Newcomers: Sports, with Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus - Casino (w/ Hunter Harris)

Episode Date: May 14, 2024

Lauren and Nicole are joined by journalist Hunter Harris to not only discuss the 1995 film Casino starring Robert Di Nero, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone, but also get to the bottom of why Martin Scorsese is considered The Internet’s Baby Girl. Also covered are everyone’s past Vegas experiences (both positive and otherwise), the merits of the Amazon Prime Video trivia feature, and Sharon Stone’s iconic dresses (including the one from The Gap she wore to the 1996 Academy Award’s ceremony). Follow Hunter: Instagram, TwitterSubscribe to Hunter’s Newsletter Hung Up Next week tune in for our next episode covering Gangs of New York (2002)! Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5 stars on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leave a review for Nicole and Lauren to read on the pod!Follow the podcast on Letterboxd.Advertise on Newcomers via Gumball.fmGet Exclusive NordVPN deal here → https://nordvpn.com/newcomers. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a HeadGum Original. I was a hell of a handicapper, I can tell you that. I had it down so good that I ran Paradise on Earth. I had one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas to run for 10 years. the Tangiers. You know, if I did it, I'd have to run on my way. Nobody's gonna interfere with you running the casino. I guarantee it.

Mickey, you're a guy. Make a lot of money for us. So keep a good eye on it. All right. Look at this place. It's made of money. What do you think about me moving out here? I just gotta tell you, it's no joke here. You gotta keep a low profile right off the bat. They don't like guys like us You like your money a lot Settle down. I want a family

You got the wrong girl. You'll be set up for the rest of your life You don't know me. What do you know me to three months? They had it all. They ran the show. And it was paradise. While it lasted. Frankie!

I'm getting him in my... They found a guy's head in the desert. That's no good. We got a problem. He doesn't listen to me. Maybe he should get lost for a while, take a vacation. I can't make it any clearer, son. I would just get out.

I'd try to do everything for you, even though I knew, deep down inside, you would bury me. I buried you. You buried yourself. I have to be able to trust you with my life. Can I trust you? Can I trust you? Can I trust you? I will go to the FBI! I will go to the police! I have not been testing you anymore!

You want me to get out of my own town? You only exist out here because of me! He's a loose cannon. No! Stop it! You realize what you can do do you can get us all killed you want to get rid of me here i am go ahead get rid of me Newcomers Boy oh boy, we're working our way through the filmography of the esteemed director Amadé We also have producer Allie and producer Anya here

We are doing 10 episodes this season So we have picked all the essential movies that we are completely unaware of Of Scorsese's super long and prolific career But of course, we can't get to everything But today, we're going to be discussing the film based on Nicholas Pelleggi's book, Casino, Love and Honor in Las Vegas. It's 1995's Casino. And guess what? It's available for free on Starz or for a fee on any other major streamer. And guess what? We're going to talk about it. So we're gonna spoil it.

So if you don't want the spoils, the spoils, if you don't want the spoils, you gotta watch. Imagine if we just talked about it and never said like what really happened. No spoilers. So it's kind of about a casino.

We are so excited for our guest today. Hunter Harris is a screenwriter and TV film and pop culture critic who has written some of your favorite celeb profiles in New York Magazine and GQ and who writes producer Ali and producer Anya's favorite newsletter, Hung Up. Welcome, Hunter. Thank you for being here. Thank you. I'm so excited for this. We are so excited to have you. Hunter, let's jump the fuck in. Are you a Scorsese head? Oh my God, of course. Are you kidding?

I mean, I have been like OG since I was like truly in high school and started watching like Goodfellas, I guess. But there is like a baby girlification of Gordon Scorsese happening on the internet right now that I'm like enamored. Wait, what do you mean? Oh my gosh. Like everything he does, he gets the girls in a tizzy are you kidding we don't we don't know we don't know tell us everything we don't know okay

well first that he is always running his mouth telling the truth about marvel a b whenever eminem was performing at the oscars like literally 20 years too late foreign source says he like eyes closed, immediate meme. Everything, his little hand claps. I feel like he's always going viral. His daughter's TikTok. Like we've heard a bit about this. He's everyone's ramp happy.

Yeah. That's amazing. I mean, I don't know about the little hand claps. He always is like doing something funny, like at an award show where he never wins, which we can get into that later. It is weird that he never wins it's getting weirder and weirder as we go through this i'm like things it seems so political all the time that when things win that you're like he hasn't been just like given one you know right it is embarrassing that he won an oscar for the departed i mean maybe like one of the more that's a spoiler it is a spoiler i didn't know

when he won the oscar because we keep getting the notes that are like still hasn't happened but wow um that's exciting well that's good to know we have something to look forward to um what are your let's talk about our quick thoughts about casino uh in general hunter you are you a fan of this movie more than others? Where do you stand? I think this might be my favorite movie, like, ever. I know, crazy. Like, it's just a movie that I keep coming back to. I think there's so many, I mean, it's so funny, but it's also so, like, sad in a way. And there's so many, but it's also so like sad in a way. And there's so many like individual scenes that have me giggling and cackling. And also I love Sharon Stone.

