The Rewatchables: ‘Goodfellas’ | Martin Scorsese's Apex Mountain

As far back as The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey can remember, they always wanted to be a gangster. After years locked away in witness protection, we are releasing the often-requested full-video version of the 2021 'Rewatchables' episode on Scorsese's classic gangster movie, starring Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Lorraine Bracco.
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[@IMadeMyYoutubeNameAge17]

When a Rewatchables episode is Rewatchable

[@lilpenny1982]

Very true Henry

[@swampduck2609]

If there was ever a movie that needed two…

[@Able406]

Have rewatched The Godfather II pod countless times

[@Ryan-mn7gm]

I’m shocked they have 99k subscribers thought they had like a million. Been watching bill for a few years now he’s absolutely the best in the business

[@ismaelfatah3269]

Is this your Apex Mountain?

[@philippeh3904]

Finally showing us Goodfellas full episode in person. It had to be done

[@jarnopesonen8727]

Simmons-Ryan-Fennessey, true power trio.

[@KeithSweat89]

They are good guys

[@natedogg890]

Rest in Peace Tony Bennett, I saw the news of his passing as I was listening to this Rewatchable... Life is a trip

[@troytravels]

I watched it back to back in the theater. It’s my favorite movie by a long shot. Absolute masterpiece.

[@LowKeeKB]

Amen brother. Rewatched today, still love it.

[@darlingtonatuba5910]

Ray Liotta's passing was one of the saddest days of my life, Goodfellas is a precious movie for me and my #1 gangster movie

[@mrmike616]

I met him at Berdgorf Goodman in 2017. He was a super nice guy and even took a picture with me and my buddy.

[@Edd-zd5wb]

What a life you must have

[@darlingtonatuba5910]

@@Edd-zd5wb what does that mean?

[@Edd-zd5wb]

@@darlingtonatuba5910 If thats your saddest... you are pretty lucky, dont you think?

[@RudeDude2024]

Please upload all of these, I absolutely love watching them all on KZbin! It's so fun watching the way you all interact discussing my favorite films.

[@justinstoll4955]

Yes, it's Scorsese's best movie. The gang outlined why it is the best movie of all time. When I was in college, my roommates and I had this movie on repeat for five years straight. We spoke to and interacted with each in the language of this movie.

[@apachedisco]

goodfellas deserves a re-re-re-re watch to complement HEAT

[@NJNDZoo]

Worst real life Goodfellas moment - Henry Hill used to be a regular on Howard Stern's show. On one appearance (after the movie came out), Spider's real life sister called in begging Henry to tell them where they buried Spider. He just kind of laughed it off and ignored her - it was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever heard.

[@MrOctober44]

Yikes

[@JKLeScH777]

Turns out radio shows do things that stir up drama. It wasn’t real. I know this is hard for you to comprehend.

[@NJNDZoo]

@@JKLeScH777 Why would it be hard for me to comprehend? Did I say that I personally know them? No, I said that I actually heard the conversation on the radio. Make of it what you will.

[@stevenvaldezii7936]

This is Simmons at his best.

[@user-yo1ee1ni7p]

In terms of pace and cinematography, i see goodfellas as 70s rock where The Godfather is classical

[@Edd-zd5wb]

In terms of everything I would add.

[@plissken2156]

