Everyone’s gone to the festivals. But here on the home front, one thing still leads to another.
Last Saturday, I picked up a slightly tattered copy of an old crime biography, Frank Costello: Prime Minister of the Underworld, at one of those sidewalk libraries.
Published in 1974, the year after mob boss Costello died at the age of 82, the book was written by his long-time lawyer George Wolf with co-writer Joseph Dimona.
As lawyer books go, it wasn’t bad. Lots of first-hand anecdotes. Not too much ax-grinding. And a reasonably clear re-telling of an oft-told saga about what they used to call “The Syndicate,” from tawdry roots in New York’s Italian ghettos, through the Italo-Jewish alliance of bootlegging gangs, to political machinations, over-throw of the old Sicilian crime lords, Murder Inc., Bugsy Siegel, Las Vegas, the Kefauver hearings and beyond.
You’ve been there many times in many movies,...
Last Saturday, I picked up a slightly tattered copy of an old crime biography, Frank Costello: Prime Minister of the Underworld, at one of those sidewalk libraries.
Published in 1974, the year after mob boss Costello died at the age of 82, the book was written by his long-time lawyer George Wolf with co-writer Joseph Dimona.
As lawyer books go, it wasn’t bad. Lots of first-hand anecdotes. Not too much ax-grinding. And a reasonably clear re-telling of an oft-told saga about what they used to call “The Syndicate,” from tawdry roots in New York’s Italian ghettos, through the Italo-Jewish alliance of bootlegging gangs, to political machinations, over-throw of the old Sicilian crime lords, Murder Inc., Bugsy Siegel, Las Vegas, the Kefauver hearings and beyond.
You’ve been there many times in many movies,...
- 9/9/2023
- by Michael Cieply
- Deadline Film + TV
Bumpy Johnson is back, and he’s ready to reclaim his territory in the Season 3 of “Godfather of Harlem.” In an exclusive clip and two exclusive photos, Johnson weighs his options as he sets his sights on new opportunities. Season 3 is set to premiere Jan. 15, 2023, on MGM+.
“If I go south of 110th St., I gotta smile, bow and and scrape. If I assert myself to a white man in a way that he doesn’t like, I get billy clubbed and I get put in jail. But, up here, it’s different. I get respect. I call the shots. Me, and me alone,” says Johnson, who is played by Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker, in an exclusive clip.
In each shot of the teaser, viewers get a glance of Johnson’s next business deals and business partners, and the harsh realities and the Black community faced during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
“If I go south of 110th St., I gotta smile, bow and and scrape. If I assert myself to a white man in a way that he doesn’t like, I get billy clubbed and I get put in jail. But, up here, it’s different. I get respect. I call the shots. Me, and me alone,” says Johnson, who is played by Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker, in an exclusive clip.
In each shot of the teaser, viewers get a glance of Johnson’s next business deals and business partners, and the harsh realities and the Black community faced during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
- 11/21/2022
- by Raquel "Rocky" Harris
- The Wrap
[Editor’s Note: The following review contains spoilers for “Black Bird” Season 1, Episode 3, “Hand to Mouth.”]
The first two episodes of “Black Bird,” released simultaneously last week, were exposition-heavy with the setup of our two leads: drug dealer-turned-informant Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) and possible (?) serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser). The culmination of Episode 2, “We Are Coming, Father Abraham,” saw Jimmy and Larry physically inhabit the same space with the hard work — Jimmy cozying up to Larry to garner a new confession — just beginning.
Episode 3, “Hand to Mouth,” continues the Lehane touch established in the first two episodes. It’s not surprising considering the director of this episode is Michael R. Roskam, who directed the 2014 feature film adaptation of Lehane’s novel, “The Drop.” Last week, Jimmy had a serious moment of weakness and contemplated backing out of the deal entirely. We understand why the first minute of this episode, when Jimmy looks back on the interactions he...
The first two episodes of “Black Bird,” released simultaneously last week, were exposition-heavy with the setup of our two leads: drug dealer-turned-informant Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) and possible (?) serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser). The culmination of Episode 2, “We Are Coming, Father Abraham,” saw Jimmy and Larry physically inhabit the same space with the hard work — Jimmy cozying up to Larry to garner a new confession — just beginning.
Episode 3, “Hand to Mouth,” continues the Lehane touch established in the first two episodes. It’s not surprising considering the director of this episode is Michael R. Roskam, who directed the 2014 feature film adaptation of Lehane’s novel, “The Drop.” Last week, Jimmy had a serious moment of weakness and contemplated backing out of the deal entirely. We understand why the first minute of this episode, when Jimmy looks back on the interactions he...
- 7/15/2022
- by Kristen Lopez
- Indiewire
Godfather of Harlem expands its cast with the addition of Justin Bartha, Annabella Sciorra and Ronald Guttman, who will take on recurring roles in season two of the Epix drama. Also set to recur are Gino Cafarelli and Isaach De Bankolé.