Yes. Like maybe one of my favorite actors of all time. So this is just, I mean, definitely her best performance, maybe her most performance too. So there's just a lot of things this movie, and I mean, I love, I love the fashion. I love the the production design i love like the music um there's really something for everyone in this movie yeah sharon so this was our first time seeing this sharon stone is amazing in it yes and like those scenes where she's like going crazy with him i'm like it would be so fun it seems so amazing um I overall was like it feels long

I felt kind of spoiled by some of the previous films that were like two hours under and like this one I'm like oh we're really leaning in now so I think we're getting into the part where he starts to let things go on longer yeah I, I agree, Lauren. They are getting longer, but I did love the fashion. Like, from Goodfellas to this, I was like, who is the costume designer? Because whoever it is is fucking crushing it. And Sharon Stone,

the unraveling of Sharon Stone, I thought was, like, just incredible. Her, like, little wig mullet by the end. I said, yes, this is a woman who's making choices so yes um yeah i also love the sharon stone that like as the movie goes on she's like wearing like more and more push-up bras and so by the end it's just like oh my god tits out like it's such a funny little character detail that i am obsessed with that's great okay so we have a segment called spotted where we see if this movie has any of the following

celeb sightings do we have one of marty's boys do we get robert de niro sure do do we get harvey kytel no no do we get joe pesci and yes we do and I love him we love Joe Pesci more and more every day I'm more excited honestly I was running late because uh the end I was like

kind of sad and I was like I don't I don't really want to talk about the way Joe Pesci dies in this movie it really upset me I know

I think about that scene all the time like I just couldn't imagine being an actor and like having dirt in your mouth I know it was so I was literally I had my i had my mouth open like oh like it was like so chilling it is chilling it's brutal and of course leo is not in this one no but don't you

start to like as we're watching nicole don't you feel like oh my god they must be having so much fun getting back together yes they get back together for murder and mayhem. It's so cute. And then do we get Marty's mom, Catherine Scorsese? No, but yes. No, we do in that scene where that guy is yelling. That narrows it down.

Oh yeah, that one scene where that guy was yelling. Is it like in a deli or something? Where is, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, okay, so guy was yelling. Like at a deli or something? Where is... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. So that was her. I wasn't sure.

She gives him a look like, oh, my. Like, he's, like, swearing. And she's like... I feel like I read that that was, like, improv. Like, she was really reacting to him swearing. Because then she has that line, like, there's so many people here. Like, you need to, like, watch your language. Which feels, like, clearly like she's talking about being on set oh my god right

god i love it that's really cute like martin tells his mom enough to be like oh whatever she says will work in the scene but he's like i won't tell her about the scene kind of like in good fellas where he didn't say that they had come from a murder. He was just like, your son's coming home for dinner. So it was like, it was just so perfect. I know she's so natural and it's so great. It seems so fun to throw her in there. And then do we get Marty himself? I don't think so, right?

I didn't. But I might miss him again. I don't think so, but I always miss him. I can't remember. I feel like he was maybe the director of the variety show that Sam hosts toward the end. But don't quote me. I can't remember. I really feel like we just miss him a lot.

Yeah. I think it's because we don't know what young Squisay looks like. That's true. That is true. Okay. We'll take a quick break and we'll jump back in with all of Casino in the World. Ooh, baby, we're back.

So Casino, okay. So this was released December 14th, 1995. So Martin really loves giving a little Christmas treat or a Hanukkah treat or a Kwanzaa treat for everybody. It was written by Nicholas Pledgy and Marty Scorsese. So Nicholas Pledgy wrote Goodfellas, right? Yeah. That's the one? Or the book that was based on.

Oh, the book. The book was Wiseguy? Right. And then adapted it with him. Look at us. Look at me. Knowing shit. Whoa.

I'm learning here on this podcast. Whoa. Wow, we're teaching you. This is amazing. Okay, so let's jump into the plot. So in 1973, low-level mobster and sports bookie Sam Ace Rothstein, Robert De Niro is sent to Las Vegas to run the Tangiers casino, which is funded by the teamsters and secretly controlled by the Chicago outfit,

a mafia organization taking advantage of gaming laws that allow him to work in a casino while his gaming license is pending. Sam doubles the casino's profits, which are skimmed by the mafia before they are reported to the IRS. Impressed by his work, the bosses send Sam's childhood friend and mob enforcer, Nicholas Nicky Santoro, Joe Pesci. Yummy.

He's got great outfits in this. And his associate, Frank, Frankie Marino, Frank Vincent, to protect Sam and the whole operation. But it's not long before Nicky's temper and recklessness gets him put in the black book, banning him from every casino in Vegas. I, right off the bat, I was pretty excited because the look of a casino is very intoxicating and fun to look at. And I liked the drama. I mean, the mafia stuff is so fun.

It is fun. I think I just, I don't know, I want it like like more Vegas if that makes any sort of sense and then I get that when you work in Vegas it is like mundane but I also want it like more glitzy I don't know I don't I I don't know I just like want it more twinkle that's the insane thing to say I wanted more twinkle what the fuck is that note like what Marty can you make this twinkle. What the fuck is that note? Like, what? Marty, can you make this twinkle more? Do you guys like Vegas? I do. Oh, my God. I think Vegas is, like, the most fun I never want to have ever.

Like, I love it when I'm there. Then I'm like, okay, I need to get back to New York. Lauren, do you? I hate Vegas. Wait, why? Why? I mean, I've been and I've had fun, but every time I'm like, this actually is kind of the worst place ever.

It's like dirty. It's dirty. It's hot. There's people who live underground. You can smoke everywhere. There's people trying to take money to smoke everywhere. But you can see Cirque du Soleil and Criss Angel in the same night. Where else can you do that?

You know what? That's true. I feel like I don't take advantage of the shows. If I were to go now, I probably would. But when I was younger, it was all just about like free drinks at the table while you, you know. Although I did see Penn & Teller one time. Ooh.

It was like my favorite story because was, like, my favorite story because I, well, all my friends and I ate gummies and then we went to see Penn and Teller and then the one who talks lost his voice. So he had, like, he was, like, fighting to talk

and he was, like, talking like this. Like, he, like... And it was just, like, it was an incredible show because you're just, like, the other one can't help you. Like he can't help speak. He doesn't speak and that's the bit. That's so funny.

