32 thoughts on “Joe Pesci Movies”

1. Discussion about Pesci’s star status were perhaps becoming circular and WH and I might even be at cross-purposes with each other and that could be partially my fault for over-embellishing my own comments with the consequence that the “wood couldn’t be seen for the trees” Here therefore is an attempt to bring more precision:

   1/Joe may not have wanted to be an A list star- George Gabby Hayes reportedly didn’t. However thespians usually want to go as far as possible in achieving major stardom so in giving my own thoughts about an individual I usually address that aspect.

   2/Therefore if Joe DID want to make the A list I thought he was going the wrong way about it by subordinating himself to DeNiro so frequently. The latter practice was possibly (a) sending out a signal that Joe PERHAPS considered DeNiro’s stardom [and/or working with Scorsese] more important than his own stardom (b) resulting in Joe partially wasting time on ‘DeNiro pictures’ rather than doing ‘Pesci pictures’.

   3/However it’s possible that all the foregoing is academic as my personal opinion is that Joe does not have the persona or physical attributes to be an A list performer and that seems to be borne out by the overall failure of his stand-alone movies.

   I could be wrong in everything I have said above – I am not Joel Hirschhorn after all! – but I do NOT underestimate Joe’ skills as a supporting actor as Bruce seemed to be suggesting; indeed in my original post, on 27 Aug at 6.20am, I emphasized that I considered Joe an actor with “undoubted talent” in his own right. Conversely until now -ie very late in the day- the presentation of a Pesci page has not been given a priority , for whatever reason, on this site.

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   1. Hey Bob. Thanks for the further Pesci comments. Good points…..however…not thinking Joe wasted his time on DeNiro movies. Raging Bull and Good Fellas are considered all-time classics. Raging Bull was DeNiro’s best performance…..while Joe outshined Bob in Goodfellas. Whenever somebody talks about Goodfellas…..the subject in order of frequency is Pesci’s character, Ray Liotta’s character, Scorsese’s direction and then maybe talk about DeNiro’s performance. I still stand by my thought that Pesci became a bigger star with My Cousin Vinny, the Lethal Weapon movies and the Home Alone movies …none of those involved Bobby or Marty. Good stuff.

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      1. HI BRUCE

         I think you have still missed my point. I can only further add:

         1/I agree he didn’t waste his time in DeNiro movies bu that’s because he could not have fashioned a stand-alone career of his own. 6 of the 7 stand-alone movies he was in badly flopped.

         2/Being in a few hits does not make an A list star, especially if the performer concerned is in supporting roles: it takes a large body of work in key roles such as that provided by Hanks/Cruise to establish major stardom.

         3/If you had found any evidence that Joe was overall a star of DeNiro’s magnitude the former would surely have appeared in your ranking lists whereas he didn’t even get honorable mentions/ close consideration for inclusion. Also even among supporting actors his Cogerson page came very late in the day.

         4/ Despite his Oscar love he received only 15 acting awards and 13 noms overall. That’s poor by today’s standards when awards at all levels are being handed out by the bucket load as we have discussed before.

         Sadly I fear we are still at cross-purposes in this matter.

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         1. I agree…Bob…we will agree to disagree on this one…..I will rest my case with a line from Pesci lead role in My Cousin Vinny…which was a decent hit and a Oscar winning movie.
            “Don’t shake your head, I’m not done yet. Wait till you hear the whole thing, so you can understand this”. – Vinny Gambini

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            1. HI BRUCE

               For true stardom Joe would have needed to have said something like-

               1/”I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” or

               2/”I could’ve been a contender.” THAT was the line that DeNiro honoured in Jake LaMotta’s nightclub On the Waterfront speech in Raging Bull.

               As you say I guess we’ll have to leave it there unless we can appeal to a Higher Power to settle the matter conclusively- eg we could get an Ouija board and consult Joel through a spiritual medium.

               Anyway have a good weekend and give my regards to the family.

            2. Hey Bob….hope your weekend is awesome too. Three more days to the start of the school year. Added stress…is two more weeks from today I have a major teaching test that I need to pass to further enhancing my teaching career….so studying for that, prepping for the school year, binge watching Game of Thrones….knocked out seasons 4, 5 and 6 in the last few days, written 3 new pages in the last week, doing comments, fantasy football drafts, cul-de-sac Labor Day party tonight, hurricane coming to town and doing the normal husband/father activities….the next two weeks are going to be very busy. Lots of sleep is not in the forecast.

