Casino (2005, DVD)

In the whole scheme of mob/mafia movies, I d have to say that Martin Scorsese s Casino ranks in the top ten, (okay, maybe even top 5) of all time best organized crime flicks. The massive talent and the unforgettable characters in Casino stand out and the film screams I m Way More Than Interesting! from start to finish. We are privy to the goings on in Las Vegas when the mob still controlled the hotels. As they sat on their thrones in Kansas City, Las Vegas continued to put food on their tables and dirty money in their pockets. We are introduced to Sam 'Ace' Rothstein, (Robert DeNiro), who is..

When you love someone, you've gotta trust them. There's no other way. You've got to give them the key to everything that's yours. Otherwise, what's the point? And, for a while...I believed that's the kind of love I had. - Sam Ace Rothstein, Casino In one of cinema s most spectacular opening scenes, Sam Ace Rothstein (Robert de Niro) is heard in a voice-over as he leaves a restaurant, gets behind the wheel of an American car circa 1980, and turns the key. Then, BOOM! A stunningly magnificent sequence unfolds to the majestic music of St Matthew Passion by J. S. Bach, which thunders forth like..

I had an encounter with a teen. I'd caught her trying to hustle me. I said, "You need to stop doing this." "Why?" she asked. "Because it's against the rules?" "No, I said, "because you suck at it." I then explained to her the way things work. For every action, there are consequences. If you choose to break the rules, you're on your own. That doesn't mean others don't break them. It means they're prepared to pay up if they get caught. People who have no discipline like to break rules. They think it's easier. It's not. If it takes discipline to follow the rules, it takes even more to break them.

Casino (1995) Directed by the celebrated Martin Scorsese, Casino left me a little flat. I began to wonder if the billing as America's greatest living director had gone to his head... Worse, I was left wondering if main character DeNiro's almost complete lack of emotion was part of the character, or was it because DeNiro can't act. I mused backwards through "Jackie Brown", "Heat", "Goodfellas", "Godfather;" nope, DeNiro really doesn't know how to show emotion. He even has a straight face when he yells. With DeNiro, I always feel like he could do more, why is there no emotion? He is no Clint...