It was kind of amazing. But yeah, I think I just get, I get drunk and then I'm like, oh, I feel like shit. And then I leave and it's like. That's why you got to see shows. Last time I was there, I think I saw like two shows a night or like a show every night drove a lamborghini around a track and then what had yeah there's like a a racetrack like 20 minutes outside the strip or whatever and then also there was like a a hockey an nhl hockey parade because i guess they won the stanley cup and that was funny to watch people in a hundred degrees celebrate ice

do you know what i mean like it was just like what is happening that's why i like vegas it's bizarre no it is it is um i don't know i've just always been like i can't keep doing this every time i go i'm like this is too much i don't know but you know what i also think it was a time in my life where like everyone's sharing a bed and it's like, I've never really gone where like I'm an adult now and I can like be by myself. Can get a suite for $26. It's a different Vegas. It's a different Vegas

when you go as an adult. Yeah. So meanwhile, Sam meets and falls in love with a Vegas socialite and former sex worker, Ginger McKenna, played by Sharon Stone.

Sam convinces Ginger to marry him and start a family, despite the fact that she has hesitations, and tells him she doesn't love him in that way. On their wedding day, Ginger cries on the phone as she talks to her former lover, the con artist turned pimp Lester Diamond, James Woods, who is in a really great movie called The Specialist that all of you should watch.

When Sam catches Lester accepting money from Ginger, he sends Nikki's crew to beat him up in her unhappiness ginger turns to alcohol wait we didn't talk about the part where robert de niro can sniff out people cheating and then takes them they were like cheating with morris code which i was like oh my god that's like pretty ingenious but then he like snatches them up and then says, can you do that shit with your left hand? He's like, I don't know. I haven't tried. He's like, you're gonna have to try it now. And I was like, oh my God.

I know. I know. When they're kicking that guy's ass, who's like the big, has his feet on the table. And he, and he, and he's like, then he's one of Joe Pesci's guys. And he's like, why'd you kick out my guy? Or whatever.

He was making out so that we don't fuck off. Called him the F word, which was wild. Yes, Marty loves the F word and he loves the N word. Hunter, how do you feel about that? I think it's about, you know, a world. I think it's like believable that these people are kind of ignorant and also racist. But I don't think, i can i can consider it like

they're failing not his okay fair it takes me out a little bit because i'm like really i feel like i'm getting the point without hearing it yeah i mean i can see that but they these are about people who are like murdering other people like they're they're... They're not good people. They're doing all this bad stuff. And I think that, you know, the movie doesn't cast a lot of judgment on any of it. So at least it's equal opportunity. All right. Meh.

Okay. But I... On another note, I like Ginger. Ginger's fun, and I liked watching her pass money from person to person. And I liked that she was just like this like queen of like, I don't know, grime. Yeah. Watching her work her room was dynamic.

Yeah. Whether she folds the money in her palm. I tried to do that so many times. It never works. Yeah. She's amazing. I am like, the scene where she gets engaged to him and doesn't like says like i don't love you and then like still agrees to it i was just like oh i'm sad now yeah

i have to say i love her wedding outfit though like the skirt is so cute and the wedding scene i think is one of like the more dynamic scenes in the movie where we hear the voiceover of her ex talking to her and she's like sobbing on the phone that feels like yes and then then when she anti-wedding when she has their daughter and she's like see how daddy loves me he gives me so many jewels or whatever it's like her priorities are what they are getting them jewels but she's yeah and she's like a terrible mom and it's really fun to watch um i always think about these child actors watching like this horrific shit like so there's that scene where like uh sharon stone and robert de niro like doing coke around their daughter and

she's like she's just like watching and like she like watches Sharon Stone just like snort coke I'm like how are you how is that explained to this child like what's what's the story here behind the scenes I would love to watch right I think I mean my favorite scene with the daughter is when she and James Woods are in the background of a scene and they're like like messing with each other like she's like trying to kick him and he's like trying to like bully her back and then the next thing he's like okay we're putting this kid in a boarding school in Bolivia like I'm done with her and that was pretty fun I I might I my uh my brain was just jogged by uh what I watched last night which was Irish Wish very different movie oh and wait you would say that's a different movie? It's just a little different vibe, but she's like, I'm going to study

Bolivian snakes or something. You got to watch Irish Wish. There's a lot going on. Is it crazy? Oh my God. No, it's honestly not. It's like, it's very like, it's almost prude. Like, it's like, you it's very like it's almost prude like it's like you kind of go like they're holding back i want um i want some action it's like a rom-com but like there's not

enough you know kissing and stuff that's my complaint i mean all knows that we are horny people and if it's a rom-com let's see see that rom. I want some rom in the com. So Sam makes an enemy in County Commissioner Pat Webb LQ Jones for firing his brother-in-law Don Ward, John Bloom, for incompetence. Webb pulls Sam's casino license from the backlog and secretly arranges for the gaming board to deny Sam. Sam blames the incident on Nikki's recklessness, and the two get into it in the desert after sam tries to convince nikki to leave vegas altogether i okay so i mean we're

still in the casino world but i feel like we move out of the casino world like well it is a long movie but we i feel like we move out of it way sooner than i expected and like it became but i liked so much how it becomes more about their relationship and this like side stuff going on but like I mean the more assurance Domi got the happier I was honestly the more like the more like wrestling on the floor and fighting and like screaming I was like yeah I definitely like the back end of this movie more than the front end yeah yeah um I I like the pacing of the back end more, too, because it got more clippy. Yeah, but that's, I, yeah, this movie was a little uneven for me altogether.

