From 1976 to 1981, FBI agent Joe Pistone infiltrated the Bonnano crime family as "Donnie Brasco." His time undercover was spun into a 1997 movie, named for Pistone's alias and starring Johnny Depp.
The faces "Donnie" meets while undercover in the New York underworld are played by gangster film veterans. The true star of the movie, Al Pacino as Pistone's contact Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggerio. Michael Madsen, perhaps best known as Mr. Blonde in "Reservoir Dogs," plays "Sonny Black," real name Dominick Napolitano.
Their "Donnie Brasco" characters inverts their previous parts. Lefty, played by The Godfather himself, is a lowly soldier stuck in a dead-end job. Sonny Black may be a murderer, but he's also the calm and collected boss of the family, far from an unstable psychotic like Mr. Blonde. Speaking to the Av Club in 2015, Madsen said he considers "Donnie Brasco" one of the top five films he's made: "It was a pretty damned good film,...
The faces "Donnie" meets while undercover in the New York underworld are played by gangster film veterans. The true star of the movie, Al Pacino as Pistone's contact Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggerio. Michael Madsen, perhaps best known as Mr. Blonde in "Reservoir Dogs," plays "Sonny Black," real name Dominick Napolitano.
Their "Donnie Brasco" characters inverts their previous parts. Lefty, played by The Godfather himself, is a lowly soldier stuck in a dead-end job. Sonny Black may be a murderer, but he's also the calm and collected boss of the family, far from an unstable psychotic like Mr. Blonde. Speaking to the Av Club in 2015, Madsen said he considers "Donnie Brasco" one of the top five films he's made: "It was a pretty damned good film,...
- 11/7/2022
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Alfredo James Pacino, or Al Pacino as he's more widely known, is one of Hollywood's most iconic actors, known for his intense and riveting performances across a varied but often gritty portfolio of films. Whether playing a mob boss, a cop, a coke-addled drug lord, or even the Devil himself, the nine-time Oscar nominee and Academy Award winner has brought his signature vigor and smoldering intensity to each and every role.
Not only has the octogenarian delivered outstanding performances throughout his more than 50-year career, but many of the films he's starred in are considered all-time classics. That's a real win-win for all of us, if you ask me. How do you rank a filmography as great and iconic as his? It's not going to be easy, but we're about to try. Join us as we dive into Al Pacino's impressive roster of movies and rank the 15 best.
If you...
Not only has the octogenarian delivered outstanding performances throughout his more than 50-year career, but many of the films he's starred in are considered all-time classics. That's a real win-win for all of us, if you ask me. How do you rank a filmography as great and iconic as his? It's not going to be easy, but we're about to try. Join us as we dive into Al Pacino's impressive roster of movies and rank the 15 best.
If you...
- 8/31/2022
- by Layla Halfhill
- Slash Film
We’ll come to the homegrown terrorists he foiled and the race war they tried to foment. To the journalists he saved from assassination and the synagogue marked for carnage in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. To the gun-rights march on the steps of a state capitol, where they planned to pick off cops and rallygoers. There’s time enough to valorize the work of Scott B., an undercover fed who breached far-right death squads and squashed their national web of terror cells. (Scott requested that his surname not be used...
- 1/30/2022
- by Paul Solotaroff
- Rollingstone.com
Netflix‘s limited docu-series Fear City: New York vs The Mafia tells the story of one of law enforcement’s biggest wins. During the 1970s and 1980s, New York City’s construction, cement, hotel, and garment industries, among others, paid an informal tax to a secret Commission. The Five Families of the New York mafia – Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Luccese – diversified their income, which had come from traditional vices like gambling, prostitution, numbers, drugs and loan sharking, and started dipping their beaks in legitimate business.
Directed by Sam Hobkinson, Fear City: New York vs The Mafia details how the feds took apart the upper echelon of organized crime. The takedown was historic in that it prosecuted New York’s top mob bosses. The documentary talks with the investigators, prosecutors, former mob associates, and some of the defense to give the inside story a twist on the usual police procedural.
Directed by Sam Hobkinson, Fear City: New York vs The Mafia details how the feds took apart the upper echelon of organized crime. The takedown was historic in that it prosecuted New York’s top mob bosses. The documentary talks with the investigators, prosecutors, former mob associates, and some of the defense to give the inside story a twist on the usual police procedural.