Also coming to the crime drama as guest stars are Method Man, Michael Rispoli, Neal Matarazzo and Grace Porter, who was previously announced to appear as Betty Shabazz. Erik Laray Harvey and Demi Singleton have also been upped to series regulars for season 2, which will premiere Sunday, April. 18.
Godfather of Harlem season 2 sees Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) battling the New York Crime Families for control of the lucrative and murderous “French Connection,” the pipeline for heroin that runs from Marseilles to New York Harbor. With a distribution syndicate that includes black crime bosses from other major U.S. cities, Bumpy takes a cue from his friend Malcolm X’s...
Also coming to the crime drama as guest stars are Method Man, Michael Rispoli, Neal Matarazzo and Grace Porter, who was previously announced to appear as Betty Shabazz. Erik Laray Harvey and Demi Singleton have also been upped to series regulars for season 2, which will premiere Sunday, April. 18.
Godfather of Harlem season 2 sees Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) battling the New York Crime Families for control of the lucrative and murderous “French Connection,” the pipeline for heroin that runs from Marseilles to New York Harbor. With a distribution syndicate that includes black crime bosses from other major U.S. cities, Bumpy takes a cue from his friend Malcolm X’s...
- 3/17/2021
- by Alexandra Del Rosario
- Deadline Film + TV
Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker stars as real-life gangster Bumpy Johnson on the Epix drama “Godfather of Harlem.” The 1960s-based series is reportedly the top-rated show on the network.
Whitaker spoke with Gold Derby senior editor Rob Licuria recently about what attracted him to “Godfather of Harlem,” his research process to play Johnson and his memories of winning an Oscar for “The Last King of Scotland.” Watch the exclusive video chat above and read the complete interview transcript below.
SEEEmmys 2020 exclusive: Epix categories for ‘Belgravia,’ ‘Godfather of Harlem,’ ‘Pennyworth,’ ‘Perpetual Grace Ltd’
Gold Derby: Forest, organized crime has always been a really popular genre on TV and in films like “The Godfather,” “The Sopranos,” “The Wire” and now your show. Why do we all flock to films and TV shows about the mob and about crime bosses like Bumpy Johnson?
Forest Whitaker: One, it’s about the exploration of power...
Whitaker spoke with Gold Derby senior editor Rob Licuria recently about what attracted him to “Godfather of Harlem,” his research process to play Johnson and his memories of winning an Oscar for “The Last King of Scotland.” Watch the exclusive video chat above and read the complete interview transcript below.
SEEEmmys 2020 exclusive: Epix categories for ‘Belgravia,’ ‘Godfather of Harlem,’ ‘Pennyworth,’ ‘Perpetual Grace Ltd’
Gold Derby: Forest, organized crime has always been a really popular genre on TV and in films like “The Godfather,” “The Sopranos,” “The Wire” and now your show. Why do we all flock to films and TV shows about the mob and about crime bosses like Bumpy Johnson?
Forest Whitaker: One, it’s about the exploration of power...
- 6/6/2020
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
Could Al Capone’s famed syphilitic dementia have all been an act? It would’ve been a brilliant ploy. Consider that mob boss Vincent Gigante walked the streets of the West Village in a bathrobe to put on a public performance of a mentally broken man. He kept up the act in court, during affidavits, tests, interviews and under more forceful questioning. But all the while, Gigante ruled the Genovese crime family from 1981 to 2005. The trailer for Capone promises to deliver an “untold final chapter” of his life by suggesting the original Scarface perfected a similar dog and pony show, and then claims it can back it up by saying the movie is based on true events.
“A ruthless businessman and bootlegger who ruled Chicago with an iron fist, Al ‘Fonzo’ Capone (Tom Hardy) was the most infamous and feared gangster of American lore,” according to the official synopsis. “At...
“A ruthless businessman and bootlegger who ruled Chicago with an iron fist, Al ‘Fonzo’ Capone (Tom Hardy) was the most infamous and feared gangster of American lore,” according to the official synopsis. “At...
- 4/16/2020
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Playing men of power is nothing new for Vincent D'Onofrio, who continues to portray Wilson Fisk (aka the Kingpin) on the Marvel Netflix superhero series Daredevil, and the Wizard of Oz himself in the short-lived, dramatic NBC fantasy show Emerald City. Well, the actor is ready to take on another such role — though grounded considerably more than the others in reality — this time starring opposite Forest Whitaker on the Epix television true crime series Godfather of Harlem. Given a straight to series order by the network, the show sees Vincent as Vincent "Chin" Gigante, a former boxer who few take seriously... but should. He appears dimwitted, but his mind is always working — to the point where he feigns insanity to avoid prosecution, and the series will chart his rise in the Genovese crime family as a hitman to, ultimately, boss of the family. (The real Vincent Gigante; Photo Credit: Getty Images...
- 9/17/2018
- by Ed Gross
- Closer Weekly
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