Since last week was mostly a dedication to romance movies, I think now is a chance to give the action movies a chance. But not just any action flicks, mafia movies. I am a huge fan of gangster movies, but I didn’t really like them until a few years ago. The first time I saw “The Godfather,” I wasn’t drawn in right away. To me, it was just people standing around in dark rooms talking; if this was supposed to be one of the greatest films of all time, how did it not make people fall asleep half way through the movie? That was until I saw the famous dead horse’s head scene, and I had to stop and think, “Okay, the talking is important; I have to pay attention.” This wasn’t “Commando” with Arnold Schwarzenegger blowing stuff up; this was an action film where every word in the dialogue was a important part of the story. This premise has served the genre well.

Audiences are drawn to these movies not only because of the gun shootouts and asassinations, but the decisions that lead up to them. The cool thing about these stories is how they have evolved. For example, Quentin Tarantino’s film “Reservoir Dogs” and Martin Scorsesse’s movie “The Departed.” Tarantino is known to incorporate heavy dialogue in his films giving each of his characters a distinct tone to how they speak and interact with each other. His movie “Reservoir Dogs” was the first to do this and audiences applauded this unconventional method. Scorsesse is a legend in his own right, but it actually wasn’t until his movie “The Departed” won him his Academy Award for best director. The film tells the tale of an undercover cop played by Leonardo DiCaprio and an informant for the mafia played by Matt Damon planted in the police force by an Irish mob boss played by Jack Nicholson. If this brief setup hasn’t drawn you in or the names of the actors either, trust me when I say this is the best modern day crime film made, period. I leave you this week like always with a list of other great mafia films, and don’t forget to checkout the ones that I mentioned above.

• “Goodfellas”
• “Pulp Fiction”
• “Gangs of New York”
• “Casino”
• “The Godfather Part 2”
• “Heat”
• “The Untouchables”
• “American Gangster”
• “Scarface”
• “The French Connection”
• “The Town”