If you’re one of those people who thinks Casino is just lesser Goodfellas, you need to scoot on over to the Belcourt this weekend. The theater is showing the third entry in legendary director Martin Scorsese’s career-spanning chronicle of American criminal enterprises for its Weekend Classics: Beat the Heat series. A three-hour crime epic set in the arid desert “oasis” of Las Vegas might not be your idea of beating the heat, but crucially, that’s three hours in the Belcourt’s dark, air-conditioned 1925 Hall in the middle of a sweltering Tennessee summer. Casino is an integral entry in Scorsese’s exploration of the dark rot at the core of American life. It’s mostly remembered for the iconic suits — designed by Giorgio Armani himself — Robert De Niro’s character Sam “Ace” Rothstein wears as the ultimate middle manager in the Vegas crime syndicate. But the film zips along despite its run time thanks to characteristically outstanding work from Marty’s go-to editor Thelma Schoonmaker and some killer performances. Sharon Stone turns in off-the-walls, career-best work as Ginger McKenna, while James Woods has never been sleazier as the pimp Lester Diamond, and Joe Pesci is terrifying as hotheaded “made man” Nicky Santoro. Visit belcourt.org for showtimes.
July 10-12 at the Belcourt
2102 Belcourt Ave.
