Since The Weeknd is performing at the Super Bowl Halftime show, I thought it’d be nice to post a little guide to his discography for anyone interested in looking to do a deep dive into his work. I would’ve posted this the day of the event, but I assume that some people would probably like to go through it over the weekend.
This shares a direct overview of his released material, talking about his career and the background of the music, the videos, the meanings and all. I’ve written this from a pop perspective, keeping in mind that his history might be fairly new for general pop fans.
I also go into the storyline of the red suit character, if your interested in catching up on that narrative before the Halftime show (which will continue the story), I’ve listed the chronological order below followed by an explanation of that narrative.
I wanna be clear that the interpretations/theories are not conclusive. Abel rarely shares the metaphors or meanings behind his music. This is based on widely based on fan discussion/mutual interpretation. Fans can feel free to expand on anything in the comments.
It is important to know about Abel's backstory to get a certain perspective of where he’s coming from, especially when discussing the songs that deal with substance abuse. These recent articles cover his early years really well and share an up-to-date point of view of his success.
Variety 2020
Billboard 2021 - Also a good source for getting to know his team.
So, an essential TL;DR is this: Abel Tesfaye came from a broken home, he was born to Ethiopian immigrant parents who split up when Tesfaye was less than seven. He then lived with his mother and grandmother, only rarely seeing his father but having a nice impression of him. His drug addiction started as soon as he was a high schooler, he turned to shoplifting to pay for this need of various substances. Soon he dropped out of high school, leaving his home the same weekend, which would later inspire his stage name, The Weeknd. The name is reference/homage to the weekend his life changed.
Quick side note, I didn’t think this post would nearly reach the character limit. So I’ve cut out excess detail and lists of producers (with the exception of After Hours since we’re in that era).
Table of contents

1. XO.
2. House of Balloons.
3. Thursday.
4. Echoes of Silence.
5. Trilogy.
6. Kiss Land.
7. King of the Fall.
8. Beauty Behind The Madness.
9. Starboy.
10. My Dear Melancholy.
11. After Hours.

XO.

XO is the record label that The Weeknd and co. created in order to publish the first mixtape (House of Balloons) and the ones that would follow afterwards. XO has a lot of meanings that have to do with what went into the music and what still goes into it. XO is what the fans call themselves, popularly with the phrase XO Till We OD (shortened to XOTWOD); another way of saying “we’re ride or die for The Weeknd and his team.”
While some argue that it could mean anything since there isn’t clear meaning to it, fans continue to associate the abbreviation with ecstasy (X) and oxycontin (O). That definition stems from XOTWOD, fans assume it’s true because of the team’s history of drug usage. While others take it as it’s classical definition “hugs and kisses” because of the consistent lyrical nature of The Weeknd’s songs.
Overtime the definition of XO is simply known as: the fans, the crew, and the label. The Weeknd is more than just one person, he comes with XO. For the sake of clarity in this writeup, I’m going to refer to his crew as XO and the fans as “the fans.”
XO still serves as a record label, the current roster is The Weeknd, Belly, Nav, and Black Atlass. It remains The Weeknd’s record label and was his first label before becoming a subsidiary of Republic Records.
Throughout his career, The Weeknd has worked with Illangelo, a Canadian producer who’s work the fans adore. Carlo “Illangelo” Montagnese was one of main the producers on The Weeknd’s Trilogy, he’s credited on each track. The fan base claims his work to be some of the most notable artistry in The Weeknd’s discography. Their work together continued with Beauty Behind The Madness, Illangelo worked on seven tracks for that album. He then returned for After Hours working on another seven tracks.
DaHeala, another Canadian producer, is another significant factor in The Weeknd’s music. Jason “DaHeala” Quenneville worked as lead producer on Kiss Land. He returned to work on six tracks for The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind The Madness, including the hit Earned It. DaHeala returned as a writer for six of the songs on Starboy. Then DaHeala worked on nine After Hours tracks, and worked as the only producewriter alongside The Weeknd for bonus tracks Missed You and Final Lullaby.

House of Balloons.