I liked it, but I, yeah, I just really liked the back end better. And Hunter, like, what is it, like, what are you loving at this point? I want to, like, I want to get completely on board. Well, this is the thing. And I felt this when I first saw it. I think the narration, the voiceover in the first act is very, very heavy, which honestly completely turned me off. But a lot of that stuff, a lot of these observations are very dishy

and kind of gossipy and fun in a way that like I'm entering into this world I'm being explained its codes and the moods and you know all of the ways that it operates um but but once it starts moving along a lot quicker like once we get into like the ginger stuff like once the wedding happens then it the pace picks up quite a bit um but i think i don't know i just i like this idea that sam is that we're watching him kind of just become more and more gregarious like everything about this movie is like so tacky it's so over the top like in the first part of the movie he's wearing like all of these like muted dark colors and then um i think

in a scene around this point in the movie he has a banker come over and nikki is like talking to the banker kind of bullying the banker and then nikki's like you're wearing a pink suit or you're a pink row are you john barrymore like are you like that stuff i think is like the richness of this movie where you're really like at some point he's wearing a pink cardigan over like a pink button down and they're having lunch on a golf course. It's like, who are you? Yeah, you're from Kansas City. But I do think that, yeah, it's like not as much about the casino, but it becomes a lot larger, like the ecosystem of Las Vegas as it was. And that's kind of going to Vegas now. It's like i'm going to vegas to see usher i'm not like nostalgic for these like teamster mafia run hotels like my god um i do agree i love the robe that he's he's like wearing a pink

pajama set and i was like oh my god i love this character turn um but I will say I think I figured it out I think if I saw this movie further away from Goodfellas I think I would like it more because I loved Goodfellas so much and the pacing of this is very kind of Goodfellas you know the wedding felt kind of like you know a little bit like Goodfellas um the demise of the characters felt a little bit like but it is a different movie and it is a different vibe and i i think i will return to this movie in like a month or two and i probably will like it a lot better i think you're right because we're really in the world like we're binging scorsese which i feel like no one does we're like super in it um anya were you talking about how there's that song were you the one who mentioned how that song from i think it's from goodfellas was used in this movie the

rolling stones or something i can't remember which song it is um i think he's it's give me shelter that's like in it one other time with him and then i thought that was interesting because i was like i love his choices of music i it's, it does so much. And he picks really great songs. And like, it really helps you get into the time period and everything to that. It was interesting to me to use that song again. I was curious why like, I'm just like, there's so many songs. Like, it's a good one. But it's like, oh, it really had an impact during that scene in Goodfellas when they're like looking for the bodies and all that stuff. And then this was just like, oh, it really had an impact during that scene in Goodfellas when they're like looking for the bodies and all that stuff. And then this was just like, oh, here it is again.

Is it supposed to be like a sort of callback for the fan or like he just likes it? I just wonder. I don't know if you know. Great question. I'll Google it while we're while we're talking. I would always assume that he just liked it. But I never I've never watched these movies sequentially. So it's like, yeah, you just use that song.

Yeah. Yeah. You got like a two for one. Or maybe it's like, maybe it's like an interior decorator where they use like the same, like lighting pendant in different homes, but they like really like it. That's dumb.

It tells a story. Okay. Back to this plot so when the midwest mob bosses realize that someone in the casinos is skimming off their the top of their cut they send incompetent mobster arty pascano vinny vella from kansas city to oversee the vegas operation pascano details every interaction about the casino in a notebook which is so dumb when the fbi wires the store for an unrelated investigation they turn their attention to the operations at tangers wait i gotta look at which guy that is vinnie uh what's his last name vinnie vella yeah veni vela to see him okay yes this guy yeah okay first of all writing down everything you're doing in a notebook so dumb

you're i mean what are you doing it's like in goodfellas when they were like don't call from the house yeah he's just writing what he's up to yeah it's full of other details as well um your diary today i took extra money it's just like so funny makes me think of the jinx at the end of the jinx when he's like in the bathroom did you guys all watch that documentary yes when he's like in the oh my god you i don't want to i am going to spoil the ending but maybe you already know this it's okay i do it's this horrible murderer person and then he like in real life he is in the bathroom just like talking to himself and he's miked and he's like i did it i killed them all i did it like he's like literally like just says it you're like you could just not say that and

then yeah no one would know how about that um but i i was like it's just you know you don't give yourself away so easily and is that how that man got like arrested for murdering because he was muttering to himself in a bathroom i do i do think it was a huge part of his complete takedown was like yeah they were like piecing it all together there were a lot of great clues and like evidence and everything and then he literally goes like i did it and he's just like an idiot oh i think he's dead i hope okay so meanwhile sam tries to get a divorce from ginger but she kidnaps their daughter this is when it starts this is what i'm like i mean this is when i was like in a hundred percent so she kidnaps their daughter amy and plans to flee to europe with lester sam coaxes ginger back but then

overhears her on the phone planning to kill him. He kicks her out of the house. That was such a good scene. Yeah. Because she keeps doing, like, I feel like she is a little sloppy with love because she's very smart in business, but, like, on their wedding day,

calling her ex and crying and him coming to find her. Her calling him to be like, I want to kill him or whatever and him being home you you can't wait she's at work whispering yes she was at full volume being like let's do it so he kicks her out of the house then he relents and takes her back in i was also like what's going on there yeah then after confiding in nikki about her troubles the two start an affair that scene when she kisses joe pesci and then he puts her head straight down i was like that's insane like i could i said i would trade places in a heartbeat nicole is heavily attracted to joe pesci at any age um mostly old. Truly now, if he

knocked on my door right now and said, leave everything, I'll take you, I would go! I really hope this happens. I mean, I think there's still a possibility for this. Maybe he wants to be a dad like the rest of them. He wants a baby now.

