Our Time

With the amount of rain we have been having, outdoor activities have gone underground. While plenty of sunshine and good times await us, I also enjoy a good rainstorm [minus any flooding damage]. With rain comes, for me, a peaceful feeling. I'm more in touch with nature than other times. Watching the power and ferocity of a mighty storm is a contact high for me. It sounds corny but I do feel a real closeness with the Higher Power. The word ''awesome'' is not a word I use often because it is one of the most overused words in the English language. In life, it is used as a favorite description for anything [''Dude, these fries are awesome!']. But, the power of weather is awesome to me, there is no other word to satisfy the definition of Mother Nature. It is at these moments that I watch the skies and feel the winds. It is Life's Great Special Effect. After experiencing this marvel, I usually beat a hasty retreat indoors..... And, indoors, on a bad weather day, be it rain or snow, comes the cozy time. The sky has darkened outside, and darkness, to me, means the comfort of the home hearth. Something about bad weather requires my body to shiver a little and a blanket becomes a body friend. Naturally, you need something to watch and something to drink and something to eat. A good nosh of the forbidden things that a healthy person preaches about, but, of which I have dedicated my life to imbibing [''Hey, you kill yourself your way, and I will kill myself my way!']. Also, what makes the package of indoor enjoyment the most special is a special person by you....... We call it cuddling. We call it intimacy. We call it love. It is all of those things when you have a special person to hold. Whatever your description of it is, it is mighty nice. The lights have been lowered, maybe, a low light or candle is on somewhere in the room. A fireplace is doing its thing, a warm companion to be lying in front of. Fireplace flames are different than a regular fire flame. Regular flames speak something of the harsh truths in life--- angry, devilish, a thing to put out or stay away from. But, looking at a fireplace flame, all is forgiven of the evils of fire. It is mesmerizing, a topic to be talked about. Somehow, in the heat of the flame, comes the gentleness of quiet thoughts shared. A peaceful flame brings confessions and feelings of snuggling closer. We, as humans, are drawn to the warmth, for it gives our bodies the safety that we always crave in life....... You must have something to drink. That doesn't mean alcohol necessarily. If you find your ease in water or coffee or a pop, that works.But, let's face it: spirits are the preferred liquid. Some people drink beer or hard alcohol. Wine is my stimulant. A nice glass of red. It soothes me, putting me in the mood of my surroundings. I am a pretty good drinker with all other alcohol, but, wine has always been my Achilles Heel. A couple of glasses and I am not so much flying, rather, than I am very mellow. And affectionate....... Food must be nearby, as it is in every facet of my life. A standard meal is most welcome. However, I've found the little taste bits are the most valuable. Popcorn, cheese [goes great with wine, as we all know], maybe, a spare pizza that has wandered into my home. Food and affection go hand and hand with me. I can eat with the best of them. And, I don't know what it is, but, there is something about food that triggers the enzymes in my soul. It awakens joy. I could eat during a good time or during a bad time. If a nuclear war starts, look for me to have a mouthful of cheeseballs or fries. Or, both at once. In the finest of Italian traditions, food is always a comfort tonic in a crisis. You could have lost your foot, been told you have ten minutes to live, or be ducking falling safes, and food is prescribed. And, it does the trick!!! So, when you add food to a romantic and cozy moment, like by a fireplace on a bad weather day, your joy knows no limits....... Now, the most important ingredient. You have the bad weather outside. You have the juice that you are drinking. You have the food. All three already make a successful evening indoors. But, what tips the scale---because it is the most important--- is someone to be by your side. Your Cuddle Person. It may be the person you are in love with, or, it may be a close friend, or, a dog. But, someone being there makes you feel more powerful in your love. Everything else is a distant second. You talk the talk that is most comfortable for you two, words that no one else need not hear. You speak from the heart, the most previous place to speak from. The outside world is just that: outside, away from you. Your world, all that you really need in life, is right here. The bad weather conditions is symbolic of the harshness of life. But, here in your arms, you have created a world of love. There is no better world to live in. And, your partner shows the love back at you, be it a lick from a dog, a hug of friendship, or a precious kiss from your special one. Whatever happens outside, in that cruel storm of the world, does not matter. You Are Here, where you always need and want to be. It is ''Our Time''........ The choice of what to watch is, of course, subjective. I wouldn't, however, suggest a film about tragedy and murder [turn on the news for that]. The movie must be romantic or humorous, or something that enhances the moment you have created. And, it must be agreed upon between both parties. No room for experimentation. Your viewing must be another familiar friend, the video version of a comfortable pair of slippers. Your eyes must glow from what you are seeing, for it is a reflection of all that you experiencing around you........ I love days and nights like these. You could give me a tour of the most fun and exotic places around the world, with rich and powerful people to hang with, and, I would still choose this moment. These are the times in life that are most valuable, what you work hard for and aspire to in your private life. The simple joy of love and expressing it simply. And, to think, all it takes is just simple bad weather outside........ It also takes the love inside........