- 7/22/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
The reality of Donnie Brasco is based around the true story of Joe Pistone, an FBI agent that went deep undercover to infiltrate one of the most influential crime families in America back in the mid to late 1970’s. Pistone was so successful that he didn’t just affect the Bonnano family that he’d been trying to infiltrate, but had a profound effect upon the rest of the Mafia as well. In short, he showed the Mafia that they could be in fact be infiltrated and created a serious breach that they weren’t aware existed. But there are a few things
10 Things You Didn’t Know about the Movie Donnie Brasco...
10 Things You Didn’t Know about the Movie Donnie Brasco...
- 8/21/2017
- by Wake
- TVovermind.com
Recently, CBS served up the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Scorpion" episode 10 of season 2. The episode is entitled, "Arrivals and Departures," and it turns out that we're going to see some very intense and high drama stuff go down as a deadly fungus outbreak puts the Scorpion crew in grave danger, and more! In the new, 10th episode press release: When Team Scorpion And Walter's Parents Visit Megan In The Hospital As Her Health Deteriorates, They Are Quarantined After A Deadly Fungus Outbreak Threatens To Infect Everyone, On "Scorpion," Monday, Nov. 23. Press release number 2: When Team Scorpion and Walter's parents visit Megan in the hospital as her health deteriorates, they will get quarantined after a deadly fungus outbreak threatens to infect everyone. Guest stars feature: Camille Guaty (Megan O'Brien), Pamela Shafer (Louise O'Brien), Glenn Keogh (Sean O'Brien), Ritu Lal (Anjali), Charan Prabhakar (Vivek), Mary-Bonner Baker (Dr. Melissa...
- 11/16/2015
- by Megan
- OnTheFlix
Recently, CBS delivered the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "NCIS" episode 7 of season 13. The episode is entitled, "16 Years," and it turns out that we're going to see some pretty interesting stuff take place as the dead body of a retired Navy commander, prompts the team to launch their latest investigation, and more. In the new, 7th episode press release: Ducky Reveals His Secret Society Devoted To Solving Cold Cases When The NCIS Team Investigates The Body Of A Fellow Member Found In The Woods, On "NCIS," Tuesday, Nov. 3. Press release number 2: The NCIS murder case of a retired Navy Lieutenant Commander is going to force Ducky to reveal his participation in a secret society that solves cold cases. Jessica Walter guest stars as Judith McKnight and Richard Riehle guest stars as Walt Osorio, both members of the secret society. Guest stars feature: Jessica Walter (Judith McKnight), Richard Riehle...
- 10/27/2015
- by Megan
- OnTheFlix
Recently, CBS released the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Criminal Minds" premiere episode 1 of season 11. The episode is entitled, "The Job," and it turns out that we're going to see some very dramatic and intense stuff go down as a serial killer that's out for revenge prompts a major Bau hunt, and more! In the new, 1st episode press release: As The Bau Hunts A Serial Killer Intent On Revenge, The Team Allows A Potential New Member To Assist Them On The Case, On The 11th Season Premiere Of "Criminal Minds." Press release number 2: The Bau will search for a serial killer who leaves distinctive marks on victims' faces with the help of an impressive potential new team member, forensic psychologist Dr. Tara Lewis, on the 11th season premiere of Criminal Minds. Aisha Tyler joins the cast in a recurring role as forensic psychologist Dr. Tara Lewis.
- 9/18/2015
- by Andre Braddox
- OnTheFlix
Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 14 Nov 2013 - 06:19
The overlooked greats of the year 1998 come under the spotlight in our list of its 25 underappreciated movies...
Dominated as it was by the financial success of two giant killer asteroid movies, gross-out comedy hit There's Something About Mary and Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, 1998 proved to be an extraordinary year for cinema.
Okay, so history doesn't look back too fondly on Roland Emmerich's mishandled Godzilla remake, and Lethal Weapon 4 was hardly the best buddy-cop flick ever made, despite its handsome profit. But search outside the top-10 grossing films of that year, and you'll find all kinds of spectacular modern classics: Peter Weir's wonderful The Truman Show, John Frankenheimer's rock-solid thriller Ronin, and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line.