Yes. I know, I just saw a post of Robert De Niro like being like loving about his daughter and he's like she's so sweet she makes the world better and it's very very cute she's a tiny baby and I also was wondering in this scene

is she really trying to have an affair with is she actually attracted to him or is this part of some you know I couldn't tell if it was like something that she was like really wanting to do actually i feel like he enables her and that's kind of the attraction yeah like she can still have access to the same lifestyle but like without a lot of the complications that she has with sam yeah i don't think there's like any actual desire there i felt like she was trying to like drive sam away like i feel like she's like trying to put wedges between her and sam over and over and over again but he keeps being like but i love you but i want you and i can take

care of you and she's like well i can be taken care of even though i don't love this man so i feel like she wants him to throw her away so she can be like he threw me away yeah i um i really love joe pesci's heels in this i don't think i clocked that there's a point where he's like in like the desert or something he walks up and he's like yelling and he has these little heels on and it's like is this it was a perfect era for short kings to wear yeah some couple extra inches and wow not in the form of new balances full style so sam finds out about the affair he wants nothing to do with ginger and nikki in turn ends the affair a furious and drunk Ginger crashes her car into Sam's driveway, and though she manages to take her share of money and jewelry from the bank,

she's arrested by the FBI as a material witness. This whole scene... Boy, oh boy. Was so incredible. Like, he's like, I don't want her in the house. I don't want her in the house. And then she's like,

it's my house too, it's my... And then the cops are like, let her in for a little bit. No, she's dangerous. Look at her, look at her. And it's like... I just love that, because it's like, you helped kind of a little bit. No, she's dangerous. Look at her, look at her. And it's like, I just love that because it's like, you helped kind of,

like, why are you keeping her? You are making her go crazy. And I do love that Scorsese does not make women just unhinged. He shows you each step that helped get her there that is aided by men, that men have done this to these women over and over. And when she backs into the car when she's driving erratically and these cops are just watching, I'm just like, oh, it's poetic.

A neighbor look like, oh, I loved it. And then grabbing all the money and then he's throwing the money at her. Was that this part where she's in the closet and he's like just throwing piles of money? Is this enough for you or was that earlier? Oh, wait, that might have been earlier. I think that was earlier. Before the affair. Then she leaves and goes to the bank and, like, when she's, like,

trying to give the bank or, like, the security guy money and he's like, I can't take this miss. She's like, take it, take it. He just, like, holds it with his arms down on his side. Also, wait.

Why did Sam give only her access to that money? That was, like, his, his like life insurance policy, basically. So if he had been like incapacitated somehow, she would be the only one to like be able to like take out the money and like pay his ransom or something. But he said in the beginning that it was because he trusted her, which was obviously.

But that's so wild because she literally says, I don't love you. But I guess that's like, again, showing men like a man is like, oh, she'll change for me. Eventually she'll love me enough to be able to be in charge of this. Wait, do I love this movie from top to bottom? I'm really convinced. I feel like just one thing I want to say about Scorsese is that like he casts, he casts things so well with all the side characters are always so authentic feeling. Like just the people with like one or two lines, like they always crush it. It feels so real.

It helps so much. But he does an amazing job with that. Like all the little like the workers at the casino and like the people at the bank and everything it's like you get this like really rich scene from everyone even if they have a small part it's really nice i have to say i love the um that kind of like cowboy slot machine manager who he's like always fussing with when he's like well either like why are the best machines in the back like what he's Robert De Niro being so irritated by this man is so funny to watch like he's like I'm like trying to bring you along and it's like it's not connecting like you need to go um yeah I that's

a that's a good scene or you know a character or whatever I do agree like the side characters are so fun yeah it's even like these like the little moments when someone's just like there to like move a body or something i don't know i always just feel like it's it's very real yeah i like the cash out lady when sharon stone's like take take some for you and she's like oh okay i like her she didn't do anything and i was like oh i'm glad she's getting getting something. And it is a testament to the costumes and the hair and makeup and everything, too. It's like everyone becomes like instantly part of it. Even when there's somebody where you're like, I feel like they're not delivering that line.

Well, you still think it feels authentic. Like it's like, oh, my God, that's how that guy talks or whatever. It's not like other movies where you're just able to look back or zoom out and be like,, you know, zoom out and be like, wow, that person, you can, like, see them in their trailer and, like, you know what I mean? I read once that they had cast an actual, like, assassin in this movie. And he, like, does a kill on camera. Oh, my God. He would have been out of prison. Yeah.

And then the. Wait, what? Yeah. No, I swear to God. He does a kill on camera? Not a real kill. Oh, my God. I was like, oh, wait, nobody cares.

We're all just like, oh, yeah, Scorsese, keep making them. Keep making movies. No, I'm sorry. That's amazing. So he's like, this is how it's done. He's like, yeah, basically. So he's like, this is how it's done. He's like, yeah, we welcome it. Basically.

And then the guy who plays Sam's attorney, like, was a prosecutor in Vegas who, like, prosecuted a lot of, like, mafia crimes. That is cool. That's okay. Yeah. And in Goodfellas, there's that moment where they're going to be in the witness protection program. And the guy from the FBI is a real guy who does that which that's probably happening more than we even realize maybe that's part of why it feels authentic and cool it just adds a lot of texture yeah so the fbi moves in and closes the casino green decides

to cooperate with the authorities piscano dies of a heart attack upon seeing federal agents discover his notebook, which I liked. That's sad. It's so like, oh no! Oh no, not my secrets! I think I'll die! Nikki flees Vegas before he can be caught. The FBI approaches Sam for help, but he turns them down. The aging mob bosses are arrested and put on trial, but decide to eliminate anyone involved in the scheme to stop them from testifying and prolonging prolonging their coming sentences ginger flees la and ultimately dies of a drug overdose which sam suspects might

have been orchestrated by the mob she dies of a speedball yeah that was really sad yeah i wanted better for my sister yes when she's like walking or like, I don't know, trying to move down the hallway and she's like on the wall. I was like, oh no, baby girl. I know. How huge was Sharon Stone? Is this like her like peak moment with like, I mean, like I feel like I'm not as familiar with her oeuvre.

This was after Basic Instinct. Basic Instinct is legs open, going closed kind of scene. That's that. Yes. That's funny because I also haven't seen it, but I know that moment. Yeah, I feel like it's used so much. It's famous. Yeah.

But yeah, this was after that. So she's already a pretty big star, but I think this was her first and only Oscar nomination. Wow, so this I mean, this must have been huge. Yeah. Well, she deserved it. She was very good in this. I know. She's amazing. I truly, I'm like,

I also want to know, because I know he likes improv, like how much of those fights is improvised, because it just feels so authentic. Like there's a lot of like talking over. It's just things that we don't get in the way things are made now. Or maybe just have always been, but just this feels special that people are allowed to like, it's almost like acting classic where you get to like, go just do it.

