#franky wiseguy

[ballpitbee]

ONE WRONG STEP BUSTER!!!!

[sillystringsimpsons]

So Fat Tony and Frankie aren't different in your AU?

Here's my attempt at a final answer for all asks about whether characters are 'different' or not.

See below cut for answer:3

Interactions are as per usual hugely appreciated <3 I understand my lore posts aren't as interesting as my art ones but eheheheheh :')

The Good Ones, as an AU, splits off from the canon of The Simpsons after a certain point - if you want the exact event, it's when Lucy-Mae, while working a a waitress at Luigi's, walks into a meeting between some of the highest-ranked members of the (at the time) DiMaggio crime family, or Springfield Mafia, triggering some of the key pre-Memphis events in the AU. I haven't pinpointed the exact moment in the timeline when this happens, but I'd say a year or so after Penny-Wiseguys takes place (so basically post season 24-ish).

All the characters in my AU that are taken from canon retain almost all pre season 24 canon information given about them, aside from the following instances:

Character appearance is changed due to assumptions made about information not given otherwise. For example, Louie has a darker skin tone than in the show because he is half Dominican (technically, in canon, he's already half idiot, half moron).

Very minor canon characters are replaced with original characters. In this specific case, researching and pinpointing all very minor members of the Springfield Mafia felt overly pedantic, and I opted for the route of swapping out most canon mobsters that don't really have names or speaking roles for my own original characters, as to not be too burdened by the restrictions of canon.

Rejection of some 'Pauper' events. Just out of personal taste, some events from the show, even if they should be, aren't included in my extension on canon. The most notable example of this the death of Fat Tony, and his subsequent replacement with Fit-Fat Tony in Donnie Fatso.

Now, because these characters aren't really all that focused on in the Simpsons, the fact is that they don't have a significant amount of canon information: there are a lot of gaps that I get to fill in. I don't think any of the canon characters in my AU are really all that different from in the show (aside from, obviously, characters who undergo significant changes like Legs and Louie after the split from canon, but even they're very much just iterations of their canon selves prior to the car bomb incident).

[seroothincs]

Enjoy my rant of me creating a found family trope out of the freaking mafia

Listen, there are plenty of moments in the show where the wiseguys appear that makes them seem like a family. Obviously, Tony is the father because he always seems like a good guy when taking care of his friends and also because he has a son of his own, So I'd imagine his father instincts also come in handy for his gang members. Then Legs I mean he is already seen as like the Caretaker of the gang, he is know to be a experienced Mob Doctor and possible Therapist. So he'd be the guy that would visit you while you were sick at home and bring food. But since we're talking family-wise, I'd say he's the oldest of the family. First-born and has seen so much chaos through-out his life. He possibly matured at a young age after his two siblings were born and so is just vibing. A brother that just sits on the couch, listens to you if you have problems but mainly just there to chill. Not that much at home because of his own life and would be considered the thanksgiving sibling who only comes like-- maybe one time each four months. Then there's Johnny, the ain't saying nuthin type, who really is just a caporegime and not actually part of Fat tony's inner circle which would make sense since he's betrayed them like three times. Like his nickname, Johnny says very little, which often makes it hard to figure out what his personality is like. BUT he seems like the serious and self-reserved type, takes his job serious and can be a bit annoying at times. I guess he could be the type of older brother that has already done every single little party trick in the book and now being grown up and better knowing, he lectures his younger siblings how to be safer in life and gives them tips to not get caught by the police like he once got. Oh yeah, he definitely had a wild young adulthood, if you know what I mean~ Since Frankie is never that much around and involved in the shenanigans with the others, possibly because of his squeamish nature, I still wanna include him since he's part of the family. Frankie is THAT younger brother, the one who you would need to always keep an extra eye on him because if you look for just ONE SECOND away he has already ate a flower to find out what it tastes like, beat down a bee hive to just wanna say hi to the friendly bees and has most definitely ate sand. Nonetheless, he's a bit much. And Louie, the baby of the bunch, who is just so clingy to Tony that it's adorable. He always makes himself wanna be useful and overall gives off major baby vibes. Though don't let that cute image of him get to you, he's still a skilled hit-man who isn't afraid to kill or wound anyone that stands in his way .... though personally I can't even imagine him killing someone because he's such a baby There was one episode, I can't remember the title, there was one where Louie was seen in the background of a meeting held at the elementary school along with a bunch of other people. When Skinner announced that they were no longer giving away free cookies, Louie was one of the many people that left AND ALSO Along with Fat Tony and Legs, Louie has been seen attending the monthly pancake dinner at the Springfield Catholic Church AND He owns a 'Folk Diva Mix' CD that includes Janis Ian's "At Seventeen." How much more baby can it get?! Safe to say, he's the baby. Papa's favorite boy and so innocent. He's like that one baby brother the other siblings would absolutely kill people over if they even dared to hurt him. Jesus, look at me- I am creating a found family trope out of a literal mafia Meh, at least it's cute to imagine though

[vitos-pink-shirt]

I really love that anyone just getting into the game would think Joe is the “stupid sidekick” and Vito is the “brains of the operation” while Henry is “suave wiseguy” but in reality:

Joe is THE planner, THE middle man, he’s THE narrative. Nothing happens without Joe, he’s the ultimate butterfly, get rid of him and Vito lives and dies the same way his old man did. He has also shown on several occasions that he is the initiative taker between him and Vito, and he is often the only reason they make any money.

