Goodfellas

One Paulie, no Pete, no Vinnie, no Tony... what kind of gangsters are these?

I'm sorry, but how is this movie one of the best ever made? It seems like the plot is simply content to implode throughout the entire film. The basic summary is thus: Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and his friends work their way up through the mob hierarchy. So perhaps I watched it too late at night, but it seemed to play out as thus (spoilers, but I don't recommend you see this one anyway): one's crazy and ends up face down in a pool of blood, one double-crosses and kills off his co-mobsters, and one tries to run his own crooked business, ends up getting busted, and turns pussy by ratting on everyone and running off to witness protection.

Now normally I don't have a problem with limited storyline, except where that's pretty much all the movie's got going for it. There is little else to keen a viewer interested, with no outstanding acting, sets, costumes, dialogue, no gory themes. No this movies hangs on its storyline, which unfortunately fails.

Where I think this movie falls down the most is the protagonist, Ray Liotta, isn't identifiable enough at the end. If mob movie history has taught audiences around the world one thing, it's that snitches are bad and get what's coming to them. So I'm not sure why the writer decided that was best plot to follow, but I feel it didn't serve to unite an audience behind his actions as the credits start to role.

So, average movie, ok acting, lame storyline.


The Good: Paul Sorvino as Paulie Cicero and much of the supporting cast.
The Meh: Storyline, the rest of the acting.
The Ugly: The ending.
Hey There Good Looking: Gina Mastrogiacomo
Overall: 6.5/10

 Somewhat less attractive in film...

Finding Neverland

 One of these things is not like the other.

A story not so much about how the writer of Peter Pan (Johnny Depp) came about his inspiration, but more so about his relationship with a widow (Kate Winslet) and her four sons as he seeks to open their minds and inspire their imaginations. Having shied away from watching this movie for many years due to the biography/drama genre and the presence of Kate Winslet whom I do not share much affection for, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the movie.

It is not a particularly entertaining movie, although it does have it's moments, but focuses more on 'feel good' and inspiring parts to keep an audience focused. The visuals, style, props and acting were all good and the only real thing keeping this movie from being a huge success is the general genre's lack of appeal to a wider audience.

There are two question that plagued my mind throughout the movie: was it Dustin Hoffman that played Hook, and where the heck had I seen Radha Mitchell (who plays Johnny Depp's wife) before?

Look at my face, does it look like I care?

Can you pick it? I couldn't so maybe this will help...

If you still can't pick it you don't deserve to...

The Good: Johnny Depp acting like a pirate, Hook playing a normal person, the imagination scenes.
The Meh: the genre wasn't really my cup of tea, Kate Winslet is still a bit meh for me too.
The Ugly: I'm not crying, I've just got something in my eye dammit!
Hey There Good Looking: Vin Diesel, clearly.
Overall: 7/10