Just like get in there and like yell at each other and like have a fight and like make it real. And just feels so it feels so great to watch okay just chiming in since we're talking about it this is our trivia later but it's said that all of the fights between all the convo between de niro and pesci was totally improvised and that's because they would tell them where to start and where to finish and they would go that's amazing oh i love that and confirming sharon stone only won Academy Award nomination it was for. Wow. Okay.

I love that they are able to improvise. And it's also really interesting to, it feels like they just know the world so well to be able to improvise all of the dialogue in this movie about this. How is that? I do feel like a lot of their dialogues like specifically was mostly about trying to reign the other person in like de niro being like okay you're being too flamboyant you're blowing up my spot you're like gonna get in the black book you're doing too much

bad stuff and then pashy being like okay like you're getting too big for your britches no one cares about you yeah um it does feel does feel very brotherly in that part. It's controlled. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and that's also interesting with the narration is so much of that stuff is explained in narration, so you don't need the scene, which is kind of what I'm loving so much about these movies

is that the scenes feel so slice of life because they're not trying to propel the plot by talking it out. You get to just go and that's when that happened and like you just explained it like over top which is kind of great um okay so sam himself is almost killed in a car bomb and believes nikki to be responsible before sam can take revenge nikki and his brother dominic uh philip suriano are ambushed by frank Frankie and their own crew and savagely beaten and buried alive in a cornfield. This is so sick. And then the mob bosses, having had

enough of Nikki's behavior and suspecting his role in Sam's car bombing. So they take him and they just dump him alive in the ground. And start throwing dirt in his mouth. And the way the bodies fell onto each other, it was so gross. It was so sad it was

and very brutal that scene at the beginning with the car exploding i loved it because you can see the dummy okay wait literally i was gonna say so like i'm watching at amazon prime and they have this thing where like if you move your mouse at all, it tells you like a million like details about the scene. No, I love that. No, I know. But I was kind of like it pointed out the first second. They're like, you can see the dummy. I'm like, I haven't started the film.

I haven't started the film. And now you're calling out something that's fucked up. I wouldn't have noticed that because they move so fast. But then I can rewind it like eight times. So I was like wait what and then it's literally like they just like flip booked a dummy into the spot and it's just has no connection to a real person it looks nothing like a guy it's like a mannequin it's like from the store yeah it's so crazy because also the production value is so high feeling with everything else you're like they just put this actual mannequin in there and then he just sits like a stick and then gets

blown up and i was like but i i was like because later it's done so well him getting out of the car right that i was like i don't know if i needed i to see the dummy do you know what i mean no i don't think we needed it at all. I think we could have just zoomed out and had it be fire. Yeah. Yeah. Which is what he does so much when cars explode anyway. But it was, it was a treat to see.

I said, oh baby, this was fun. It was great. I honestly, I was like Amazon, like, and then I just was afraid to like swipe ever. Cause I was like, you're going to just make me feel like things aren't looking good. Like I'm like liking something. And then you just like see the flaws. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just a little aggressive.

Okay. So with the mob now out of power, the old casinos are purchased by big corporations and demolished. The corporations build new and gaudier attractions, which Sam laments are not the same as when the mafia was in control. Sam subsequently retires to San Diego and ends up right back where he started working in sports, betting for the mob. Yeah.

I mean, kind of a sad little ending. I truly, I, I just, as we're, because we're so in this world right now i'm just thinking so much about the actors and the relationships that they have and it he's robert de niro's got had like multiple journeys now that we've seen where it's like this sad fucked up character had then

they have a sad ending yeah or like yeah it it feels like his journey with Scorsese, which I like. They're really like real feeling stories and really, it's really cool. And I, as mainly knowing him from Meet the Fockers, it's a really interesting show.

God, that's so funny. Also, I think it's interesting that a lot of these like sad characters like take a like a turn into entertainment and i'm like what does that say about us i know i know stand up or a talk show i'm like oh no why why yeah why does he have a show we skipped over that part why does he do a show that he's like juggling on camera and that's like the lowest point of his life is and that's like what we strive for we're like please i hope i get

and then he hosts the show he hosts the show in the casino but i didn't really understand why yeah no i didn't i didn't either and then but then joe's like joe pesci's like mad at him like wait you got a show now you fucking joe but i don't like it is it is a recurring thing like but also is this based on anything true or no it is yes it is based on a real person oh my god so all these people that he is drawn to end up doing this with their life like raging bull does that that's so interesting yeah and these i mean it is interesting how these are all kind of like based on real people and real books are like originally books but like they're the stories what it's they seem like stories i

would never find but he's finding these stories that are like really specific and have similar character arcs intriguing i think there is something kind of a through line throughout a lot of martin scorsese movies is like this feeling of being cast out of eden and that we had paradise for like one brief moment and now we've kind of like messed it up in the end like that's strongest in this movie but it's also like wolf of wall street it's also in some ways um king of comedy it's also like goodfellas definitely obviously raging bull has that too yeah a little bit of like taxi driver too with like the civil shepherd stuff like yeah that is kind of a recurring theme yeah well the reception for this movie was mostly favorable for

Casino, though it's often seen as Scorsese's lesser film compared to Goodfellas, and some were critical of him retreading old territory. And that makes sense. I mean, I think we, like, went crazy for Goodfellas, and it does feel like it's it is, like, wanting some of the same

magic. And it does get it in certain parts for sure. But then like Goodfellas is just so tight. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But I have to say, Casino is about excess. We're about, we're talking about Vegas

and people who never know when enough is enough. Like people who are going over the top constantly. And so I think like the length and how some parts go on, some things go on for far too long in some scenes. I'm like the length and how some parts go on something's going for far too long in some scenes I'm like wait what just happened feels like a part of the language and nature of this world I like that I'm like all my soapboxes no I think it's great I mean we need we need the soapbox this is like how we this is how we learn and grow yeah the reception's

interesting to me because when did goodfellas come out? That was like 90... Was it just a year? I think 1990. Yeah. Oh, so like five years before. I guess I could get the reception being like, oh, it's like being compared to Goodfellas. But I feel like if I had a five-year gap,

I would really enjoy Casino and be like, I guess it retried its old stuff, but I loved it. That's what we want. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. casino and be like i guess it retries old stuff but like i loved it that's what you know what i mean yeah yeah anyway the only academy award for the movie was not uh was uh for sharon stone for best actress she ended up losing who did she lose to do we know susan sarandon for what her dead man walking was it called oh or. Or something like that. Great movie.

