Removed a natter-y third bullet from Even Evil Has Standards
- However, Jimmy, even for being an unrepentant murderer, he has the unwavering rule not to kill randomly, only those who are involved in his business.
It's not evident in the movie, not an explicit rule IIRC, no point is made about it. And the source goes against it. In any case Jimmy assists Tommy with Billy Batts, who is involved in "the" business but doesn't conflict with "his" business.
The instant before getting killed what was it that made Tommy realize it and mutter «oh no..», what clued him away?
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Because he walks into an almost empty room and realizes there's only two goons there, a clarly ominous view if you know the world; A made-man ceremony requires some liturgy so to speak, a sword, a table, a chalice, a number of initiated people who act as sponsors etc... It's easy to tell you are not walking into a party but into your grave.
"You Remind Me of X: A painting at the house of Tommy's mother joyfully reminds the three protagonists of Billy Batts"
For one thing Frank Vincent's (Billy Batts) hair isn't completely white at this point and when Jimmy says "Looks like someone we know" of the white haired man in Tommy's mother's painting isn't he talking about her? Isn't that's why they laugh. Well, that's what I always thought.
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Well, I think they are clearly talking about Batts, true Frank Vincent's hair is not mighty white yet, but the man in the painting has also small gray patches and they also add "Yeah, without the beard it's HIM, it's HIM" , the camara then zooms to the car , where the man is making noises inside the trunk. It's seems like a very deliberate setup to show the dissonance and how sociopathic they are.
The story behind the painting (painted by the mother of Nicholas Pileggi, the writer)
http://www.goodfellaspainting.com/
and the scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlyXZG2dupo IIRC most of the dialogue was adlibbed.
Maybe you're right. My post was a bit of a gut reaction because I've seen this film so many times and I always thought Jimmy was affectionately "breaking balls" with Tommy's mom.
Adaptation name change - at the time of release, cases were still live...