The big question at the heart of Lorene Scafaria’s new HUSTLERS — one about the corrupting force of American capitalism and who is allowed to rip off whom — is the same one that drive’s Martin Scorsese’s 1995 Vegas gangster epic CASINO, a question both films address with no small amount of verve and flash. In this half of our vice-ridden pairing, we dig into CASINO’s reputation as a GOODFELLAS retread and how its characters conform, or don’t, to our expectations about Scorsese characters. Plus, a couple of otherwise unrelated feedback letters get us talking about the expectations we bring to films and how they can shift the viewing experience.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CASINO, HUSTLERS, or anything else film-related, by sending an email to [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Devo, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

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