![]() Where to Watch: PlutoTV (with ads), or rentable on most platforms. Directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, the film also spawned a spin-off TV series, City Of Men (and a film adaptation of that six season series). Loosely based on real events, City of God is a shocking look at the violence of the era, given a more authentic flare due to most of the cast not being actual experienced actors, but instead residents from actual low-income neighborhoods near Rio. Stepping outside American cinema here, City of God is a tour de force Brazilian crime drama that spans decades, displaying the growth of organized crime in the Cidade De Deus suburb of Rio de Janeiro, between 1960s and the 1980s. Where to Watch: Rentable on Amazon and most platforms. Being Scorsese's "mob movie" follow up to Goodfellas - with Cape Fear and The Age of Innocence in between - Casino was met with obvious comparisons at the time but it's more than capable of standing, and standing tall, on its own. Sharon Stone, as the former dancer helping splinter them apart, earned an Oscar nomination. Casino is an epic, featuring the two leads at peak performance as they journey from being partners to becoming adversaries. This time the stars' characters are "based on" real life people, as De Niro's Ace is based on casino owner Lefty Rosenthal and Pesci's Nicky on enforcer Tony Spilotro. Casino (1995)Īh yes, another Scorsese classic on the list (and not the last) as Goodfellas' De Niro and Pesci reunited for Casino, based on another nonfiction book by Nicholas Pileggi, Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden, and Steve Buscemi also star. It's heightened dialogue, stylish sequences, and riveting performances helped make Byrne a name in the States while also jump-starting the career of Miller's Crossing (who would top-line the Coens' next film, Barton Fink). Miller's Crossing (1990)ĭuring the same year as Goodfellas, the Coen brothers also gave us a superb, yet wholly different, take on organized crime, whisking us back to the Prohibition-era for a stylized, film noir-ish look at the Irish mob and an angsty lieutenant, Tom (Gabriel Byrne), who plays both sides of a mafia war. Where to Watch: Max, or rentable on most platforms. Abel attempts to remain a moral person in a fiercely immoral business and A Most Violent Year - which also stars David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola, and Albert Brooks - is a thought-provoking thriller that creates a terrific time-capsule of turmoil. Like Donnie Brasco, it presents us with a protagonist who's mob-adjacent, as Isaacs trucking company owner Abel Morales tries to do his best to navigate his chaotic and corrupt surroundings during 1981, New York City's most violent and crime-riddled year in history. A Most Violent Year (2014)Ī more modern entry here, and somewhat of a sleeper participant, is A Most Violent Year, starring Oscar Isaacs and Jessica Chastain. ![]() Where to Watch: Netflix, DirecTV, or rentable on most platforms. Based on Pistone's own autobiography, Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, the film offers up a version that is cool and compelling while also showcasing a different vibe from most other mob films. Johnny Depp plays the Agent Pistone - underworld name "Donnie Brasco" - while Al Pacino delivers a slight left turn of a performance as a low-level, past-his-prime enforcer, Lefty, who unwittingly brings Pistone into the fold. Donnie Brasco (1997)Īnother true mafia story here, this time from British director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Donnie Brasco immerses us in the chaotic life of an FBI agent embedded deep undercover in the Bonanno crime family. Based on the biography of Hill, Wise Guy, by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas is some of the best work by everyone involved, using Scorsese and De Niro's already iconic status to make "made men" out of Liotta and Pesci. Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, and Joe Pesci (who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar) headline this amazing, blood-soaked look at the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill (Liotta), over the course of decades. We'll kick things off big here with Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, which has been, for 30 years, a heavy favorite for the best mob movie of all time (or at least best non-Godfather mob movie).
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