One thing to mention when analyzing Goodfellas is how Martin Scorsese uses subtle hints and motifs to point out what will eventually become with the characters and their situations. A sort of circular foreshadowing. For example: 1./ When the character of Morris Kessler (aka Morri the Wig Man) is introduced, it is made clear that he owes Jimmy Conway a fair amount of money that Jimmy lent him to help fund his cheap TV spots. When it looks like Morri doesn't want to repay Jimmy, Jimmy comes up behind him, wraps a phone cord around his neck and threatens that he'll kill him if he doesn't come up with his money, plus the interest, that day ("TODAY! TODAY!"). Later on, the situation is reversed. It is Jimmy that owes Morri money - his cut of helping discover and organize the infamous Lufthansa heist. When it looks like Jimmy is the one who will now not come through with the money, Morri becomes very pushy and insistent and demands that he gets paid. Because of this, Jimmy gets annoyed and has Tommy unexpectedly come up behind him and put a knife into the base of his skull - killing him instantly. The moral of this - crime does not pay and the house always wins. 2./ When Karen gets back from the get-together with the other wives, she lets Henry know how nervous she is about hearing all their horror stories regarding their husbands getting busted and going to prison. Henry assures her that will never happen to him because he has things organized, and the only ones who get caught are the ni**er stick-up men who get sloppy and fall asleep at the wheel in the getaway vehicle. Later on, Henry turns to trafficking narcotics, gets himself hooked on them in the process, loses control and organization of his situation and goes to prison. At around the same time, Stacks Edwards, an African American associate of the crew, puts the crew that much closer to getting busted for the Lufthansa heist because he didn't get rid of the getaway vehicle with incriminating fingerprints inside of it. Instead, he went back home and fell asleep. As a result, Tommy had to take care of business once again, and kill him from behind. 3./ The snub-nosed .38 revolver is a recurring motif throughout the film. It is the piece of equipment that makes Karen that much more attracted to Henry after he uses it to beat Bruce with to defend Karen's honor, and then he hands her the bloody firearm to stash so the police can't find it. Years later on, after Henry and Karen are married with children and Karen suspects Henry of being unfaithful to her, she wakes him up out of a drunken stupor one morning, pointing a .38 snub-nose revolver at him, threatening to kill him for his infidelities. I'd like to think that this was the same gun he gave to her years before when things were good between them, and now giving her that gun was biting him in the ass when things were bad. A .38 snub-nosed revolver was also the gun used by Tommy to beat Billy Batz to unconsciousness - the one isolating event that started bringing things from good to bad for the crew. 4./ Near the start of the movie, when Henry is narrating exposition to the viewer of how a boss like Pauly and an organized crime crew operates ("They're like a police department for wise guys."), there is a scene of an outdoor bar-b-cue in Pauly's backyard. In that scene, the camera lingers for a bit on a circular coil of sausage roasting on the grill. The sausage coil is in one piece, just like the crew, and is roasting outside in the fresh air on a beautiful summer day where the crew is together, prosperous and happy. "These are the good times." Years later on, when the use and trafficking of narcotics enters into the picture, it soon puts the crew into jeopardy because the FBI and DEA are now keeping close surveillance on everybody. This forces Pauly to pull the plug on everything and have everybody lay low and operate on their own, at their own risk. Henry eventually gets caught for the narcotics trafficking and is eventually forced by the FBI to rollover on everybody to buy his freedom and save his life and the lives of his family. Before this happens though, he goes to Pauly one last time to plead for a cash loan since he's about to lose all his assets due to his arrest. He pleads with Pauly in the back of some dingy kitchen where Pauly is slowly pan-frying sausages that are cut up and divided - just like the crew. "These are the bad times." 5./ A bit of foreshadowing. When the character of Lois the babysitter is first introduced, Henry, very subtly and inadvertently, removes the hat from her head while standing behind her looking at the baby she has in her charge. This is the same hat (Lois' lucky hat) that brings the whole house of cards crashing down since she can't travel without this hat. So while Henry and Lois go back to Lois' place to retrieve the hat, that's when the FBI and DEA move in and the big arrest happens. The hat was not so lucky after all.

[@savage_skirt5386]

Liotta was amazing in that role

[@brianbiswell7591]

The break on the dvd was when Karen was talking to Janice through the speaker at her apartment if memory serves correctly

[@lpr5269]

It was nice of Karen to let the superintendent know that there was a whore living in 2R. 😂😂😂

[@JKLeScH777]

Your memory doesn’t serve correctly. Why comment this when your memory is wrong? Delete it

[@KimarieVIP]

One “crucial characteristic” of Goodfellas is the fact that most of the main characters, as well as Scorsese, were all from the NY/Jersey/PA region. This gave a rich authenticity to the whole vibe of the movie. Their personalities, ragging on each other…talking shit, mannerisms, vernacular and puns were things I heard everyday growing up in the Bronx.

[@TheLastWalenta]

Straight away - you can call this Scorsese's best movie ever, I have no problem with that. However, you can't call it the culmination of his career when Casino doesn't come out for another five years. That's a little disrespectful to Casino, but these conversations are amazing. These are the conversations we all want to have over a beer with a friend but don't have the attention span or time. Love it.

