THE IRISHMAN, A Martin Scorsese Picture with de Niro, Pacino, Pesci, Keitel

I got a kick out of Frank's Jack Benny-esque "thanks for the kind words, I don't deserve this award, but then again, I have bursitis and I don't deserve that either" quip. I've always planned to use that if I ever get some kind of big award, hopefully "astigmatism" or "tinnitus" are the biggest maladies I can substitute for "bursitis" if the time ever comes.

bad film takes on twitter are fine but the constant misuse of terms, particularly in regards to editing, is going to be the death of me. if you hated a movie that’s fine, just don’t say it’s because a jump cut disrupted a scene’s verisimilitude or something else that you googled

— nick usen (@nickusen) December 1, 2019

i assume this is about sheeran's phone call with jo hoffa (which he is still recalling, in an addled, anguished tone years later). what DO we make of that

is there a jump cut in that scene?

seems so (or whatever it's called, i don't care about that) - i actually rewound to check, it was so conspicuous. once he gets on the phone there are two shots of him face-on, the second the longer one, and there's an evident discontinuity between the two, like we're seeing his jumbled mind or something

I agree with Morbs that it's the highlight of the movie

and yeah, "water under the dam" I forgot about that, hilarious

there’s some slight ribbing on union rules at the beginning when Frank’s charged with theft — he says that his only violation was helping to carry the meat from the truck into meat lockers

presumably it was the responsibility of the shops to unload and Frank was doing labor uncompensated, which is verboten. but in teamster world, who unloads a truck is important as loading, driving, unloading are codified union duties and even making an attempt to move cargo off script is a violation

I think the accusations of unions being crooked have some basis in the arcane rules about who does what, but their application leading to more ridiculous scenarios ballooned post-Hoffa and I’ve heard stories from Chicago that are pretty wild. Don’t walk to the other side of the construction job site if you’re part of the engineering company — you have to use the driver

there's an evident discontinuity between the two

Marty has never cared about continuity

it's true but that cut is def deliberate: like frank the movie stammers.

as does leo in Once upon a Time...

I took it was showing us that because he's rehearsing what he has to say, he's kind-of stopping and starting in his head. Kinda like that "Listen you fuckers, you screw-heads.." startover moment in Taxi Driver.

Did anyone spot Stephen Van Zandt playing the nightclub singer in the white suit? Can't have been him singing i guess.

He was kind of on my mind already because the slightly uncanny ventriloquist's dummy vibe Pacino as Hoffa had reminded me of Silvio Dante, but I didn't know it was him til the credits

On that Sopranos tip, it was good to see Robert Funaro and Kate Narduzzi. I also got a real "declining Uncle Junior" vibe from the brief Joe Kennedy scene, kinda wonder if that was Dominick Chianese in an uncredited cameo...

He was kind of on my mind already because the slightly uncanny ventriloquist's dummy vibe Pacino as Hoffa had reminded me of Silvio Dante, but I didn't know it was him til the credits

― Dadjokke (Sgt. Biscuits), Monday, December 2, 2019

good cach

catch even

playing the nightclub singer

Jerry Vale smdh

love when u show up to call people poseurs

no brush up on yr mid 20th-c pop singers who played themselves in Casino

love when u show up to call people poseurs

― Jordan Pickford LOLverdrive (Neanderthal), Monday, December 2, 2019 5:09 PM bookmarkflaglink

On that Sopranos tip, it was good to see Robert Funaro and Kate Narduzzi. I also got a real "declining Uncle Junior" vibe from the brief Joe Kennedy scene, kinda wonder if that was Dominick Chianese in an uncredited cameo...

― henry s, Monday, December 2, 2019 4:53 PM (fifty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

also always fun to see paul herman aka beansie as one of deniro's first mob victims.

Oh yeah, I forgot about Beansie!

Is Jerry Vale famous?? I’ve never heard of him. I did spot that was meant to be Rickles doing the comedy though so swings and roundabouts.

He was. He was also in both Casino and Goodfellas as himself.

He doesn't perform much anymore tho. Possibly because he's dead.

#14 US hit, 1956

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3RKMuyG_G4

I can't stand that comic who plays Rickles, but the rhythm and material were a pretty good rip, as one can compare the mob jokes here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5_V9RT8aR8

https://news.avclub.com/martin-scorsese-politely-reminds-everyone-the-irishman-1840154689?rev=1575321645319&utm_content=Main&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=SF

In reality it was Peter Lemongello who was singing that night at the Copa that Crazy Joe dropped in. Lemongello has an interesting story himself, see Wiki.

btw kid next to me on the subway was watching the film hunched over his phone … skipping 30 seconds ahead frequently (any domestic scenes)

from Wiki:

Earlier that evening, the Gallo party had visited the Copacabana with actor Jerry Orbach and Orbach's wife, Marta, to see a performance by comedian Don Rickles and singer Peter Lemongello.

kinda wonder if that was Dominick Chianese in an uncredited cameo...

thought the same but it's credited to 'eugene bunge'

I agree with Marty that Marvel garbage is not cinema but I am watching the I-man on my phone in hour long intervals over a couple of days (and it’s great)

Eugene Bunge totally seems like a made-up name but I'll take Marty at his word...

sounds like a serial killer that Macabre wrote a song about

i keep thinking about Frank not wanting to be cremated. he wants to be put inside a metal box in a building because it’s less final. And even insisting on keeping the door open at the end. which i get is a hoffa nod but also feels like a resistance against finality too.

it’s like, for all his sociopathic tendencies & general matter of factness about the death of others, it’s an interesting contradiction that he’s so precious about his own end.

