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Casino

Casino

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great film (it's Scorcese: what do you expect?)
Review: "Casino" falls short of Scorcese's classics like "Goodfellas," "Taxi Driver," and "Raging Bull," and it covers too familiar ground (another mob movie? De Niro and Pesci again?). Nonetheless, it's an irrestistible glimpse at the mob scene in Vegas, and it's chock full of stellar performances. If Joe Pesci deserved an Oscar for his role in "Goodfellas," then he should have deserved two for "Casino," where he's in even better form. DeNiro also shines in his role as Rothstein, looking dapper in his flawlessly-tailored suits. But the film's revelation is Sharon Stone, who radiates as De Niro's love. She was rightfully nominated for an Oscar, but, to this day, she has never since had a role worth our while as this. Scorcese snobs will roll their eyes and call this film "Goodfellas"-lite, but, at nearly 3 hours, it's good enough to glue your eyes to the screen.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Forget about it, a classic!
Review: If you think you love movies and have not seen Casino then you should be ashamed of yourself. Not even Sharon stone and her terrible acting can ruin this movie. Peschi and Deniro are at the top of their game. This is the best movie about the mob and Las Vegas that you will ever see, bar none!!

WATCH THIS MOVIE!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Never Saw it But heard ITS GREAT
Review: MY FRIEND AND MY FAMILY SAID ITS JUST LIKE GOODFELLAS. PESCI PLAYS BASICALLY THE SAME ROLL. AND OF COURSE DENIRO IS ALWAYS AWESOME! WEL I JUST RENTED IT FROM BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO, SO LET ME GO WATCH IT. PEACE OUT!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: very good...
Review: im a fan of Hk cinema...mostly but i respect films that are good and Casino is one of them.

Robert DeNiro is truly one of the best actor ( along wit Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, and Chow Yun Fat) Joe Pesci is very talented too. his role was played perfect

Ace( DeNiro) is a natural gambler. always winnin, so the mafia bosses hire him to run a casino for them. Nicky( Joe Pesci) is like a muscle for Ace, anybody messes with Ace, Nicky takes care of them.
with Ace's superb gambling skills and Nicky's violent tactics, they soon own the gambling community. The bosses are real happy because Ace is making them tons of money. Then Ace meets, Ginger( Sharon Stone) .....

very good movie, i have not seen goodfellas yet but hear its also a classic

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "Goodfellas" in Vegas -Something Familiar, Something Good
Review: Martin Scorsese once again goes back to the well and comes up with a winning hand with essentially the same deck as 'Goodfellas". DeNiro and Pesci effectively reprise their brotherly wiseguy roles (here, as boyhood friends) as they did in "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas". Music (via the soundtrack) plays an even bigger part of the plot than it did in "Goodfellas" (reaching "Pulp Fiction' proportions) and there is some gorgeous camerawork (the scene with DeNiro and Pesci in the desert, the camera showing the inside of a straw as its being snorted).

There is a brief section at about the 2 to 2 1/2 hour mark where my suspension of belief began to falter and I began to question why the heck DeNiro's character was continuing to hang in there when surely what he was doing was going to get him killed. But this soon passed...