Vito is the most passive character in the game, like even Frankie had enough initiative to tell him to stay away. Everything that happens to him is more or less because he agrees to go along with somebody’s plan, and at no point does he really show any ability to think for himself or make any type of plan.

Henry is the definition of fake it till you make it. Like he is worse than Joe at his job, he’s bad at planning, he gets himself shot, he lets the other two blow up his family, and yet Vito and Joe still look at him like he has it all figured out. And he’s all low voices, carefree demeanor, until he experiences the most minor inconvenience and then he blows up, it’s all “motherfucker” this, and “stupid fuck” that.

In summary I just really like how their characters are so dynamic, and not at all what the player might expect, but if they were any different, we’d have a completely different story.

[naomana]

Do you think Sam and Paulie would like Vito, if their places were swapped? What about Tommy with Joe and Henry? 

Like..

Vito grows up at Lost Heaven, never met Joe so never went down the path at young age, turns out to be a taxi driver, still living with his mom and Frankie

Then he meets Sam and Paulie, gets taste of the wiseguys life and he loves it, he joins Salieri without questioning it.. He never gets together with Sarah, so he never really betrays Salieri in order to protect his family.. I’d love to see just how different everything would be

And Tommy? He’d not fight Joe for place in his group, but he would fight him back if he’d get picked on for being the ‘good christian boy’ or ‘mamma’s boy’ etc. and eventually they’d still become friends..Tommy going overseas, meeting Henry..What that meeting would be like? Then prison..meeting Leo...HOW would all of that go?

I’m going crazy over here.. 

[henrysfedora]

because we like angst, sometimes I think about my alt timeline about Vito in chapter 12. I know hes the protagonist but what if he died during one of the shoot outs.

it's the weight of the guilt on Henry that does it for me. I remember making a note in my sketchbook once about, what if Joe told Henry Vito was short for money after the night of the fire or so, and even if Henry had been planning the drug deal for awhile this just solidified it, because this is such a great deal is it not? here Henry is being able to give his friends over twenty grand each. Add on Henry lying a little to Vito about who they were giving the drugs to, add on that Henry knew Vito was desperate for money and add on the fact that Vito loves Henry and Joe with his life, with his whole heart and they're all he has left because Leo had to leave and Frankie doesn't wanna be around Vito anymore, she chooses to stay away because of what Vito has become / is becoming. Add on Henry was one of the wiseguys Vito looked up to, and teaching an abusive, cheating husband a lesson, this is what a real man would do to protect his sister would it not? at least in his mind.

What else could he do other than do the deal with his best friends to earn money because not only does he need it, he craves and chases it too. Add on Henry reassuring Vito that it'll be a quick job and they won't need to worry about distribution. Add on that Henry knew Vito wouldn't do it if Henry didn't simplify the whole thing. And Vito wouldn't want to hurt their feelings by saying no even if he hates it.

Just thinking about Henry holding Vito and realising if he didn't set this deal up Vito wouldn't be dead and would still be alive and smiling because it's as simple as he has Joe and Henry. But now because of Henry's decisions, neither of them have Vito anymore, Joe doesn't have Vito anymore and maybe Joe doesn't see Henry the same way he used to. And this is the moment pre-slash that he realises his ideas are absolutely fucking stupid and look at what you've done Henry as he holds the corpse of a twenty-six year old young man, who just barely lived over half of Henry's life. Remember all the things Vito and Joe have done for you and this is how you repay them.

Edit: would you like some more

Maria and the whole broken heart thing, I guess it is a bit like Frankie. What Vito has become has driven them away either physically or through death.

Vito dying in Henry's arms, that could be the first time he's ever seen Henry cry. And what if Vito apologised to Henry- he's sorry about doubting you Henry, he's sorry about getting mad at you for not seeing him in prison because he should've known you would've had your own things to do wouldn't you. I mean you are a wiseguy after all. He's sorry for being slack in the shoot out, he's better than this and it was his fault, it wasn't yours. And then Henry cutting him off and apologising to Vito and Joe, this was his fault and he's sorry. He's sorry for not thinking it through, sorry about practically ruining their lives.

Emphasising how painful it would be for Henry, Vito was doing this job for Henry, he was doing it because he believed in him, he did it not because he would like it but because he wants to support his friends to the very end. Henry knew Vito wouldn't have done it if Henry didn't lie. Henry is aware that Vito wouldn't like this job no matter what, so holding his dying body in his arms while realising about how he knew Vito wouldn't like it. Even if there was a chance this deal could've gone smoothly, as Henry assumed, something bad still happened, and Henry realised too late that he didn't think through the possibilities, or that shit happens. Something he warned Vito and Joe about but something they didn't warn him back about, probably because they love him too much and he's an idol, one of the men they most likely grew up watching and admiring and thinking he's quite smart.

Henry you dumb fuck istg, ily.