2. Whatever happened to Joe Pesci? 20 years in the wilderness! Looking forward to seeing him back with fellow screen gangster Robert De Niro in Scorsese’s The Irishman, on Netflix later this year.

   Less films than I thought but given his disappearance from our screens, not really surprised. I’ve seen 14 of the 27 films on the chart.

   Favorites include- Goodfellas, Casino, Once Upon a Time in America, Raging Bull, JFK, Lethal Weapon 2-4, Home Alone 1-2 and My Cousin Vinny.

   Not really a huge fan of Raging Bull but the acting is amazing. I much prefer Rocky… “Adriaaaan!” [Bob rolls his eyes]

   Wow! Home Alone was a monster, nothing else comes close on that chart.

   Good stuff Bruce. Vote Up!

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   1. HI STEVE

      Of course the highlight of Raging Bull was where DeNiro pays tribute to The Great Mumbler with a reading of the famous ‘contender’ speech from On the Waterfront’.

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      1. Hey Bob…I agree.

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   2. Hey Steve…Mr. Pesci pretty much gave up on acting versus acting gave up on him. Seems like he is pretty happy with his decision. But lucky for us….he is coming back in The Irishman. I have 19 of his movies….so I am slightly ahead of you. The director cut of Once Upon A Time in America is a classic…it is a shame the studio that released that movie marketed it so badly….releasing a 90 minute version that made no sense. I suspect if they had do the marketing and release correctly….it might be talked about as much as The Godfather. There is one theory out theory that the entire movie is a opium dream of DeNiro.

      As for your favorites…seem them all….right there with you on Good Fellas, Once Upon…., Lethal Weapon 2, Home Alone 1 and My Cousin Vinny. I agree with you on Raging Bull…the acting is amazing….but the movie is so down and dirty it is not a fun movie to re-watch regularly. Good stuff as always.

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3. Joe Pesci is no longer on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. These are the actors on the current list he has appeared with.