Since when is there WiFi in the subway??

xp That's a great point... he doesn't seem like a very bright guy, and he's been m/l a pushover his whole life, his "friends" just used him, there is something in the literalism of his final wishes, like how he goes "you know just in case, I don't want to be burned up, you never know..."
he has a very common and not particularly sophisticated fear of death, the ultimate unknown.

Its been like two years! Not reliable but still.

de Blasio needs to drop out so can he fix the fucking wifi in the subway

he's been m/l a pushover his whole life, his "friends" just used him

this is rly key i think. what he's been is an employee.

i kept thinking about the different relationships to work the fish conversation reveals: one guy who'll drive a fish around on command without even wondering about its nature; another who thinks he's a bigshot because he knows the names of fish; a third who says, have you ever even fucking fished. only hoffa has performed the act of will, at the very point of production, that is actually fishing. the others just take orders, one of them proud to understand them a little better than the other.

but what silent frank knows that hoffa does not is that hoffa is really the fish, the already-dead thing in the back seat the driver doesn't even wonder about. frank is an unfree instrument who pales beside the image of his promethean worker-hero as a free and open-eyed wielder of power, but he has helped to reduce the actual man to a tool like himself. and the man doesn't know it and keeps on talking like he's a fisherman.

frank chooses one father over another but he also chooses to be a model employee, and stays one for so long that, at the end, when everyone is gone, even (as kevin points out) his greatest benefactor (his boss), and there's no one left he's working for, his will is nevertheless completely atrophied, and he does not even have a self left to be. (i thought the narration was to us-- that is, to no one-- rather than to the priest, but idk.) i think there is actually a lot going on in the movie re: what organized labor was vs what the mob made of it, tho it is couched in this personal story.

I was wondering a bit, does he have a union pension? Or does he lose that when he goes to jail?

idk! movie seems to make a lot of hoffa's keeping it in jail being unusual, but i prob under-understood this.

he has helped to reduce the actual man to a tool like himself

sry should have added: or even less, to a resource.

dlh you’re a poet man

yes to Hoffa as "the fish"

I am watching the I-man on my phone in hour long intervals

u can go str8 to hell

yeah great post dlh.

That's a great point... he doesn't seem like a very bright guy, and he's been m/l a pushover his whole life, his "friends" just used him, there is something in the literalism of his final wishes, like how he goes "you know just in case, I don't want to be burned up, you never know..."

I saw the fear of his final wishes as an extension of his pushover personality. He's so completely passive and accustomed to never making choices, accepting the finality of death is like the ultimate act of will, which he cant muster. His whole life has been about just kind of hanging around and being available to allow larger outside forces to work on him/through him, even in death his mindset is "let me hang around in case something important happens to me."

yeah I realized the other day that the coffin is the only real choice he makes semi-independently in practically the whole movie

Hence why his daughter's decision to avoid contact flummoxes him: an act demonstrating more will than he's ever shown. Even so, he's obv hurt, but he's so passive he's like "What are ya gonna do?"

Made even more vexing by the fact that she is so warm towards Hoffa, who Frank sees as a peer / no more compromised than him

anthology films just sent this out; it's a 10 year old writing a classroom paper after a trip to the (NY independent art) theater

Independent vs. Corporation
By Nadia (5th grader, NY public schools)

"Imagine you are walking down the street, and you see a ginormous movie theatre. On one of the signs, it says that a new movie is coming out starring one of the most famous actors. Everywhere you go, you see ads for this movie. That is a corporate release, and all though we all take part in it, it is kicking independent and experimental artists aside.

A lot of the movies we see are sponsored, or repeatedly played, meaning that they get a lot of attention. These movies are called Major Motion pictures, and most movie theaters in New York show these Major Motion pictures. On the other hand, there are very few places that screen the independent movies in New York. But do the independent artists care?

A lot of the independent films are experimental, meaning that they are not necessarily only about the public’s take on it, but it is mostly about finding the things you can do on film. For example, these films may never be as famous as major motion pictures, but the artist still gets something out of making it. A lot of artists don’t make art to make money, but to be happy, or experiment with art.

Some artist's entire career is to make high budget movies. Those movies usually get more attention, money, and are featured in more discussions. The creator of the high budget film gets more famous. Those people’s objective in life is to become a famous movie creator, so they aim for corporate releases, while independent artists aim to expand what film can be.

These independent artist’s films are as important as any other artists films are. But one of the problems is that a lot of independent artists get shoved to the side by major motion pictures. That is why it is so important that archives such as Anthology Film Archives show these independent films, and support these independent artists. So let me leave you with a question, if you wanted to be a movie producer, would you be an independent artist, or a corporate artist?"