Roger Ebert's review
Ebert’s four-star review is discussed alongside Siskel’s disagreement.
In the discussion (2)
- Ebert awarded Casino four stars.
- Siskel’s less enthusiastic response is contrasted.
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The Rewatchables episode
aired January 25, 2022
The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson
The hosts enumerate ten lessons using movie lines and their own addenda.
In the discussion (10)
- When you love someone, you have to trust them and give them the key to everything, though the hosts dispute the advice.
- Have the hole dug before arriving in the desert with a body.
- For gangsters, Vegas washes away sins like a morality car wash.
- Casinos are the only winners; players do not stand a chance.
- In Vegas, everyone watches everyone else.
- Keep players playing and returning because the longer they play, the more they lose.
- There is the right way, the wrong way, and Ace’s way.
- A control freak should avoid dating an attractive grifter who does not love him.
- Do not give one partner sole access to a two-million-dollar security deposit.
- Avoid dating someone with an ex named Lester.
Most Rewatchable Scene
The cheater punishment and count-room system lead a huge scene field including the whale, Nicky’s arrival, arguments, murders, and old-Vegas ending.
In the discussion (17)
- The casino surveillance and count-room explanation is nominated.
- The Ichikawa whale sequence is nominated.
- Ginger’s entrance is nominated.
- The card-counter and cheater punishment is a leading choice.
- Nicky’s arrival and ban montage are nominated.
- Ace confronting Ginger about Lester in the diner is nominated.
- Ace and Nicky’s argument about lost control is nominated.
- Catherine Scorsese in the wiretap scene is nominated.
- The desert argument is nominated.
- The Lester finger-snapping confrontation is nominated.
- Nicky and Ginger’s affair material is nominated.
- The murder montage and cornfield killing are nominated.
- The old-Vegas ending is nominated.
- The sports-book operations are nominated.
- Ginger’s wedding phone call to Lester is nominated.
- Ace giving Ginger the fur coat is nominated.
- The film’s opening fifteen minutes are nominated as a run.
What’s Aged the Best?
Sharon Stone, old Las Vegas, casino systems, music, costumes, and supporting performances dominate aged-best.
In the discussion (23)
- Sharon Stone’s performance is praised.
- De Niro and Pesci’s improvisation is praised.
- Pesci becoming violent in bars is praised.
- Ginger tipping service workers is praised.
- The head-vice sequence and its ratings history are discussed.
- The old Strip and real locations are praised.
- James Woods is praised.
- Ginger’s scenes with her daughter are discussed.
- Nicky’s recurring oral-sex behavior is treated as a darkly comic character detail.
- Frank Vincent and Pesci reversing power from Goodfellas is praised.
- Ginger’s beehive and diamonds are praised.
- The golf-course airplane landing is praised.
- The casting of old-Vegas personalities is praised.
- Aces High is praised.
- The music choices are praised.
- The count room is praised.
- The blueberry-muffin complaint is praised.
- The explosive opening is praised.
- The Rain Man dealer is praised.
- Scorsese’s inventive cocaine imagery is praised.
- The aged hitmen are praised.
- Ace’s house is praised.
- James Woods’s Lester is ultimately offered as another leading aged-best answer.
What’s Aged the Worst?
The runtime, narrator structure, mannequin explosion, ethnicity, Gimme Shelter, shootings, and childcare draw objections.
In the discussion (9)
- The three-hour runtime is questioned.
- Repeated Ace–Ginger fights may be redundant.
- The use of three narrators is debated but defended.
- The mannequin in the car explosion is visible.
- De Niro playing a Jewish real-life figure is discussed.
- The repeated use of Gimme Shelter is noted.
- Pesci’s physical dominance is sometimes hard to accept.
- The staging of repeated shootings is questioned.
- The treatment of Ginger’s child is criticized.
Casting What-Ifs
Madonna, Nicole Kidman, Melanie Griffith, Traci Lords, and Sharon Stone’s audition history are discussed.
In the discussion (6)
- Madonna says the role came down to her and Sharon Stone.
- Nicole Kidman was considered.
- Melanie Griffith was considered.
- Traci Lords reportedly gave an impressive audition.
- Sharon Stone’s repeatedly canceled auditions and Scorsese’s personal appeal are recounted.
- The panel prefers Stone to the alternatives.
The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award
Nick Mazzola and John Mankiewicz split the That Guy discussion.
In the discussion (3)
- Nick Mazzola, the blackjack dealer, is nominated.
- John Mankiewicz, identified as Nicky Eyes from Goodfellas, is nominated.
- No unambiguous final winner is stated.
The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award
De Niro’s commission hearing and Donnie, played by Joe Bob Briggs, are the main overacting candidates.
In the discussion (2)
- De Niro’s gaming-commission scene is nominated.