[@bigiedieot]

I'll start by saying that I love Casino. But in some ways Casino is Goodfellas pt 2. again no disrespect. I love taxi driver and raging bull, but I agree that Goodfellas is the pinnacle of Scorsese's artistic vision and commercial appeal

[@knownpleasures]

That’s because Casino completely sucks!

[@duderino5]

I loved this movie from the first time in the theater. The acknowledgement that Goodfellas is one of the all time greats came much later. As the '90's rolled on, I was amazed at how many people had never watched the movie. I would insist on getting friends to watch the movie, and loved watching the reactions as I saw more people seeing a classic movie for the first time.

[@AficionadoOfArt]

This is possibly the reason why we love, The Rewatchables. The Big 3…………😂😂😂😂

[@btowhidi_1713]

They should do a rewatchable on the rewatchables

[@thomascostigan9526]

I’ve listened to this pod so many times. So glad I get to watch it now.

[@finndeets]

Probably the best episode of the Rewatchables ever.

[@GoonerVen]

I've watched this pod like 4 times in last 6 months. Brilliant

[@johnjerby]

The DVD flipped right before Karen showed up to Henry's mistresses apartment with the kids. Her hitting the call buttons was the first frame of the second discovery.

[@retrocorner5737]

Yes!!! Great to see you together on set.

[@russellponce9265]

I can't remember if the question was asked in this episode or another one, but Yes, Jimmy was married. His wife is in a bunch of scenes. They're not shown together much, maybe only in the vacation photos and at the wedding, but she's shown at the wives hangout, in the bar, and at Jimmy's trial.

[@simonpiacente3989]

I think it's basically the best movie since, um, Goodfellas. Maybe the best since 1980 let alone 1990. I go back and forth on whether Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, or Raging Bull is his best....They all have an argument to be his best......Though Dances With Wolves beating it was ridiculous, I think an even more ridiculous snub was Liotta not even getting NOMINATED for best actor.....Imo, he owns this movie more than anyone (including the great Pesci)....To me, it's Liotta's movie more than anyone else and he gives one of the great performances in any movie ever. I have always thought he never got enough credit for his performance and influence in and on this film, including his incredible almost Morgan Freeman level narration. What a wondrous film it is.

[@manicmondaypodcast8008]

I remember my dad watching this when I was like 10 years old and I never enjoyed watching stuff he watched. And this one clicked with me and I sat and watched with him and it became one of my all time favorite movies

[@dumpsta-divrr365]

That's a lovely memory

[@j0rundur]

Wonderful. Thanks guys. THE perfect podcast.

[@AA-ws3vd]

Thank you for the video footage. These three!

[@MrOctober44]

Thank you for posting a video for this! Perfect for a Monday.

[@NumunuBeats]

“I got to f*cking come HOME for this?!”

[@w.jasonspangler2952]

I agree. When I think about “vintage film” vs “present day”… Goodfellas is ground zero.

[@alanFconrad]

GREAT Job guys....loved it

[@tampamovieguy8565]

Good Fellas was the first DVD that I owned. Great film and great rewatchables episode. Thanks guys.

[@tampamovieguy8565]

I think the break requiring a flip was when Karen goes to the girlfriends apartment and is ringing up all the neighbors.

[@savage_skirt5386]

shot in the summer of '89. I saw this in the theater; I was 10. Loved it.

[@avace917]

I'd love to see you do Casino which is my personal favorite of Scorsese's films.

[@stringerb729]

Great analysis! My favourite film of all time and most quotable 😊

[@95gatorsfan]

Does this mean Bill will drop the two part Boogie Nights rewatchables video?

[@scottfromrallysubaru5439]

I remember the doubled dvd watching with my dad and us both being floored. He would never like gritty movies like it but then we see the departed in theatres and have the same response. Great memories

[@joncumber2020]

Saw it on opening day in Toronto. Not surprised that it has become THE mob movie of all time.

[@jamespalladino9884]

Oh whoa!! All these years I was fine making up in my mind what u guys would look like… and here we are 😂… love this damn show so much!! Glad to be able to watch it now!

[@clstuff1]

Sick shirt Bill!! Love The Rewatchables!

[@funforalgernon]

Put out all of the video versions of the Rewatchables, we'll eat 'em up.

