Top 5 Best True Crime Movies of All Time
A.J. HAMMER, HOST: Tonight on the "SHOWBIZ Countdown," the top five true crime movies of all time.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you do?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m in construction.</s>HAMMER: "Goodfellas" raw reality. It`s a violent depiction of real-life mobsters. But how close does it come to reality? The stars of "Mob Wives" are here with the answer. They also reveal their stunning personal connections to the real men portrayed on the big screen. But can "Goodfellas" top a headline-making serial killer?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a homicide.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police received a letter from the 44-caliber Killer, calling himself the Son of Sam.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened?</s>JOHN LEGUIZAMO, ACTOR: I just saw the bodies.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m the monster.</s>HAMMER: "Summer of Sam" horror. Spike Lee`s hit film relived the very real terror of a serial killer on the loose in New York City. Michael Badalucco, who plays the notorious serial killer known as Son of Sam is right here. What`s his personal connection to the horrific case? And what is the No. 1 true crime movie of all time? A special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT starts right now. Hello, I`m A.J. Hammer. Thank you so much for watching. Tonight on the "SHOWBIZ Countdown," the top five true crime movies of all time. Yes, those outlandish fictional Quentin Tarantino outlaws are certainly fun to watch, but whether it`s the talkative mobsters of "Goodfellas," the deranged serial killer in "Monster," or the smooth-talking drug kingpin in "American Gangster," a crime drama is even more gripping when it`s based on characters who really lived and on stories that actually happened. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you that, when it comes to can`t-miss movie moments, true crime really does pay.</s>RAY LIOTTA, ACTOR: As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.</s>HAMMER (voice-over): Maybe movie goers want to be gangsters. How else can one explain the popularity of movies like "Goodfellas," "Pain and Gain" or "Public Enemies"?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is it exactly you do for a living?</s>JOHNNY DEPP, ACTOR: I`m John Dillinger. I rob banks.</s>HAMMER: Movies that feature stories of real crimes committed by real people who really lived, and in many cases, killed. Proving that two of the most tantalizing words in crime movies are "true story."</s>GRAE DRAKE, ROTTEN TOMATOES: You get to see all of these awful, awful things done by a very real person. So you`re living vicariously, and I think that`s what makes true crime amazing.</s>DICAPRIO: You`re going to have to catch me.</s>HAMMER: The nature of true crime movie is as varied as crime itself.</s>DICAPRIO: My name is Frank Taylor. I`m a co-pilot for PanAm.</s>HAMMER: You have your lighthearted criminal capers, like the ones depicted in "Catch Me If You Can," where former teen con artist Frank Abignale Jr. was played by Leonardo DiCaprio.</s>DENZEL WASHINGTON, ACTOR: This is America.</s>HAMMER: There are tense cat-and-mouse crime dramas, Like "American Gangster."</s>RUSSELL CROWE, ACTOR: My investigation indicates that Frank Lucas is involved with the mafia.</s>HAMMER: Which shows the battle between 1970s drug kingpin Frank Lucas, who`s played by Denzel Washington...</s>WASHINGTON: Put me in or out, it ain`t going to change one thing.</s>CROWE: That`s the way it is.</s>HAMMER: ... and Richie Roberts, the cop who eventually brought Frank down. Roberts is played by Russell Crowe.</s>ROBERT DE NIRO, ACTOR: Don`t rat on your friends. And always keep your mouth shut.</s>HAMMER: And then there are also shockingly violent mob dramas, like "Goodfellas," which depicts the glamorous rise and ugly fall of infamous mobster-turned-informant, Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta.</s>RAY LIOTTA, ACTOR: I`m an average nobody.</s>HAMMER: The real Henry Hill died last year. In 2003, he told CNN what we saw in "Goodfellas" was pretty accurate.</s>HENRY HILL, FORMER MOBSTER: It was right on.</s>HAMMER: In fact, watching the dramatic push-pull between cops and robbers is what gives true crime movies their appeal. They allow us to experience a life of crime that`s sometimes thrilling, sometimes funny.</s>JOE PESCI, ACTOR: How the</s>HAMMER: Just don`t tell the gangsters that.</s>HAMMER: And we are kicking things off with No. 5 on the "SHOWBIZ Countdown" of top true crime movies with "Goodfellas." So just how close is the movie to real life? Well, I sat down with two women who have the inside track. They`re cast members of the reality show "Mob Wives," and they have lived life inside the mob. Ramona Rizzo is the granddaughter of the infamous mobster Benjamin Ruggiero, also known as Lefty Guns. Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino played Ramona`s grandfather in "Donnie Brasco." Renee Graziano is the daughter of Anthony Graziano, who according to the feds, was a high-ranking member of La Cosa Nostra. Renee`s dad knew Jimmy Burke, a.k.a. Jimmy Conway in the movie "Goodfellas," Robert De Niro played Jimmy in "Goodfellas." So I asked Ramona and Renee how close "Goodfellas" is to the reality.</s>RENEE GRAZIANO, REALITY TV STAR: Actually, that`s a very scary movie to watch for me, because I don`t think growing up we actually truly know what that life is. And when you see that movie -- I mean, from what I`ve seen in the movies and from what I`ve heard or read, that is probably the closest depiction of that underworld, so to speak. So yes, it`s a little scary to me, actually.</s>RAMONA RIZZO, REALITY TV STAR: And it graphically shows the men that we love and the lifestyle that we grew up in actually kind of doing their dirt, and you kind of like picture some type of activity that you never really thought like, you know, grandfather, your father would be a part of, because you only knew them as loving people in the household.</s>HAMMER: Right. He was Grandpa.</s>RIZZO: Yes.</s>HAMMER: I don`t think he was Grandpa Lefty Guns.</s>RIZZO: No, never, right, never.</s>HAMMER: Well, I want to take a look at a scene from "Donnie Brasco."</s>RIZZO: OK.</s>HAMMER: And this is a scene where your grandfather, who`s played by Al Pacino...</s>RIZZO: Yes, he`s a very nice man. I got to meet him.</s>HAMMER: So -- and that`s, you know, it`s a tough story but pretty cool. And in this scene he meets Donnie Brasco, who, of course, is played by Johnny Depp.</s>RIZZO: Yes.</s>DEPP: And I`m saying to you is you should give it to somebody who don`t know any better, because that`s a fugazi, all right?</s>AL PACINO, ACTOR: This is a fugazi? How do you know it`s a fugazi? You looked at it for two seconds.</s>DEPP: Well, it`s a fake.</s>HAMMER: It`s a funny scene, obviously not a funny story. Your grandfather meeting up with Donnie Brasco and essentially fooled into thinking he was the real deal. But how close to reality do you think that was in terms of how things went wrong for your grandfather?</s>RIZZO: Well, I mean, if you really followed the book and whatnot, my grandfather wasn`t the first one who got, you know, introduced to Donnie Brasco. There was another person later on who turned out to be a rat that brought him into the group. And I come from a long line -- my father`s side is jewelers, so that scene would never happen, because my grandfather could have went to my other grandfather and said, "Hey, is this a fugazi or not"?</s>HAMMER: There`s this great scene in "Goodfellas" where Lorraine Bracco`s character is talking to Ray Liotta`s character and asks, "What do you do for a living?" And he says famously, "Construction." Which sort of shows us, at least in the movies it did, that the mob wives, or the family members, the women in particular, didn`t necessarily know what was really going on until they were in too deep. How close is that to real life?</s>GRAZIANO: Oh, I don`t know anything. I don`t think any wife, daughter, granddaughter or grandchild knows anything.</s>RIZZO: I think how I grew up was more like the original "Godfather," where when Michael had married his wife, she didn`t know anything. But as she grew into this lifestyle, certain things allowed you to know things that you really didn`t want to know, where you started maybe asking questions.</s>HAMMER: So fascinating. My thanks to Ramona Rizzo and Renee Graziano. And now the SHOWBIZ Countdown takes us to the gritty streets of 1970s New York. At No. 4 on the SHOWBIZ Countdown of the top five true crime movies, Spike Lee`s "Summer of Sam." It`s the movie about the brutal serial killer who called himself Son of Sam.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Double homicide.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police received a letter from the .44 Caliber Killer, calling himself the Son of Sam.</s>HAMMER (voice-over): David Berkowitz, the infamous Son of Sam, is one of America`s most notorious serial killers. A dark-haired monster with a devilish smirk, who shot 13 people in cold blood, killing six right in the heart of New York City. The great director and famous New Yorker Spike Lee lived through Son of Sam`s 13-month killing spree, and Spike revealed just how terrifying it was in his iconic true crime movie, "The Summer of Sam."</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You busy tomorrow tonight? I`d really like to see you again.</s>HAMMER: Berkowitz`s rampage kept New York on edge during a reign of horror that lasted from 1976 to 1977. And the reason he was killing? He claimed his neighbor was an agent of the devil and used his dog to command him to kill.</s>MICHAEL BADALUCCO: (inaudible), how did you get in here? Leave me alone! What do you want?</s>HAMMER: The cops finally caught up with Son of Sam in the red-hot summer of 1977 after the largest manhunt in New York`s history. When the NYPD cuffed Berkowitz, he told them, "What took you so long?" Now Son of Sam`s infamy has been caught on film forever by Spike Lee`s genius in one of the best true crime films of all time.