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A Film Travelogue: Heists and Gangsters

by Ainsley Hume on 2019-07-25T19:15:30-04:00 | 0 Comments

As a continuation of our “Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride” display, I picked out three gangster/heist movies to watch for this week: Reservoir Dogs [IMC DVD 364.15 R433 2002], White Heat [IMC DVD 364.1066 W582 2005], and Goodfellas [IMC DVD 364.1066 G197 2004].

My first movie, Reservoir Dogs, is different from most gangster movies because it is directed by Quentin Tarantino, who loves to break up his films into segments. The movie was interesting because most of the actual film was the aftermath of a heist which went wrong. You learn that there was a snitch in the group, and as we meet the characters involved in the heist, we try to figure out who the snitch might have been. I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought I would, and recognized a couple characters from Tarantino’s other movies.

White Heat was my first James Cagney movie, and it did not disappoint. Cagney plays a psychotic gangster who tried to lay low after a train heist goes wrong, and then decides to take a stint in jail until the trail goes cold. Little does he know that the cops are onto him, and send in an undercover cop to try to get the information about where he hid the money from the heist. James Cagney does a great job in his role, and I’m excited to watch a couple more of his earlier films!

My last movie, Goodfellas, is a movie that has been on my watchlist for a very long time, but I hadn’t yet gotten around to watching it. I’m glad I finally did, because it is easily one of Scorsese’s best films. While mobster movies can be enjoyable on their own, I particularly like this film because of the voice-overs that Scorsese has several of the characters do throughout the film. In this way, we get much more of the story without it feeling intrusive to the story itself. The soundtrack is perfect as well, blending in so seamlessly that you almost forget to listen for it. I highly recommend this movie if you, like me, had not yet gotten around to watching it.

Hopefully you've had a chance to check out our “Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride” themed display. If not, next week is our last week before we switch over to Staff Picks! You can track your own film viewing progress here: https://letterboxd.com/peterstanley/list/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die/ .


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