Actually, what if in this timeline, I mean I don't know how rich the Falcone family is, they could be richer in this one. But what if when Henry gets found out and they have a conversation about it. Eddie pays off most of their remaining debt.

"I'm not doing this for you I'm doing this for Vito"

[tommytranselo]

omg l interested in your strange opinion about Carlo 👀

basically...i feel like he doesn't have a very coherent sense of his own identity–i'll explain that more in a minute.  really, the main detail where i seem to differ in opinion from some other people is that i think he doesn't really have a lot of connection to his past/heritage–he seems very american to me and i think he thinks of himself that way (to an extent).  considers himself a businessman, i think, probably calls himself one too, and not in a winking "i'm a legitimate businessman" way either; i think he believes it in some sense.  he's a modernizer, he has no regard for tradition or old values, he's very "this is a business and we should run it like one."  he's narratively contrasted very hard against vinci & leo, who are old school–leo says of him in ch6, “he’s new blood, whereas don vinci is a man of honor, he respects the old ways,” and i don’t recall him being referred to as “don falcone” at any point (he might’ve been at some point idk)–i actually have a headcanon that people mostly call him “mr. falcone” in contrast to the other bosses.  additionally, carlo’s killing of moretti, another old school traditionalist, was symbolic of modernization in a way too.  he’s a lucky luciano type to his core, no time for old “outdated” traditions.  overall he strikes me much more as this like, “new american wiseguy” rather than having much of a connection to any kind of legacy, though i imagine that has to cause some level of internal strife.

now to get into the incoherency thing, he has a very specific image he seems to be going for; he's known for philanthropy, and there's a newspaper clipping from the potts files talking about his "cheerful attitude" and him being a donor to the empire bay press guild and how he's always getting slandered, so clearly he's good at PR, though the cheerful thing seems to be a facade just for the press.  overall i think he's trying to seem like a businessman, and he's trying to seem upper class and refined.  but he's new money.  he grew up a working class immigrant kid, and no amount of philanthropy and and charisma and opera-going is going to make any of the old money snobs see past that.  i get the vibe in his later years he’s kind of ashamed at having grown up poor, or at least he has this sense of “i’m never going back” (probably the same way vito does, but carlo…had what it took, i guess) that probably makes it difficult to reconcile the fact that he had some good times back then–he even expresses nostalgia for his prohibition days in the planetarium shootout.  hell, the existence of the maltese falcon bar kind of sums it up–it’s a nice restaurant themed after pulp detective novels, which were considered fairly lowbrow at the time (and hell, maybe even now).  it’s a contradiction.  i feel like, to an extent, he probably talks himself out of thinking those were the good old days, but i don’t think he can let go completely.

thirdly i think he had a lot of doubts about killing moretti and probably had to talk himself into it, convincing himself it was for the good of the family and he could do much better than the old man, and that the war just needed to end.  he doesn’t seem heartless to me either–he rewarded eddie and jack for their loyalty, he kept tony balls around after he survived the car bomb that killed moretti, he still regards eddie as a close friend despite secretly viewing him as a liability.  he seems personable enough and actually talks to his men even if, again, for PR reasons.  i think he probably went further off the rails as the stress of being boss got to him and there were multiple attempts on his life (rocco, frankie potts), he got paranoid and arrogant, and and he finally spiraled into “everyone who stands in my way has to go” and recklessly attacking everyone, but i don’t think he started that way.  he would’ve gone after the other families sooner if he had.  he certainly doesn’t seem to alienate people as fast as, say, clemente does.

honestly i think i kind of lost the plot trying to explain myself here and maybe i’ll make another post someday if i can figure out a better way to word things, but the long and short of it is that i think he’s a walking contradiction in many ways and it wears on him.  and to borrow a line from “red light” by wall of voodoo (which is a great song btw), his attitude is very much “this modern world deserves a modern attitude!”

[asilverjackal]

Anon: ‘careful with that boy of yours, Sal. little Frankie is starting to look a little light in the loafers if you know what I mean.’

      Sitting here Salvatore thinks, really, truly thinks that Vince Mancino always had it out for him. Much like Salvatore himself, this fat-fuck was also left to his own devices in the ghettos of Brownsville. Cut from the same cloth, they routinely stole from local shops, ‘fought back’ at the shopkeepers and clerks, and marveled at the local wiseguys. He thinks that he and Mancino’s bad blood began in ‘60, when their group of friends decided that it was Sal who was best suited for the position of leader. Any other time he and Mancino crossed paths, a nose was bleeding. A shirt collar was widened from ferocious, blood-crazed adolescents.       

