Vacation viewing II: 'Untouchables', 'Raging Bull', 'Long Goodbye'

Raging Bull

Whew! What a trip! My first sojourn to Europe was a resounding success and now I'm back in my home-sweet-home in the Big Apple. But I revisited some classic movies along the way with my editor/fiancee Liz Rosado, and I'd be remiss if I didn't reflect on them.

After reading an extensive biography of Al Capone I've been eager to take another look at The Untouchables, a favorite gangster movie of mine from a director I have a ton of admiration for, Brian De Palma.

Hardcore De Palma fans like me often dismiss The Untouchables as the director's attempt to sell out with more commercial material. Upon closer inspection that contention is absurd.

Yes, the film was a hit -- and it is based on a very popular television series -- but it still has all the hallmarks of De Palma's cinema: vivid acting (particularly from Sean Connery and Robert De Niro), breathtaking visuals (the classic stroller shootout in slow mo) and lots of blood.

The Untouchables really holds up in part because De Palma injects the material with a lot of his signature sarcasm and the film remains a stark reminder that Kevin Costner was once one of the great leading men in American movies, seriously.

Next up was the Martin Scorsese masterpiece, Raging Bull. Although this film is often cited as the best film of the decade and perhaps Scorsese's best work, it took me a while to warm up to it.

I could always appreciate its craftsmanship but its relentless focus on a reprehensible protagonist alienated me at first. But after a couple viewings I started to appreciate how special this movie is and how utterly remarkable Robert De Niro's lead performance was.

De Niro's decision to gain weight to play boxer Jake LaMotta once he let himself go is the stuff of legend, but this is not a gimmicky performance at all. De Niro digs deep here and delivers a raw portrait of a deeply troubled man who could only express emotion through violence. It's a stunning film both from a visual and dramatic point of view.

Scorsese, who famously didn't want to do the project because he has no interest in boxing, winds up making one of the greatest (and most beautifully photographed) films of the genre ever made -- although the sports story really takes a backseat to the life outside the ring of LaMotta and his earnest younger brother, played beautifully by Joe Pecsi.

Pecsi, one of the great American character actors, is sorely missed from our cinemas. His work with Scorsese here, and in Goodfellas and Casino, is flawless and I'd love to see him get another chance to shine in a role worthy of his talents.

And then there was Robert Altman's criminally underseen film The Long Goodbye. Elliot Gould plays a flaky version of the iconic Raymond Chandler private eye Philip Marlowe. He's drawn into a murder mystery after performing a seemingly innocuous favor for a friend.

It's pretty hard to describe this gem since it thrives on being unpredictable and it veers pretty wildly from comedy to tragedy. I will say it's one of Altman's greatest films, up there with Nashville and MASH. Gould was his ideal lead -- his offbeat charm and inherent wit oozes off the screen, this may be his greatest role.

If you can surrender to the movie's unconventional pace, you will get to experience its shocking pay-off, which Altman forced the studio to commit to keeping in his contract.