Still Hanoi Jane

Sometimes, it is fun to hang someone by their own words....... ''This is Jane Fonda. During my two week visit to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, I've had the opportunity to visit places and speak to a large number of people from all walks of life---workers, peasant farmers, dancers, historians, journalists, film actresses, soldiers, militia girls...... In the shadow of the Temple Of Literature I saw the Vietnamese actors and actresses perform Arthur Miller's play 'All My Sons', and this was very moving to me---the fact that artists here are doing American plays while U.S. imperialists are bombing their country. I cherish the memory of the blushing, militia girls on the roof of their factory, encouraging as they sang a song praising the blue sky of Vietnam---- these women, who are so gentle and whose voices are  beautiful, but who, when American planes are bombing their city become such good people. I cherish the way a farmer evacuated from Hanoi, without hesitation, offered me an American, their best air raid shelter while U.S. bombs fell near by........ As I left the United States two weeks ago, Nixon was again telling the American people that he was winding down the war, but in the rubble---strewn streets of Nam Dinh, his words echoed with sinister words of a true killer. And like the young Vietnamese woman I held in my arms clinging to me tightly--- and I pressed my cheek against hers--- I thought, this is a war against Vietnam perhaps, but the tragedy is America's. One thing is have learned beyond a shadow of a doubt in this country is we will never be able to break the spirit of these people, he'll never be able to turn Vietnam, North and South into a neo-colony United States by bombing, by invading, by attacking in any way. One has only to go outside and listen to the peasants describe the lives they led before the revolution to understand why every bomb dropped only strengthens their determination to resist. I've spoken to many peasants who talked about the days when the parents had to sell themselves to landlords as virtually slaves, when there were very few schools and much illiteracy, inadequate medical care, when they were not masters of their own lives. But now, despite the bombs, despite the crimes being created--- being committed against them by Nixon, these people own their land, build their own schools--- the children learning and illiteracy is being wiped out, there is no more prostitution as there was during the time when this was a French colony. In other words, they have taken power into their own hands, and they are controlling their own lives. And after 4,000 years of struggling against the nature and foreign invaders---- and the last 25 years prior to the revolution of struggling against French colonialism--- I don't think that the people of Vietnam are about to compromise in any way, shape or form about the freedom and independence of their country, and I think Nixon would do well to read Vietnamese history, particularly their poetry, and particularly the poetry written by Ho Chi Minh......... Jane Fonda, Radio Hanoi, July 19, 1972....... In a recent interview---to promote a new movie she is in--- Jane Fonda claims to have some remorse about her anti-Vietnam War crusade. She says it was a mistake to go to North Vietnam---- and, famously pose sitting on a huge gun that was used to kill the American troops---- and that she should be forgiven for her actions. She has learned, Ms. Fonda claims, that she was too knee-jerk [my words] in some of the things she has said about the troops........ Now, in hindsight, her feelings about the Vietnam War were very right. The war was wrong [or, it was fought wrong] and most Americans would probably agree that we should have never gone there in the first place. So, being ''anti'' the war is not a bad thing. Millions were then. I have no complaint with Ms. Fonda there. And, I will concede that we all do things, and say things, when we are younger that you naturally wince at as you get older...... Where I do have a problem with Jane Fonda is in her presentation of her ''apology''. The way I get it----as do many others who are detractors--- is that Ms. Fonda is not putting all of her heart into her apology. That is, in my opinion, she is saying she is ''sorry'' but without any true feeling behind it. Kinda like a spoiled kid made to say he is sorry just so everyone will leave him alone. He isn't really sorry, just that he wants to get the noose taken away from around his neck. Jane Fonda gives off that same feeling to me. Usually when she has apologized, it is to promote a new project. The new project, a movie, say, would be hurt financially if Jane took to her old radical pose. Therefore, she eases up on her past hatred of the establishment and their ''games'', just so she can enjoy the fortune of today. How Capitalistic, Janie!!!!...... Jane Fonda has gone down the road of saying she is sorry for her activities, like going to North Vietnam and meeting with the enemy---- which, legally, could have gotten her arrested for treason---- but, glaringly, she has not made the stop on the road she needs to visit the most: the Vietnam war veterans. These are the people she crucified in the press, both in Hanoi and back here and other countries abroad. She has labeled these proud troops ''murderers'' because they fought the war on the side of America. The fact that these ''murderers'' were mostly men drafted into the war [unlike Jane's rich friends and fellow protesters who got a draft deferment] and were put in a situation that horrible events unfolded in front of their eyes. These men--- and women--- were innocent average citizens in harms way. They were not going out looking for blood. They were defending their country in good and honest ways. Many did not return home after the war. And, many did, but they were wounded, some physically and some mentally. And, some suffered both. They came back broken and unloved for what they had done, called ''murderers'' by radical phonies like Jane Fonda. You can be against a war [I have been a few times]. However, I always support the troops. Jane Fonda never did. They were baby killers to her, the destructors of life........ I see Ms. Fonda on TV and I look at her eyes. It is the old actor in me, the observer of human actions and personality ticks. She is putting on a performance for the camera. And, she is quite good at it, for no one would ever deny her talent at acting and getting into character. It is all solid performance, full of the ''pain'' she feels by her actions. She is ''sorry''....... Our involvement in the Vietnam War ended in January, 1973, when the old enemy of Jane Fonda, Richard Nixon, signed the peace treaty to bring our troops home. Two years later, in April 1975, the last military equipment and troops left, basically, abandoning the people of South Vietnam and allowing the North and its communist killers to destruct and pillage the countryside. It has been estimated that millions of people died during this time. There are the famously horrible scenes shown of the Vietnamese boat lift, with desperate men, women, and children trying to escape with their lives. Some made it. And, some did not. Some, overcrowded in the leaky and unsafe boats, went down to their deaths in the ocean---- despite the big, bad, old imperialistic America that Jane Fonda slammed--- trying to help them. And, there was the horror of mass murderer. North Vietnam troops bludgeoned suspected traitors to their cause, using the killing of children in a bloody celebration of winning the war. For the Vietnamese people, despite the atrocities at what had come from the years of the war, this was the worst time..... Jane Fonda has always been aware of what her old friends in North Vietnam did during this time. True to form, she blames the media and the inflated figures of her enemies rather than face the harsh truth. This is, of course, the sign of a phony, someone who cannot handle the truth if it doesn't correspond with her preconceived notions. Until she is truly sorry---which seems unlikely, given her age and the fact she hasn't grasped the obvious by now---- she will forever be someone I consider as harmful..... And, someone whose movies will never be welcome to my eyes.....

A Sad Clown

It only took six minutes for the jury to make a decision, a remarkable thing when you consider the emotion of the trial and the alleged crime that was committed. For a jury to come back so quickly, it must have had a firm mind collectively about what had occured. This jury did. They knew the immensity of what they were about to say. The whole world was waiting. So, on this day in April, 1922, the foremen of the jury read the decision: not guilty. And, after he read this, a very strange thing happened. The jury read an apology, in open court, to the defendant. They were apologizing to the man sitting at the defense table for all that he had been through these last months. The unfairness and the public condemnation. The smearing by the press and the unforgiving public. The jury was not responsible for any of these actions. But, they, as decent human beings, felt like it needed to be said. The defendant, universally admired for his physical comedy, did what all sad clowns do....... He cried..... Roscoe Arbuckle was born huge. Coming into the world on March 24, 1887, he checked in at a healthy 13 pounds. Both of his parents were very skinny people, which made his father, a very cruel man, to declare that young Roscoe was not his. In fact, the name given to the child, Roscoe, was a personal swipe at a politician that the father despised, Roscoe Conkling. The mother was loving, however, to the baby. Unfortunately, The birth of such a big child turned out to be eventually fatal to the mother. She suffered from recurring health problems in young Roscoe's childhood, and, would die 12 years later..... As a child, Roscoe was very talented. A big showoff. He loved to sing and dance and seemed to have a natural ability to draw people to him. He was naturally shy---- a lifelong affliction---- so, performing, with his mother's encouragement, got him out of his shell and he made friends easily. He was such a natural, that at the age of 8, he was performing locally in talent shows. After his mother's death at 12 years old, the father, true to his harsh form treatment of his son, refused to support Roscoe. The boy, now a hefty teenager, was left to fend for himself and got odd jobs around his hometown of Santa Ana, California. He still performed in talent shows, always winning the audiences over with his fine voice and dancing. For a big teenager, Roscoe was quite agile onstage. Soon, as a young man, he would find his way into vaudeville and perform in various shows on the West Coast. By the age of 21, Roscoe had himself a solid living going, being a popular performer traveling the country doing his comedy. His specialty was physical schtick, juggling, falling down, using his face to grab the laughs. He was piling up good contacts in show business and eventually, Hollywood came calling. In 1909, he started making silent films [there were no other types of films back then. This was pre-sound] and found his way into the legendary Keystone Cops comedies. By his early twenties, Roscoe had grown to a huge weight, over the 300 pounds mark. It was around this time that he was