Mixed Tape Movies: Mobsters

In the eighties it was the-thing-to-do to make a mixed tape (like an mp3 but touchable, always in need of a pencil and definitely cooler). On it you would make a little playlist of all the cool songs. Now the trick was to make each song correspond with the rest of the tape. In this post I will try to do the same with movies.

Every once in a while I will select a general topic and select movies to accompany it. As you can see the more child-friendly movies are at the start of the day, but  when night falls: ‘here be monsters’. Please feel free to give suggestions of other unknown movies.

One rule though: Auteur themes like ‘Shakespeare’ or ‘James Bond’ are not allowed. ‘Spy-movies’, naturally, are.

Theme: Mobsters.

I've always been a sucker for the fictional 'good' criminals. The Robin Hoods of this world that steal from the rich and give to the poor. Mobsters are the opposite of that; they are vile and evil and they know it! Yet ,somehow, alongside the bloodshed they leave behind these villains (in movies at least) care deeply about friendship, family, tradition and respect. It’s this grey area that always struck me as intriguing in the mobster genre.

08:00-10:00

Bugsy Malone: One of my favorite childhood movies was The phantom kid (1977) –completely unfindable nowadays. The movie was a western with an all children cast. I loved this movie to bits.

Then, when I was ‘round about ten’ I saw Bugsy Malone. It’s a lesser movie to me, too childish – even for a child. But then again it did have Jodie Foster portraying the ultimate dream girlfriend (that is, until I realized that she was quite a bit older than me). Nevertheless, Jodie will always be in my heart.

10:00-12:00

Little miss marker: This is one of the few movies in which the remake is better than the original. Walter Matthau and Julie Andrews (and Brian Dennehy and Tony Curtis) are brilliant in this sweet tale about a hustler accepting a young child as a bet-marker.

If you are ever feeling down this is the movie to watch. Just that horse-race-scene alone.

12:00-14:00

Oscar: An often criticized movie, and I don’t understand why. The moment Tim Curry’s character bellows his naïve ‘Hellooou!’ you just have to be giggling. And that’s way after (immortal?) Kirk Douglas slapping Rambo in the face.

Arnold Schwarzenegger tried his hand at comedy with Kindergarten cop (which is also a brilliant thriller in the last act) and Junior. Sly did the same with Oscar and Stop or my mom will shoot! The latter we’ll just pretend never existed. But Oscar should have more credit than it is usually given.

Based on an old stage farce it is a hilarious movie that never denies its origins and –in case you are wondering- Sly Stallone is perfect in the part of the mob boss trying to give up being a mob boss. 

14:00-16:00

The Sting: The Sting just has to be on this list! This is one of the few movies that actually gets hurt the minute you watch the sequel. Just don’t!

Redford and Newman are perfect as always as they try to cheat a local mob-lord out of his money. True the plot takes a few side-roads at times (the whole sudden assassin plotline) that just don’t work. But in the end it is the ultimate conman movie that still has to be surpassed (Ocean’s eleven [the remake] came very close).

16:00-17:00

The untouchables: A very polished movie for today’s standards that walks the narrow line between the real-life story of Eliot Ness and the fantastical. Especially the style of the various sets (very reminiscent to those old-time Dick Tracy comics) and, of course, the explosive portrayal of Al Capone by Robert de Niro make this movie.

17:00-23:00

The Godfather Trilogy: The classic! A full shelve of books have been written about these three movies (or one big movie, to be honest). The original movie never mentions the word ‘Mafia’. But then the Don liked the first movie so much that he allowed the word to be used in the sequels.

Then there’s the reason the third movie is the lesser of the three is because Robert Duvall (with reason) didn’t want to appear in it.

After all, the first two movies are a big buildup to a confrontation between Michael and Tom.

So we got to see that Sophia Coppola can’t act if her life depended on it (poor woman – but then again she’s is a very impressive director with an unique interest in stories to tell). But also Andy Garcy playing what he does best: an arrogant smuck that you –can’t help yourself to- love.

The story of the Corleone family is a brilliant watch. Al Pacino never surpassed his performance as he did in the second chapter. Marlon Brando used his screen-presence to the max and suffered a slow carreer death afterwards. And Diane Keaton shows the world of women what a woman is capable of in a world of men.

The Godfather trilogy is a must watch for anybody who loves film. Go into it blank and then, and only then, read up about what went on behind the scenes. 

23:00-01:00

Road to Perdition: Tom Hanks as a villain! What more; Paul Newman as a villain. And yet, I would call neither such. Based on a (brilliant) graphic novel Road to Perdition this underrated Mendes forte explores the themes of love and honor amongst thieves.

Sam Mendes is always a daring director and Road to Perdition proves this. This movie is a thrilling story about the love between an father and son. A love that, under the circumstances will only end in blood.

01:00-03:00 

Goodfellas: When talking about mobsters one has to talk about Scorsese. Casino and The Departed might have been his new Magnus Opi (yet, I always preferred The Aviator). It was Goodfellas that showed this strange concoction between ‘cool to be a mobster’ and ‘the pure insanity of it all’.

Relying heavily on Joe Pesci’s performance Goodfellas shows that ‘wanting to be a Goodfella’ is the equivalent of bathing yourself in the blood of the criminally insane. This insanity explains the Henry Hill character in the end – when all are dead.

Honourable mentions:
There are, of course, numerous mobster movies that I've forgotten to include in this list. But, luckily for me, a lot of mobster movies also use different themes that I might be able to highlight in a future article.

We own the night: Four brothers: Utterly forgettable. The only reason I put it here is to remind myself that this movie exists and that I’ve seen it four times. What is it about? I can’t remember.

Donnie Brasco: A brilliant movie with strong performances. But it cannot hold a candle against the movies in this list (nor to Scorsese’s The Departed – which has the same story).

The Departed: A brilliant movie but less about mobsters and more about spying and cat-and-mouse-games. The same goes for Eastern Promises.

Scarface (the original): The true mobster blueprint. But like cars getting more advanced over the years so did this blueprint. Scarface is still a great movie if you are willing to accept that a lot of the things you’ll see have been reused in later movies.

Scarface (the remake): The ultimate gangster-movie. And for that sole reason I excluded it from the list. I wanted to talk about ‘classical’ mobsters, not modern day gangsters. The Scarface-character in this movie isn’t about the ‘inner circle’ of family and friends. Scarface’s – Tony Montana- is all about himself.  And he is willing to accept all kinds of sacrifices to get to his goals.

Scarface, therefore, wouldn’t feel out of place in a sociopath-topic.

Carlito’s way – Again an ex-criminal getting dragged back into crime. Even though this movie has one of the best endings ever to grace the silver screen I had to exclude it due to time constraints.  That and the fact that I preferred the paternal love of Road to Perdition over the stupid friend from Carlito’s way.