Goodfellas (1990)

An American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino.
A young man grows up working for the Italian mob. He marries a Jewish woman and they try to have a family while he is involved in gangster stuff.
This is a pretty classic and well known crime film. I hardly think anything that I could say about it would add to what has already been written. What I liked most were the heavy narration and juxtaposition of family normalcy with violent crimes. It makes for good contrasts when scenes switch. Name a film element and it was done well. If you haven't seen it, you must. I rate it awesome.

1900 A.K.A. Novecento (1976)

An Italian French West German historical drama directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Robert De Niro and Gérard Depardieu.
A rich boy and poor boy are born on the same day. The rich boy is the heir to a Padrone dynasty, ruling over a farm and making all the money, but doing none of the work. The poor boy is from a family of laborers on the farm who do all the work, but make no money. There is also a conflict going on between communists, socialists, fascists and Bolsheviks.
5 hours and 15 minutes! The plot included the 2 boys as they became men and grew old, but it also included the political and financial issues of the time. There were oodles of characters, but the 2 main characters were dynamic and developed. Video reminded me of spaghetti westerns and early gangster flicks because that's where and when it was made. Good thing it was not made in the 1960s, I would not be able to take a 5 hour peplum. I found a version with English audio and subtitles and could hear all of the dialogue. There were some sections with annoying music. One scene comes to mind, in which a group of peasants are singing and a different non-diegetic song is playing. Holding my interest for over 5 hours is a difficult task. I watched in smaller chunks, but could follow the story fine. Still, it did not captivate my attention. I would have liked it to be more about the 2 main characters, with less historical context and political material. There was male and female nudity including a scene in which the 2 boys compare penis shapes and an old woman displaying her breasts before being shot by a fascist. I'm glad that someone tried to make such an epic film, but if a film is over 5 hours, it should really be better than this. I rate it o.k. You should probably read more about it somewhere else before deciding whether to watch it.

Dirty Grandpa (2016)

An American comedy directed by Dan Mazer, starring Robert De Niro, Aubrey Plaza and Dermot Mulroney.
A man who is about to get married must drive his grandfather to Florida. The grandfather's wife has just died and the man's fiancee is constantly pestering him about decisions for the wedding. On the way to Florida, they are caught up in a spring break celebration.
Everyone seems to really hate this, but I thought it was funny. Sure, it was riding Bad Santa (2003)'s coattails a little bit late, but it was nowhere near as bad as other critics say it is. Maybe I like it because it's bad, but I know I like it because it's unique. Even uniquely bad can be a good thing by my criteria. At least it wasn't mediocre and boring. Sign me up for sex jokes and potty humor any day. The plot held my attention and the characters were shallow, but entertaining. There were some things that went by too quickly and I had to rewind. For example, De Niro's "cock blocking" jokes at the golf course were delivered at high speed and I had to pinpoint the moment when the projector at the wedding started showing inappropriate photos so I didn't miss any. The main flaw that I agree with other critics about is that the pacing was too fast. I'm rating it adequate, partly out of spite at other critics for not getting it.

The Score (2001)

An American crime film directed by Frank Oz, starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Angela Bassett and Marlon Brando.
A professional safe-cracker who runs a jazz club is contacted by a fellow criminal about a big job. The "inside man" works as a cleaner at the location and pretends to be retarded. Together, they work out a plan to get past a very complex security system and steal a priceless artifact.
This was pretty standard, "stock". The plot was typical of crime-heist genre films of the time. I thought the characters were cast well and their acting was convincing. The video was good quality and the editing was dynamic, changing pace with the on-screen action. The soundtrack was actually so good that I didn't notice it. Everything sounded correct at the right times and the club scenes featured decent jazz. Overall, not too shabby. I rate it adequate because it's "good enough" without going for any extra credit.

What Just Happened (2008)

An American comedy drama directed by Barry Levinson, starring Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, John Turturro and Bruce Willis.
A film producer has problems with his divorced wife, a film with a shocking ending and an actor who refuses to shave.
This was no good at all. The plot seemed pointless and the characters were despicable. The only redeeming qualities were the fictional film's shocking ending, the audience's reaction and the crazy, british editor. The audio and video were run of the mill normal. Overall, it's not worth watching. I rate it bad.