Didn't wanna make this NSFW, so here's the super clean edited cover

This is a happy house. We’re happy here. (House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls)

One of the most iconic title tracks of all time. House of Balloons is about a lifestyle of drugs, sex, and partying; all in effort to drown out self-doubt. It comes from a place of wanting to make it big while doing what you can to survive, all while pretending everything’s alright. The mixtape describes various sorts of women, how they’ve had impacted the life of someone who’s already down on his luck.
Fans often refer to House of Balloons as The Weeknd’s best work. The mixtape was the first introduction the world got of XO, and it was one hell of a way to make an impression. It’s personal for the fans and Abel because it’s the only piece of work known to be based on his life. At the end of the day he’s a songwriter, with many of his albums he creates scenarios and world that he likes to explore through the music. But House of Balloons is known to be based entirely on his life. It remains The Weeknd’s most critically acclaimed work.
House of Balloons was crafted through the influences of Hip-Hip/Indie-Rock with the main focus on R&B. Through the genius of Ilangelo, the record was—and is—mesmerizing capturing the essence of a lifestyle that The Weeknd described as “anti-everything.”
House of Balloons assisted The Weeknd in gaining the attention of Republic Records, which would then host The Weeknd’s own label XO. Though hesitant at first, XO decided to partner with Republic after the co-founding brothers Monte and Avery Lipman kept coming back to Toronto solely for The Weeknd.
House of Balloons received three videos, The Knowing, Wicked Games and Twenty Eight. The Knowing was the very first video The Weeknd made, so of course it’d be something other-worldly; it essentially reflects the song itself but in a sci-fi setting. Twenty Eight represents Abel’s life after fame but also his remorse of letting captivating women into his life.
Fun fact— House of Balloons is an actual place in Toronto, it was where him and his crew lived after he dropped out of high school. They’d host parties, call girls, do drugs, and to make it less depressing they’d fill it with balloons.

Thursday.

Valerie on the cover

Welcome to the other side. (Life of the Party)

Thursday consists of the same themes as HoB; sex and drugs. But there’s a twist, he’s in a semi-relationship with this girl Valerie. She’s the only one on his mind, even though they meet only one day of the week, any guesses on what day that could be? Through The Weeknd’s phenomenal voice and the insane production, we’re also presented with this story of a toxic relationship where Valerie used to have the upper hand but she no longer does when she falls for The Weeknd.
While Thursday isn’t entirely about the relationship of The Weeknd and Valerie, it consists of reflections to Abel’s life after the release of House of Balloons. The song Rolling Stone notably has a double meaning, in which Abel asks his fans if they’ll stick with him when he gets mainstream appeal and decides to change his sound.
The track Valerie wasn’t on the original release of Thursday, it added when Trilogy was released. Ending the mixtape with Heaven or Las Vegas meant that The Weeknd’s actions with and without Valerie were a result of his fatherless childhood, making him push anyone away. That meaning behind Thursday doesn’t change when Valerie is added to the track list, it just means that both want the toxic relationship back.
The Zone (feat. Drake) was the first feature The Weeknd had on any of his work, the video for it was released in November of 2012. Rolling Stone had also received a video in October of 2012. Both were directed by The Weeknd and reflect the two different aspects of Thursday. The Zone has Valerie living it up in the House of Balloons. And Rolling Stone has The Weeknd doing a photoshoot for Trilogy, reflective of the song itself.
Fun Fact— the female voice heard in Lonely Star is The Weeknd’s, he pitched his voice to make it sound like a woman’s.

Echoes of Silence.