    Then, for Vince to get made - and furthermore, to see Sal as one of many suited men at his ‘ceremony’ definitely had to make the moment a little less magical. At least, Salvatore hoped it did. So, envy and childhood disdain is what had to create this comment, Salvatore firmly believed. Why else would such a thing be said now of all times? When Frankie scampered away from their table, determined to hunt down their waiter and remind her that these men were waiting on their drinks. Rather than speaking, Salvatore takes a drag of his cigarette. Gets his thoughts in order.                  Back when Sal took a few hours of the day to lift up a book and read, he would learn his desires were validated by the Old World. But it did not take a book to learn homosexuality or bisexuality was valid, for at the age of nineteen Sal could name a few guys on hand that liked to get fucked. Turned over, bent over, fucked. These were tough guys that even tried to cuddle in the aftermath and get a earful of your heartbeat. But always in the name of survival, they would zip up their pants, pull on their shirts, and yet again participated in the tribal ritual of whistling and gawking at creamy thighs and styled locks.      Although confident in himself - in his masculinity, Salvatore would never call himself a bisexual. Not around the guys. He did not particularly fear them as much as he feared the spreading of words. If it ever got back to old man Giovanni that he stuffed his cock in the mouth of a man, he would likely die. Even when his mentor was sixty-eight: Giovanni had fists like cantaloupes. Without a doubt, he would have cut him away from the gym. He would make Salvatore a pariah of his community. These were thoughts that evoked genuine discomfort.       Part of Salvatore thinks that the skirt-chasing Frankie was suddenly ‘too young.’ Too young to know anything about love for Vince’s words to be valid. Then, there is another part of Salvatore that thinks what does it matter if the kid likes guys and girls? If he grew up to prefer one over the other, Salvatore wouldn’t wail on him. Sincerely, he does not want the boy to worry of the privileges that would be snatched from under his feet. Salvatore then thinks that he is already a unconventional man. He did not have the right wife, or the right daughters, why not showcase his boy-loving, future protégé with the same amount of causality?

      “Yeah?” Again, he puffs at the cigarette. “So he’ll be like a modern day, ah - Cleomachus? I don’t see nothing wrong with that.” That guy apparently died beside his fellow solider and lover on the battlefield fighting for his home - although Salvatore has his disdain for the military, the comparison will suffice for tonight.

   “Frankie can kick ass…he’s like me, that way. One day he’s going to be the king of New York and he’ll kill anyone who gives him shit.” King of New York is a statement even more controversial, but hey: in the future anything is possible.

–INSULT PEOPLE SAL CARES ABOUT. // ACCEPTING. // @wardogsong

[mindthump]

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino: 'We’re not doing this ever again' https://ift.tt/33hEQTi

‘Hi guys and girls,” says Al Pacino brightly, making his entrance. He is sporting a veteran-boho look: what seems like about six black cardigans on top of each other, lots of chunky finger jewellery and messy bird’s-nest hair. There may even be one of those two-inch ponytails that were popular in the late 80s in there somewhere – it is hard to see in the general tonsorial disorder.

Next to stroll in is Robert De Niro, who – in dramatic contrast – looks like he has come in from a round of golf: shirt and sports jacket, grey-white hair slicked back. Welcome, then, to the Al and Bob show.

Observing them here, in an intimate room full of selected journalists, you see how their personalities contrast as much as their dress sense. Pacino speaks in a barely audible bass rumble and is not short of waffle; De Niro, while not exactly monosyllabic, spends as much time nodding with his distinctive pursed-mouth underbite and says as little as he can get away with. That is, until we got on to the matter of a certain US president, of which more later.

The pair – the film industry’s equivalent of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards – are bona fide living legends, the greatest US actors of their generation, able to wipe the floor with modern lightweights such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Daniel Day-Lewis. Or that is what we would like to believe, anyway. Today, they have rolled into London as the main attraction on the press roadshow for The Irishman, Martin Scorsese’s monumental new gangster picture – and there is a lot to get through. “Wow,” says Pacino at one point, casting his mind back across the pair’s career-long relationship. ��We’ve known each other for a really long time.”

For years, The Irishman was little more than a rumour; plagued by delays, distractions and drop-outs, it looked odds-on never to make it out of the starting gate. But, like a wiseguy fitted with a cement overcoat, it has landed thunderously in the middle of the autumn season, blowing away the rest of the awards-bait dross.

The Irishman is the fourth in Scorsese’s series of epic mafia pictures, following Mean Streets, Goodfellas and Casino; it is the latest variant of Scorsese’s reinvention of mob life as an agonised stations of the cross. It is also the wintriest of character studies, contemplating (like Scorsese’s last film, Silence) the approach of death with equanimity. The CGI that Scorsese added to “de-age” his actors, and the deal that the director made with Netflix to fund it, has unexpectedly put his film in the same camp as cutting-edge industry disrupters. Scorsese himself has acquired new cultural currency in recent months: the naked homage/appropriation by the makers of Joker has driven attention to his string of 70s masterworks, while his dismissive comments about superhero movies (“not cinema”) – the first shots in the publicity campaign for The Irishman, as it happens – ignited a social media firestorm that is yet to die down.

Yet, more fundamental than any of this is the sense that The Irishman is a landmark reunion of the old neighbourhood: a last gathering of the clans, a final get-together before age and time overtakes them. Harvey Keitel and Joe Pesci play ageing mob bosses, Pacino is a notorious union boss, Jimmy Hoffa, and De Niro is the Irishman, ice-cold real-life hitman Frank Sheeran. The Irishman turns on the relationship between Hoffa, whose disappearance and presumed murder in 1975 remains unsolved, and Sheeran, a hitherto little-known mob figure who confessed to killing Hoffa, his longtime friend, to the lawyer Charles Brandt, who included it in his 2004 biography of Sheeran, I Heard You Paint Houses. Hoffa and Sheeran provide suitably substantial figures for Pacino and De Niro to renew their on-screen confrontation, most vividly portrayed in the 1995 Michael Man thriller Heat (the 2008 cop comedy Righteous Kill was slightly less memorable).