Wag the Dog (1997)

An American comedy directed by Barry Levinson, starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro and William H. Macy.
The current president of the United States of America is having trouble and is not going to be elected for a second term of office. He has his press team hire a Hollywood film producer to help them fabricate stories to make him look good.
One note before I start, we NEVER see the president and he is not named. That is not good writing. The plot seemed to settle on the "fun and games" section for most of the duration. There was minor conflict at the beginning and end, but mostly it was this team making up fake news for TV. Again, bad writing. I liked Dustin Hoffman's part as the film producer who could fix anything. He basically led the film. I didn't notice anything amazing or horrid with the video. Some would say that means it was good. I say not good enough. The audio featured Willie Nelson singing and playing guitar solo, which I liked. Overall, the flaws outweigh the strengths. I have to rate this poor. It wasn't painful, but it's not worth watching.

Sleepers (1996)

An American crime drama directed by Barry Levinson, starring Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Brad Pitt.
After a prank goes horribly wrong, four boys are sentenced to a juvenile detention center where they are abused by the guards. Years later, two of them kill the guard who treated them worst and a trial is held.
This was pretty good. The plot held my attention and the characters were memorable. I thought the video style was a little over-dramatized, but the audio was good. I could hear all of the dialogue and the soundtrack was appropriate. I think Kevin Bacon gets type-cast as a child abuser quite frequently. Overall, a regular movie that fills in all the correct check boxes on my list of criteria. I rate this good.

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

An Italian American crime drama directed by Sergio Leone, starring Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Joe Pesci, Burt Young and Treat Williams.
A group of boys in New York City start an organized crime gang. After a conflict with a rival gang, one of them goes to jail for many years. When he gets out, he finds that he has an aversion to this type of work.
I watched the super-long four hour version and liked it. The plot held my interest and the variety of characters was good. I thought that relatively few of them showed much depth or development. The phone ringing in the beginning was maddening. There must have been some other way to do that scene. I found the rape scene in the car disturbing to watch. The version that I got had some inconsistencies in the video for some reason. It could have been a bad copy, could have been intended that way or those could be the deleted scenes edited in without color correction. The video style and acting are what impressed me the most. Everything was shown so clearly with such convincing characters that it didn't feel like watching a staged movie. Overall, exceptional. For a four hour film to hold my attention attests to it's greatness. I rate this awesome.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)

A Japanese American science fiction horror directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Robert De Niro, Helena Bonham Carter, Ian Holm and John Cleese.
A ship heading for the North Pole encounters ice and a man running from something. He tells the story of how he made a Frankenstein monster based upon his father's notebook.
We've got some interesting stars here. The main character's adopted sister/wife is Marla Singer from Fight Club and the father is Bilbo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings series. There was definitely enough action to hold my attention and I almost cared what happened to the characters. I missed the "adopted" part about the sister and thought about rednecks a little bit. The monster speaking, reading and showing intelligence was a nice touch. I was utterly confused by the section where Frankenstein brings his sister/wife back to life. The monster had ripped out her heart and I thought that a quick heart transplant before electrocution would have been better than a head transplant. There are so many connections in the neck area vs just 4 in the heart. Well, if it has me typing about the plot this much, I must have liked it. I rate this adequate because I found it to be worth watching, but not amazing.

The Godfather (1972 - 1990)

An American crime drama directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Caan, Diane Keaton and Robert De Niro.
The only remaining son of a defeated mafia don in Italy escapes to America where he builds his own crime syndicate. His son takes over the family business and annihilates all competition.
This was the longest, most boring thing I have ever seen. Sure, there were momentary bursts of ultra-violence that shook things up every so often, but the bulk of the films consisted of talking. A few of the highlights include a man waking up with his prize horse's amputated head bleeding all over him in bed, multiple instances of tommy guns turning men to swiss cheese and a brutal knifing on a balcony. The little ditty that I composed to accompany this goes like: "They call me the widowmaker, my name is Michael Corleone, I have men killed for sport and pleasure, but selling drugs I do not condone". Seriously, everyone is killed. Overall, this consists of waiting far too long between action scenes. I rate it poor.