   4 DONALD SUTHERLAND JFK (1991)
   6 ROBERT DE NIRO A Bronx Tale (1993)
   6 ROBERT DE NIRO Casino (1995)
   6 ROBERT DE NIRO Goodfellas (1990)
   6 ROBERT DE NIRO Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
   6 ROBERT DE NIRO Raging Bull (1980)
   6 ROBERT DE NIRO The Good Shepherd (2006)
   10 MARTIN SHEEN JFK (1991)
   11 SAMUEL L. JACKSON Betsy’s Wedding (1990)
   11 SAMUEL L. JACKSON Goodfellas (1990)
   19 DENNIS HOPPER Catchfire (1990)
   22 RUTGER HAUER Eureka (1983)
   58 HELEN MIRREN Love Ranch (2010)
   74 GENE HACKMAN Eureka (1983)
   91 JOSS ACKLAND Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
   99 JOHN TURTURRO Catchfire (1990)
   99 JOHN TURTURRO Raging Bull (1980)
   99 JOHN TURTURRO The Good Shepherd (2006)
   119 DEAN STOCKWELL Catchfire (1990)
   121 MICHAEL GAMBON The Good Shepherd (2006)
   126 SCOTT GLENN Man on Fire (1987)
   129 TOMMY LEE JONES JFK (1991)
   134 ALEC BALDWIN The Good Shepherd (2006)
   148 WHOOPI GOLDBERG A WARRIOR’S TAIL (2015)
   157 MATT DAMON The Good Shepherd (2006)
   158 JAMES WOODS Casino (1995)
   158 JAMES WOODS Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
   160 DANNY GLOVER Gone Fishin’ (1997)
   160 DANNY GLOVER Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
   160 DANNY GLOVER Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
   160 DANNY GLOVER Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
   162 GARY OLDMAN JFK (1991)
   189 JONATHAN PRYCE Man on Fire (1987)
   190 MIKE STARR Goodfellas (1990)
   206 STANLEY TUCCI The Public Eye (1992)
   210 BRUCE MCGILL My Cousin Vinny (1992)
   217 MICKEY ROURKE Eureka (1983)
   231 TREAT WILLIAMS Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
   239 ANGELINA JOLIE The Good Shepherd (2006)
   246 WILLIAM HURT The Good Shepherd (2006)
   257 PAUL SORVINO Goodfellas (1990)
   263 DANNY AIELLO Man on Fire (1987)
   263 DANNY AIELLO Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
   268 CAROL KANE Gone Fishin’ (1997)
   278 AUSTIN PENDLETON My Cousin Vinny (1992)
   282 VINCENT D’ONOFRIO JFK (1991)
   289 MEL GIBSON Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
   289 MEL GIBSON Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
   289 MEL GIBSON Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
   307 DAN HEDAYA I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982)
   311 SHARON STONE A WARRIOR’S TAIL (2015)
   311 SHARON STONE Casino (1995)
   320 BOB GUNTON JFK (1991)
   320 BOB GUNTON The Public Eye (1992)
   329 JOHN HEARD Home Alone (1990)
   329 JOHN HEARD Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
   333 CHRISTIAN SLATER Jimmy Hollywood (1994)
   338 TOMAS MILIAN JFK (1991)
   351 BRENDAN FRASER With Honors (1994)
   361 JOHN LITHGOW I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982)
   362 KEVIN POLLAK Casino (1995)
   364 RAY LIOTTA Goodfellas (1990)
   369 RON RIFKIN JFK (1991)
   378 JODIE FOSTER Catchfire (1990)
   390 BURT YOUNG Betsy’s Wedding (1990)
   390 BURT YOUNG Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
   394 ED LAUTER Eureka (1983)
   423 JENNIFER JASON LEIGH Easy Money (1983)
   442 CLANCY BROWN MOONWALKER (1988)
   444 DEBI MAZAR Goodfellas (1990)
   450 KEVIN BACON JFK (1991)
   455 ROSANNA ARQUETTE Gone Fishin’ (1997)
   469 VINCENT PRICE Catchfire (1990)
   472 JACK KEHLER Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
   480 KEVIN CORRIGAN Goodfellas (1990)
   481 KAREN BLACK The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway (1988)
   488 ROB SCHNEIDER Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
   490 DALE DYE JFK (1991)
   497 CHARLIE SHEEN Catchfire (1990)
   498 MAURY CHAYKIN Gone Fishin’ (1997)
   498 MAURY CHAYKIN My Cousin Vinny (1992)
   502 JACK LEMMON JFK (1991)
   508 BARBARA HERSHEY The Public Eye (1992)
   514 BRYAN CRANSTON LOVE RANCH (2010)
   525 FRED WARD Catchfire (1990)
   550 JAMES REBHORN My Cousin Vinny (1992)
   555 WALTER MATTHAU JFK (1991)
   565 TIM CURRY Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
   569 RICHARD RIEHLE Casino (1995)
   569 RICHARD RIEHLE Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
   569 RICHARD RIEHLE The Public Eye (1992)
   573 RICHARD SCHIFF The Public Eye (1992)
   607 KEVIN COSTNER JFK (1991)
   609 MARTIN SCORSESE Raging Bull (1980)
   614 WILLIAM FORSYTHE Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
   644 JEFFREY JONES Easy Money (1983)
   679 RICHARD MASUR I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982)
   693 JAMES RUSSO Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
   716 TOM NOONAN EASY MONEY (1983)
   726 BRUNO GANZ THE LEGENDARY LIFE OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY (1988)
   730 LOUISE FLETCHER Gone Fishin’ (1997)
   738 JARED HARRIS The Public Eye (1992)
   742 DIANNE WIEST I’M DANCING AS FAST AS I CAN (1982)
   747 GINA GERSHON Love Ranch (2010)
   751 STUART WILSON LETHAL WEAPON 3 (1992)
   756 TIMOTHY HUTTON The Good Shepherd (2006)
   764 FRANKIE FAISON Betsy’s Wedding (1990)
   770 MADELINE KAHN Betsy’s Wedding (1990)
   772 SALLY KIRKLAND Hey, Let’s Twist! (1961)
   772 SALLY KIRKLAND JFK (1991)
   773 PRUITT TAYLOR VANCE JFK (1991)
   788 MICHAEL ROOKER JFK (1991)
   797 TONY PLANA JFK (1991)
   827 GEORGE HAMILTON 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997)
   837 MARISA TOMEI My Cousin Vinny (1992)
   841 MILLA JOVOVICH A WARRIOR’S TAIL (2015)
   881 ELIZABETH MCGOVERN ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984)
   901 JAY O. SANDERS JFK (1991)
   921 RICHARD BRIGHT Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
   922 DEAN NORRIS LETHAL WEAPON 2 (1989)
   929 CATHERINE KEENER Catchfire (1990)
   930 DANIEL STERN Home Alone (1990)
   930 DANIEL STERN Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
   930 DANIEL STERN I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982)
   934 SISSY SPACEK JFK (1991)
   944 BAI LING Love Ranch (2010)
   979 CHRIS ROCK Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
   995 RICHARD KIND Jimmy Hollywood (1994)
   HM (834) NICOL WILLIAMSON I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982)
   HM (950) CORIN REDGRAVE EUREKA (1983)
   HM (996) BRIAN DOYLE-MURRAY JFK (1991)

   Like that 1961 flick in there, Hey Let’s Twist. Remember he’s part of the Jersey Boys saga, somehow I can’t remember how but he was instrumental in promoting Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

   Joe has appeared with 18 Oscar winners.