Diana on the cover

Laisse tomber les filles. Un jour c'est toi qu'on laissera. [Leave the girls alone. One day it’ll be you they will leave.] (Montreal)

Out of a dark introductory into the early life of The Weeknd, Echoes of Silence is the darkest work of his Trilogy. Let’s be honest the story here isn’t entirely ethical at times but makes for one hell of a mixtape.
Similar to Thursday, Echoes of Silence follows a storyline. After accumulating success, The Weeknd gains the attention of various women. There was this one woman (D.D.) who he liked but she initially rejected him (Montreal). The woman came back to him for his fame status and evidently fell in love with him (Outside), but now that he’s got the upper hand he treats him like a groupie (XO/The Host) and lets... bad things happen to her; she’s gotta pass a test before she can get with him. This test is either drugs or his crew (Initiation). He ultimately tells this woman that he’s not exactly longterm-relationship material, perhaps because her love is temporary (Same Old Song), because he’s Next. With the end of Echoes of Silence (originally ending on the title track) the listener is left to wonder why The Weeknd left her if he’d simply want her to stay.
As a side note— Initiation should not be condoned. It remains true that The Weeknd is a songwriter and the progression of time has changed perspectives. But a song that makes such suggestions as Initiation should not be ethically/morally claimed or celebrated.
The mixtape follows The Weeknd’s lifestyle after he’s gained all this success, he’s still the same person but now he’s gotten everything he wanted. Some tracks such as The Fall continue to emphasize his journey into stardom and his acceptance of fame being temporary. With the added Till Dawn (Here Comes The Sun), The Weeknd acknowledges the changes in his life, realizing that the old lifestyle is no longer there for him or his past lovers.
Echoes of Silence is known as an underrated gem of The Weeknd’s discography, it’s well received by fans and critically acclaimed but often brushed under the rug in discussion of his work. A lot of fans and casual listeners play the mixtapes through Trilogy rather than their respective albums. This often leads to people not playing EoS either at all or only the first few tracks, this is predominantly due to the nature of the compilation being nearly three hours long.
Fun fact— D.D. is a cover of Michael Jackson’s iconic Dirty Diana. Fans have named the woman in Echoes of Silence Diana because of this track. Various theories argue that the mixtape itself is based on the Dirty Diana itself with exaggerations of the truth, or whether or not it’s a story The Weeknd crafted based on the song.

Trilogy.

Rolling Stone video doubled as a shoot

You don’t know what’s in store. (High For This.)

Trilogy is a compilation of The Weeknd’s mixtapes, House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. These three mixtapes were released 3-4 months apart from one another for free digital download in 2011, they gained quite a lot of attention from various industry executives.
Prior to the release of Trilogy, The Weeknd featured on Drake’s Take Care with Crew Love. The song was Abel’s first exposure to a Rap crowd/Rap fans, more people began listening to his music after the release of Take Care. The Weeknd then featured on Wiz Khalifa’s Remember You, which served as the second single off Wiz Khalifa’s O.N.I.F.C. Following those two releases, The Weeknd released Wicked Games as the first single off Trilogy.
Trilogy was formed after The Weeknd came under Republic Records’ management. The compilation album reached a debut/peak position of 4 on the Billboard 200 while reaching number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It’s a well received album with the highlight said to be House of Balloons, which arguably went on to influence various sorts of R&B music of the 2010s.
Videos for Trilogy

Kiss Land.

Iconic

I went from starin' at the same four walls for 21 years. To seein' the whole world in just 12 months. (Kiss Land)

Kiss Land is based on The Weeknd’s tour life. Visiting unfamiliar places gave Abel horror movie vibes. A guy who used to own the city (Toronto) he lived in is now a small fish in the ocean of the entire world. The Weeknd’s first studio album was a great introduction into the sound he would soon get well acquainted with.
While continuing the R&B sound with the essence of Dark Wave, the album explores emptiness and regret throughout the lyrics—or what pop fans could categorize as dark pop—. The Japanese aesthetic used for various videos and the single covers/booklet reflects the themes of feeling overwhelmed by such a loud world that there’s no point in being if you don’t belong.
The album explores the real-world and the women in it as well as regrets regarding past actions, namely letting go of women who could’ve been the one in Adaptation. The Weeknd attempts to find that satisfaction in other women and past lovers, but accidentally falls for a sex worker in Belong To The World. With Wanderlust he accepts and expresses that love in the modern world isn’t entirely possible. While continuing to tour the world he enjoys these new experiences with XO (Live For feat. Drake), as well as the new women in his life (Kiss Land). And when he’s back home, he accepts the loss of the relationship he cherished.
Kiss Land debuted and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. It was fairly acclaimed but gained a massive cult following. There were four videos for made for the album, the title track, Belong To the World, Live For (feat. Drake), and Pretty. Those four songs received interesting visuals that kept up with their respective themes while Belong To the World/Kiss Land got visuals that matched the aesthetic of the album. To this day fans ask Abel for a part two to the horror-movie-inspired album after he said it’s the only album he would have a sequel for.
Videos for Kiss Land
Fun Fact— The video for Kiss Land on YouTube is an extremely edited version of the actual video shot for the song. The directors cut further explores the erotic-horror themes if the album.