Cape Fear (1962 & 1991)

An American thriller directed by J. Lee Thompson and then Martin Scorsese, starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum then Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte.
A man gets out of jail and goes to see the lawyer who was supposed to be defending him, but lost the case. He stalks the lawyer and kills his dog, so the lawyer sends his cop friends to torment the ex-con whenever possible. The lawyer hires men to beat up the ex-con and gets into trouble. He fakes leaving for a meeting and has his wife and daughter wait in a boathouse where his friend leads the ex-con because the lawyer knows that the ex-con wants to kill them.
The 1962 version was coherent and flowed smoothly. Everything made sense and fit together perfectly. The 1991 version was bastardized Hollywood bullshit. Nothing fit and the flow was crappy. Adequate and shit seem to be good ratings for differentiating remakes and that's the case here.

Godsend (2004)

A horror directed by Nick Hamm, starring Robert De Niro.
An 8 year old boy is killed in a car accident and his parents are distraught over the loss of their son. A scientist comes to them and tells them of a way to clone their child, so they accept his offer. Once the new son reaches the age of 8, he begins having nightmares and acting out at school.
Mediocre and generic. It follows every 2000s high budget horror film cliche. Needless to say, the production quality looks amazing because of the 25 million dollar budget. I especially found it funny when the dad was looking up sleep problems online. They had him looking at incoherent graphs and charts while stereotypical "learning music" was playing in the background. The dad is the butt of all jokes here, as he goes like an informal private detective and tracks down a nanny who may have important information. She tells him a story (in flashback, of course) that he thinks will "blow the lid off his case". I'm rating this bad because it's overproduced, generic crap.

Taxi Driver (1976)

A drama directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster.
A New York cab driver gets tired of the scum people of the streets and decides to fight back.
The characters and plot were great and I liked the style. The narration was awesome as well. The production value was pretty good for the date and the pace was quick enough to keep me interested, but not so fast as to throw me off. I'm rating this good because it's just a good movie.

Casino (1995)

A crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.
A mafia gangster runs a casino profitably until an old friend shows up to help. The friend gets into trouble against mob rules. The new money skimmer for the casino keeps track of the skims, which gets them all in trouble and the casino owner marries a rebellious woman who gets into trouble with everyone.
Apparently, this film held the record for number of times people said fuck in a full length feature at 422 fucks. That's a lot of fucking fucks! I believe that Joe Pesky was responsible for most of them. The plot is convoluted and a little unclear, but the narration is awesome. Obviously the characters are "real characters" if you know what I mean. I'm rating this adequate.

Jackie Brown (1997)

A crime film by Quentin Tarantino, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Pam Grier and Robert De Niro.
A stewardess gets caught with money and drugs that she is supposed to deliver to her boss who sells guns. The boss bails her out of jail and makes a plan with her to get the rest of his money. The cops make a deal with her to catch her boss when she gives him more money. She makes a deal with the bail bond man to keep the money for herself.
This film is very long at over 2 and a half hours, but well worth it. Like I've said before, Tarantino can do no wrong. That said, this is my least favorite film that he has made. It's much darker than Pulp Fiction, but it uses the same non-linear type of timeline. Pam Grier is like a Picasso painting: her mouth is never centered on her face. Robert De Niro has surprisingly few lines, but the combination of Samuel L. Jackson and Tarantino always ends up with him getting tons of dialogue. Overall, it was pretty cool. I'm rating it adequate and that's the lowest rating this director will ever receive.

The Deer Hunter (1978)

A drama by Michael Cimino, staring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep.
American steel workers in Pennsylvania are being good old American guys. One gets married, they go hunting, they drink like fish... Then they go to Vietnam. Things get a little darker at this point as they are forced to play Russian Roulette.
This 3 hour epic has everything. A marriage, a party, the Vietnam war, deer hunting and best of all, Christopher Walken blowing his brains out! I clapped and cheered at that part! Overall, it's a great film for anyone who wants to see all the best movies. I'm giving it an awesome, purple rating (the Walken beast's death scene has a lot to do with this.)

Awakenings (1990)

A drama directed by Penny Marshall.
Robin Williams is a doctor in a mental institution who treats patients with a drug that makes them "wake up" for a short time.
The audio and video were good.
check out: The combination of Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. A little weird.
Mental patients get well, they get sick again. It's nothing new. It doesn't stand out from the crowd in any way. I'm rating it o.k. Some people say it's good, but I hold my blog to higher standards than that.