2015
Tag: Kevin Corrigan
video review : Meadowland
A man and woman lose their kid. That’s not a euphemism for death. They literally lose him at a gas station one day. The presumption is that he was kidnapped; the premise for a potentially engrossing story; but director Reed Morano ruins it by skipping to the boring epilogue. That means we’re forced to watch the parents mope as uneventful month by uneventful month goes by.
The movie focuses more on the woman, played by Olivia Wilde, as she goes down a spiral that is odd and a little absurd. Eating old cookie crumbs, smoking crack, having sex with strangers; her naked ass in the sex scene is the best part; and stalking little boys may be a part of her personality, but it seems unlikely simply losing a child of her own would make her do such things.
my rating : 2 of 5
2015
video review : Goodfellas
These “good” fellas are ruthless mobsters. When they need money, they take it and dare whoever it is they’re taking it from to go to the cops. If you cross them, they’ll whack you, bury your body and go out for drinks. They’re organized criminals, wiseguys, above the law in more than enough ways to keep things running smoothly for themselves. As a kid, Henry Hill always wanted to be one of them.
Goodfellas focuses on him doing just that. The first third is mainly backstory and the plot doesn’t really shoot-up until the final third. That’s when the Lufthansa heist goes down and things begin to fall apart. The movie is too long and some of the acting seems caricatural; Karen is particularly annoying; but it’s an interesting glimpse into the (real) life of the Lucchese crime family.
my rating : 4 of 5
1990
video review : The Departed
Under the wing of crime boss Frank Costello, Colin Sullivan manages to infiltrate the Massachusetts police force as an informant for the Irish Mob. At the same time, the police manage to plant an undercover rookie in with Costello’s crew to bust him from the inside. It’s when the two rats start tailing each other that the plot starts to captivate.
my rating : 4 of 5
2006