The DVD offers little in the way of extras, yet there is alot to like here and despite its familiar feel and plot (an opportunity arises for Pesci and DeNiro; things start to go well; things get better; things really take off; things start to go bad; things start to go really bad; things end in violence for alot of people), 'Casino' pulls it off in grand fashion for most of its 3 hour length.
Highly recommended!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Why Casino is Better than Goodfellas
Review: First off, quick synopsis: Mob tries to run casino in vegas, deniro tries to run it straight and handles the actual business end, and peschi simply handles the "business" end...if you know what i mean. Deniro deals with the goods and peschi handles the streets; the two are long time friends but better not cross each other. what follows is a series of wild and unpredictable events and some great characters. this movie is great because it has three sides to it: (1)the informative side, where at times it plays almost like a documentary(with great cinematography and editing), and we get to learn a lot about how casino's work and how the mafia operated precisely within them, (2)the character interaction side, which means we have great actors with great dialogue and great scenes, we get a lot of input on the relationships of these people and a lot about real family life and character devolopement, and (3)the "business" end, which is all sorts of action sequences and powerful scenes, where we get to see the mafia boys go to work. Now, this is just a plain great movie, and it hits on a lot of angles while being completely interesting all the time and gripping part of the time. Why is Casino better than Goodfellas? REASON 1: Deniro is on top of his game. Some may say he's alway's great, but I disagree, sometimes he glides through his roles(i.e. bronx tale, the score), as opposed to when he's on(raging bull, heat). In Casino he's on. His performance is much more wide ranging and even sympathetic, and during the last third he REALLY gets into his role. It is absolutely great to watch. But in Goodfellas, it's just so-so. He basically seems only mildly interested, and his character is nowhere near as interesting and memorable as in Casino. REASON 2: unique setting and premise. almost all mafia movie's take place in new york or some other big city, but here we're thrown into the flashy world of gambling, money, and lights, las vegas, and the desolate surrounding desert where so many bodies are buried. you really get the feeling that these guys are out on their own, in an island of glitz, set to either do good or get wacked, and are completely surrounded by a barren and uncharted landscape. just this interesting premise makes the movie sound fresh, such as when so much of the city is like uncharted territory for mobs and peschi goes on a diamond robbing hunt like its the old west and starts opening up shops. REASON 3: great female lead performance. say what you want about lorraine braco, but sharon stone is so good at getting you to want to just through her down a flight of stairs(that may sound violent but wait to you see the ---- she pulls) that her performance is wholey memorable. she is charismatic, two timing, greedy, seductive, irresponsible, and dependent(on numerous things). overall, you will definately remember her. REASON 4: the information angle. as we discussed before, CASINO frequently plays like a documentary, especially in the beginning. It is so interesting and informative, while also managing to be entertaining, that you've got to be impressed(just look at the creative film work that scrocese pulls off while taking us through the casino). REASON 5: not as depressing. In Goodfellas we get to see friendships fall apart, business fall apart, and basically everything go down the drain and everyone become sad and/or disillusioned. well, hmmmm...a lot of that happens in casino as well, BUT--there's a difference, and that difference is the "tone". CASINO is more lighthearted and takes joy in the filmaking and storytelling. a lot of it's serious but it's frequently told with a slight feeling of tongue and cheek amusement, which makes everything more fun and less of a downer, while still allowing the drama to play off expertly. overall, when i finished casino, i felt simultaneously satisfied by the film and the performances while informed by the information it shared. CASINO is really a great movie, and one that can be appreciated on many levels.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 5-Star Film!
Review: First of all, I find myself digusted with a few of those bottom reveiws. Those people are probaly the quiet church-goers that on every Friday, they have a family movie session. They probaly popped this in and got a big suprise. People say that it is a Goodfellas clone. Goodfellas isn't nearly as ferocious as Casino. This is De Niro at his best. This is my favorite Scorsese film and mabye my favorite film of all time. I think the narration is very creative. The point is that if you are like the people that I described above, don't write reveiws for this movie that destroys its rep. (Jerry Vale Rules!)

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Annoying film...
Review: In almost every Joe Pesci movie - he either gets beat up or killed. Not only did he get beat up in this movie, he got killed too... something that was long overdue! It seems as though every movie Martin Scorsese has to make - it has to have Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in it.

This movie - has to be one of the worst films of all crime movies (other movies that share my award are: The Last Don I-II). Scorsese who has finished another movie GANGS OF NEW YORK, but to tell you the truth, it'll probably be the same movie only in a different time period.

At least Francis Ford Coppola knows that he cannot top the Godfather series. But unlike Coppola - he keeps on going on the one topic that once gained him much success.

So at least Joe Pesci hasn't been any films recently (I think that movie audiences are tired of his voice), and Scorsese isn't the biggest successful director.

The only two actors that are doing well from the movie are: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and James Woods.

And another part of the movie that is annoying is the trading of narrating! It's Pesci and then it's De Niro - he basically sounds like he's doing the commentary for a movie on the DVD, but only sounds more excited and interested.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: True classic story showing rise and fall of a casino.
Review: We know right from the beginning that the movie does not end hapilly. We see Ace Rothstein walking to his car, dressed ostentatiosly. It blows up into flames when he starts the ignition. The flames on the screen then make a transition into the bright lights of the Las Vegas casinos and the story begins.

Notice the theme of greed causing people's downfall in this movie. The rich Japanese man that comes into their casino walks away with a fortune in winnings. But they bring him back and he bets small and still wins. But because of his greed, his perception is that he's losing $90,000 a hand instead of winning $10,000. So he increases his bets and loses all his former winnings plus an extra million dollars. Then there are the two guys cheating at the blackjack tables. Ace says that they could have gotten away with it if they weren't so greedy. They beat his hand in with a hammer in the back room and told his buddy to spread the word that the casino was no joke anymore. Ultimately, the greed of the whole casino crew will cause its downfall.