Pacino says they met in 1968; at the time, Pacino was a firebrand stage actor yet to feature in films, while De Niro was doing wacky avant-garde movies such as Brian De Palma’s Greetings. “Early on in our careers, we connected from time to time and we found we had similar things happening to us,” says Pacino. “Our lives took on a whole different kind of thing.” It was camaraderie, he says, that “got us together”.

Looking back, their acting careers did seem to blossom with a mysterious symbiosis. Both acquired a reputation in their teens as a troublemaker: De Niro spent much of his youth in Little Italy, Manhattan; Pacino, three years older, grew up in the Bronx. Both scored major breakthroughs in the early 70s courtesy of the Italian-American presence in the Hollywood new wave: Pacino as the flint-hearted capo-in-waiting in Francis Ford Coppola’s gangster epic The Godfather in 1972, De Niro as a knockaround guy in Scorsese’s Mean Streets a year later. The two appeared in the same film for the first time, although not together, in Coppola’s Godfather sequel in 1974: De Niro played the young version of Pacino’s father.

Sometimes I feel I know nothing about acting. Until you start. That's what's exciting for me

Al Pacino

Pacino gets a little dewy eyed; he looks a bit like a panda with a secret sorrow. “We’re really close. We don’t see each other very much, but when we do, we found we shared certain things. In a way, I think we’ve helped each other throughout life.” The thought of Tony Montana chewing things over with Jake LaMotta is not an image to trifle with. De Niro nods away, bottom lip almost wobbling, but there is no stopping Pacino. Their off-screen friendship, he says, has fed into their acting; in Heat, he says, “we were at opposite ends”, whereas “we were close” on Righteous Kill. They “had a chance to explore that again” on The Irishman: the relationship between Hoffa and Sheeran, who were friends for years before Sheeran’s betrayal, is the nub of the film. “I don’t think we talked about it consciously. It came relatively easy, as those things go.”

When it is his turn to talk, De Niro is all business. The Irishman, it would appear, is as much his show as Scorsese’s. He explains how he nagged Pesci on to the film, despite him having all but retired: “I said: ‘Come on, we’re not going to do this ever again.’” Sentiment is not his thing. “It was tough enough to get it done, to get the money to do it and everything. I don’t see us putting on a movie like this. I hope we do other films together, but like this? Not likely. This is it.”

Much ink has been spilled over the years on the De Niro-Scorsese axis, as well as the De Niro-Pacino one. But, bizarrely enough, Pacino and Scorsese had never worked together before. For two such high-profile princes of the Italian-American sensibility, that feels like a mistake. “I know,” rumbles Pacino, leaning in and turning worldly-wise. “Like everything in this business, if you’ve been in it for a while, you realise that things get started, but then they go in different places and they don’t always culminate in a film. A couple of times, Marty and I were going to do something together, then they slip away.” He mentions a Modigliani biopic he and Scorsese worked on in the 80s, which they tried and failed to get financed. “Happens all the time.”

De Niro was the key in finally getting The Irishman off the ground. He and Scorsese had been mulling another project about a retired hitman for years, The Winter of Frankie Machine, adapted from the 2006 novel of the same name by Don Winslow. As it was gearing up, De Niro was directing his second film, The Good Shepherd, about the early days of the CIA; that film’s writer, Eric Roth, gave him a copy of Brandt’s Sheeran book as research. After reading it, De Niro took it straight to Scorsese. Just as Frankie Machine was about to get the green light from Paramount, Scorsese did the unthinkable: he walked away and started over again.

More Scorsese films intervened – Shutter Island, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street, Silence – before schedules and money aligned and The Irishman could start shooting. For half a decade, De Niro says, the only relic of the film was a now-legendary table read in 2012, “just to have it documented so it could be shown to anybody who was interested”. Every now and then, De Niro says, Pacino “would call me and ask: ‘Is it happening?’ I’d say: ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s happening.’ But it took a long time.”

So long, in fact, that they started to get too old to play their roles as originally conceived. Both actors are well into their eighth decade: Pacino is 79, De Niro 76. Scorsese had been clear that he did not want to use different actors for their middle-aged selves, who dominate the film’s scenes. Enter the “de-ageing” CGI technology. “Netflix came in and paid for the process,” De Niro says. “It helped us all along.”

Did they get the willies confronting their younger versions? Sheepish guffaws ensue. “What do you think?” asks De Niro. “Don’t we all?” replies Pacino. Do they still enjoy the job? De Niro is pithy: “It’s different, but I like it just as much.” Pacino goes long: “It sort of depends on what you’re doing,” he says. “I hate to say it, but you can go 20 years between inspirations.” He stops for a moment, baffled by his own eloquence. “Bear with me – I’m going through the bushes here and I’ll come out with something.” He says he is always on the lookout “to find something that you really connect to, you really want to do”. A lot of the acting he does is “work-rest”, he says, so he can “get back to looking around and seeing what’s out there”.