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am the monster, Beelzebub.</s>HAMMER: Well, the man who brought Son of Sam to life in Spike`s film, is the great Michael Badalucco, and just like Spike, Michael is a native New Yorker who witnessed that terror of that summer. In fact, before he even took the role, he actually had to make sure his mom was OK with him playing New York`s most famous serial killer. Thankfully, she was, and now you have to watch what else Michael revealed to me about our No. 4 true crime film, "Summer of Sam."</s>HAMMER: How close did Spike Lee`s interpretation of that time come to actually representing what you were really feeling, the real fear that everyone was feeling that summer before Berkowitz was finally captured?</s>BADALUCCO: Well, you know, what he captured in the film was the tension. He focused on an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx and sort of the denizens of that neighborhood. And they were looking to catch this guy, and they didn`t know how to do it. And they came upon -- there you have Adrian, right. He turned into a punk rocker, and they started suspecting him, and saying, "Wow, this guy is weird. Maybe he`s the guy." And then there was all kinds of tension, and I think that`s what he captured in the movie. That tension was throughout the city, in the Bronx, in Brooklyn, in Queens. You didn`t know where to turn. You didn`t know if you could go outside; you didn`t know what was lurking in the weeds. And he captured that in the movie, and I was pretty psychotic in the movie, too, I guess.</s>HAMMER: Yes, yes, you were.</s>BADALUCCO: Talking to a dog there.</s>HAMMER: And it was obviously this huge iconic moment in American history, but when you were making "Summer of Sam" with Spike, did you ever think to yourself at any point, "Hey, this could become or is going to become one of the most successful true crime movies of all time"?</s>BADALUCCO: You know, I never really thought about that. I know when he announced the project, there was a big controversy surrounding it. I mean, a lot of the victims` families would write letters to the newspapers, and they would protest, and people were sort of -- sort of against wanting to relive that whole horrific time. But he went ahead with it, and I think films at their best sort of show us a way to look at the events like this and put perspective on it, and maybe we could learn something from it.</s>HAMMER: So we know you had to check with mom, but I got to know, when Spike said, "Hey, Michael, I want you to play this guy, Son of Sam," did you pause for maybe even just a moment and think, "You know what? The guys in the neighborhood, they`re never going to let me live this down?"</s>BADALUCCO: Yes. You know, he said, I said, "What do you mean? Why would I be the Son of Sam?" He goes, "You look like him. You look like him." He goes, "You know, the Son of Sam was Italian. His real name was Falco." I said, "Oh, he was an Italian guy? That`s even worse," I said. "Let me think about this." But you know what? It was a job, and I thought about it, and like I said, I just wanted to sort of get into, for me as an actor, what was it like to be so evil? What is your mind like? How do you get into the essence of the evil? You know, Spike didn`t really focus on the character of David Berkowitz, but he focused on, as far as the Son of Sam went, the essence of that evil. You know, what makes a person tick that wants to go out and do this? And that`s what I found very rewarding working on it.</s>HAMMER: Thanks to the great character actor Michael Badalucco. Such a fascinating perspective on the infamous serial killer, Son of Sam. And the SHOWBIZ Countdown of the top 5 true crime movies of all time is just heating up. We couldn`t even recognize the beautiful Charlize Theron in this ugly story.</s>CHRISTINA RICCI, ACTRESS: What are you talking about, you`re [EXPLETIVE DELETED] killing people!</s>CHARLIZE THERON, ACTRESS: Now listen to me. They`re not coming.</s>HAMMER: Theron transforms for the film "Monster," the real story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos. But did her haunting, Oscar-winning performance top another Oscar winner? Denzel Washington became ruthless drug kingpin Frank Lucas in "American Gangster." And next, we`re talking to a movie insider who reveals stunning secrets from the real men portrayed in this film. But which true crime film will top our SHOWBIZ Countdown? Stick around for that. And now, more true crime movie madness. The hit movie "Pain and Gain," starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, portrayed a dark comedic take on the brutal story of real bodybuilders turned steroid- abusing killers.</s>DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON, ACTOR: You said no violence.</s>MARK WAHLBERG, ACTOR: And I meant it when I said it, I swear to God.</s>JOHNSON: I cannot kill.</s>WAHLBERG: Duly noted. Look, when this is over, we`ll all go camping, all right?</s>JOHNSON: OK.