given his nickname in movies that he loathed. The studio and its producers added the name ''Fatty'' to his given name. For the rest of his life, he had to live with the name Roscoe ''Fatty'' Arbuckle......Throughout the first dozen years of the 1900's, Roscoe Arbuckle steadily climbed the ladder of success in show business. He still appeared with the Keystone Cops in their enormously successful comedies. He also married, in 1908, to Minta Durfee. By 1914, Paramount came calling for his services. He and his frequent co-star, Mabel Normand, signed with the studio for big money, eventually, reaching $3 million dollars a year, an extraordinary sum for those times. Roscoe Arbuckle became a box office sensation, drawing in crowds by the millions and amassing a legion of dedicated fans. He was the John Candy of his day, beloved by all masses for his comedy and the sad face of a fat man. His weight, by 1916, had gotten so out of hand, that he developed an infection so severe that it was thought that he might lose his leg to amputation. He kept his leg and lost nearly a hundred pounds, rounding out around a still-hefty 260 pounds. Sadly, probably because of his infection, he developed an addiction to morphine and alcohol...... Although the public still called him ''Fatty'' Arbuckle, Roscoe enjoyed the attention and money that fame brought him. Women were also attracted by his stardom. They flocked around him and his glamour. For a shy, unwanted fat child, the attentions of the fairer sex must have gratified him. He was still shy, but alcohol helped overcome his shyness. He drank plenty, even with the strict Prohibition law in place. Roscoe liked to have a good time, anytime, with anybody, anywhere. And, so on September 5, 1921 in San Francisco, Roscoe and his friends decided to throw a wing-ding of a party...... Roscoe holed up in the St. Francis Hotel. He had two male friends with him, Lowell Sherman and Fred Fischbach. The three checked into three rooms, one of which, Room 120, was designated the party room. Coming along with the three rounders were several women invited to the party. You could call them ''loose women'' or hookers, depending on your viewpoint. But, all of those present liked to party, especially, during the restriction of alcohol because of Prohibition. Bathtub gin and other illegally smuggled items for the experienced juicer were plentiful. Soon, all of the party guests were getting drunk and randy with their libidos. But, a problem soon developed with one of the guests. Her name was Virginia Rappe, who claimed to be an aspiring actress. This was later to be proved to be untrue. However, at the party, Ms. Rappe was discovered to be seriously ill in one of the adjacent rooms to the party. The hotel doctor examined her and determined that her abdominal pain was caused by alcohol intoxication and shot some morphine into her to calm her........ Virginia Rappe was bad news. She was the type of person that all show business people seem to attract. The groupie leech that goes after the stars fame and wallet. She had a reputation as a party girl, someone who overdrank so much that she was a danger to be around. She suffered from chronic crystitis, a condition that needs a body to practice clean living. Certainly, alcohol and crystitis do not mix. In fact, booze could leave her in severe distress and pain. She developed a reputation for getting hammered at parties and tearing her clothes off from the resulting physical pain. She also, by several accounts, had several abortions in the span of just a few years. Rumor had it that she had recently had a recent abortion---- it was illegal, therefore, it was performed in a back room, sleazy place----- and her insides were still recovering from that. So, for two days after the party, she was in extreme pain with all of her ailments, compounded by her reckless drinking. After the second day, Virginia Rappe was rushed to the local hospital.......At the hospital, Rappe's friend who was also at the party, Bambina Delmont, told the attending physicians that Virginia had been raped at the party. Delmont named the famous comedian Roscoe ''Fatty'' Arbuckle as the culprit. The doctors examined Rappe for signs of rape but found no evidence that this had occured. The next day, while still in the hospital, Virginia Rappe died from peritonitis, caused by a ruptured bladder. Delmont told the police that Arbuckle had raped Rappe at the party and the police determined that, because Arbuckle was so obese, his body caused Rappe's bladder to rupture. Rappe's ''manager'', Al Semnacker, joined the accusation train and said that Arbuckle used a big piece of ice to simulate sex with Rappe, therebye, causing her internal injuries. In time, the ice would be embellished by urban legend into Arbuckle raping Rappe with a coke bottle......... Roscoe Arbuckle was arrested by the police on suspicion of rape and possible manslaughter. He steadfastly denied all of the charges, as did witnesses at the party. With the exception of Bambina Delmont, all of the partygoers supported Arbuckle's contention that there was no rape of Rappe. The ice that was supposedly used was in fact used. But, it was used by Arbuckle to rub on Rappe's stomach to try to ease her internal pain before the doctor was called. The people at the party attested to this vigorously. But, the police chose to believe the Delmont story more than the majority of eyewitnesses. Roscoe Arbuckle would be facing a trial....... The affects on the reputation and the career of Roscoe Arbuckle were swift and furious. The establishment came down hard on him. Immediately, overnight, this beloved comic was transformed into a predatory rapist and murderer. The