We have a gangster president who thinks he can do anything he wants

Robert De Niro

De Niro nods along furiously. Pacino is in the groove. “Sometimes I feel I know nothing about acting. Until you start. That’s what’s exciting for me. A new character. I often say: ‘Desire is more motivating than talent.’ I’ve seen people with great desire take it through. The truth is, it’s the same thing that is always was: you are feeling this new character, this new person, this new story.” As he grinds to a halt, Pacino looks pleased: he has come out with something all right. It is a great manifesto for a living legend.

As the encounter starts to wind down, one big question – arguably the biggest – remains unasked. If it is about anything, The Irishman is about the gangsterisation of US politics, how the Cosa Nostra exploited opportunities to corrupt the electoral process and organised labour. Two big killings – those of John F Kennedy and Hoffa – are characterised as the outcome of mafia intervention in the political sphere. Some might say the US is still living with the legacy; as De Niro’s version of Sheeran likes to say: “It is what it is.” De Niro has a record on this: we know he hates Trump and has called him out time after time. But the way he suddenly takes over the room is amazing to behold: eyes like gun-sights, he gives Trump both barrels. “We have a real, immediate problem in that we have a gangster president who thinks he can do anything he wants.” De Niro is livid; Pacino knows to keep quiet. “If he actually gets away with it, then we all have a problem. The gall of the people around him who actually defend him, these Republicans, is appalling.” He does not call Trump a “mook”, but he may as well have.

Instead, he has a message for the press: “It’s a resentment of people like you guys, writing about what you see is obvious gangsterism. They don’t like that, so they say: ‘Fuck you, we’re going to teach you people.’ And they have to know they’re going to be taught.” This is De Niro unfiltered, and it is thrilling to experience it at close quarters. Does he think Trump will go to jail? “Oh, I can’t wait to see him in jail. I don’t want him to die. I want him to go to jail.”

And with that the Al and Bob show closes. De Niro abruptly resumes his affable persona and says goodbye; he and Pacino are swiftly escorted out. Trump – we can but hope – is quaking in his boots. But The Irishman roadshow rolls on. It is what it is.

The Irishman is released in UK cinemas on 8 November and is on Netflix from 27 November

[ballpitbee]

STAGE SELECT

[seroothincs]

What’re some headcanons you have for Dan Gillick?

Dan! Oh, I miss that cute little guy. I absolutely hate how they changed him from a legit accountant for the mob to a stupid ear piercing clerk at the mall, makes no fucking sense so In my personal words, I say he still works for the mob. Course I have some headcanons for him! - The fact the mafia literally had to hire an accountant makes me think that they most DEFINITELY just hired Dan because they needed a second intelligent person in the mob to do their math work for them. They couldn't keep on pushing that responsibility onto Legs who already has his hands full. - Dan has an IQ of 142, ranking him as being above average. - I feel like he and Legs are good friends even after Dan threatened to cut his hand off. - Guy likes to listen to the beatles after long and stressful days. Just to help him calm down.

Something tells me that Dan really wanted to become a math professor but due to his endless nights of studying and abusing his own health just to pass the needed tests, he became more exhausted and burned out than ever. Forcing him to adapt to becoming an accountant.

- He's a very organized dude, a bit too much of organized if anything. His apartment is spot-clean, he keeps track of all his files and even remembers the smallest of insignificant things.

His favorite dish is Grilled Cheese

Despite being seen and known as "just an accountant" the wiseguys treat him more like family. So much so that they even invite him to their annual karaoke nights after work. Just Him stuck in between the madness with Legs and Tommy "The Face-shooter" while Louie, Sonny - Go along and Frankie put their heart and soul into their performances.

Those are not many headcanons, I know. But Dan is the least one of the mob I make personal thoughts about, I love him don't get me wrong but I don't have many opinions on him as a character other than--- you know, being WAAYY too underrated.

[wazafam]

Adapted from the non-fiction novel Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas chronicles the rise and fall of mobster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). The movie is populated with intriguing characters such as Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) and Jimmy (Robert DeNiro) but Henry's wife Karen Hill (Lorraine Bracco) stands out in a lot of ways.

RELATED: Goodfellas: Henry Hill's 10 Best Quotes

Through Karen's words, viewers get a clear perspective of the mob life. She acts as the film's second narrator and provides plenty of laughs and shocks along the way. She is a phenomenal character, as critics have acknowledged. For her portrayal of the character, Bracco received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

10 "All Of Them Were Named Peter Or Paul... And They Were All Married To Girls Named Marie."

During her wedding to mobster Henry Hill, Karen is introduced to all the relatives and as per her confession in a voiceover, there is hardly a variety of names at the ceremony. Apparently, every man either goes by the name Peter or Paul (Paulie). And all the women have no other name than Marie.

A similar scenario is seen in The Sopranos, in which a couple of characters share names. Tony Soprano and his cousin Tony Blundetto are referred to as Tony A and Tony B by those who know them both.

9 "There Are Women Who Would Have Left The Minute Their Boyfriend Gave Them A Gun To Hide. But I Didn't."

Early in their relationship. Henry surprises Karen by brutally assaulting a man who had disrespected her. He uses the handle of a gun to beat up the man before handing over the weapon to Karen to hide it.

