The Poster Memorabilia blog

A Good Reunion with the Goodfellas

A 25th-anniversary night at Tribeca, one legendary email, and a poster finished at The Irishman.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

Do you know the mark of a truly good movie? When people still love it decades later. Take Goodfellas, for example, widely regarded as one of Martin Scorsese's best films. When I went to its 25th anniversary screening in 2015, I realized just how big its impact remains among audiences today.

The event happened at that year’s Tribeca Film Festival. It was special because it reunited a majority of the cast for the first time in years, possibly since the movie premiered in 1990. Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, and Debi Mazar were all there. Two big names, however, were missing.

Martin Scorsese and Joe Pesci didn't appear at the reunion. The director was busy working on his next film overseas, but he did leave a taped message that they played at the event. As for Joe Pesci, he said he had a family commitment, but I think even the cast knew that was a load of bull.

Pesci had retired from acting in 1999, so he appeared less and less in public through the years. He did, however, send De Niro an email, which he read aloud at the event. Let's just say that Pesci definitely has a favorite four-letter word, and he used it again and again in the email. It was the most hilarious moment of the night.

“They may have played killers in the movie, but they seemed like good people in real life.”

The entire reunion was wonderful, from the screening of the newly remastered version of the film to the cast sharing their behind-the-scenes stories afterward. I thought I couldn't love the movie more, but hearing from the cast and learning new things about it made me an even bigger fan.

I thought everything would go smoothly until it was time to meet the fans. I'm not gonna get into detail, but I'll just say that I didn't get all of the cast to sign my poster that night. Some mishaps forced me to miss Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino. I did get De Niro, Bracco, and Mazar, but I still regret missing the other two.

It was already annoying that the full cast wasn't there, but to still miss some of them who were present? Terrible! It's even worse now that both Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino have passed on. I held out hope that I'd still get to meet them again someday, but it never happened. It sucks, but it is what it is.

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My luck turned around when I met Martin Scorsese and Joe Pesci at the premiere of The Irishman in 2019. Scorsese actually got Pesci out of retirement, and to make it even better, he reunited him with De Niro and threw Al Pacino into the mix. What a power move!

Of course, I eventually got the director and actor to sign my Goodfellas poster. I'd been saving it for years, and despite my regrets with Liotta, I felt entirely satisfied seeing both their autographs on it. I'm still sad about the late actor, but this was an awesome consolation.

Over the years, I also met the rest of the cast and had them sign my poster. Those were mostly quick signings at conventions and fan events, nothing worth a story of their own. What I can say is that they were all nice to me. They may have played killers in the movie, but they seemed like good people in real life.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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