newspapers, true to form, never let the facts interfere with a juicy story. Arbuckle was portrayed as a drunken lecher who prayed on innocent young girls, getting them drunk and taking advantage of them. Arbuckle, of course, was not like this at all, for he still retained his childhood shyness and awkwardness around women. But, yellow journalism, led by the despicable William Randolph Hearst and his chain of scandal sheets, went after Arbuckle with moral indignation. Soon, Arbuckle's career stopped dead in the water. Morality groups called for his execution, even before a trial started. Hollywood turned its back on him, with his pictures being banned now from playing. Despite public support from big stars like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, Arbuckle was instantly blackballed in the industry he helped make rich. In the blink of an eye, Roscoe Arbuckle became Public Enemy Number 1........ Now that the lid was off and it was open season to go after the famous comedian Roscoe ''Fatty'' Arbuckle, the politicians came running hard to join the circus of the public lynching of a celebrity. San Francisco District Attorney Matthew Brady, who never saw a headline he couldn't exploit for his own purposes, publicly condemned Arbuckle. He also, by historical accounts, pressured witnesses, from the party and the hospital, to lie. Brady first zeroed in on the friend of Virginia Rappe, Bambina Delmont, during the indictment hearing. He planned to use this woman, who had a proven history of racketeering, bigamy, fraud, and extortion, to be his chief witness. The fact she was the only one at the party that contended that Arbuckle raped Rappe was the clincher. But, the defense had a trump card to play against Delmont. They had obtained a letter from Delmont admitting to a plan to extort money from Arbuckle. Brady, defeated after hearing this, decided that Delmont would not testify. The judge in the indictment hearing found no evidence of rape but he decided to go ahead with charges against Arbuckle. Why? Because one of the guests at the party, Zey Prevon, said that Rappe told her on her deathbed that ''Roscoe hurt me''. Incredibly, despite no evidence of rape and the testimony of the other witnesses, Roscoe Arbuckle was charged with first degree murder. It would later be reduced to a charge of manslaughter......There were three trials in total. The first trial consisted of prosecutor Brady bringing forth witnesses to testify against Arbuckle. All of the witnesses were shot down by the defense, showing the jury that their testimony was not credible, and, in some cases, perjury. The most affecting moment of the two week trial came with the testimony of Roscoe Arbuckle. What he basically said was the truth: he did not rape or harm Virginia Rappe at all. Arbuckle said he came across Rappe vomiting in the bathroom. She told him that she felt ill and asked to lie down. He carried her, in full view of other partygoers, to the bedroom and put her on the bed. He left the room to go talk to a few guests about helping her when he heard her having violent convultions on the floor. To calm her, the guests and him put her in the bathtub to cool her off. Then, Arbuckle called the hotel doctor who examined her and deducted she was just drunk and shot her up with morphine [the doctor was never investigated in this case for misdiagnosing Rappe. He should have been]. That was the last time Arbuckle saw Rappe. During his cross-examination by the prosecution, Arbuckle refused to buckle under the heat, no matter what was thrown at him in accusations. He left the witness stand a proud and honest man. On December 4, 1921, the jury, after deliberating for five days, came back deadlocked in its verdict. The jury leaned 10-2, not guilty. A mistrial was declared........ The second trial followed the first one almost verbatim. The prosecution put up questionable witnesses and the defense shot them down. One crucial difference was that Arbuckle never testified in his own defense. This made the jury suspicious and they came back again deadlocked, this time leaning towards a guilty verdict..... By the third and final trial, the defense finally found a jury who could agree. Roscoe Arbuckle testified this time and told the straight truth again. On April 12, 1922, this jury came in after just being out six minutes---- five of those minutes were spent writing a formal apology to Roscoe Arbuckle....... The apology stated: ''Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him. We feel also that it was only our plain duty to give him this exoneration under the evidence, for there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of crime. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which we all believed. The happening at the hotel was an unfortunate affair for which Arbuckle, so the evidence shows, was in no way responsible. We wish him success and hope the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and women, who have sat listening to the evidence, that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame.''