If you've ever read "The Great Gatspy" you'll see a lot of similar themes in this movie. Ace Rothstein reminds me of the wealthy, ostentatious Gatspy. Rothstein says that in Vegas, "love costs money." He buys his wife Ginger over a million dollars worth of jewlery to get her to marry him. She shows off the jewlery to her daughter as testimony to how much he must love her. Nicki reminds me of Wolfsheim who is behind Gatpsy and whose corruption and brutality are profound.

There was one part of the movie I totally did not understand. Ace is sitting at his office desk when his secretary calls him saying the state commisioner is there to see him. He says to send him in then call him back four minutes later. Ace then stands up, revealing that he is fully dressed in a suit and shoes and everything but pants. He then walks to his closet and puts pants on. He has a talk with the commisioner whose relative he fired for complete incompetence. The secretary calls him as instructed and he says "ok" and hangs up. What was this all about?

The story builds up and gradually unravels. You can see it's going to fall apart. Besides the beginning part about Ace being blown up in his car, there's Nicki's uncontrolled brutality and rebellion from the law and disregard for "the bosses back home" that gets out of control. Then there's Phil Green. He's the casino's "clean front man" who poses as the president of the casino but doesn't really do anything. He turns out to be a real estate hustler and one of his affairs goes awry exposing the corruption of the casino. Ace is initially attracted to Ginger when he sees her on the casino surveilance stealing money from a man she's with. He argues with her then she starts throwing stacks of his chips in the air. As if this weren't a bad enough indication, Ace marries her after she turns him down saying she doesn't love him. He basically talks her into it with the promise of money. Later, Ginger's drug problems and leech of an ex-boyfriend will contribute to the decline of the story. Rothstein's ego becomes "bigger than his casino" as Nicki put it and their relations begin to break down. The FBI strikes the coup de grace as they finally come in and shut down the casino.

I find the saddest part of the story about Ace Rothstein. He just wanted to run a legitamite casino. He's great at what he does and he's so committed to doing his job right. He failed only because he didn't play "the game" with the corrupt governement officials and the Union bosses who gave him the money to run the casino. He even cares about his daughter, unlike Ginger. She kidnapped her just to get money from Ace. He even loved his wife and put up with her longer than you would think he'd be able to. His life was only spared because there was a steel plate under the car where the bomb was placed. As it turned out he thinks he "knew who lit the fuse"-- his long time friend Nicki. In the end, Rothstein goes back to where he started. Picking winners in sporting events for gambling. You have to question whether he served a useful purpose to society. Sure, a casino is entertainment for people, but as Ace tells us, the real purpose in Las Vegas is to get your money. Even though the corrupt casino was taken over, it was just replaced by another one where parents gamble away their kid's college savings, as he said. But still, Ace Rothstein stands as the greatest character in the movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: RECOMMENDED
Review: This movie has often I think unfairly been accused of merely being a Goodfellas remake set in Las Vegas. Sure it shares the same cast, crew and subject matter as Goodfellas but to dismiss this movie as a remake I think is totally unfair. Goodfellas is a very popular critically acclaimed movie and considered by many to be Scorcese's finest work but I have to honestly say that I enjoyed this movie almost every bit as much. Maybe it's because De Niro is the star as opposed to a supporting actor. He is after all the finest actor of his generation and he like the rest of the cast (including, surprisingly, Sharon Stone) are on top form here.

Casino is what can only be described as hard hitting and brutal in it's realistic portrayal of the mob, how they controlled Las Vegas, lost control of Vegas and there violent way of life (and death). If you don't like violence, don't watch this movie or at least keep your hands ready to cover your eyes at the first sight of a pen, a woodwork vice or a baseball bat. Trust me, these scenes will make any sane person whince. De Niro is fantastic in this movie as Sam "Ace" Rothstein and he is ably supported by Joe Pesci in what is admittedly basically a reprisal (but none the less a very good reprisal) of his psychopath role in Goodfellas. It's gritty and realistic and it's a long movie (approx. 3 hours) but it was three hours of quality that kept me and my friends glued and captivated in front of the television. This is definitely not for everybody but it is essential viewing for people who, like me, enjoy 'gangster' movies that are long, gritty and realistic. Unmissable for fans of Scorcese, De Niro, Pesci and Sharon Stone in a career best (Oscar nominated) screen performance.


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