In a voiceover, Karen admits that such a thing wasn't normal and it could have scared many women off, including many of her friends. But she was different. What Henry did made her attracted to him even more.

8 "They Don't Feel Like You're In Construction."

Henry proves just influential he is while taking Karen out for the first time. Instead of waiting in line at the Copacabana, he takes her to the back door and walks in through the kitchen. A table is then brought to them near the stage.

RELATED: 8 Actors Considered For Roles In Goodfellas

As they are enjoying their drinks, a curious Karen asks Henry what he really does for a living. He lies to her he is in construction. To verify his claims, she takes his hands and feels them. She comes up with the conclusion that his hands don't feel hard enough for someone in construction. He again lies that he is one of the bosses, not the laborers.

7 "Rossi! Janice Rossi, Do You Hear Me? He's My Husband! Get Your Own Man!"

Movies and TV shows about the mafia have show that it's a common thing for mobsters to have "goomahs" "comares" — mistresses. But that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. In Goodfellas, Henry Hill cheats on Karen with a woman named Janice Rossi. When Karen finds out, she heads over to Janice's apartment to give her a piece of her mind.

Through the intercom, she orders Janice to open the door so that they can "talk." Janice refuses, so Karen begins yelling. She tells Janice that she is going to wait there and tell everyone who walks into the building that there is a "husband-snatcher" living in Apartment 2R.

6 "Who The Hell Do You Think You Are? Frankie Valli Or Some Kinda Bigshot?

Karen isn't too happy when Henry stands her up on their second date. She gets even angrier when he shows up the next night and pretends like it wasn't a big deal.

Well, Karen isn't having it. She tells Henry that he needs to dial down on his sense of self-importance. He is not Frankie Valli, after all. Valli was the frontman of the popular Four Seasons rock band.

5 "When Henry Picked Me Up, I Was Dizzy."

The very first time Karen has to hang out with the rest of the mob wives at Mickey's hostess party, she doesn't like it. According to her, it was a very dizzying experience for her.

RELATED: The 10 Best Gangster Movies Ever Made, According To Rotten Tomatoes

The mob wives talked about nothing else but their kids and how they always beat them with broom handles and leather belts for messing up. Karen also takes a shot at their poor sense of fashion, claiming they applied too much makeup and wore nothing but pantsuits and double knits.

4 "Our Husbands Weren't Brain Surgeons. The Only Way They Could Make Money Was To Go Out And Cut A Few Corners."

After being married to Henry for a while. Karen gets used to the mob life. In another voiceover, she explains how it all felt normal to her. She even liked the way her husband was making money.

According to her, other men were sitting around every day waiting for handouts from their bosses at the end of the month. Mobsters were different. They went out every day and came back with money. To add weight to her statement, the scene then cuts to Henry and Tommy hijacking a truck.

3 "A Few Bucks To Keep Things Quiet, No Matter What They Found."

Karen also reveals what it was like dealing with the police. Apparently, they'd show up at the house frequently with subpoenas and warrants. They enjoyed harassing mobsters but most of them never really had the intention of arresting. All they wanted were handouts and they'd go away.

According to her, such warrants made them find a lot of incriminating evidence. However, they didn't do anything about it so long as money changed hands.

2 "We Always Went Together. No Outsiders."

Explaining what the life of a mob wife was like, Karen says that they always accompanied each other everywhere. No matter what great city or exotic island they visited, they were always together. As time went by, she found it fun.

RELATED: 10 Best 90s Biography Films, Ranked (According To IMDb)

The reason for this was to prevent outsiders from coming across any incriminating information about the mob. Each mob wife knew what her husband did, hence she could talk freely. There wouldn't have been the same kind of freedom if outsiders were involved.

1 "Wake Up, Henry!"

Understandably, Henry's affair doesn't sit well with Karen. One morning, she wakes him and when he opens his eyes, she is on top of him with a gun pointed at his face.

She demands to know whether he loves his mistress but he refuses to answer. She then admits that she can neither bring herself to hurt him or leave him, no matter how disappointed she is. She just loves him despite his numerous misdemeanors.

NEXT: The Sopranos: 10 Actors Who Also Appeared In Goodfellas

Goodfellas: 10 Best Karen Hill Quotes | ScreenRant from https://ift.tt/2R03Pd0

[starterpak]

One Piece ワンピース [Yonkō Saga / Whole Cake Island Arc] : "Minister of Juice” Commander Charlotte Smoothie vs Nico “Devil Child” Robin

[Commander Smoothie] "Quickly! We must get to the East Gate before--who are you?!" [Nico Robin] "Mil des Arbres."