   ANGELINA JOLIE The Good Shepherd (2006)
   DIANNE WIEST I’M DANCING AS FAST AS I CAN (1982)
   GARY OLDMAN JFK (1991)
   GENE HACKMAN Eureka (1983)
   GERALDINE PAGE I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982)
   HELEN MIRREN Love Ranch (2010)
   JACK LEMMON JFK (1991)
   JENNIFER CONNELLY Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
   JODIE FOSTER Catchfire (1990)
   LOUISE FLETCHER Gone Fishin’ (1997)
   MARISA TOMEI My Cousin Vinny (1992)
   ROBERT DE NIRO A Bronx Tale (1993)
   ROBERT DE NIRO Casino (1995)
   ROBERT DE NIRO Goodfellas (1990)
   ROBERT DE NIRO Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
   ROBERT DE NIRO Raging Bull (1980)
   ROBERT DE NIRO The Good Shepherd (2006)
   SISSY SPACEK JFK (1991)
   TIMOTHY HUTTON The Good Shepherd (2006)
   TOMMY LEE JONES JFK (1991)
   WALTER MATTHAU JFK (1991)
   WHOOPI GOLDBERG A WARRIOR’S TAIL (2015)
   WILLIAM HURT The Good Shepherd (2006)

   Reply

   1. Hey Dan. Good information on Mr. Pesci. No real surprise that Robert DeNiro is his most frequent co-star on both lists. Not surprise that is no longer on the Oracle list….with the exception of Love Ranch, a voice role and the upcoming The Irishman he has been enjoying a early retirement. I hope his latest go around with DeNiro and Scorsese will get him going again. Good to see his JFK so well represented in these lists. As always…you are the man when it comes to providing this information.

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4. HI BRUCE: Thanks for the quick and thoughtful feedback. As always you make some excellent points which get me to put my thinking cap on to see how far I agree with them, so my own further thoughts in the matter are:

   1/I have already conceded that Joe is a highly talented guy. However my comments were measuring him against the achievement of those who are good/great thespians and have achieved top stardom. In the latter respect you do not even list him as one of those you considered for inclusion in your 1950-2010 Legends lists.

   2/When I think about The Home Alone and Lethal Weapon franchises, I think of Culkin/Glover/Gibson and had forgotten that Joe was even in the either franchise until I saw your new page. Anyway (1) I would expect more people would associate certainly Mel with LW than would those who think of Joe (2) those franchises are just two projects and (3) those who are unaware of Joe’s DeNiro connection cannot be taking a great interest in Pesci’s career overall.

   3/Errol Flynn resisted 4th billing in 1957’s Sun Also Rises because billing reflected status and a drop in status/ billing meant in turn less money. The Gable/Tracy pictures stopped because Spence was no longer prepared to play not only 2nd fiddle/foil to Clark but also eunuch to him. When they made the 1961 Devil at Four O’Clock together and Tracy was congratulated on acquiring billing before Sinatra, Old Cantankerous was still not satisfied and growled back “Yes but it’s still a Sinatra picture.”

   4/Any performer who consistently plays 2nd fiddle to another comes to be regarded as the latter’s foil and the junior partner in the arrangement and in status-conscious Hollywood that’s bound to harm the standing of the ‘Junior’ in terms of perceived stardom.

   5/Audiences, albeit maybe sub-consciously, at times do I feel pick up on such things. For example the obnoxious and conceited Lou Costello pressed Universal to change Abbott and Costello to Costello and Abbott, but the studio refused as they thought that the fans related to them in a certain way and box office would maybe drop off if it was felt there was a change in the order of things.

   In short I do not believe I was too hard on Joe within the context of my meaning – ie the difference between A list stars and others.

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   1. In only 8 of the films listed above has Joe Pesci THE starring role. The total US gross for the entire 27 films in the tables is approx. $2.87 million and within that figure the total gross for Joe’s 8 stand-alone films is around $245 million, an average of about just $30 million per movie. In other words Joe’s stand-alone part of the total represents just under 9% so clearly, he has little solo following.