King of the Fall.

King of the Fall 2020 cover (even though I talk about three other songs here)

Driving by the streets we used to walk through like a triumph. (King of the Fall)

These next few song were released between the Kiss Land and Beauty Behind the Madness era. Some fans would classify them as part of the Beauty Behind the Madness era—I’d say the same tbh—but they stand apart on the basis of success and acclaim. It’s a transition between The Weeknd being an underrated R&B musician to being a mainstream artist with massive recognition and appreciation.
The first of these four songs is King of the Fall. A fan favourite and a standout in The Weeknd’s discography. This is one of The Weeknd’s few Rap tracks, it gained a lot of attention within the Rap sphere. It was the way in which XO would announce that they’ve made it, little did they know that this was just the start.
Prior to the release of Beauty Behind the Madness (BBTM), The Weeknd gained mainstream attention. The Weeknd’s exposure to mainstream music was uphill, it wasn’t overnight. The first taste of BBTM came from Often, a song that reflected the themes of sex that Abel was known for. The track was released more than a year before BBTM’s release and had made it onto the trackless unlike King of the Fall. Slowly but surely The Weeknd gained exposure, his main sources of exposure were through a collaboration and a soundtrack.
Most pop fans heard about The Weeknd through his hit collaboration with Ariana Grande, Love Me Harder. The collab was made through Republic when The Weeknd said he wanted more than what he had gotten through Kiss Land. Ariana and Abel had formed a real bond cough The Hills cough, their bond assisted the song in becoming a memorable hit for both artists. Love Me Harder was a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Later that year, The Weeknd was featured on the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack with Earned It, as well as Where You Belong. Earned It became a massive hit peaking at 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and receiving an Oscar nomination for The Weeknd; a massive milestone for XO. Earned It kept up with Abel’s signature lyrics but the production differed heavily from the sort of R&B he was known for.
Videos from that era

Beauty Behind the Madness.

I can hear this image

I'm that ***** with the hair singin' 'bout poppin' pills, fuckin' bitches, livin' life so trill. (Tell Your Friends)

