Goodfellas

Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker (the unsung hero of every Scorsese film) create a rhythm that literally mimics the protagonists’ coke-addled state. Time stretches and collapses. The audience doesn’t just watch Henry unravel; they feel the anxiety, the sleeplessness, the creeping dread that the jig is up.

Director: Martin Scorsese Starring: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5) GoodFellas

If The Godfather is a Shakespearean tragedy, GoodFellas is a punk rock documentary. Both are essential. But only one makes you feel like you need a shower and a cigarette afterward. Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker (the unsung hero

Based on Nicholas Pileggi’s non-fiction book Wiseguy , the film follows the rise and spectacular fall of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), a half-Irish, half-Sicilian kid who grows up idolizing the mobsters across the street. From the famous opening line—"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster"—Scorsese lures us into a seductive vortex of easy money, loyalty, and impunity. For its first hour, GoodFellas plays like a hedonistic comedy. The camera glides through the Copacabana nightclub in a single, breathtaking Steadicam shot (rightly legendary), following Henry and his future wife Karen (Lorraine Bracco) past the kitchen, through the crowd, to a table mysteriously lowered from the ceiling. It is cinema as pure desire. Scorsese makes crime look not just cool, but efficient —no lines, no waiting, no rules. Director: Martin Scorsese Starring: Robert De Niro, Ray