Never seen it. I haven't seen it. I haven't either. She won the Golden Globe, though. And I love this little detail. She wore a gap turtleneck from her closet to the ceremony after a delivery mishap the day before ruined her Vera Wang dress. And so she's literally wearing a navy gap turtleneck with short sleeves. And she looks phenomenal.

Yeah, she doesn't need anything else yeah she looks amazing that's really fun that is fun but also devastating because that would suck you're nominated and your dress is messed up yeah i would not be happy if i was wearing a gap turtleneck after all that i feel like i would go out and buy something, but you know. It was 90s gap though. Head on over to Bloomingdale. 90s gap is like, yeah, peak gap. Here's some trivia. We already said this, but it's rumored that most of the dialogue between De Niro and Pesci was improvised, with Scorsese only telling them where to start and end.

The costume budget for the film was a million dollars. That feels nice. Robert De Niro had 70 different costumes throughout the film. Wow. And Sharon Stone had 40. Both were allowed to keep their costumes after. That's so good. Oh, my God.

I wonder if they still have stuff. Like, that's fucking archival. Yeah, that's amazing. Being allowed to keep that? Yes. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. What a dream.

Joe Pesci's wife, at the time of filming, Claudia Harrow, played Trudy, the co-hostess and bandleader of Ace's High. Harrow and Pesci divorced, and she remarried. And she was convicted in 2000 of two counts of attempted murder for hiring a hitman to try and kill her other ex-husband, a stuntman. Okay, this is what I was trying to find about her before because i was like googling his wives and i was like something's going on with this one i need to do a deeper dive here this is insane so she tried to kill she's like living in a fucking scorsese movie she hired a hitman to kill her stuntman husband this is like nuts oh my goodness crazy i do need that like hbo mini series yeah we need something about this and then i mean he must have been happy they weren't together

anymore but um i guess he also he was at risk because she was trying to kill his other her other ex-husband whoa so this is that's intense that's hiring a hitman is so crazy that's wild so her ex-husband had recently filed for divorce was shot four times in the chest neck left hip left hip and right eye and he lost his eye oh my god she was sentenced to 12 years and four months and was she's out in the streets she was released in august of 2019 oh my god 12 years feels actually kind of shockingly long considering what some people get for things like i mean and he wasn't killed right i mean it's like that but it is a i mean she should be there for 12 years i'm just saying i think the system is so fucked up that like people don't usually get that that's crazy um in the dvd commentary

sharon stone said that her first two auditions for scorsese ended up being canceled for scheduling reasons and her paranoia convinced her that the director was blowing her off i would definitely think that and when scorsese's team contacted her a third time she turned them down and went out to dinner with a friend instead well it's so bad wow scorsese tracked her down and showed up at the restaurant where she was dining to make a personal appeal. Whoa! And that's for the internet. That's really cool.

That's really cool. Wouldn't you think if you kept getting canceled on twice by Martin Scorsese, you'd be like, he doesn't really want me to audition. He's just not that into you. That's what I would think. Yeah, it's like, my agent's pushing this. And he's like, no. Yeah, and he's like, I definitely don't want you. I was like, my agent's pushing this.

And he's like, no. Yeah, and he's like, I definitely don't want you. In a Vogue article from 2020 on the fashion of casino, Sharon Stone recounted how she prepped for the role of Jerry. She said, I worked in Vegas before, so I knew people there. And once they knew I was making myself available for the film, people started calling me saying, I knew Jerry. If you want to talk, I'll meet you at 1 a.m. On the corner of this street, I'll be wearing a blue shirt and we can talk.

And we would meet secretly and they would give me information about her one antidote she remembers from a close friend of mcgee's was her favorite song was bb king's the thrill is gone after scorsese asked what she was listening to all the time on set she recounted the story and it ended up in the film soundtrack i like that really cool. And yeah, she must have had headphones on with a Walkman. I'm not sure how long. Well, you know, it was 1985. Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely a Walkman.

She's just rewinding the same tape over and over again. That's really cute. And that's crazy. Everybody's so secretive and sneaky with these worlds. Like, I'll meet you on the corner and tell you about this woman. It's like, is that necessary? We have to do that. Just call me. Yeah, we with these worlds. Like, I'll meet you on the corner and tell you about this woman. It's like, is that necessary? We have to, like, do that. Just call me.

Yeah, we're talking now. Do you want to just, like, say? Wait, wasn't her name Ginger? Who's Ginger? But I think the real woman is Jerry. Oh, I see. Jerry McGee. Okay.

That is wild. Okay, let's take a quick break, and we'll be back with more Casino after this. It's time for the new Academy Awards! Despite his films being nominated over a hundred combined times for Academy Awards, Marty's only won one. And we're here to correct the record, presenting the prestigious first annual New Academy Awards. Okay, so we're going to read off categories and nominees, and we'll all pick what our favorite thing was in the movie.

