another thing, remember, Paulie would never use the phone. Oh, I remember. He'd never use the phone. Never use the phone. And it's also, there's a lot of, there's a lot of comedy, you know, in this movie. And, you know, inadvertently, I mean, Paulie doesn't, you know, nobody, nobody, Paulie doesn't have to move because, what was it? Because Paulie doesn't have to move for anybody. And that, I love that. In the scene where he's sitting with, and I can't remember his name, I'll look it up. The guy is really frustrated because Tommy hasn't paid the bill for the restaurant. And he's like, I don't know what to do with this guy. What am I going to do? Can you maybe take over the restaurant? Paulie's like, well, what did he say something like what? I don't know how to take a restaurant. Well, I think first he, the restaurant owner insinuates maybe he could kill Tommy. Oh, definitely. And the look in Paul's eyes is pretty interesting when he says that. But exactly, he says, I don't know how to run a restaurant. He says, I don't know how to make a restaurant. That's what it is. I don't know how to make a restaurant. I know how to make, I know how to order a meal, is what he says. Right. And that actor is Tony Darrow. Tony Darrow, okay. And his name in there was Sonny. And it's just a funny scene. And it just tells you so much about Paulie. Of course, Paulie, they go to Paulie because he's the guy, you know, he's going to fix things. And Henry's in that meeting also. Yep. And Paulie's looking over at Henry and Henry knows exactly what they're going to do. They're going to bust the place out. Yes, yes. And of course, Henry's, he's a calming force amongst these kind of degenerates. I mean, you know, when you see Henry in the scene, it gives you a little bit, okay, maybe this won't be so awful. Yeah. Henry's there to sort of temper, you know, Tommy. Where that really comes out is at the card game in the bar. When Tommy shoots, oh, we forgot Michael Imperioli. Yes, Spider. Yeah, young Michael Imperioli, well, not way before the Sopranos. Kind of, though. Yeah, quite a bit. Yeah, maybe 10 years before the Sopranos. Yeah, maybe. But, you know, he shoots Spider and, you know, and Ray Liotta Henry is saying, Jesus Christ, what the hell are you doing? And, you know, and Tommy says, what do you want from me? I'm a good shot. It's so, in that scene. But he shoots him twice. I know. He shoots him in the butt first. Yes, he does. And then he comes back and he says something about, you know, he says to Spider, Jesus Christ, could that cast be any bigger? I'm paraphrasing, but basically, you know, don't be such a baby. Right. And Spider tells him to go fuck himself. Yes, that's right. And, you know, and they say, oh, you're going to let him get away with that? Oh, right. And, you know, and then everybody is shocked. It's, Jesus, we were just kidding around. But Henry in that scene really, as you could tell, he's like, Jesus, this is really bad. Yeah, right, right. This is really bad. This is, these guys take turns quickly. They're impulsive. You don't know what's going to happen. Yeah, they're scary, you know. But, yeah, at the same time, the initial card game is fun and they're drinking and they're laughing. And, you know, and that's what I love about a film like Goodfellas is that it changes so quickly. And just because you're watching something at the moment looks seemingly okay, don't close your eyes too long because it won't be in a minute. It can go wrong fast. You know, the most, probably the most quoted or people bring up the most about the movie is back to the restaurant. What was the name of that restaurant? The Bamboo Lounge. Oh, you got it. That's right. The Bamboo Lounge. Tommy, before he knocks the guy over the head with the bottle, he's having this back and forth. But Henry's kind of young and he's new on the scene. And Henry's laughing at Tommy and laughing, laughing, laughing. And Joe Pesci, Tommy gets real serious and he says, you know, what do I amuse you? And Henry says, well, you know, I don't know. You're just, I mean, you're like a funny guy. And then he says, what do you mean funny? Funny how? And people talk about that. They go back and forth and then all of a sudden. And Henry just breaks the tense moment just saying, get the fuck out of here. Yes. But, I mean, even when I've watched that scene, obviously, numerous times, I still, I'm still