Then there was The Big Lebowski, the Coen brothers' sublime comedy that has since become a deserved and oft-quoted cult favourite.
The overlooked greats of the year 1998 come under the spotlight in our list of its 25 underappreciated movies...
Dominated as it was by the financial success of two giant killer asteroid movies, gross-out comedy hit There's Something About Mary and Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, 1998 proved to be an extraordinary year for cinema.
Okay, so history doesn't look back too fondly on Roland Emmerich's mishandled Godzilla remake, and Lethal Weapon 4 was hardly the best buddy-cop flick ever made, despite its handsome profit. But search outside the top-10 grossing films of that year, and you'll find all kinds of spectacular modern classics: Peter Weir's wonderful The Truman Show, John Frankenheimer's rock-solid thriller Ronin, and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line.
Then there was The Big Lebowski, the Coen brothers' sublime comedy that has since become a deserved and oft-quoted cult favourite.
- 11/13/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Whittle Johnny Depp's widely varied film career to just five awesome scenes? That's a crazy, cruel mission, but one I'm willing to undertake. Of course, such a venture pushes many worthy entrants off the list (Sweeney Todd, Ed Wood, Finding Neverland, Benny & Joon and a host of others), but anything worth doing is worth debating, crying and pulling each other's hair over. So here are my five favorite moments in Depp.Edward Scissorhands (1990)This is where it all started - the year the kid from Jump Street became a movie star, with lead roles in Tim Burton's divinely...
- 6/7/2013
- by Alynda Wheat
- PEOPLE.com
‘Dancing With The Stars’ Gets Regional Indian Version BBC Worldwide and Etv Bangla will produce a regional version of Dancing With The Stars in India. Produced by BBC Worldwide Productions India, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Bangla will air on Etv Bangla next month. Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa is already a hit throughout India and the new local version for West Bengal is a first in the country. The show will be extensively remodeled from the international version to appeal to Bengali viewers and will be hosted by local actor Jishu Sengupta. The Hindi language Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, produced by BBC Worldwide Productions India for Colors, completed its fifth season with an audience of over 100M. Military Channel To Chart ‘The Mafia’s Greatest Hits’ British production company World Media Rights has sold its 10-part series The Mafia’s Greatest Hits to Discovery’s Military Channel in the U.S. The series has...
- 2/28/2013
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
Longtime Hollywood literary agent Mickey “The Cowboy” Freiberg died yesterday at his West Los Angeles home after a three-year battle with brain cancer, his family said. He was 72. Freiberg represented numerous award-winning clients throughout a 40-plus-year career, including the late Budd Schulberg who won a screenwriting Oscar for 1954′s On The Waterfront, author Homer Hickam whose book Rocket Boys became the basis for the 1999 film October Sky, and Ron Powers, who co-authored Flags Of Our Fathers, the book on which the 2006 Clint Eastwood-directed war film was based. He also represented Joe Pistone, the former FBI special agent who worked undercover as Donnie Brasco, The Bonanno Family (Mafia Marriage) and the late Bill Bonnano, co-author of The Good Guys with David Fisher. One of Freiberg’s proudest projects was the David Permut-produced film Youth In Revolt, based on the novel written by C.D. Payne and brought to Permut by...
- 12/8/2012
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
There is an ambition among the best of films – and the best of filmmakers – for the work to carry the same dramatic heft and dignity, be treated with the same respect and appreciation as a fine work of literature. Think of the best works of Welles and Lean, of Kubrick and Coppola. Citizen Kane has all the density and texture and period flavor of Booth Tarkington’s The Magnificent Ambersons (which, probably not coincidentally, served as the basis for Welles’ second feature). Coppola’s Godfather saga achieved a majesty and resonance Mario Puzo’s popular but lurid novel never did.
So, who better, during this award season, to talk about that ever-more-rare literary quality in filmmaking than someone who makes his living by his literary qualities?
A debuting TV series may compete in a given season against possibly 100 other shows; a newly-released movie will be scored against several hundred other...
So, who better, during this award season, to talk about that ever-more-rare literary quality in filmmaking than someone who makes his living by his literary qualities?