So the category is Best Dress. The nominees are Sharon Stone in the golden white chevron sparkle dress with the white fur. I mean, that's incredible. Sharon Stone in the blue leather jacket and min mini skirt with the white go-go boots. I love that one. Sharon Stone in the gold applique high neck dress. Also really cool. And Sharon Stone in the purple lace top

and pleated pink high-waisted pants. Oh, that was a great look. Yes. Yes. All of these are so incredible. They're so good. I mean, the one with the sparkle and the fur is so, like, casino feeling. That feels really amazing.

But I love the go-go boots and the short skirt. That's so cute. I don't know. What's everyone's favorite? I have to say the gold gown. That's, like, so glam. Yeah. I'm going with the gold gown, too. It's got to glam. Yeah. I'm going with the gold glam too.

It's got to be the gold. The new Academy Award goes to the Chevron sparkle dress. Congratulations. Best line delivery. And the nominees are, I mean, God forbid they should make a mistake and forget to steal Nikki. In the end, I had to put his fucking head in a vase. In a vice.

No, we didn't talk about the vice. That scene where he's squishing the guy's head. I have to fast forward every time. It's like too gross. It is very gross. I literally could not believe it was happening. And then his eye pops out and the guy,

then he says who it was that he's protecting. And he's like, you let your eye pop out for that. I have a good trivia about this too that marty put that in to like try to get to get like whatever it is mpa like so that they would try to cut a difference that scene and so he could keep his other scenes he was like i'm putting something really grotesque and that will like throw them off the tent and then it like they didn't say anything so he like edited it down a little bit and left it in.

And it's. Wow. Wow. That is cool. That's very fun. A lot of holes in the desert and a lot of problems are buried in those holes, but you gotta do it right.

I mean, you gotta have a hole already dug before you show up with a package in the trunk. Otherwise you're talking about a half hour to 45 minutes worth of digging. And who knows who's going to come along and who knows who's going to come along in the trunk. Otherwise, you're talking about a half hour to 45 minutes worth of digging. And who knows who's gonna come along in that time. Pretty soon, you gotta dig a few more holes.

You could be there all fucking night. Nikki! Nikki! I mean, that's a pretty great little monologue. I like the vice thing because it's so fucking crazy. That was... Yeah. That really... The deaths in this... fucking crazy. That was that really the deaths in this.

I mean, he was getting really I mean, like the buried alive, the vice. Like you got a lot of like really gory deaths. I feel like from the hammer to the hand to the end, it just heightens in such a spectacular way. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yeah. It's not all just the sort of like anonymous gun shots that we get in other ones um yeah i think i mean i'm gonna go with the vice that's my vote i'm going

with vice too even though i said vase but reading's hard for me sometimes i say vice as well as well yay congrats to that line of the movie okay it. It's time for a score, says he. It's time for reviews. We love to read reviews from Letterboxd and share our own. So we will be giving the film a one sentence review ourselves and a star rating. And for anyone who doesn't know, Letterboxd is a social platform where people can write reviews of films. And we are on there at newcomers. Hunter, are you on Letterboxd? Do you use Letterboxd? No, I'm not. It feels like when the people who are, who've been on the show are like, they are like on it.

Like they're like fully locked in. Yes. It's a world for sure. Well, okay. Anybody want to go first? We're going to have Anya and Allie also weigh in with their reviews of the films or the film. And I mean, anybody feel confident about their star rating and what they want to say? Well, first, I'm going to read this Letterboxd review from Nick Wilbert.

As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a casino. Four stars. It can be that easy. It doesn't have to mean anything. It doesn't. I could go first. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to give it four stars because of the fashion, the drama, the goriness.

And I will return to this in a couple of months to see if I like the pacing better since I'm too close to Goodfellas. Very long review, but that's it. I love it. Any of our alley alley or anybody you want to go i'll do four stars give sharon stone her oscar yes and i'll also do four stars and uh i don't know if anyone here watches roni, but as Countess Luanne said, money can't buy you class. Wow. I feel like there is some Countess Luanne energy in Sharon Stone. That is some of those outfits. Yeah.

I truly was like, what is Rony? Like, rice-a-rony? And then I was like, oh, Real Housewives. I get it. Okay. Get in there. The itch is silent. Yeah.

I'm going to say five stars and i can't think of anything pithy i mean you doesn't have to be pithy you can just say you like it just the fight in the front yard is everything the way she like hits his car intentionally on the way in and all the way out is like the funniest thing in the world to me okay Okay, I'm going to also do, I'm going to do four stars. I like to give myself somewhere to go, and I think I gave Goodfellas five. Four stars, best Sharon Stone performance, the fighting, the money,

the costumes, it's all just so fun. A great spectacle to look at. That's my review. Is that good? I really loved it. A great spectacle to look at. I loved it.

It was a good spectacle. It was a fun, it was a very fun visual journey for sure. Yeah, it was visually delicious. It was. Well, Hunter, thank you so much for being here. Do you have anything that you want to plug? Yes.

I write a newsletter twice a week called Hung Up. It's hunterharris.substack.com. And then I'm on Instagram as at Hunter H. Thank you. Thank you. Please go out there if you're listening to this and leave a review for newcomers on apple podcasts and rate the podcast on spotify five stars only doy we're gonna watch gangs of new york nicole have you seen that film sure have not you know i haven't

i haven't either and i'm scared but But we get Leonardo DiCaprio. Yay! I mean, he really is such a cutie. He is. This is our first Leo moment. This is like kind of big. This is. This is the start of their relationship. This is our introduction. This is their first date.

You know? I can't wait. This is exciting. Okay, well, we'll be back with that one next week and we will see you then. Bye-bye. Toodaloo. Bye-bye. Toodaloo. Bye-bye. Newcomers is a HeadGum original hosted by us, Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus.

Our executive producer is Anya Kanovskaya. Our producer is Ali Khan. Our theme music, editing, sound mixing, and mastering is done by Ferris Monchi. Listen to new episodes wherever you get your podcasts every Tuesday. That was a Hiddem original.