getting tense. I'm like, oh, oh, gosh, Tommy. Oh, Henry, careful, careful. Tommy is volatile. Live wire. Very much live wire. Now, we also can't forget about the beautiful artwork. Oh, my God. That is a part of this movie. Oh, I mean, the set direction, yeah. That's Mama Scorsese who plays Tommy's mother. I believe that's Martin's mother in real life. It is Martin Scorsese's mother. Yes. Yes. Who plays Tommy's mother. That scene. And has the painting of the man in the boat. Yep. The one dog's looking north, the one's looking south, the one's looking east, one's looking west. Right. I don't remember. And now, of course, I have a T-shirt. You do. That you gave to me with that painting on it. And I get compliments on that all the time. People know what it is. They should know. I'm glad they do. And if you don't, you need to go watch this film. If I find out somebody's never seen Goodfellas, I tell them you're crazy. I can't believe you've never seen it. You've got to go see it. I go farther. I'm like, I'm not sure I can be your friend. Yeah, but the scene with the mother. I mean. The best part of that scene is when he says it to Nero. Says sort of under his breath a little bit, looks like somebody we know. Because they've got Billy Bats in the trunk. He's got white hair. Yes, they have Billy in the trunk. And they say, that looks like somebody we know. And they all get a little chuckle out of it. They do. Of course, they're trying to describe what happened. He says, we hit a deer, Ma. And, you know, what's that thing on the end of their leg? You know, the hoof. We had to cut off the foot. I'm going to take this knife. He says, use mine. We've got to cut off the foot. He doesn't know what to call it. Somebody should probably tell him it's a hoof. Billy Bats in the trunk, the great Frank Vincent. R-I-P. Rest in peace, Frank. That's payback for telling Tommy to go get his fucking shine back. Oh, God. That scene, too. Maybe you didn't hear. I don't shine shoes no more. Oh, I know. Don't mess with Tommy. He's so, his ego's so fragile, yeah. I mean, just, you can't do it. I want to talk about Morris and his toupees. Morris, the wig boy. The wig man. It's Morris, not Morty. You know what? I think it's Morris. I think it is Morris. For some reason, I was thinking his name was Morty. But that's a different program, I think. It might be. It's Chuck Lowe who plays Morris Kessler. Morris. Morty is Jerry Seinfeld's father. Okay. In Seinfeld. Morty Seinfeld. So, if you've seen the film, you know that Morris, he really was the one or the brains behind the Lufthansa heist. Yes, he gave me in through the security guard. He knew the security guard there. And the security guard told Morris about this somewhat regular flight that comes in. I believe it's on Air France. And it's a cash flight. It's just delivering money. And they end up pulling off the biggest heist. I think at the time it might have been ever. I think it was. And I remember that Henry is in the shower. Henry didn't take part in it. He stayed behind for whatever reason. He wasn't there. But he's in the shower and he's listening to the radio and he hears the beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Like there's a special news break coming and it's talking about the heist. He's pounding on the shower wall. I can't remember what he says exactly. But he's basically saying, fuck yeah. Yeah, so excited. Yeah, that was Morris that brought that whole caper to him, you're right. Right. And so, you know, obviously he wants his money. Where's my money? Yes. Where's my money? I always wonder why, you know, frustrated with Jimmy, the character played by Robert De Niro because, oh, why didn't you give Morris his money? You saw some of the other guys that got their money and, of course, they buy the big cars and the furs and Jimmy didn't want that kind of, you know, spotlight on them in that way. So he was very frustrated with them. But just knowing Morris, he's on TV. He's kind of a guy who's kind of a big mouth maybe. Why would you not pay him? And I guess greed? I don't know. Here's my take on that. Firstly, going back to what you said earlier about when the movie kind of goes from happy to darker, this is the beginning of that. Right. Because Jimmy's getting really paranoid. Right. You know, they've done this deal, but I think, and he's now paranoid, but I think he knew all along that he was going