Following the success of Love Me Harder and Earned It, the Beauty Behind the Madness era began with The Hills. This was The Weeknd’s first number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Along with the video, The Hills became an addictive classic. The production and lyrics mirror a mature version of the sound that was originally found on Trilogy. It was truly in keeping with The Weeknd’s character, the only difference was his haircut.
Next came Can’t Feel My Face, a Max Martin production that differed greatly from anything The Weeknd put out in the past. In past songs, Abel had expressed his fear of losing his following if he went mainstream simultaneously asking his fans if they’d stay. He repeats that sentiment in the Can’t Feel My Face video. The sound has changed, the lyrics stay the same but now he’s a pop-star. The song became a hit as it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. With this massive bop previous fans still stayed, The Weeknd becoming a pop singer didn’t at all alter his image or sound; he mastered it.
In The Night and Acquainted were released as singles on the same day, the were the only singles to come after the release of Beauty Behind The Madness. The former received a music video treatment that followed the theme of the song itself while also starring Abel’s girlfriend at the time, Bella Hadid. Acquainted was robbed of a video even though Abel had shown off the fact that a video was in development; the song kept in the tone of The Weeknd’s work prior to BBTM.
Beauty Behind the Madness captures a Hollywood-based reality that The Weeknd came to understand: the dark aspects of your life will continue to follow you wherever you are. Real Life, Losers (feat. Labrinth), Tell Your Friends, Dark Times (feat. Ed Sheeran), and Prisoner (feat. Lana Del Rey) all capture a nihilistic view of a dream achieved.
Most of the videos of Beauty Behind The Madness have a mysterious white man. He’s featured in The Hills, Can’t Feel My Face, and Tell Your Friends. That man represents the devil. Throughout his journey in those videos, (The Hills) Abel runs into the devil after his car crash, (Can’t Feel My Face) he’s at the club then lights him on fire. The significance behind the fire could be selling his soul to the devil, BBTM is about Hollywood and a popular Hollywood myth is that celebrities sell their souls to the devil in exchange for fame. So in the Can’t Feel My Face video, Abel changes his sound to Pop (from R&B) thus leaving his signature sound in order to become famous, everyone starts enjoying his music once he’s sold his soul.
Then we see The Weeknd burying himself in Tell Your Friends, perhaps leaving the old Abel behind after the deal with the devil. However, instead of thanking the devil, Abel takes his revenge and shoots him. But wait, there’s more! The album trailer for BBTM features the devil burning a billboard with The Weeknd’s face on it, revealing Beauty Behind The Madness. HOWEVER, the final cut for the video features the devil being arrested while The Weeknd watches. This is a more realistic form of karma that the devil gets.
Videos for BBTM

Starboy.

Filled with bops

If I could, I'd trade it all, trade it for a halo. And she said that she'll pray for me, I said, "It's too late for me.” (Ordinary Life)

After the massive success of Beauty Behind the Madness, there was a lot of hype around what The Weeknd would do next; evidently he decided to explore Pop. The fandom he had gained wasn’t entirely based in the Pop sphere, his fans consisted of general Rap fans, but Starboy attracted the Pop audience.
Initially, most of his older fans couldn’t get behind Starboy, it differed greatly from the previous sound. It was crazy to think that the guy who made Trilogy managed to make such a Pop-centric album. But this was Abel expressing his versatility.
Since this is where most pop fans found out about Abel’s work and became fans I won’t talk too much about the singles, rather more about the album itself. His work with Daft Punk cemented this album in an efficient mix between Pop and R&B, where Beauty Behind the Madness was more R&B with Pop, Starboy was considered Pop with R&B.
Beyond the genres, Starboy explores two evident themes. One being his life with fame and recognition. The next being his love life in Hollywood, this aspect of the album came from his relationship with Bella Hadid which ended after the release of the album.
The cross became the symbol for that era and appeared in the album’s photoshoot as well as the videos. There was never any conclusive word on the use of the cross but there are various theories about it, something to note is that Abel was raised Christian, it could perhaps be a reflection of his past.
The cross he uses to destroy his accolades (Starboy video) is assisting him rather than something that’s holding him back. Abel’s upbringing was rough but now he’s celebrating it rather than feeling bad for himself. The cross continues to come up in the Party Monster video, this time it’s in the party house he’s making his way through. Then it shows up in the video for Reminder, this time in the form of his merch, the people wearing it are perhaps representative of his fans. Then we see it in the False Alarm video, both Abel and the girl are wearing it; the notable thing being that Abel holds his cross up before dying. Then in the brilliant video for Secrets, after giving up on the girl he’s with he leaves the building to find a giant cross. And finally in the I Feel It Coming video, The Weeknd sports a shiny cross necklace, and Daft Punk find it years and years after Abel froze.
The videos tell us that the cross is an evident piece of his story. This could mean that his past will always be with him, no matter what sort of fame he’s experiencing he’ll always be who he once was.
Also, I’m gonna take this moment to once again the genius that is the Secrets (both the song and the video). Yes it’s my favourite song/video off of Starboy but it’s so underrated.
Videos for Starboy, Secrets video bottom right
Fun Fact— Most demos of the tracks on Starboy weren’t as pop as they became, they started off R&B but became pop after production.

My Dear Melancholy.