....... The jury did not legally need to do this. They did this because they saw how an innocent man was crucified in the public forum....... Roscoe Arbuckle would keep this statement from the jury the rest of his life. It must have given him a little comfort to know that there was some good that came from his fellow citizens during this time...... Because Virginia Rappe's organs were destroyed, it was not possible to finally determine what killed her. Many believe that he bladder ruptured because of her most recent abortion..... Roscoe Arbuckle was exonerated in the court of law but not in the public court. He was still a pariah in the industry that made him famous----and that he made tons of money for. His films were banned by the censors, who did not give a damn that this man was wrongly framed. You would think Hollywood would have rushed to his arms in forgiveness and embraced him. This was not the case. His first marriage crumbled, soon followed by a second marriage, as the years went on. Both of his ex-wives spoke fondly of him, saying he was a very nice man. Eventually, he would find work as a director under an pseudonym name, William Goodrich, directing minor comedies. Those who worked with him during this period report that he was a kind but sad man, completely brokenhearted. His spirit and joy in living life was gone. All that remained was the ghost of a once-great comic who did nothing wrong....... By 1932, after years of being shunned by the industry, Hollywood, finally, was ready to give Roscoe Arbuckle another chance. Warner Brothers signed a contract with him to make six, two-reel comedies. These films were the first time the public heard his voice on film. The comedies were very successful. He finished filming the last of the two-reel films on June 28, 1933. The next day, he signed with Warners again, but to make a full length motion picture. That night, he went out with some friends to celebrate his new deal and to celebrate the first anniversary of his third marriage. He exclaimed, ''This is the best night of my life!!''...... Later on that night, in his sleep, he suffered a heart attack and died. He was 46........ Today, Roscoe ''Fatty'' Arbuckle is forgotten. When he is mentioned by film lovers, it is because of the hotel scandal that ruined his life. Typically, people do not know the facts of the case and focus in on the urban legend of him raping Virginia Rappe with a coke bottle. That nothing happened that night eludes those who just want the juicy gossip. The press crucified this man, along with some self-appointed judges of public moral code, and he was finished in a blink of an eye...... Of course, those condemners never were called out for their actions. It is much easier to pick on a man who was called ''Fatty''........

Great Movie: ''Goodfellas''

The three men in the car hear an odd noise. It sounds like someone is pounding from inside the car. They look at each other in a suspicious way, saying, through profanity, that they must pull over and find out what the problem is. They pull to the side, away from the road on this most darkest of night, and cautiously approach the trunk, where they detect the source of the noise is. Gingerly, the driver takes out his keys and unlocks the trunk. Inside, we are startled to see a man lying there, bound and gagged and bleeding profusely. After this shock, the little guy, wielding a knife that has appeared out of nowhere, says, ''He's still alive, the fuckin piece of shit!'' And, then, the little guy stabs the victim in the trunk viciously. A moment later, the well-dressed man, who obviously is the leader of the three, plugs the trunk guy with shots from his gun. There is a moment of silence. It is broken by a voice-over from the first man, the driver. He intones, ''As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster''....... And, so begins Martin Scorsese's movie ''Goodfellas'', based on the book ''Wiseguy'' from Henry Hill, co-authored by Nicholas Pileggi. The book and the movie are based on the real-life exploits of Henry Hill, a low-level con-man/ thief who worked in the lower echelons of the Gambino mob family. The story in the movie tells of the years from 1955-1980, the years Hill ran with the mob and did its dirty deeds. Unlike many mobsters who eventually get caught, Henry Hill never stopped talking about his joy in the life of crime. There is the freedom of thumbing your nose at authority, and of stealing and murder. To be a successful mobster, one must erase whatever conscious you have that you are doing evil deeds. Once you have wiped the slate of integrity and decency from your mind, you are home free to enjoy the alleged glamorous lifestyle that comes with the job. Henry Hill sings the praises of the lifestyle, of the money and women and the cocaine. As he says in the film's narration, ''When we wanted something, we just took it.'' That code runs through the movie, a exhilarating joy ride through the amoral world of crime...... Martin Scorsese knows this world well. Early in the movie, a young Henry Hill watches the grown up hit men stand and strut on the streets of his neighborhood, the local heroes. Scorsese himself used to do the same thing as a kid. Growing up a sickly child, he watched the world of crime and religion co-exist through the safety of his window. Scorsese, the child, was laying the groundwork for Scorsese, the adult filmmaker, using his curiosity of himself and that ''other world'', and channeling that curiosity to his movie audience. Martin Scorsese has always excelled at presenting this closeted society of crime onscreen because he knew the world so well and has a fascination of this life. While he has shown his brilliance at other subjects in his films, it is the criminal world, the street thug, that his genius presents itself..... After the shocking opening scene, we are whisked back into the formulative years of Henry Hill, the years he watched and lusted after the local hoodlums. We see the story coming together. Scorsese, always an impatient director, does not slowly give us the pieces to the story in a leisurely pace but, rather, puts us on a ride, like you see at a carnival, that takes you in all different directions. We meet the Hill family, his blood family, that is a walking disaster of domestic and child abuse. And , we meet his other ''blood