Movies

[Reality]

So far from what I've seen recently, I think Gone baby gone is by far the best. 

No Country for Old Men?

[Derek Bodner]

haven't seen it.

[JoMal]

LOL ya to put it bluntly that is all about that was right.  Frank Lucas was a foot note in Nicky Barnes story, not vice versa.  They made Nicky Barnes just look like some coke head but he was the real drug king pin at the time.

From what I read (and I didn't live during the time), Nicky pushed more drugs, and sold in more areas, but Frank's profits were higher.  I read an interview between the two where Nicky admitted that he was paying $35k for the same amount of heroin Frank was paying $4k for.

The thing is that neither Barnes nor Lucas were really all that important. They were being used by the real mob to disperse the product and that resulted in their being more visible. The mob was behind the scenes while these bozos put on the Ritz for all to see. The mob could care less if they got arrested or not or how they ran their rackets, because they would just replace them with others if they got killed or put in jail. There was a big media push at the time about the growth of the "Black Mafia", but the reality of it was they were just minor players for the real mobsters and hung out to dry when they became too notorious.

[westkoast]

LOL ya to put it bluntly that is all about that was right.  Frank Lucas was a foot note in Nicky Barnes story, not vice versa.  They made Nicky Barnes just look like some coke head but he was the real drug king pin at the time.

From what I read (and I didn't live during the time), Nicky pushed more drugs, and sold in more areas, but Frank's profits were higher.  I read an interview between the two where Nicky admitted that he was paying $35k for the same amount of heroin Frank was paying $4k for.

The thing is that neither Barnes nor Lucas were really all that important. They were being used by the real mob to disperse the product and that resulted in their being more visible. The mob was behind the scenes while these bozos put on the Ritz for all to see. The mob could care less if they got arrested or not or how they ran their rackets, because they would just replace them with others if they got killed or put in jail. There was a big media push at the time about the growth of the "Black Mafia", but the reality of it was they were just minor players for the real mobsters and hung out to dry when they became too notorious.

Pretty much.  Both Nicky Barnes and Frank Lucas were snitches as well.  Frank Lucas went on a media blitz trying to pretend he didn't tell on anyone but he did, a lot.  Over 150 people went to jail because of him running his mouth.  This while the mob was sitting back and laughing.

No one has seen No County For Old Men?  They are playing it by a small AMC near my house but I don't know if I want to see it.  Their movies are hit or miss for me.  While I thought Fargo was alright I never got into it.  Big Lebo is a classic tho.  Speaking of which...where is Skander?  If anyone has seen No County For Old Men it should be him.

[jn]

JoMal that's certainly true of Barnes, but I think it is less true of Lucas.  From what I understand he did have have connections with organized crime outside his own group, but he was more independent since he didn't import his heroin through Marseille France which has the Mafia's main route.    

[Skandery]

jn is right JoMal, Lucas wasn't a pusher for the Mafia.  Frank Lucas started as a two bit thug working for Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (himself an enforcer for the Genovese Crime Family).  After the death of Bumpy, Lucas broke out on his own and found connections outside the United States to get high quality Heroine cheaper than he would through the Syndicate and thusly could under-sell them.  This of course disrupted "the order of things" which necessitated incessant negotiations and pay-offs with the Sicilian and Mexican Mobsters whose territory ran through his, Harlem.  At the time of his arrest in 1975, Lucas was worth $52 million--quite a bit more than your average Mafia underboss stooge.

Now its true it was fashionable for the media to concoct the story of a sophisticated "Black Mafia" (Bumpy, Lucas, Barnes, Guy Fisher, etc.) directly in opposition to the National Crime Syndicate and just as influential and powerful.  This was NOT true.  The most successful Black crime lords were the ones who cooperated WITH the Syndicate not the ones who FOUGHT against it.           

[Skandery]

Sorry, Westkoast, haven't seen "No Country For Old Men".  Movies are expensive, budjets aren't forgiving.  Since June I've only seen Transformers, Sicko, and American Gangster in the theatre.

I will eventually check it out, though.