wakarahen / ganbaresugi

“One day, some bespectacled university scientist will get a large grant to conduct their study attempting to determine why it seems to be literally impossible to come upon Goodfellas on television and not stop to watch it. Give it a try some time — it can’t be done. We’re sure the research will come up with some interesting conclusions, but we have a theory of our own. Because Martin Scorsese structures the picture as a series of electrifying set pieces, and conducts it with a relentless energy that’s like some kind of a cinema high, anyone who’s seen it more than once knows that the next big bump is coming: the Copa one-shot; Pesci’s “you think I’m funny” rant; the murder of Billy Batts; “Layla” and the Luftansa aftermath; Sunday, May 11, 1980. “I should get back to work/cleaning/balancing the checkbook/caring for my sick child,” you think, putting down the remote. “I’ll just stick with it until they kill Billy Bats.” And then the next thing you know, there’s Henry at the door of his suburban home, complaining about the ketchup sauce. Happens every time.”