Same here, no idea he was still kicking around. As far as Raging Bull, its worth seeing. Probably Scorcese's best film after Goodfellas.
I think it's the only film he made that topped Goodfellas. But just barely. DeNiro gave probably the greatest single performance in movie history in that film.
Raging Bull is meh. Lot of quality cinema craft but the story is just too meandering. Supposedly it was Scorceses last harrah on total coke usage during production of the film. Lamotta was just remarried a few years ago. Dude lead a full life for being punched in the head as much as he was.
Wiarton Willie is dead at 13 years old. He spent his life as a meteorologist and eventually it consumed him.
Oddly, I heard Doug Stanhope's bit about LaMotta for the first time yesterday (One of his cd's, the song is "Lady and the Champ".
Patton Oswalt on Twitter: "As per his wishes, Hugh Hefner’s body will be left in a fort in the woods for other kids to find & pass around."
I've always had a weird fondness for Hugh Hefner. I think he's an interesting character in the history of magazines and the evolution of attitudes towards sex and sexuality, and without getting too "I read it for the articles on you" think Playboy has always played an important role in learning about our culture through sex and porn. If you haven't watched the documentary series about him that's on Amazon Prime, you should. Not only is it this great American Dream type of story where you learn about how he grew this scrappy two-person project pasted together at his kitchen table into an empire, but I had no idea how involved he was in things like civil rights, or reporting on Vietnam, or the fights for birth control and abortion. He was by no means a perfect man, especially when it came to women (although I think that's more complicated than he typically gets credit for), but I hope he gets remembered in history as more than the caricature and punchline he's been reduced to (at least partially by his own hand) in his old age.
It's sad Playboy didn't make the jump into the internet era in any meaningful way. It did have great interviews and Hefner was on the front edge of many cultural issues. It will be regulated to a bygone era.
I'd like to know who has the nerve to call him a punchline or character regardless of context. I'd like to know anybody else who spent 25 years of luxurious retirement in their jammies while porking the hottest women on earth--- while living in the most fantasized-about home in the Western Hemisphere. People can joke about him all they want. No matter how hard they work, mouth off or brag they will never have come within ten thousand miles of doing it as right as Hugh Hefner did. Absolute 100% legend. THE legend.
I mean as awesome as it is to bang 20 year olds into your 90s he's not without critism. Even I got a little tired of the bleach blonde fake tittied "girl next door" type that they pushed from the late 90's on. I forget the comedienne that relates the story, might have been a book she read authored by a bunny, but he had a schedule to fuck the 5 or so girls staying at the house at any given time. It wasn't because he was some dashing famous person they couldn't resist, they fucked him for access to fame, and the mechanics of fucking an old man on a schedule wasn't pleasant for them.