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Nice OP, cynthetiq!
I think gangster movies are popular because there is a little bit of the anti-authority impulse in all of us. And gangsters, instead of being punished, they get rewarded for their disregard of the law and of fairness and convention. Rewarded, that is, until either the law or the bullet comes to call. And even then, there is something about such eventualities that make their stories even more meaningful.
My favorite gangster films:
Miller's Crossing
Goodfellas
Godfather I & II
The Krays
Shoot the Piano Player
Bonnie and Clyde
On the Waterfront
Pickup on South Street
Kiss of Death
The Killers
The Grifters
I'm partial to the old film noir greats....
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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
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