Note the comma

They said our love is just a game, I don't care what they say. But I'ma drink the pain away, I'll be back to my old ways. (Privilege)

Oof (but in a good way, this whole thing is a bop). For this one I’m gonna talk extensively about The Weeknd’s relationships, which personally feels really invasive but it’s but it’s essential when talking about these sad boy anthems. Beyond that I’d just like to state that though they are part of the narrative both Bella Hadid and Selena Gomez deserve respect/privacy.
So when it comes to Pop music fans I think it’s safe to say that we all know a lot about this one. My Dear Melancholy (MDM) came after the very public relationship of The Weeknd and Selena Gomez. However it’s not just about Selena, some songs reflect his relationship with Bella Hadid (whom he got back with a month after MDM’s release).
My Dear Melancholy consists with The Weeknd’s exploration/mastery of merging Pop and R&B together. The EP was praised by fans for its lyrics and production, many went on to theorize that it was his most personal project since House of Balloons. The EP was the shortest album to reach number one on the Billboard 200.
My Dear Melancholy and fan conspiracies; name a better duo. The first theory being that the EP is entirely about Selena Gomez which wasn’t too much of a mystery since the lyric “I almost cut a piece of myself for your life” exists. Not only did MDM come after Abel’s relationship with Selena Gomez but also after his relationship with Bella Hadid. As far as fans were aware those two relationships were the most important relationships Abel had ever been in.
In theory, the songs about Bella and Selena can be categorized. Call Out My Name, Try Me, and Privilege are likely about Selena. Wasted Times, and Hurt You are likely about Bella. Leaving I Was Never There to act as an introspective look into The Weeknd’s life, basically making him hop back on his vices for comfort.
Another popular theory was that My Dear Melancholy was the first of another trilogy. This rumour was widely believed due to the comma at the end of the title on the album cover. But the fans soon gained a real reason to believe this theory, since the CEO of XO (the record label), Sal had liked an Instagram post that featured the cover and alleged date. Since Trilogy is a fan favourite this conspiracy spread like wild fire, so much so that fake titles and covers were made. The name of this trilogy would be: (1)My Dear Melancholy, (2)We’re Alone Together, (3)Abel.
Only one song served as a single for the EP. Call Out My Name was released nearly two months prior to the actual release of the album, it debuted/peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The mysterious video captures The Weeknd in various atmospheric places that reflect the tone of the EP, a haunting yet unexplained reality that the listener is to reflect on.
From the cover, to the music, to the video, to lyrics, My Dear Melancholy is an introspective reflection of heartbreak.
Call out my name video

After Hours.

Talented, Brilliant, Incredible, etc.

My darkest hours. (After Hours)

