TMS 30 Greatest Movies: #25 Casino

Title: Casino
Year: 1995
Genre: Drama
Main Actors: Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone
Ranked: GovernorGrayDavis #4, The Hundley #19

Synopsis
Casino is Martin Scorsese's interpretation of the mob's final years in control of Las Vegas. Its the 70s, and the mob still runs Vegas. Their new casino, the Tangiers, needs a boss and their best earner Sam "Ace" Rothstein (DeNiro) is brought in to run the place.

Things go well, for a while anyway, but eventually Sam's marriage to a hooker (Stone) and his friendship with a batshit insane mob enforcer (Pesci) threaten to ruin the party. She just can't stay away from her pimp, and Pesci decides he's going to be the crime boss of Las Vegas, since all the old mob guys back home won't know any better anyway.

Casino contains 422 instances of the word "fuck". Third most all time.

Reasons This Movie Kicks Ass
Aside from being a brilliantly made film with an excellent cast from top to bottom, the story is true. Sam "Ace" Rothstein is based on Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal. The Tangiers is the Stardust, and mob lawyer Oscar Goodman is, well, Oscar Goodman (currently the Mayor of Las Vegas). DeNiro, Pesci, Scorsese, Vegas...if you need more reasons why this kicks ass, I can't help you.

Monster Role
Picking one of the leads here would be too obvious, so I'm going to say James Woods as the two-bit pimp Lester Diamond. He's sleazy, crooked, and has a 70's pornstache.

Knock Your Dick in the Dirt Moment
While there are no shortage of KYDD moments in this three hour mob epic, my dick always goes in the dirt when I see the Pesci/DeNiro argument in the desert. DeNiro thinks he may get whacked because he told the boys back home Pesci needs to lay low for awhile. Pesci wants to talk about it "a couple hundred yards further down the road" - uh oh...

Crush Your Dick in a Vice Moment
The movie's signature CYDV moment has to be when Pesci crushes Tony Dogs' head in a vice.

Watch this movie if you like...
Not getting whacked.