[@avace917]

Billy Dee Williams played Harvey Dent in Batman 89

[@paulborresch6116]

Anybody have a mini-stroke when they saw this just uploaded and thought they did it again?

[@mustermas]

Billy Dee Williams played Harvey dent in Batman 89

[@abefroman8821]

This podcast kept me awake when I was falling asleep driving through Kentucky in the middle of the night trying to make it to Knoxville

[@abriaangel9986]

I know it's cliche but Goodfellas is one of my favorite movies of all time!

[@lpr5269]

There are 2 movies that I saw at the theater 2 days in a row in my life. Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction.

[@dumpsta-divrr365]

Fuck all the contrarians, there's nothing wrong with recognizing greatness

[@nope5531]

Goodfellas is one of the movies that you’ve already rewatched a million times because it’s always played on TV.

[@superdopehiphop]

Wolf of Wallstreet was not even close to the level of the ALL TIME MASTERPIECE that Goodfellas was! Goodfellas washes TF out of it! It’s on so many peoples Mount Rushmore for a reason! Goodfellas didn’t need to be watched 3 times to know it was ILLmatic the first time!

[@ruby5able]

You guys are the best!

[@jay24126]

Dancing with Wolves win is the biggest mistake of the Oscars. Also, Liotta not winning an Oscar for Goodfellas. Absolutely ridiculous he wasn’t nominated .

[@Peekul1]

That was Scorsese's apex of his apex.

[@nocuh]

Re: most influential movies of the past 35 years (37 now), the other contenders are Die Hard, Batman, and When Harry Met Sally

[@BoskoShabazz]

2:17:54 unfortunately there isn’t anymore 😔

[@benbowman5207]

Chris's Goodfellas pod up there w russillo on the town just for that one section lmaooo 1:47:30

[@benbowman5207]

1:46:59

[@ChristopherSmithNYC]

BAd was shot inside the Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station in Brooklyn.

[@22Bodhi]

That dang 2 sided DVD!! Also, during the crew intro. Fat Andy is played by one half of the real Cocaine Cop’s (Eppolitto) & Frankie the Wop is played by Tony Lip (Green book/Sopranos) Great Job guys!!

[@fergaloleary1295]

KAREN!!!!!

[@rodrigosolorzano7260]

This is a Hall of Fame Rewatchables episode...right up there with "The Town" one for me.

[@savage_skirt5386]

Pesci deserved his Oscar

[@blakeharris58]

1:41:36 Billy Dee Williams played Harvey Dent in Batman.

[@chrishiggins5400]

Great episode guys. Richard Belzer was in Scarface. Henry Youngman was also briefly in in Death Wish 2.

[@alexbauer2834]

thank you!

[@Domo-yo4pz]

U guys never talk about only catching a movie on live TV in the 90's. And it took like 5 times to see a whole movie.

[@Domo-yo4pz]

The eat the food part, when Robert D tells the mom the food was delicious, delicious... After commiting that murder and enjoying the food.... Devilish 😈😅😅😅

[@BC-th3mx]

Lol the podcast is as long as the film it's about, a very Scorsese move 👍🏼

[@MrWrestling2]

So when I was a kid I had two basketball posters in my room... However every late 70s, early 80s Basketball poster I see I'm like "Yep I had that one" --The Kareem poster "might" have been on my wall.

[@Sarahthelunsford]

Billy D Williams was Harvey Dent in Batman 89.

[@johnbolton2149]

Love this. Love a good deep dive. That said, Chris screaming “Karen” repeatedly was brutal. Make it stop.

[@lpr5269]

In my opinion he has the best sense of humor out of all of them. Bill and Sean are like 2 cranky old men.

[@savage_skirt5386]

80's: After Hours is a good movie, Color of Money is a good move, King of Comedy, also good, Raging Bull (of course). These are also some of Marty's all-time best movies. He followed up Goodfellas with a remake of Cape Fear and The Age of Innocence, which are also both good films.

[@MrDeengels]

Scorsese perfectly shows how unpredictable and deadly that life is. Only Deniro could play Jimmy Burke.

[@Juice315]

I usually hate listening to young people talk about film. It usually feels like they are trying to say the correct thing or be interesting. But this felt genuine and informed. A truly enjoyable listen. You just got a new subscriber.

