edited by Jonathan Doyle

Mafioso (The Criterion Collection, 3.18.2008) Nino Badalamenti is a supervisor in a car manufacturing plant who hasn't taken a vacation in over two years. On his way out the door to visit his beloved childhood hometown of Sicily -- with his blonde wife and daughters -- Nino is handed a package by his boss and asked to deliver it to a powerful and influential Sicilian gangster named Don Vincenzo. Once in Sicily, Nino has a hoot seeing friends and family, but his wife has trouble fitting in and is unfairly dismissed as a snob by Nino's family. Even more worrisome, Nino finds himself entangled in an intricate web of secret mafioso dealings and is eventually sent on an unexpectedly... elaborate errand. (continued)

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Gordon Gekko is a hero

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To actual Wall Street traders, Gordon Gekko -- the suspender-wearing shark played by Michael Douglas in Oliver Stone's Wall Street -- has always been a hero. "That's his appeal," says Ed Pressman, producer of a Stephen Schiff-penned sequel called Money Never Sleeps. "Gekko is larger than life. His appetites are large. The audience enjoys a vicarious pleasure of seeing a world they would never be part of. In a funny way Wall Street was like The Godfather -- in that the real mob began dressing and behaving like characters in the movie. After Wall Street people started wearing suspenders [braces], like Michael."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 30, 2007 at 04:01 PM

comment #1

Suki Jonze says ...

first time using the internet?

Posted by Suki Jonze at August 30, 2007 04:18 PM

comment #2

christian says ...

and that's a great thing that free market republicans identify with a sleazy ethic-free wall street gambler like gekko; rush limbaugh defended him in the day. i also remember a news story about a killer who modeled himself on gekko.

thank gawd those days are over!

Posted by christian at August 30, 2007 05:50 PM

comment #3

D.Z. says ...

So the mentality which led to greedy assholes like Ken Lay and Charles Keating is suddenly heroic? Man, Murdoch's evil empire has really brainwashed Oz.

Posted by D.Z. at August 30, 2007 05:52 PM

comment #4

Dixon Steele says ...

Off topic, Jeff was right about RESURRECTING THE CHAMP. Rod Lurie's best yet, with a fantastic performance from Samuel Jackson and a best-yet (not saying much) from Josh Hartnett.

Then I watched Lurie's interview with David Poland on The Hot Blog. Interesting stuff, especially how he was inspired by a hatchet job Nikki Finke did on him re Commander In Chief.

Even more interesting was when Lurie complimented certain bloggers inlcuding our own beloved Jeff Wells.

Not beloved by Poland however, who goes off of Jeff calling him a dark, evil scumbag, etc. (or words very close to that).

Nasty stuff...check it out, a must. Wow.

Posted by Dixon Steele at August 30, 2007 05:58 PM

comment #5

BurmaShave says ...

RESURRECTING THE CHAMP certainly does feature Samuel L. Jackson's best work in a very long time. Josh Hartnett is underrated I think, but he's pretty good despite a poorly written character. His best work is in O. It was certainly more controlled than his previous work, but I year for some of the tightness and jaundice of THE CONTENDER. Again, he gets great performances out of terrible dialogue.

Posted by BurmaShave at August 30, 2007 11:36 PM

comment #6

Arizona Joe says ...

"Wall Street" very deftly captured the modus operandi of LBO firms and corporate raiders in the 1980s. It is both dramatic and didactic. Gekko might have increased the use of suspenders, etc. But I remember during the stock market crash of 1987, the media was commenting on the "young fogey" look of bankers and brokers.

Another performance less praised but almost as insightful was Danny DeVito in "Other People's Money." That film also showed the role of financiers in the de-industrialization of America, for better or worse..

If they were going to make a film about the current subprime loan crisis and its relation to hedge funds, how would they illustrate that? There are so many players. The mortgage issuers. The homeowners with bad credit. The hedge funds and banks who buy collateralized debt obligations. It would be hard to dramatize, but it may sink us.

Probably a Robert Altman approach would be needed.

Posted by Arizona Joe at August 31, 2007 02:02 PM

comment #7