Joe Pesci

CHICAGO – Big news in the TV world, and it is definitely not funny like a clown. Martin Scorsese’s classic 1990 film “Goodfellas” is officially being turned into a television series. Rumored for the better part of two years, the possibility for the series gained serious momentum about a year ago when Scorsese came on as a producer, joining the film’s original producer, Irwin Winkler, and the original writer, Nicholas Pileggi.

CHICAGO – The entertainment machine often turns in an unusual way that allows for a wave of material featuring the same star in the same month. Just as Robert De Niro was preparing his odd speech for the Golden Globe Awards, two of his most beloved films were being released on Blu-ray in “Raging Bull” and “Once Upon a Time in America,” while one of his 2010 works in “Stone” was about to hit the market as well. January 2011 is De Niro month. Sadly, while the “Raging Bull” Blu-ray is a gorgeous must-own, “Once Upon a Time in America” is merely satisfactory. The film is still strong but the release is nothing special.

CHICAGO – After Robert De Niro’s “Pupkin”-esque acceptance speech on Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, some of our younger readers may be curious about some of the films that got him to that awkward moment. His second Oscar came for what is undeniably one of the best performances of all time. De Niro would give at least a dozen great performances, some before and some after, but “Raging Bull,” recently released in a beautiful 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray, is the peak of one of the most notable acting careers in film history.

CHICAGO – Very, very few movies are as immensely rewatchable as Martin Scorsese’s masterful “GoodFellas,” now released on Blu-ray in a twentieth anniversary edition timed to coincide with the theatrical release of “Shutter Island” this Friday. One of the most influential films of the ’90s is one of those rare works that has lost absolutely none of its power.