Tag: Gambling

Goodfellas is a real game-changer

Posted on by victorfraga

Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece, starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, and Joe Pesci, turned 30 just last year. The film seemed far removed from all the glory and pomp of Godfather (1971). Goodfellas portrays a real story, in palpable language, with mobsters walking around the movie sets and telling how to act for real. It was a hit amongst audiences and critics alike, and it is widely considered one of the greatest gangster movies of all time.

Goodfellas showed the cruelty of mob life in a very realistic fashion. It also helped to popularise the gambling environment. There are abundant casinos and gambling spaces, and this is where most of the real action takes place. With the advent of the internet, online gambling has also come to life for casino fans, and many of them are available on very user-friendly platforms. Goodfellas might have a long-lasting impact in more ways than one: it could help to legalise gambling in certain American states. Sites such as OLBG.com then came to life as a community for tipsters but also as a trusted source for finding legal casinos.

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It all started with a book

When Martin Scorsese read a review of Nicholas Pileggi’s Wiseguy book, he had an insight into the story’s potential even before reading the book. But the film director probably didn’t imagine that this would be the start of one of the most acclaimed mafia productions ever made. Goodfellas is still as exciting to watch as it was three decades ago, skilfully blending drama with documentary devices.

The story in the book is told from from the point-of-view of one of the gangsters, Henry Hill. Scorsese cast Ray Liotta as lead: Ray Liotta. The director remained its primary source: with free narrative and a “ wonderful arrogance,” as the director himself once said. “It would be a fascinating film if you made it the way it is: literally as close to reality as a fiction film could come. There is no need to falsely cultivate empathy for characters,” Scorsese declared in an interview with Film Comment in 1990.

Scorsese’s main interest in the story and his concern when producing the film is to portray the mafia lifestyle as faithfully as possible, especially by entering the minds of characters who didn’t know how to live any other way. “I was interested in what they did. And, you know, they don’t think about it much.” The director proposed to portray the characters’ actions and intentions in the most practical and primitive way possible. “I’m more concerned with showing a lifestyle and using Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) as a guide.”

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The true story

The real-life mobster Henry Hill participated in the production and praised the film. Sometimes movies play dirty. After Goodfellas‘ debut and subsequent success, Henry Hill told everyone his true identity despite being in a Witness Protection Program. It didn’t take long for the government to expel him from the Program. In 2012, Hill died of a heart attack at age 69. He was reportedly surprised that nobody managed to murder him.

The famous line “How am I funny? Funny how…? originated from an interaction between Joe Pesci and a real Italian mobster. When he was young, Joe Pesci worked at a restaurant and counted various mobsters amongst his clients. The film cast are genuinely surprised at the unexpected line. The character Fat Tony is played by NYPD officer Louis Eppolito, who grew up in an actual mob family.

Nicholas Pileggi interacted with many real mobsters of the time. Wiseguy is a non-fiction book based on such encounters. He also co-wrote the movie screenplay.

Life lessons from gambling?

Posted on by victorfraga

Gambling movies tend to fall into a few different categories. Some revolve around the glitz and glamor most people associate with Las Vegas. Others show the seedy underbelly of the industry. Some are high-octane fuelled adventures, and some are funny buddy movies.

It doesn’t matter; they all have one thing in common – they’re exciting and teach us a lesson. In this post, I’ll go over my favourite gambling movies and what fun life lessons they can teach us.

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1. Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006):

The lesson learned here is that it’s always possible to remake yourself. Up until that point, the Bond franchise had become a little stale. It was the same formula over and over again:

  • Super-villain versus super-spy – no points for guessing who always won;
  • Some over the top plan;
  • Camp humour; and
  • Weird, wonderful gadgetry that was just way too convenient.

It worked brilliantly back in the 1960s, and I still find those movies fun to watch. But box office statistics showed that Bond needed a makeover. It was a big departure from the previous movies and something of a gamble itself.

In true form for a gambling movie, the bold bet paid off. It won critical acclaim and approval from a somewhat unexpected source. It was the only 007 movie to make it past Chinese censors.

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2. Rounders (John Dahl, 1998):

This is one of those movies that show the more sordid side of gambling. It’s all high-stakes and entirely illegal gambling. Malkovitch, as usual, delivers a gritty performance as the villain of the piece. That said, it is also quite humorous at times.

The life lesson learned? Never give up and don’t believe what you see on the big screen. This movie makes a gambling addiction seem like nothing serious when, in fact, it can be just as devastating as alcoholism.

Click here in order to find out the key talking point from John Dahl’s Rounders.

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3. Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1989):

This movie is an example of what good acting and directing are all about. Production cost $25 million, but the box office takings were $345.8 million. It’s about a hustler played by Tom Cruise with an autistic brother who’s great at gambling.

The classic life lessons are that you can never judge someone entirely from what you see outside, and that family is important. (Especially, in this case, when being estranged from your father loses you your share of $3 million).

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4. Ocean’s Eleven (Steven Soderbergh, 2001):

The lessons in this movie were simple:

  • No one gets hurt;
  • Only steal from the bad guys; and
  • Go all in.

George Clooney played the lead role as a recently paroled ex-con working a heist. It’s extremely entertaining thanks to the complexity of the plan. It epitomises the idea “go big or go home”.

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5. Maverick (Richard Donner, 1994):

Okay; so this is a pretty ancient movie by modern standards. That doesn’t make it any less fun to watch. It’s a gambling movie set in the wild west, so what’s not to love? Maverick is a clever poker player who meets his match in the feisty Annabelle.

The movie is fun, and the message is clear – sticking to the straight and narrow is good, but sometimes being a bit of a cheat is fun too.

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That concludes the roundup. Are these the life lessons that you learned from the movies? If not, why not let us know what you thought the lessons were?