Martin Scorsese

GoodFellas [Blu-ray]
$28.99
This is the second time around for this film on Blu. This edition will have the following extra features:

1.A 34-page booklet and on the discs themselves:
2. Martin Scorsese commentary track where he is joined by various cast and crew including Ray Liotta, Paul Sorvino and Nicholas Pileggi.
3. Henry Hill and FBI Agent Edward McDonald commentary.
4. Getting Made, Made Men and The Workaday Gangster making-of documentaries.
The above are all to be found on the two-disc Special Edition DVD and the recent Blu-ray.
They will be joined by:
5. Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film documentary - 106 minutes.
6.Four Warner Bros. mob-themed cartoons.

The documentary on the gangster film is already available separately here - Public Enemies - The Golden Age of the Gangster Film and in the boxed set Warner Gangsters Collection, Vol. 4 (The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse / Invisible Stripes / Kid Galahad / Larceny, Inc. / The Little Giant / Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film).

So if you have the documentary and you have the original Blu version you are getting nothing extra in this version.

As for the film itself, After you see this movie, all other mobster movies you see or ever have seen will seem like garbage. They and their cast of characters will all appear cartoonish in comparison. Of course, this is a movie about the mafia from the working man/gangster point of view, where "The Godfather" was a mafia movie filmed from the viewpoint of the executive suite, so there really is no valid comparison there. "Goodfellas" really does seem ahead of its time when you realize that the only artistic work about the mafia that compares to it in quality is the HBO series "The Sopranos", which debuted nine years after this movie was made. "Goodfellas" tells the real-life story of mobster Henry Hill, and it is largely true, although there are individual scenes that are out of sequence and others that were added for dramatic effect, such as Karen Hill flushing the coca ine down the toilet during the drug bust. Also, Tommy, the character that Joe Pesci played and the part for which he won an Oscar, was actually a composite of two separate gangsters. Other details are omitted completely, probably because they would have spun the movie off in too many different directions. For example, crime boss "Big Paulie" actually was having an affair with Henry Hill's wife, Karen. When Tommy tried to assault her and Paulie found out, that was when he alerted the Gambinos to the fact that Tommy had killed their missing crew member, "made man" Billy Batts, nine years earlier. This is the true reason that it took so long for Tommy to be killed over that incident. Thus, masterful direction of the story by Martin Scorsese in what was probably his finest film is why the audience has a more cohesive view of the mobsters portrayed in this movie than if we had been told every last detail.

What really makes this movie great is all of the personal details that enable you to see these mobsters living a largely suburban life, concerned about kids' birthday parties and getting the sauce just right for dinner, and all the while completely immersed in a completely amoral lifestyle in which murder and bribes solve everything- a lifestyle to which they would never voluntarily choose an alternative.

The film I recommend as one of the classics, but as for this version, if you have the Blu version already and you have the documentary on the gangster film, I can't see putting out this kind of money for four mobster related cartoons.

Film - 5/5
Extra features 2/5 (nothing we haven't seen before)
Averaged together = 3.5 stars

I round up from 3.5 to 4 stars just out of respect for the film.

Martin Scorsese Collection (After Hours/Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore/Goodfellas/Mean Streets/Who's That Knocking At My Door?)
$59.98
... By Martin Scorsese.

Worth it for After Hours by itself.

My Voyage to Italy
$19.99
I originally made the mistake of purchasing My Voyage to Italy thinking that I was getting Journey to Italy. Both were well worth the price, even if you do not speak Korean. Bergman is stunning, even in Italian!

Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues - A Musical Journey
$139.98
No one is going to be 100% pleased with this movie, but I personally appreciate the efforts of all to put it together and found it to be full of unexpected delights. I agree with one of the reviewers that the footage of Skip James is worth the the price of the entire set alone.
I also take issue with some reviewers that decried the inclusion of Lulu singing the blues - it was very soulful, and in fact, brings home the point that the English were paying attention to, and moved by the blues, when most of America was glued to sonic bubble-gum.
Those that whine and whimper endlessly about the lack of blues credibility
of some of the performers, historical errors, and personal preferences of the directors are probably just the sort who do little themselves to spread joy and wonder - the message of the blues for these people is a one-way street. For those that think this was boring...good luck, and fasten your seat belts, because you're in for a lifetime of boredom.