Goodfella - Hollywood Elsewhere

Thanks to the kindness of Hollywood Reporter contributor and screenwriter Jordan Mintzer, I’m In Like Flynn< regarding all Paris press screenings and all the names and emails of all the publicists...the whole magilla. But the only major film I'll be seeing prior to my return to NYC on 6.20 is World War Z (which screens next Tuesday). White House Down opens on 6.28 in France, but there are no screenings listed on the sheet. The Internship opens in the States today, but I won’t see it here until 6.19. Many thanks to Jordan & perhaps I can someday return the favorhttp://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/06/goodfella-2/

M.I.A.: Joe Pesci

By Brian Salisbury , Hollywood.com Staff


Often times this column requires a good amount of weekly research. There are plenty of actors/filmmakers who haven’t worked in a long time, but among those myriad names, it becomes necessary to weed out those who have been unable to work due to being regrettably deceased, and those for whom little desired is harbored to see them return to the limelight.



But this week’s subject serendipitously fell into my lap while I was channel surfing. Snickers has been running ads of late featuring everyone from Aretha Franklin to Rosanne Barr as representations of the manner in which people’s personalities change when they are hungry. The latest one insinuates that one gentleman gets rather angry when famished as represented by none other than Joe Pesci. Suddenly I found myself wondering, where the heck has that guy been?



Why We Love Him



The soft spot in our hearts for Joe Pesci was one violently carved with a dull blade and widened by a closed fist. Pesci established himself as one of the preeminent gangsters in cinema. It began with Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America and was absolutely solidified with 1990’s Goodfellas. If there is one director who truly understands the art of the gangster film, it’s Martin Scorsese, and Pesci proved to be the embodiment of the most unhinged, sociopathic tendencies that can be fostered by organized crime—the partnership was perfect.



The role actually netted Pesci an Academy Award. He would later collaborate with Scorsese again to portray the similarly homicidal Nicky Santoro in Casino. If nothing else, Santoro taught us that a ballpoint pen in the wrong hands is as dangerous as a loaded gun.



As much as we love Pesci the gangster, the man has demonstrated his chops as a comedian on more than one occasion. Even before he bashed in heads as Tommy Devito in Goodfellas, he made a splash as Leo Getz in Lethal Weapon 2. Getz was a fast-talking, spastic con-man-turned-witness who proved to be a unique addition to the already stellar chemistry between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. As the franchise progressed through two more sequels, Pesci turned out to be as indelible to fans as anyone else in the series. Pesci also enjoyed great success as one of the bumbling Wet Bandits in 1990’s Home Alone; he and Daniel Stern would reprise these characters in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.







What Happened to Him?



A remarkable actor, an American gangster, and an Oscar winner, how could this guy possibly vanish from the spotlight? But somehow Pesci did seem to fade away. Right after Casino, Pesci made two comedies which both tanked commercially: 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag and Gone Fishin’. When Lethal Weapon enjoyed its fourth installment in 1998, it seemed that he was poised to bounce back. The movie was a smash hit that not only reunited all our old favorite cast members, but also added Chris Rock and martial artist Jet Li. But strangely, this would be the last anyone saw of Pesci for several years.



Where’s He Been?



In 2006, Pesci had a small part in The Good Shepherd; a film directed by his longtime friend and collaborator Robert DeNiro. This would mark the first time in nearly a decade that Pesci had appeared in a film. I am still a bit baffled as to where he went or what he was doing, but this resurgence again proved to be short-lived. It’s now been another five years and still we’ve not seen Pesci in a theatrically released movie. Was Pesci actually in the mafia? Had he turned informer for the FBI and been relocated through witness protection like Goodfellas’ Henry Hill? Probably not, but his disappearance is baffling.



What Now?



Though conflicting reports have surfaced regarding the character he will play, Pesci is set to appear in a biopic called Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father. The movie will, obviously, center on late mafia kingpin John Gotti and his relationship with his son. Rain Man director Barry Levinson is helming the project, and the cast already boasts Al Pacino, John Travolta, and Ben Cross. If this movie turns out to be Pesci’s glorious return to gangster cinema, I will be first in line to see it. But I also hope that Pesci makes a return to comedy because, despite his famous and chillingly brooding protest in Goodfellas, I do think he’s funny.


http://www.hollywood.com/news/Joe_Pesci_Career_and_Future/7829161

Mob-made: Retired FBI agent shares story for Hollywood

NEWTOWN -- Not many people get to meet a mobster in a friendly situation, let alone hear a ranking member of New York City's Gambino crime family, with the title "made man," describe his daily tasks.

But that was one of the surprise perks members of the Newtown Citizen Police Academy got this year.

Standing 6-feet-4 inches tall and weighting almost 400 pounds, 56-year-old Joaquin "Jack" Garcia certainly fits the stereotype of an Italian gangster, which is one of the many reasons he was the undercover agent the FBI chose to infiltrate the family.