to kill Morris. Oh. He wasn't giving him his money because he knew. I think he knew. Oh. I believe it's Morris also that they make the plan to kill him. Right. And then it gets called off. You're right. I remember that now. But then they go back to it. Yeah. And I think it's just because he won't leave Jimmy alone, and Jimmy can't take it anymore, and he's paranoid that this guy's going to say something. Got it. Oh, I see that now. You're absolutely right. You're right. And he knows he's going to kill him so he doesn't give him the money. Now, the reason that they're catching heat is, one, like you said, Jimmy gives some of the guys the money, and they show up at the bar around Christmas time there, and they're driving new cars, and their wives are wearing furs, and he loses his mind, and he says, I told you, what did I tell you about buying anything big and all that? Take that fur coat off. It goes back to, I'm trying to think of the driver's name. Oh, played by, oh, I'm going to look it up. I know who it's played by. I want to say his name was Slim in the movie. Yeah. I should know that. Samuel Jackson. Yeah. Stacks. Stacks, not Slim. Stacks, right. Stacks, a good friend of theirs, a lounge guy, and he drove the van, and his instructions were to get rid of it, but he doesn't. I think he gets high, and he finds a girl, and he passes out, and they find the van, and that's really, so he goes. I don't know if you recall. They go over to his house, and I think Tommy shoots him himself. I can't remember who's with Tommy. It wasn't Henry. I know who it is. Yeah, the guy that ends up on the meat hook. Yep, the guy who ends up on the meat hook. I'll try to find his name. That's who it was, and from that going on, Jimmy just goes on a killing spree, and he wants to get rid of anybody who has knowledge about that caper, and that's when things in this movie really go dark, like you said. That's true. I'm trying to recall the first to go to prison. I think Pauly was the first one to go to prison. But it wasn't for Lufthansa. It was for something else. No, not for Lufthansa. Right, no, he does go to prison, right. And then Henry ends up in prison. Yes. Of course, when he's young, he gets arrested, and he gets out, and they say, oh, look at you. You popped your cherry. Your first arrest, you didn't talk. They're all waiting for him when he comes out of the courtroom. Pauly grabs his cheek, and it was very, yeah, I remember that, of course. But I can't remember what Henry goes to prison for, but he meets Pauly there, and that's when Henry starts in the drug dealing. Yes, yes, I do remember that. That's when the drug dealing started and when Henry's in prison for the second time. Well, he doesn't go to prison the first time. He just has that little arrest. That's true, that's true. Not prison the first time. He just has that little mishap arrest. Like a low-end thing. Yeah, right. I don't even know what it is. Just selling cigarettes without a tax stamp or something. Right. It was like that. Yeah. But you're right with Jimmy. He probably wanted Morris gone. He was paranoid, and he, you're right, that is the dark turn. Yeah. That really is. And when Morris' wife comes to Henry's house. I know. Jimmy's a freak from that point on. He is. He becomes a nut. Yes, yes. And eventually, you know, Henry's doing drugs and he's paranoid, but he's pretty convinced that Jimmy's going to kill him, and I think he was right. Yes. I think Jimmy was going to kill him. He was going to kill everybody. It had anything to do with that. At one point when they're in the diner, when Jimmy tells Henry he's going to send him down to Florida for some sort of deal, that's towards the end. Says, I knew if I went to Florida, I'd never come back. Prior to that, I'm not sure Jimmy was going to kill Henry, but I'm sure it crossed Jimmy's mind a number of times. I think that was one he grappled with, killing Henry off, but you're right. Jimmy sort of lost it. Tommy's dead. And by that time, Henry's doing a lot of drugs and he's paranoid, and Jimmy's trying to tell him, you've got to get off that crap, and Polly's trying to tell him. And this is why these guys, true story back in the day, these guys would not mess around with drugs. Right. Selling drugs. Right. Because it was too hot. If you get arrested for promoting prostitution or gambling or something like that, or even robbery, you do it a