After Hours comes after success but references two lows in The Weeknd’s life. The album welcomes darkness and leads the listener towards a dead-end. The Weeknd’s past two albums (Beauty Behind The Madness and Starboy) ended on hopeful notes, they left the listener with a sense of hope but all hope his lost with After Hours.
Fans compare After Hours to House of Balloons—a rare occurrence considering House of Balloons’ acclaim—arguing that both albums are on the same level. Debate continues on whether or not both albums are on the same caliber. The belief that After Hours stems from reality does a lot to help its side of the argument.
The era began with Mercedes-Benz commercial that featured Blinding Lights, that was our first taste of the everlasting bop. Heartless was premiered on an episode of Memento Mori hours before its release on the 27 of November (2019), Blinding Lights was released two days later. Both videos were as brain melting as promised and the served as the tip of the iceberg.
After Hours was released nine days after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, there was a massive risk in releasing an album that would not have a lot of promotion after it’s release (other than magazine coverage). There was no telling whether or not people would pay attention to the album during the height of the fear surrounding the pandemic, but it was a massive success. After Hours debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with singles Heartless and Blinding Lights topping the Billboard Hot 100.
The album is layered with haunting productions that remains predominantly R&B but dives deep into Pop with some of the tracks. Max Martin produced the massive hit Blinding Lights as well as In Your Eyes, Save Your Tears, Hardest to Love, and Scared to Live which samples Elton John’s Your Song. Other notable producers include Metro Boomin who worked on the hit Heartless as well as Escape from LA, Faith, and Until I Bleed Out. With Kevin Parker on the interlude Repeat After Me.
Beyond the production are the narrative driven lyrics. In theory the album references two significant events in Abel’s life, his second breakup with Bella Hadid and his arrest in Las Vegas. The latter was due to his misbehaviour; in January 2015 he punched a cop in Vegas, lmao. Which means that After Hours is a recollection of The Weeknd’s first few years in LA. He merges the concept of his breakup with the idea of being an upcoming star, feeling free in the city of lights all while diving deep into the meaninglessness of those lights.
While After Hours starts with loneliness and a second chance it leads up to Abel returning to his vices of lust. In Alone Again his loneliness caught up to him and he’s asking for a second chance. He acknowledges his mistakes and situation in Too Late/Hardest to Love, in Scared to Live his ex then returns to him for a second time. He remembers his past ways in Snowchild and the way in which it lead to better days, but where do you go after such highs? In Escape From LA he faces the superficial reality of Hollywood, glad that he got that he got back with his ex, while continuing to question if it’s worth it. But he fucks up the second chance when she pulls up to the studio.
Who is she? Much like the other mysteries surrounding The Weeknd’s music, we may never know. Is it all more of The Weeknd’s songwriting ability or is it driven by reality? Fans found a merge between the two to be more accurate, After Hours is about heartbreak and a return to the vices that held The Weeknd back.
Heartless is when The Weeknd is once again back to his ways, he may have been in a serious relationship but after throwing that away he spirals back to the way he once was. It’s sad but it’s one hell of a song. Speaking of brilliant songs, Faith is when Abel admits that he’s back on his vices, he states that he needs his ex back with him till the end; he’s back to self-loathing.
So when he says he’s blinded by the lights, there’s two meanings to it. The Faith outro tells us that he’s in a car with flashing lights, a cop car (as confirmed by Abel) to be exact. Then Blinding Lights tells us that while he’s watching the bright lights of Vegas pass him by he calls out for the girl that he regrets losing. That is the peak of the After Hours narrative. He’s behaving badly over the loss of the girl he loved and is now at the worst position trying to find her and gain her trust for a third time.
Following Blinding Lights is In Your Eyes, this is where The Weeknd vows not to judge her; he can see right through her but will never do anything to make her upset. Does this mean their back together? Not exactly. Save Your Tears details a sort of moving-on that The Weeknd isn’t ready for but tries to help her move on, blind to his own inability to move on. Does it work? Not really. Repeat After Me (Interlude) shows that he’s still trying to convince himself that he’s unfazed by the loss of a meaningful relationship.
Then you hear a true masterpiece. The title track is a spiral into true regret and an apology for his actions, he admits that his ex girlfriend is the only reason he lives. In a dark lonely city she’s the only one keeping him sane. But his pleas fail, Until I Bleed Out is when The Weeknd no longer wants her in his life so much so that he wants to erase his memory of anything related to her. The bonus tracks then echo the final sentiment.
It’s one sad ass album, ain’t it. But here’s where the Red Suit Character comes in.
Shoutout to the makeup department
The album isn’t the only narrative to follow with After Hours. The videos for the album follow their own sort of narrative. The story follows an unnamed guy that goes by “red suit character” according to The Weeknd.
