Shownotes
Movie of the Year: 1973
Mean Streets
This week we discuss Mean Streets! Are these mean streets tough enough to become our Movie of the Year?
Mean Streets is principally about three characters. We have Michael—the wanna-be gangster who is trying to will himself to fit into a world of crime that he doesn’t seem ready for yet, what with getting himself easily scammed and perpetually disrespected. Then there is Johnny Boy who we first see blowing up a mailbox for absolutely no reason. We quickly learn this is the least offensive act of his in the entire film and probably the most sensible. Last, there is Charlie—sweet, sweet Chaz—the sensitive boy who tries to hold the world together even though it is shattered, contradictory in the extreme, and destined to blow apart in a paroxysm of violence.
We discuss how Mean Streets serves as an introduction into the early career of Scorsese, we take a closer look at the career of Harvey Keitel, and we talk about some of the hottest boys 1973 had to offer.
All that, and Nate is on the show!