Whole Cake Island is fun but I'll admit it didn't live up to the hype! (except the amazing commanders kek) I miss having the Strawhats together! Need me some Robin/Zoro/Usopp/Franky haha Also I'm kind of sad Oda didn't play more on the mafia concept he had going, was expecting some slick Wiseguy lines. And I’m still waiting for Sir Cracker to return, c’mon 800m! Get back in the fight boi! Anyways, where the Smoothie fights at tho? Dear Oda, we still waitin'. kthxbai. ♪ :  Evangelion 3.33 OST 05

[autumn2007-blog]

The Goodfellas Soundtrack: Juxtaposition of Sound

Also see my original essay “Juxtaposition of Sound” https://ift.tt/2Y1X49P

Martin Scorsese has always had gift for marrying music with film. Goodfellas is one of the greatest masterpieces of this marriage. From the slow revelations of gangland murders to Derek and The Dominoes “Layla”, to the frenetic mélange that accompanies the film’s wild, jump-cut climax. Scorsese like a musician himself knows what notes to play and not play, when to pause and when to speed up, when to go hard or soft.

• “Rags to Riches” by Tony Bennett – Opening credits, opening narration. • “Can’t We Be Sweethearts” by The Cleftones – Young Henry is parking Cadillacs. • “Hearts of Stone” by Otis Williams and the Charms – Henry’s mailman is threatened. • “Sincerely” by The Moonglows – The wiseguy get-together (cookout) at Paulie’s home. • “Firenze Sogna” by Giuseppe Di Stefano – New suit; Shooting victim (Wasting aprons). • “Speedo” by The Cadillacs – Kid Henry, the sandwich boy; Jimmy Conway is first introduced. • “Parlami d’amore Mariu” by Giuseppe Di Stefano – Young Henry gets pinched for selling cigarettes. • “Stardust” by Billy Ward and His Dominoes – Idlewild Airport 1963; First appearance of the grown-up Henry Hill; Truck hijacking. • “This World We Love In (Il Cielo In Una Stanza)” by Mina – In the Bamboo Lounge; Mobsters are introduced; Air France heist is planned. • “Playboy” by The Marvelettes – Bamboo Lounge bust-out – Henry and Tommy burn the restaurant. • “It’s Not for Me to Say” by Johnny Mathis – The double date; Karen is introduced, and ignored by Henry. • “I Will Follow Him” by Peggy March– Karen is stood-up, and loudly confronts Henry in the street. • “Then He Kissed Me” by The Crystals – Henry and Karen enter the Copacabana from the rear. • “Look in My Eyes” by The Chantels – The Air France heist; Paulie gets his cut. • “Roses Are Red” by Bobby Vinton – Henry and Karen at the beach resort; Receiving champagne from Bobby Vinton at the Copa. • “Life Is But a Dream” by The Harptones – Henry and Karen’s wedding and reception. • “Leader of the Pack” by The Shangri-Las – The hostess party. • “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?” by Dean Martin – Narration continues – Mob life montage. • “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” by The Crystals – Billy Batts is introduced at the Suite Lounge; “Shinebox” insult. • “Atlantis” by Donovan – Billy Batts is beaten down and kicked by Tommy and Jimmy. • “Pretend You Don’t See Her” by Jerry Vale – Friday night at the Copa with the girlfriends; Sunday dinner at Paulie’s. • “Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand)” by The Shangri-Las – Henry with Janice at the Suite before digging up Billy Batts’s body. • “Baby I Love You” by Aretha Franklin – Janice Rossi’s apartment; She shows her girlfriends around; Spider is introduced at a poker game. • “Firenze Sogna” by Giuseppe Di Stefano – (2nd time played) Another poker game; Tommy kills Spider. • “Beyond the Sea” by Bobby Darin – Prison life/dinner; Henry begins selling drugs. • “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” Performed by Tony Bennett – Dinner at Paulie’s house after Henry is paroled. • “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones – Henry cutting cocaine at Sandy’s place; Brings in Jimmy and Tommy at the parole office. • “Wives and Lovers” by Jack Jones – Karen shows off the new house/furniture to Belle; Morrie pitches the Lufthansa heist to Henry. • “Monkey Man” by The Rolling Stones – The babysitter, Lois Byrd (with baby) is introduced; Henry again at Sandy’s place mixing the coke. • “Frosty the Snowman” by The Ronettes – Henry arrives at the Christmas party; Jimmy chews out Johnny Roastbeef for the Cadillac. • “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love – Jimmy chews out Frankie Carbone for the mink; Morrie pesters Jimmy for his share of the Lufthansa heist. • “Bells of St. Marys” by The Drifters – Henry Hill’s Christmas tree; The execution of Stacks Edwards. • “Unchained Melody” by Vito and The Salutations – In the bar, Henry is worried about Stacks; Tommy thinks he’s being “made”; Morrie again pesters Jimmy. • “Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream – Jimmy contemplates killing Morrie and other members of his crew. • “Layla (Piano Exit)” by Derek and The Dominos – Dead bodies are being discovered all over town; Tommy is executed. • “Jump into the Fire” by Harry Nilsson – The beginning of the “May 11, 1980 – 6:55 AM” helicopter sequence; Delivering guns to Jimmy. • “Memo from Turner” by Mick Jagger – Henry leaves Jimmy’s with the unwanted guns. • “Magic Bus” by The Who (Live at Leeds version) – Frantic, intoxicated driving; Henry almost has a car accident. • “Jump into the Fire” by Harry Nilsson – (2nd time played) Henry drive • “My Way” by Sid Vicious – End credits.

Also see my original essay “Juxtaposition of Sound” https://ift.tt/2Y1X49P

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[ballpitbee]

Bye