Over the 26 years Garcia was an agent, he had more than 100 different identities, but his most intense stint was the three years he spent as Jack Falcone, a third-generation Sicilian, whose parents were buried in Florida.

Starting in 2002, Garcia was able to infiltrate the Gambino family -- one of the top five crime families in New York City. He was made to look like an investor in a strip club that the Gambinos, and Greg DePalma, a family capo, provided security for.

To play the part, he needed a fancy car, Rolex watch, a 3-carat diamond pinky ring, a cross necklace and a few Italian suits.To gain trust, he used watches and other items that had been confiscated by police during drug arrests, telling members of the family he would give them a good price for them. Or he would buy a TV and offer it, claiming it fell off a truck, to gain the respect of the group.

If something's hot, they'd rather get that -- to know they got away with it," he said.

He continued to gain the trust of the higher-ups, and was invited to join La Cosa Nostra and named a "made-man," someone who has mobsters working directly for him.

He maintained this persona, using wiretaps and helping organize video surveillance, until he aroused suspicion by not participating in a gang beating in a Bloomingdale's store.

The FBI pulled him from the job before he was found out. But despite his urgent removal, the agency was able to put 32 members of the Gambino family behind bars on charges of racketeering, extortion and violence.

Now retired, Garcia wrote a book, "Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family," which became a New York Times bestseller soon after it was released in October 2008.

Garcia subsequently appeared on "60 Minutes" and other news broadcasts, as well as many news publications.

What was the scariest part of being an undercover mobster? That is the most common question he gets


He said he hoped if he was found out he "could be made (out as) an agent, because the fate of an informant is a death sentence."

Mobsters know better than to kill an FBI agent, he said.

Garcia explained that in his experience mob families were run exactly as they are portrayed in "The Godfather" movie.

"With the mob you eat 24-7. It's like you're on a cruise ship with the mob," he joked. He gained 80 of his 390 pounds in his three years as a gangster.

But he did not have to kill anyone, or do anything illegal to harm someone.

"(They) used to have people whack someone, to get their hands dirty so they couldn't turn and be a rat, (but) the mob has changed ... You could be called upon to whack someone, but it wasn't a prerequisite.

He said as long as he was making the money for the family, they were happy to have him on board.

Garcia recently sold the rights to his story to a movie producer, and is hopeful someday soon someone impersonating him will tell his story.

Colombo Mobster Chris Paciello aka Saint of small time snitches

Chris Paciello owned two of Miami's hottest clubs and hung out with Ingrid Casares, Jennifer Lopez, and Madonna. A murder charge scattered his A-list pals ==Chris Paciello (born Christian Ludwigsen,September 7, 1971, Brooklyn, New York) is a Cosa Nostra associate and government informant who was convicted of murder in New York City













Christian Ludwigsen, aka Chris Paciello.


Mob rat, Chris Paciello, was a former muff diver of Madonna's ,who recently surfaced in Malibu. Paciello snitched off a couple of Colombo Crime Family wiseguy's to get out of a murder rap. He had been the low-level-scumbag driver on a house invasion A decent married woman was shot to death during the despicable crime.

HBO'S REAL H'WOOD GODFATHER

HOLLYWOOD legend Robert Evans is stoked about his latest project -- a six-hour miniseries for HBO on the life of Sidney Korshak, whom the FBI once called "the most powerful lawyer in the world."

Korshak started out in Chicago and moved to Beverly Hills, where he was the "fixer" for Chicago mobsters doing business there, labor bosses and politicians, and good friends with men like Lew Wasserman, Frank Sinatra, Ronald Reagan, Barron Hilton and Hugh Hefner.

"He was the godfathers' godfather, and he was my godfather," Evans told Page Six. "He was known as 'The Silencer,' and one of his sayings was, 'Continued silence is the greatest insurance policy for continued breathing.' One word from him and there wasn't a second one. He never had to say anything twice."

Korshak, who died in 1996, was a boxing champ at the University of Minnesota, and an imposing figure. Evans recalled, "He never had an office. It was all in his head. And he never had his picture taken." Evans, who gave a eulogy at his funeral, said that without Korshak, "The Godfather" wouldn't exist. "The five families in New York did not want the movie made. And we couldn't have gotten Al Pacino. He was signed to "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" at MGM. Korshak called up [MGM owner] Kirk Kerkorian who was building the MGM Grand at the time, and asked him to release Pacino. When Kerkorian balked, Sidney said, 'Kirk, you want to finish that hotel?' " Robert De Niro ended up with Pacino's part in the "Gang" movie.

Evans is producing the miniseries with Paramount -- which he ran in the 1970s when "The Godfather," "Chinatown" and "Love Story" were made. Art Monterastelli is writing the script. Evans said, "I hope I can make it as good as I can talk about it."