family'', the heroes he idolizes. Young Henry gets an after school job running errands for the hoods, and, soon, school is a forgotten place to go to for him. As a teenager, he is soon making more money in the neighborhood than most legit men who are out in the world. His father disapproves but Henry has left his real family behind in his quest to be an outlaw. Henry meets the local guys, like Paulie Cicero, the godfather of the area, who, it is said, ''didn't move much because Paulie didn't have to move for anybody''. Paulie, wonderfully played by the great Paul Sorvino, gives off all of the authority and confidence of a man who has spent his whole life with blood on his hands and soul and getting what he wants. But, the horrors of murder and stealing do not affect young Henry at all. He is now one of ''them'', selling illegal cigarettes and getting busted. When he is busted, he naturally gets off because the judges and the cops are all on the payoff. At first, Henry is ashamed he got caught. But, he is told by his mentor, Jimmy Conway, played by Robert De Niro, that he took his first pinch like a man. And, he did the two things you must do in this type of life: ''you keep your mouth shut. And, you never rat on your friends''. When Henry walks out of the courtroom, a free man, he is greeted by the neighborhood wiseguys, all celebrating that he has ''broke his cherry''....... By now, Scorsese has us. We are fully engrossed in the story. The older, young adult Henry Hill is now center stage. He is played by Ray Liotta, in a star-making performance. Liotta brings his considerable acting talents forefront, with a combination of naivete and world-weary acceptance as the film progresses. His first scenes still have the carry-over feeling that the younger scenes had. We see his glee at living among the guilty, strutting and talking like them, imitating their every move and action. Henry has driven forward in his natural way to robbing trucks and strong-arming people who have the misfortune to owe his friends money. And, his adult friends are a wicked breed. They are the now mature Jimmy Conway and the psychopath Tommy, played with frightening murderous gusto by Joe Pesci. Both men are killing machines but Tommy seems to be in love with murder. Threatening people gives him his zest for life. In a strange way, he is also fascinating to watch. Tommy is a ticking time-bomb, ready to explode at the drop of a hat. Don't try to tease him, or, to call him a ''funny guy''. He takes offense, or pretends to, to every description of him. In the famous ''How am I funny scene?'', we see the volcanic temper come to the surface at a moment's notice. It starts with his friend, Henry, telling Tommy that he is a funny guy. Where, then, Tommy, takes the innocent remark and twists it into a web of tension. We find out that he is kidding [maybe] with Henry but we have also glimpsed into the true character of these men. They live by their code, their opinions, their words. A unintentional statement or nod will must likely be fatal for you. This moment, the most memorable in the movie, both Liotta and Pesci give full range of their characters. They play the scene funny, then heart stopping dramatic, then back to funny again, all effortlessly and flawlessly. That the scene was, in fact, mostly improvised by the actors is even more extraordinary....... The other man is Henry's life, his mentor and local legend, is Jimmy ''The Gent'' Conway played by Robert De Niro. This type of mob role is not new territory for De Niro. But, he brings a freshness to the role. He leaves out all of the bluster and flash. That is Pesci's assignment in the movie. De Niro instead, plays the character close to the vest, an icy calmness of a proven killer. When he does explode onscreen, it is with his fists and feet, not with his words. In some ways, his Jimmy character is the most frightening in the whole story because, unlike Tommy and his viciousness, you don't see Jimmy coming from a mile away. He slithers up next to you, all smiles and snaky charm. It is this type of person who normally inhabits this world. The type of person who is smoking next to you being buddy-buddy. And, in the next moment, is kicking you to death on the floor...... Along with his mob buddies and fellow henchmen, Henry Hill falls in love. Or, his version of love. Her name is Karen, played wonderfully whiny by Lorraine Bracco. Karen is all stereotypical Jewish American Princess. She is, at first, angry at Henry because he shows no interest at her on their first date, and, then, stands her up on their second date. Soon, she falls for him. Or, more likely, falls into the glamour of his lifetsyle. She turns a blind eye to what he does, as do the other wives and girlfriends of these mob guys, and joyously celebrates he life and all the trappings of big money coming in. It is hard to tell if Henry and Karen truly love each other. Henry only really loves the gangster life. There is no time for his wife and kids. And, being married, he doesn't let his marriage interfere with his bachelor fun. After all, ''Saturday night is for the wives, while Friday night is for the girlfriends''. These excursions involve the famed Copacabana and the sunny locales of a luxurious vacation destinations. Henry juggles all of his world's, at first, with ease. But, the cracks are there. And, they become even more noticeable as the movie moves forward..... The middle scene in the movie is the most crucial moment in the whole story. It involves the victim in the trunk at the beginning of the movie. His name is Billy Batts, played brilliantly by Frank Vincent. Batts is a ''made man'', meaning he is a approved killer by the Gambino