- Donnie, played by Joe Bob Briggs, is criticized as conspicuously broad.
The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance
James Woods wins over Don Rickles and Catherine Scorsese.
In the discussion (3)
- James Woods is selected.
- Don Rickles is nominated.
- Catherine Scorsese is nominated.
Recasting Couch
Diane Lane, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Scarlett Johansson are proposed around Nicky’s wife and Ginger.
In the discussion (4)
- Diane Lane is proposed for Nicky’s wife.
- Madonna is proposed for Nicky’s wife after losing the Ginger role.
- Lady Gaga is proposed for Ginger.
- Match Point-era Scarlett Johansson is proposed for Ginger.
Half-Assed Internet Research
Research covers real people, costumes, a murder attempt, profanity, improv, sets, ribs, cigarettes, restaurants, and high rollers.
In the discussion (15)
- Frank Cullotta served as technical adviser and appeared as a hitman.
- The costume budget was one million dollars, with 70 De Niro outfits and 40 Stone outfits.
- Joe Pesci’s then-wife Claudia Haro was later convicted in an attempted-murder scheme against another ex-husband.
- The film uses the F-word 435 times.
- James Woods improvised dialogue and the detail that Lester was with a prostitute using cocaine during the wedding call.
- The count-room set was constructed because productions are not allowed into a real count room.
- Frank Rosenthal’s television-show guests included Sinatra, Hope, Liberace, O. J. Simpson, and Rickles.
- Pesci suffered a rib injury during the cornfield sequence.
- De Niro maintained cigarette length for continuity.
- Piero’s restaurant stood in for the Leaning Tower.
- Future Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman appears as an attorney.
- Nobu Matsuhisa plays Ichikawa.
- Akio Kashiwagi’s casino debts and murder are discussed.
- Ace’s house was later bought by Suge Knight.
- Frank Rosenthal’s later nightclub, online-betting, and family life are summarized.
Apex Mountain
De Niro, Pesci, Sharon Stone, golf-course landings, Las Vegas details, and skimming receive distinct apex judgments.
In the discussion (11)
- De Niro is judged below his overall apex.
- Pesci’s apex is assigned to Goodfellas or My Cousin Vinny.
- The 1981 Cadillac Eldorado is judged at its apex.
- Kevin Pollak is judged at an apex shared with The Usual Suspects.
- Sharon Stone’s angry blackjack-table scenes are judged at an apex.
- Movie oral-sex references are denied an apex.
- Emergency golf-course airplane landings are judged below other examples.
- Lester is proposed as an apex scumbag ex-boyfriend.
- Star 80 is invoked as an alternate scumbag story.
- Skimming from a casino is assessed.
- Meetings conducted in code language are praised.
Picking Nits
Lester, security deposits, girlfriends, commission relatives, shootings, deposits, jewelry, and trust in Ginger produce distinct nitpicks.
In the discussion (8)
- Ace not killing Lester is questioned.
- Giving Ginger sole access to a two-million-dollar security deposit is questioned.
- Ace’s lack of another girlfriend before Ginger is questioned.
- Nicky not killing the county commissioner’s relative is debated.
- The physical staging of public shootings is questioned.
- Ginger withdrawing the deposit while police watch is questioned.
- The film’s jewelry includes pieces from the wrong decades.
- Ace trusting Ginger with everything is identified as the story’s core practical problem.
Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake
A prestige casino series sounds compelling, with Kansas City or Chicago operations and a Fredo-in-Vegas interquel discussed.
In the discussion (3)
- A large-budget prestige series about the casino operation sounds compelling.
- Kansas City or Chicago Mafia operations are suggested as alternate series subjects.
- A Fredo-in-Vegas story between the first two Godfather films is proposed.
Probably Unanswerable Questions
The pen victim, car bomb, and Frank Vincent’s alignment drive the questions.
In the discussion (3)
- Did the man stabbed repeatedly with the pen die?
- Who planted the bomb in Ace’s car?
- Why does Frank Vincent’s character turn on Nicky?
What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?
The house, robe, dice machine, brooch, ledger, jacket, vice, pen, and sports book are proposed.
In the discussion (9)
- Ace’s house is proposed.
- Ace’s John Barrymore robe is proposed.
- The weighted-dice testing machine is proposed.
- Ginger’s first diamond brooch is proposed.
- The Kansas City expense ledger is proposed.
- Joe Bob Briggs’s jacket is proposed.
- The head vice is proposed.
- The stabbing pen is proposed.
- Part of the Tangiers sports book is proposed.
Who Won the Movie?
Sharon Stone wins over Martin Scorsese.
In the discussion (3)
- Both responding hosts select Sharon Stone.
- Martin Scorsese is the principal alternative for the movie’s scale and control.
- Stone is praised for holding her own against De Niro and Pesci and for the scarcity of comparable later roles.