few years, most guys aren't going to talk, but you get busted with a couple kilos of heroin or cocaine, you're going to jail for 50 years. And they think to themselves, we can't do this because our guys are going to get pinched, they're going to have a long, long sentence over them, and they're going to talk. Smart thinking. It is. It is. They can't pay off the judges with the drug crimes. This is not going to happen as easily. And then, of course, if you know you're facing 25 to life and you're a father with kids, you might talk. But that's why. It's not a moral dilemma for them. It's not that they don't want to put drugs on the street. Most of these guys could do five years in prison standing on their head. They don't care about that. But if you start holding 50 years over them, they're going to break. Nobody wants you going in when you're 30, you come out when you're 80, and you're going to really start thinking to yourself, how much do I owe these guys? So it wasn't a moral dilemma, I don't think, mostly for the Italian mob. It was more of a protection. 100% agree. It's not a moral dilemma. Their moral compass is somewhat in the gutter, basically. There's a few things that they will somewhat have a moral stand on, but not much. I'd say a little more than somewhat in the gutter. Killers. Don't call them killers. What you're talking about, though, is that typically wives and children would not be involved in anything. Civilians, if possible, should not be hurt or killed. So in that respect, yeah. But, again, that's just a self-preservation tactic because if you start having random civilians caught up in these things and being murdered, that's going to bring a lot more heat. Gangster on gangster, nobody cares as much. True. I think, again, that wasn't that it was a high moral ground. They were just trying to preserve themselves. Let's wrap it up with just the scene with Morris. They're at Morris's store or where are they? I think they're in that same bar. I actually think they might be in the bar. Which, by the way, the bar is the same bar where they all come in with their fur coats. Yeah, that's where I'm pretty sure they're. Because I believe that's where Jimmy might have had the money. Okay. So just on a side note, when I go to Mangilardo's in Sarah, Pennsylvania to get the pizzas at Christmas time, it looks just like that bar, by the way, just for any locals. Anytime I walk in there. A couple of steps up into a corner. I think it's a corner door. Yep. And then maybe there's two or three seats to the right and then just a long, narrow bar straight from there. So if you're ever at Mangilardo's, check it out. You'll know what I'm talking about if you know the film. I'll have to make it down there and maybe also hit Dottie Lou's. Oh, yeah, Dottie Lou's. Dottie Lou's and get some of the hot sausages. When Jimmy's watching Morris' commercial while Henry's talking to Morris, trying to calm Morris down. That's when Jimmy knows he's going to kill him. And he's looking at the commercial and Morris is hopping in and out of a pool with a toupee on. And, again, the comedy is hysterical. Right. He's jumping in the pool to show you that his toupee doesn't come off when he jumps. What a business to run. I mean, how this guy got caught up with these guys. I don't know, but he was way out of his league. Oh, he was. He was way out of his league. So, you know, that scene also shows Henry's side of where, you know, he's more compassionate somewhat. And he's trying to calm because he knows Jimmy is just a violent killer and it will snap just like that. It's really dark, too. You and I talked about this not long ago, but, you know, they do end up killing Morris. And then his wife comes to, I believe she comes to Henry's house. She does. And, you know, is screaming at him, you know where he is, you know where he is. I know you know where he is, Henry. Yes. I know you know. That's a very, very sad part of the movie. It is. And the actress who played him. I think they strangled him and he was sitting in the front seat of the car and somebody in the backseat strangled him. Yep. And they probably went and had breakfast. Exactly. Well, maybe that's what we're going to do right now. We're going to take a break and we'll come back. Breakfast sounds good. Okay. All right. Maybe lunch. Thanks for listening. Tune in next week for another episode of It's a Binghamton Thing.