Mob/Mafia/Yakuza/Gangster Flicks

vou · Mob/Mafia/Yakuza/Gangster Flicks

I'm a sucker for anything gangster related. Cosa Nostra, Yakuza, Triads, Russian...if a movie's got it I'm watching it no matter how low budget or crap the story line is, I will watch it!!! Anyone else share this slight obsession with moi?!? If so name your best mafia flicks!! Oh btw I'm one of those people that think Scarface and the Godfather are the dogs!!! lol

Jude

I really don't like gangster or bullyboy movies, with the exception of some excellent ones made in the 1930's and '40's with actors like James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Ida Lupino, and Edward G. Robinson. Examples: White Heat, The Roaring Twenties, The Petrified Forest, Little Caesar, High Sierra.

Jude

nekotine

i'd have to say i like my fair share of gangter-type movies/series. mmm...Godfather. love it.

i just recently finished watching an anime series that featured a couple of different 'families' in New York called Baccano! the storyline isn't really 'gangster'-esque but many of the main characters are involved in them. it's an amusing series that has an odd but somehow balanced amount of humor, drama, action and pretty bloody violence. it's told in a Guy Ritchie-Snatch-Lock, Stock, Two Smoking Barrels-type of way so it's a bit confusing at first but everything comes together by the end. i rewatched the first couple of episodes after finishing it and had a lot of 'OOOH! I remember/get that now!' moments. XD only thing is, it's only fansubbed at the moment so you'd have to get it via IRC or torrents, which ever is easier for you.

another anime, Noir, deals with the mafia quite a bit, as they're constantly going after the two main girls who are professional assassins. the series is also enjoyable for the fact that the girls have a bit of a 'connection' with each other and generally sleep in the same bed (though no touchy-touchy...as far as we see). available on dvd here in the states and in a complete boxset as well so no waiting for the rest of the series to be released. definately recommended.

moving away from mafia types, ever watch any of the Young and Dangerous triad movies? i wasn't able to catch all of them myself but the ones i did see were pretty good. i'm sure you've seen A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and Hard Boiled already. Infernal Affairs is supposed to be good but i haven't gotten around to watching/finding that yet.

as for yakuza, i have Sonatine, which came with Zatoichi. i STILL need to see Ichi the Killer at some point. guh...so behind on stuff...

there are a couple of anime that deal with yakuza, and the one that comes to mind first is Gokusen, which is more of a comedy/slice of life show since it's about a kumicho/female yakuza boss that's doing her best to become a good teacher. of course, the students she ends up with a bunch of punks and half of the time, she has to go from her 'good teacher' mode to her 'bad ass kumicho' mode to whip them into line. another series that's available on dvd in the States in a complete boxset form. oh, they also did a live action adaptation of this anime/manga but you'd have to find it via irc/torrents.

speaking of live action, there was another series called Sailor Fuku to Kikaijuu that revolves around a high school girl who suddenly finds herself in charge of a small yakuza gang after her father passes away. i never got around to finishing it but it seemed interesting enough. i'll probably try to snag all of it (via irc/torrents) some time in the near future.

those are the ones i can think of that aren't 'classics' here in the states. n.n;

vou

Thanks nekotine, i'm looking into Baccano already! Yeah I've seen most of the ones you mentioned but you need to watch infernal affairs I - III, I was so mad when they did the departed remake!! And Ichi the killer is awesome both the anime and movie really disturbing stuff but I love anything that has too much blood and violence in it! Another movie I found quite entertaining was a bitter sweet life it's actually one of my best movies.

Oh yeah stepping away from the gangster genre, have a look for the Korean movie "the host", it was surprisingly good! Filled with all sorts of emotion invoking scenes!

Jude

nekotine

vou

Baccano! is awesome, just finished watching it, really good recommendation, now on to the others you mentioned! Cheers again Very Happy

vou

Omg what the hell is Sonatine?!? So CRAP, absolutely crap lol i was like wtf!!I didn't finish it, ended up just stopping it, I'm just waiting on the young and dangerous dvds. I'll let you know how the others went lol

xKiDDOx

vou

lol its even worse cuz you're trying to read subtitles to a boring movie, my young and dangerous should be here tomorrow so im looking forward to a wkend of gangster flicks!