A debuting TV series may compete in a given season against possibly 100 other shows; a newly-released movie will be scored against several hundred other...
- 2/14/2011
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
In an interview with Patti Smith in Vanity Fair, Johnny Depp talks once more about how his swishy, sloshy performance as Capt. Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie sent the suits at Disney into a minor panic during filming, going so far as to ask if the character was meant to be gay. “And so,” says Depp, “I actually told this , ‘But didn’t you know that all my characters are gay?’”
Needless to say, Depp is/was kidding — somehow I doubt that the married-with-kids FBI agent Joe Pistone (a.k.a. Donnie Brasco in Donnie Brasco...
Needless to say, Depp is/was kidding — somehow I doubt that the married-with-kids FBI agent Joe Pistone (a.k.a. Donnie Brasco in Donnie Brasco...
- 12/1/2010
- by Adam B. Vary
- EW.com - PopWatch
With Fringe closing in on a major turning point in its Crisis On Infinite Earths (Or Just Two) storyline, and with the J.J. Abrams sci-fi series signaling that it’s about to push into a new layer of mystery mythology to its increasingly alluring universe (Who are “The First People?” Are they connected to The Observer? Is Sam Weiss one of them? I want to know!), tonight’s new episode lays the groundwork for the midseason denoument by showcasing Phillip Broyles. Not the “our world” Special Agent Broyles, the charismatic Don’t mess with me suit that leads the FBI...
- 11/18/2010
- by Jeff Jensen
- EW - Inside TV
Potentially his generation's Ben Kingsley, "Wolfman" star Benicio Del Toro is one of those actors who could pass for just about any ethnicity on film. Though he hasn't stretched out as much as he's capable of yet, the Puerto Rico-born Oscar-winner did go as far as playing a Samoan in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." But is he enough of a chameleon that he could fool the Mafia? He'll at least have to seem so in a new film called "Making Jack Falcone."
According to Deadline Hollywood, Del Toro will sort of play the title character. He'll star as real-life FBI agent Joaquin "Jack" Garcia, who went undercover using the alias Jack Falcone in order to infiltrate the Gambino crime family. Despite being Cuba-born American with Italian lineage, Garcia was convincing enough as Falcone to become only the second FBI agent in history to be offered the position of...
According to Deadline Hollywood, Del Toro will sort of play the title character. He'll star as real-life FBI agent Joaquin "Jack" Garcia, who went undercover using the alias Jack Falcone in order to infiltrate the Gambino crime family. Despite being Cuba-born American with Italian lineage, Garcia was convincing enough as Falcone to become only the second FBI agent in history to be offered the position of...
- 3/5/2010
- by Christopher Campbell
- MTV Movies Blog
Some 12 years before Johnny Depp would portray the legendary bank robber John Dillinger on the big screen, he was given the opportunity to portray another legendary figure within the mafia – Donnie Brasco.
“Donnie” himself was a relatively low level enforcer, sent on errands by Capos of the Bonnano crime family, so why was he such a legend? Simple, “Donnie Brasco”, mafia soldier of 6 years was in fact Joseph D. Pistone, agent for the FBI and one of only a handful of people who have ever managed to infiltrate the secretive crime syndicate known as La Cosa Nostra – The Mafia.
Loosely based on Pistone’s true story, Donnie Brasco stars Johnny Depp, Al Pacino and Michael Madsen and was nominated for an Academy Award in the “Best Adapted Screenplay” category. The film has had mostly positive reviews since its release and currently holds an 87% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Put simply,...
“Donnie” himself was a relatively low level enforcer, sent on errands by Capos of the Bonnano crime family, so why was he such a legend? Simple, “Donnie Brasco”, mafia soldier of 6 years was in fact Joseph D. Pistone, agent for the FBI and one of only a handful of people who have ever managed to infiltrate the secretive crime syndicate known as La Cosa Nostra – The Mafia.
Loosely based on Pistone’s true story, Donnie Brasco stars Johnny Depp, Al Pacino and Michael Madsen and was nominated for an Academy Award in the “Best Adapted Screenplay” category. The film has had mostly positive reviews since its release and currently holds an 87% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Put simply,...
- 7/7/2009
- by Craig Sharp
- FilmShaft.com
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