That's just it though: in Goodfellas the romanticizing is exactly what a young man would do. Recall that Hill is a teenager, and so is Tommy DeSimone (when he was killed he was only 28 or 29; Pesci is so much older that sometimes his impulsiveness plays a little weird). Young guys romanticize that because they see the…

THere's some of that. The reason the mafia existed at all (and other organized crime among Jewish and Irish people as well) was that the syndicates provided services that were otherwise unavailable. You need a loan? You can't go to a bank, so you go to these guys. Home repair? They know someone who will do it cheaper.…

It's worth noting that the Godfather series also romanticizes the mob, a bit, and isn't a work of journalism (Puzo was writing fiction, after all). Even though Puzo's work is based on some real histories, it's still fiction. Pileggi's isn't.

Is it possible that the problem is watching something translated from Japanese?

Wahlberg is, to me, one of those actors who with the right script and director is perfect. He doesn't have the craft/ range to make a bad script look good, but put him in a good script that he can sink into and he is really good. (I still think he should have gotten a Best Actor nomination for Boogie Nights — that…

Hear hear.

To other Boston area natives: how many of us really think that Billy knew nothing of Whitey's activity? I would say none. I don't think Whitey was dumb enough to involve Billy directly, or tell him anything directly but every damned time the police would close in Billy would go on with "I don't know what my brother…

echoing @avclub-550dde716c139d72e9e2519ab2230a6f:disqus : I am from the area and I do think that DiCaprio got ti down — and the other actors as well. Though I think it's interesting because there is a huge class difference. Like the Brits, in Boston you tell whether someone went to private school or not right off.

I have zero problem with a nonwhite, non-Brit dude (provided they aren't just stereotypes — recall that when the Leela character was introduced the original plan was for Louise Jameson to wear dark makeup. Thankfully some smart person was able to convince the showrunners that was a bad, bad idea).

Mickey for sure, Danny less so…. but yeah, I could see that.

I am on board for a male companion, because it would alter the dynamics a bit. The last one they had was Amy Pond's husband Rory, I suppose, or Jack Harkness, depending on how you count them. And I rather liked the concept of Turlough back in the classic series.

As I understood it Woods didn't know what he was seeing until sometime later, right? Like, he thought, "Oh, just dudes on a plane" and someone brought it to his attention. Odds are he didn't thik much of it when he saw them. Or am I getting this wrong?

How would they tell I wonder? Read your mind? It would seem you unconsciously do it to a certain extent if you play hearts and spades or bridge a lot.

Is it really possible to count from an eight + deck set effectively though? Say you have 5 players at the table. Dealer gives out

50-50 comes from the fact that you either go to heaven or hell — at least if you're a Protestant. Even assuming that God chooses who goes where at random you'd have 50-50 odds. Or oblivion (nonexistence) in which case it doesn't matter.

I stand corrected! Thanks for the play reference. But the point still remains: if heaven is infinitely good and confessing to Jesus all by itself gets you to heaven (the Evangelical position), then my murdering one cannot be immoral. And of course, the odds are 50-50 either way: 50 percent that you get eternal bliss…

I actually could get behind younger Al Pacino as Wolverine. Or Robert DeNiro, even.

that's sort of the point I am making; the way people actually live their faith is in almost direct contradiction to the logical proposition that heaven exists. Dance around it all you want, but if heaven exists then murder cannot be wrong.

I would really like to see apropos of this discussion a couple of things:

Um, what is "a method designed to be burdensome?" I mean, she makes a video taking apart sexist tropes — and the videos are pretty simple, 101 level stuff (as I understand it that is what they are supposed to be in the first place). So what burden does that place on anybody, anywhere?