Casino (Martin Scorsese, 1995)

I haven't watched much Scorsese, that's a fact. I've missed the Gangs of New York when it was on, have only heard about Taxi Driver, have heard a loooot about the Last Temptation of The Christ, didn't know The Color of Money was his when I watched it, and ohh! and I just remembered that The Departed I've seen at the movies last year was also his. Oh, and The Aviator, of course. Much better then...I am ready to write about Casino.

I had heard a lot about the main generic first scene, and it actually is very impressive. Who would have given so much work to introduce the cast. Scorsese.

The action takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Ace (Robert de Niro) is willing after a lifetime of robbery and off-limits deals to settle down to open a "clean" business: a casino. He doesn't have the authorization to do it but who cares, it's Vegas. The deal is to use the weakness of the clients in order to have them come back, on and on. Ace is a brilliant gambler and knows how to run the business, take care of the cheaters. There are two things he is unable to deal with.
First of all, love. He finds this opportunistic vamp (Sharon Stone) in the game room and falls in love with her. That will occur to be a bad choice. The lady is a complete victim of the 70's and is rarely sober.
His second main problem is Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), an old friend that is way to stubborn to understand that Ace is trying to have everything "legit" from now on. He does everything like it used be to "back home", leading Ace's business to a political fiasco.

The cast is gorgeous, Robert de Niro was right after Branagh's Frankenstein, Sharon Stone was at her highest (and only) peak and Joe Pesci was everywhere at that time. Ace's character is of the ex-con type. He doesn't want to have anything to do with his old friend Nicky, loves his wife truly and try to avoid legal problems whatsoever. De Niro suits fine, as always in this kind of movies (remember Once upon a time in America, The Godfather II, The Goodfellas...?) and has made me forget about Meet the Parents. His acting is irreproachable throughout the whole movie, so is Stone's. She gets a bit annoying when playing drama, getting emotional, doesn't work out much, but it's ok to say she's playing the part of her life (when getting some perspective) and she's played it fair.
Joe Pesci plays Nicky, an annoying tyrannic-not-so-tall mafioso. His play is of a "goodfella", but seriously, does he have to curse that much? check out JFK, he doesn't have a big part, but he has just the time to make us feel like "darling, you put the wrong DVD on". I think the one movie where he keeps his mouth shut is Home Alone, and that's a Disney. That's kindda sad. The off -voice narrating the story is a good idea, there comes just a feeling to turn it very off when Pesci comes in.
Anyway, Scorsese succeeded in showing us the evolution of Vegas, however putting a stress on the lack of life when the city run by "honest" citizens, he fails to give sense to the movie by ending on the idea that Las Vegas is now a Disneyland, the poor gangsters have to find themselves another place.
Moreover, we see the ending of three persons that were meant to know each other (Nicky and Ace), love eache other (Ace and Stone) destroyed by the pursue of money.
That's good Scorsese.

Verdict:
Rated? very guilty, that ain't sugar-coated, that Scorsese-coated...

Worth watching? no comments

Final Grade 14/20

watch the trailer

An Inconvenient Truth (Davis Guggenheim, 2006)

Inconvenient, inconvenient...perhaps the truth about this movie is a little bit too.

I was eager to learn about "global warming" and to watch a kick-me-back-to-earth documentary such as Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 or even Spurlock's Supersize Me (no political opinions engaged whatsoever), I was left all alone to cry on my not-so-well spent movie ticket.


The whole movie is based on a lecture (monologue?) led by the (almost) ex-president of the USA, Al Gore, which is supposed to convince a crowd of his militants and some green "hippies" often pulling off dreadlocks. Seriously, how much can you laugh and clap at a man that is giving you a lesson about how to reduce your CO2 emissions to zero (supposedly, you're not allowed to breathe anymore) showing off in a truck that burns easy twice as much as a European car if you're not objectively already a convinced partisan?

First, this movie has very little value as a document in itself. We can learn all the basics about global warming and CO2 emissions but we don't get to see many interesting pictures nor views, apart from the ones shown in the trailer. Not glorifying Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 nor his Bowling For Columbine but in those, the director spent some time gathering up (or making up, that's a matter of opinion) documents, interviews, etc. Al Gore doesn't get tired while speaking...but we get. Well he could have made a post on Youtube, I would be richer today for sure.

Secondly, while watching, one could get a weird feeling. Ambivalent. Between two slides, the director (Guggenheim) can't help giving some shots of Gore's family history, how much he's done for "the" cause, how his father quit growing tobacco when the first correlations between tobacco and lung cancers proved to be true, how his son was between life and death after an accident, how much he is tired of all the world's global problems...ups sorry, was I supposed to cry? It is like somebody trying to manipulate you but in a very naive way, trying to get to your feelings. I know he's not the first (see Moore for example), but that ostentatiously, really?


You can be as green as you want, you are not allowed to be that dull. The Academy Award Ceremony was fitting very well for Gore's document: standing ovation, 2 Academy Awards, Al Gore got to have to longest speech, then standing ovation again. Had anyone seen this movie?or just the trailer?neither? No matter, everybody, after the ceremony, went back home in his "green" car, producing twice (or more) as much CO2 as a war tank (Al Gore in the loop again). But don't worry, because "you also can reduce your CO2 emissions to zero". Just remember to take a deep breath.

Igo

Verdict:
Rated? Not guilty

Worth watching? Guilty

Final Grade 8/20

watch the trailer