      He is a very talented supporting actor, but currently Hollywood may well have the greatest wealth of such actors in its history. Conversely actors who can actually open a film at the box office on their own seem few and far between.

      Naturally, as has always been the case, on an individual basis the box office stars are more important in today’s market place to financial backers than are the often more talented supporting actors, and if there are fewer big stars that will make the latter even more important than ever before: scarcity has always dictated market values and prices. “If the earth were made of gold men would kill for a handful of dirt.” [Gary Cooper in 1954’s Garden of Evil.

      Therefore to suggest that I am being unfair to Joe Pesci by contrasting his status with that of say Hanks or Cruise is not accurate in my view and indeed it could be argued that not to make such distinctions in ongoing comments about the status of movie stars would be unfair to the two Toms and their ilk.

      I have long felt that one of the greatest examples of how financial backers/people that want to make money, priorities their preferences when scarcity arises was brilliantly demonstrated in exchanges between Bogie and Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon:

      Sam Spade: To get away with the Maltese Falcon we have to give the cops someone. I say give em The Gunsel [Kasper Gutman’s henchman].

      Gutman: Agreed

      Spade [who had been expecting at least token argument] I thought you said he was like a son to you!

      Gutman: He IS – but I can always get another son. I can’t get another Maltese Falcon.

      NOTE: I mentioned recently in a post to Steve how big money making stars today can lost their historical importance over time when the money their films made is spent and no longer of value, but that is a separate argument.

      Reply

5. Joe has not become a major A list star and in my view there are two main reasons for that-

   1/He does not have the persona and/or physical appearance that normally commands a wide following

   2/As faithfully recorded in the tables above he made too many films with DeNiro. In the immediate term these combined with his undoubted talent helped him secure strong supporting roles to big stars and even the lead in several movies with lesser stars – one being The Public Eye where his leading lady was my Barbara Hershey. However in the larger scheme of things DeNiro’s shadow was too strong for Joe to shine his own light under it and he had to settle for prestige status in ‘DeNiro/Scorsese pictures’ and the like. Indeed in post-production is The Irishman again with DeNiro/Scorsese [and Pacino].

   That leads me to say that it is nice to see another movie about one of MY PEOPLE instead of ones featuring Canucks, Yanks, those who are both, and posh-speaking Englishmen! DeNiro plays Mob hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, Little Al plays Jimmy Hoffa, and producer/director Irwin Winkler has a role. Sounds good but as its budget is a reported $160-200 million Bruce with fingers cross had better be ready to clear a lot of grosses space in his tables!

   Joe has a net worth of $50 million and IMDB credits him with 15 acting awards and 13 noms. Certainly anyone who gets to act with DeNiro and for Scorsese as often as Joe has done deserves a page of his own so “Voted Up!”

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   1. CORRECTION

      In my previous post I said Irwin Winkle has a role in The Irishman. As far as I know that is incorrect and Irwin again produces for Scorsese/DeNiro as he did Raging Bull and Goodfellas. Scorsese and DeNiro are also involved in the production., with Martin directing as stated.

      Apologies for the initial error bur “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good,” as I get to subnmit 2 posts about The IRISHman and it hasn’t even been released yet! [scheduled for 27 Sept this year NYFF wear a shamrock that day Work Horse!]

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      1. Living in my glass house….I see no fault in making errors, Bob…..lol.

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   2. Hey Bob…I think you have to give Pesci a little more credit. For a good time period he was probably more popular than DeNiro. From what I have read, Pesci got tired of acting…and had been turning down roles for a very long time….turning down stuff from Martin Scorsese even. Granted….without DeNiro….Pesci might have given up acting. I am sure DeNiro helped get Pesci to make The Irishman. I guess my point is…..people that love the Home Alone movies and the Lethal Weapon movies (some of his biggest hits)…might not even know of his DeNiro connection.

      For example…this morning as I was fixing some errors on the page…DoC3 walked by the computer saw a photo of Pesci and said….”Hey…it’s the Home Alone guy”.

      In one of my movie stat books….they list Pesci as the most successful actor during their 5 year study…..granted…Daniel Stern was not too far behind him….as the two Home Alone movies greatly helped their case.

      He like many before him…..is a highly respected movie actor….that joins many greats as one of the best supporting actors. Good stuff….and now I go to work.

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