[@MrKadirbey]

I mean these guys are like 40 😅

[@rawpower12xu]

Simmons is over 50.

[@jonasgilmour6314]

Crazy that Micheal francheze is now a KZbinr

[@doriandd4648]

Ray Liotta was never associated with anything else even close to this level but he starred in the best movie ever made.

[@Edd-zd5wb]

No.

[@chrisrubio8212]

I always assumed Tuddy was a nickname for Arturo or “Arthur.”

[@medianvideos]

Total masterpiece. If you watch this and then Reservoir Dogs... it is such an influential film.

[@andrewhoyle1521]

The break happened when Henry goes to jail. First scene on the flip side of DVD is Paulie cutting garlic

[@lpr5269]

To this day people probably use that trick. Cutting the garlic with a razor blade so it liquifies in the pan.

[@michaelb3927]

I’m glad but why the awesome volume of new rewatchables??

[@michaelrdangelo]

It's "IT'S WHAT IT IS" not "IT IS WHAT IT IS" in The Irishman.

[@SLIDESPOT]

Everything Bill said about the reaction at the time to Goodfellas when it was first released is spot on. Now i had read some things here and there while the film was being made that had me anticipating it enough to read WISEGUY. Definitely the focus was on Godfather III but word was slowly getting out that it wasn’t good so i was more stoked to see Goodfellas and remember trying to convince friends to go see it. No one was interested, they were all geared to see only one mob movie, GF3. What i remember was it took a year or two for Goodfellas to become part of every film lovers conversation. As soon as it was released on video i took it and forced my friends to watch it. I also recorded the sound off the TV andwould play it on a tape deck while i slept cuz i was instantly obsessed with the dialogue. Only gripe i have is the idea presented that Pulp Fiction was heavily influenced by Goodfellas, i would argue against that notion.

[@josereyes1148]

For like every movie they say "this is the point of view from the main character. This is how he remembers it and not how it actually might have happened"

[@johndixon1725]

That cut to CR's face 💀

[@Chapolinho316]

Everytime my girl and I make spaghetti sauce I keep telling her: “Don’t let the sauce stick!”

[@lpr5269]

Tuddy Cicero's real name was Vito by the way.

[@gs2162]

Do Pride and Glory. That's an underrated gem

[@Pedroapares]

2:03:53 “We're doing cruising” LOL

[@joemckim1183]

Paulie being the silent partner of the bar and ordering a bunch of weird stuff and never paying for them is the same thing they did on The Sopranos. When Davey Scatino owed Tony a bunch of money and they did the same thing with his sporting goods store.

[@joemckim1183]

To add to my previous statement, its called a Bust Out.

[@overload67]

I though I clicked on an old episode… can’t believe it took this long to get to Goodfellas

[@nero512]

You did click on an old episode. This one is two years old. The Rewatchables is a podcast not a KZbin show, however they sometimes record it on video too, if we're lucky.

[@turneryoung905]

EVERY. FUCKING. SCENE. HOT. DAMN.

[@neplusultra4196]

Saul Bass only made one movie, Phase IV

[@lilpenny1982]

Please release rewatchable of Contact please

[@beckyleonardis6331]

This is one of the best mob movies! Bill, I also have that DVD where they play half the movie on one side and then I have to get up and flip it over. There's only one other DVD, I have to do that with and it's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. I should look for some new copies. Without a doubt, Jimmy would've had Karen killed. If she didn't decide to leave at the last min. Chris' impression of Ray Liotta saying Karen was hilarious! BTW! I'd pick Goodfellas over Dances with Wolves anytime!

[@evaristo_1272]

Best line in the film to me”Look what that mutt did to my shoes “

[@lpr5269]

That scene with the restaurant owner complaining about Tommy to Pauly. Pauly says "What do you want? He's a bad kid. He's a bad seed. What do you want me to do? Shoot him?" The guy says "Well, that wouldn't be a bad idea." and the face that Pauly makes is hilarious.

[@DMalltheway]

Killers of the Flower Moon I cannot wait to watch.

[@laureencriss8220]

Why only 15 subs? Is the the right podcast?

[@esosa13]

Batts was in the Gambino family

[@chrischancellor7372]

Sean, Chris and Bill are the best big three in the league.

[@BoskoShabazz]

Greatest film of all time.