family. He can kill anyone but no one can mess with him. That is the code of the ''Family'' honor. To kill a ''made man'' means that, unless it has been approved by the higher ups in the ''Family'', you are now a marked man. This is the fatal mistake that Tommy makes one night because of a slight insult Batts made to him about his childhood shoe shine business. Tommy flips out and blood starts flowing. On the way to burying Batts, Henry, Tommy and Jimmy stop at Tommy's mother's house. There, in the middle of the night, the mother finds them rooting around in the kitchen looking for knives. In typical Italian fashion, Tommy's Mother, sweetly played by Catherine Scorsese, Martin's Mom, cooks them a big, grand meal. This scene brings the movie its biggest laugh [this must be said also for those who haven't seen this movie. There are plenty of free and easy laughs roaming around in the story, mingling nicely with the violence]. But, these moments of what they have just done to Batts really only registers with Henry. This was a serious error. One that will prove to be fatal...... From this point on, the film, which has moved at a brisk pace, goes into overdrive. And, the world that Henry Hill so adored begins to crumble. He is busted and sent to jail [another hilarious scene entails his incarceration}his wife finds out about his mistress, and, most alarming for him, he becomes hooked on coke while he is busy dealing it, which is against the wishes of Godfather Cicero. Soon, the paranoia rises, along with the ghost of Billy Batts. The Gambinos want to know who whacked Batts. They soon discover it was the three, Jimmy, Tommy, and Henry. But, the family can't kill them all. They need Jimmy for their earnings. And, Henry was a minor player. So, Tommy becomes the sacrificial lamb, and, in one the of the finest montages of music and filmmaking, the setting up and killing of Tommy is unfolded. The coda of the song ''Layla'' is played, with the carnage onscreen....... The last third of the movie, the Third Reel, it all comes unglued for Henry Hill in one intense day. It is May, 1980, and Henry is seriously addicted to cocaine. He gets high on his supply so often that it affects his judgement and clarity. He, by now, has also been smuggling guns along with drugs. Without realizing it, he has made himself a huge target for the feds. They are tracking his every move, even following him by helicopter. What follows in this one day is a piece of bravura filmmaking by Martin Scorsese. His camera, always a moving actor in all of his movies, is literally on fire during this section of the film. Rather, it is on coke, like its lead character. The editing, by Scorsese and the brilliant, invaluable Thelma Schoonmaker, shows a man whose world is closing in on him. The music is louder, more in-your-face. The scenes are fast-paced, befitting a man on a coke binge. The audience is on the edge of their seats because we know what is going to happen. When the hammer does strike down on Henry Hill, a gun at the back of his head and a cop barking orders to him, we breath a sigh of relief that he got what is coming to him.......The epilogue is simple. Henry turns state's evidence. The reason is simple: now that he has been caught by the government and most likely will serve a long jail term, he is now a marked man by his former ''family'' in the mob. They all want him dead because he may rat them all out, which is what Henry Hill does. Everyone, from Jimmy ''The Gent'' to Paulie Cicero gets nabbed. And, Henry, in court, testifies against them. But, what is curious about his testimony is how reluctantly Henry gives it. He doesn't want to turn against his friends. He loves the lifestyle. But, in his mind, he had to save himself. The verdict against his fellow gangsters is swift. Paulie Cicero get life in prison, where he dies in 1988. Jimmy Conway get twenty years to life. He dies in jail of cancer in 1996. The marriage of Henry and Karen Hill also bites the dust. After years of living in witness protection, they will divorce around 1990. Henry Hill will die of a heart attack in 2012....... When the film ''Goodfellas'' was released in 1990, it immediately was greeted with critical acclaim and rightfully anointed with the term ''classic''. It is a marvelous movie, freely moving back and forth between drama and comedy. The film never feels old even after constant repeat viewings. In fact, this is an example of a movie that must be seen often, at least once a year. It is the kind of film that if you come across it playing on TV, you will stick with it because it is so compelling to watch. The fact that this movie, a modern masterpiece on all levels, lost the Best Picture honor to the contrived and overpraised ''Dances With Wolves'' is a travesty in good taste and an example of Oscar meaninglessness in handing out honors. The Academy got it right just once, in terms of honoring the film, with Joe Pesci getting a much-deserved Best Supporting Oscar. But, Ray Liotta, the centerpiece of the movie and someone who gave a powerful performance, was snubbed by the geniuses in Hollywood. But, it doesn't matter because his acting in the movie, and the movie itself, is timeless in quality...... ''You know, we called ourselves, 'Goodfellas', like, 'you will like this guy, he is a good fella'. we were 'Goodfellas', 'Wiseguys'''..... So stated Henry Hill during the montage that ended with the murder of his friend, Tommy. Obviously, they weren't good fellas. They were murdering thieves whose life eventually caught up with them, be it prison or death. Til the day he died, Henry Hill lamented the fact he didn't have that life anymore. That is proof itself that he was no good fella......