The King of Comedy

DeNiro became so skilled at playing tightly wound, simmering types that Mean Streets is kind of an outlier in what a live wire character he portrays. I still love that back room conversation between him and Keitel, and the pool hall fight scene (which is actually stolen by the supporting characters imo.) It's better on subsequent viewings, I saw it when I was younger and it felt half-formed, but later viewings revealed a lot.

Romanus and Proval are outstanding, too; Proval in particular. As far as I know he didn't do much of note between Mean Streets and his role as Richie Aprile in The Sopranos. He was so good in the latter, casting people must have been sleeping on him.

Casino btw is pretty astonishing, it received unfair flak for being a Goodfellas ripoff but it's such a different vibe. The characters are more desiccated and empty, Goodfellas felt at times like a classic '30s/'40s comedy mixed in with a vicious gangster film, w/unrepentant yet likable characters, Casino is an ugly, horrifying tragedy. Assuming it was brought up because it hasn't been seen, all I'll say is that there's a scene near the end which is probably one of the most terrifying, nightmarish things I've seen in cinema.

omar otm re: Casino. Some days I prefer it to Goodfellas -- it feels like Scorsese is fully aware he's doing another Goodfellas, but he's trying to see just how far he can take that kind of story, in every way.

And as great as the music cues were in Goodfellas, stretches of wall-to-wall music in Casino are masterful, as are little things like the "Toad" solo fading in and out, and only using "Go Your Own Way" for a few seconds.

Casino suffers from too many narrators syndrome.

I don't usually love Ray Liotta, but I think he's great in Goodfellas precisely because he's not afraid to put his character's flaws front and center. He doesn't play it too cool, he's not an anti-hero, he's a shithead who managed to be a big shot for a little while.

King of Comedy is great, but count me among the boring Taxi Driver/Raging Bull/Goodfellas/Mean Streets contingent.

I had little doubt on this point.

I would never argue that TKoC is "clearly superior" to Raging Bull and Goodfellas. It is if you're wired like me.

If you think of Mean Streets as little more than a rough sketch, stay clear of Who's That Knocking at My Door--which has at least one scene, the one with "El Watusi," I consider as great as almost anything Scorsese went on to do.

Taxi Driver and King of Comedy are kind of a double A side

And now I want to see Mean Streets, but I only have ten minutes before I go to work

Lewis told GQ, “Originally my name in the script was Robert Langford, I said, ‘Marty! We’re going to be shooting in New York. Do yourself a favor and call him Jerry Langford.’ He said, ‘Why?’ “Because everywhere we go in New York, your construction workers and cab drivers will validate that it’s Jerry.”

https://cinephiliabeyond.org/the-king-of-comedy/

Screened Ingrid Goes West last night...strong KoC vibes in that one.

saw this for the first time last night. it’s an astonishing film, almost can’t believe scorsese made it. de niro has played sociopaths well before but he’s just so perfect here, class acting all around actually. and having seen UNCUT GEMS first, it almost anticipates that film — I was expecting rupert to get shot between the eyes as soon as his bit finished airing in the bar.

Phoned a longtime friend today and--long story--had to make sure it was actually him I was talking to.

"What do we call our second cameraman?"

It was him.

Laraine Newman says she auditioned for the Sandra Bernhard role. Had to sit on De Niro's lap and coo at him. It didn't work out.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS_gQd8UB-hJtGDAPKjbY2CM-nGgVtBZw

Oops

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z37uV6nIgmQ

I guess the greatness of The King of Comedy is supposed to be that it is brilliant because it's entirely cringy and off-putting. All I can say is ugh. It is my least favorite Scorsese film

Next thing you will be telling us is that you don’t like Andy Kaufman.

Andy Kaufman was great

:)

Agreed that this is Scorsese's best. It's certainly the one that's most stuck with me in the years since I saw it.

"You should only get cancer, I hope you get cancer!"

I think it's a great film too, one of Scorsese's best. IIRC John Huston was really put off initially but came around to it when he realized it was confronting a lot of uncomfortable truths that public Hollywood figures like himself usually try to ignore - that a lot of aspiring filmmakers, actors, etc. who want to make it in Hollywood are attracted to fame just like a zealous fan. And as good as All About Eve may be, King of Comedy comes closer to how ugly, deranged and pathetic that attraction can be.

^good post

All I can say is ugh. It is my least favorite Scorsese film

You daffy bastard.

I didn’t know he was Welsh.

That would be Taffy. 0:53.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjAfhTsxVyo

Yeah, I know