There’s a lot of confusion and endless theories surrounding this character’s story, after The Weeknd confirmed that it’s about a decent into Hollywood culture it makes more sense… kind of. I’m gonna discuss the storyline without talking about the movies that have influenced it, this way the focus remains on the character.
The order of these videos is Heartless / Blinding Lights / Blinding Lights (Live on Kimmel)* / After Hours short film / In Your Eyes / Until I Bleed Out / Snowchild / Too Late / Live at AMAs* / Save Your Tears
*Though all live performances could count as part of the narrative, these one relate directly with the videos that follow.
He’s is first seen in Vegas with Metro Boomin (Heartless), intoxicated on various substances. He dives deeper into his high until he licks a frog, after that he faces the true effects of this high. He’s frightened by the result and runs far away from Vegas. (Blinding Lights) He’s then found in LA, where he’s dancing in the street, hypnotized by the singer, beat up by guards, and races past all those bright lights in his Benz. Ultimately realizing the shallowness of the Los Angeles fantasy.
(Blinding Lights Live on Kimmel) We then find him performing Blinding Lights live, while he attempts to find more reason in within the madness city; he couldn’t find it on the streets so he goes to the stage. (After Hours short film) Even then there’s no meaning to anything in the city, he mindlessly wanders into the depth of the subway where he’s dragged by the reality of it all and ends up possessed. (In Your Eyes) After being possessed he chases the woman whose boyfriend he just murdered, she runs into a club falls deeper into the After Hours fantasy, in a successful attempt to defend herself she beheads the red suit character and dances all over LA with his head, iconic behaviour.
(Until I Bleed Out) Then in an ethereal dreamscape, red suit character finds himself in a House of Balloons. He’s trying to escape, but the people there keep pulling him in; he’s getting higher while observing Glass Table Girls. He spirals into the antarctic, the other side of the world. From Heatless to this point in his story, his vices lead him back to the lowest point in Abel’s life. Is it Hell, Heaven or Las Vegas? (Snowchild) He relives his career up until the point where his story began. Considering he’s dead, his life basically flashed before his eyes.
(Too Late) LA girls find the red suit character’s head and live their best life. They wanna have sex with him so they find the best boy parts by calling up a stripper who could be the body. The stitch the head up with the body and do what they want. But now he’s brought back to life. (Live at AMAs) He’s had work done… He went in to get his nose fixed and the doctor said “you sure that’s all you want?” The red suit character’s face is healing while he tries to celebrate his life on top of a bridge.
(Save Your Tears) Surrounded by a masked cult he debut’s his new face. Do they like it? Are they impressed? Not instantly, their masks translate no expression so how’s he to know? Is any of this worth it? Nope red suit character continues to die inside. He finds a maskless girl in the crowd, she’s lively unlike the rest; but even then, nothing on the inside nothing on the outside. He wants death again, somehow a second chance with this city is still pointless. He tries to kill himself via the girl and himself but it’s all a facade; theatrics.
His story continues but that’s all we know so far.
The videos make a lot of film references. This post by explain these references very well, as well as past album references here (part one) and here (part two).
After Hours is inspired by a lot of movies, since Abel is in fact a cinephile. The main movies that inspired the aesthetic and storytelling are believed to be Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Casino (1995), Joker (2019), Uncut Gems (2020), and After Hours (1985). The album tells two sad narratives but remains one of The Weeknd’s best works yet. He’s expanded his videography and enhanced the interest of people who casually enjoy his music and of course his fans.
But the era isn’t over, by the time this is posted his Super Bowl Halftime show is yet to happen. And it’ll continue the red suit character’s story.
Videos for After Hours (so far)
Fun Fact—The Heartless video features a reference to Thursday. When he’s trying to run from Vegas, a sign behind him flashes “Heartless / Heaven or Las Vegas.” This could be a reference to Abel running from his past, after all Heartless is about him returning to his vices.

END.

Thank you for reading this, again, I didn’t realize it would end up being this long. But I hope this this served as a nice refresher for any fans who wanted to revisit Abel’s work before the Super Bowl.
And I really hope that anyone interested in getting into his music finds this helpful. Once again, the theories/interpretations mentioned aren’t conclusive, they’re widely based on fan discussion/mutual interpretation.
Due to the character limit I couldn’t add too links to the albums, so here are some artist links.
Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube | The Weeknd’s Shop | Tidal | Genius

This is the continuation of my series highlighting specific critic's criticisms of TLJ. Part I on Humor is here, which also details my reasoning for this mining operation. Here we are covering Canto Bight, and we have everything from run of the mill iodized stuff to hail-sized rock salt on display, so adjust your goggles accordingly.

Johnson overplays his hand occasionally — most notably an unnecessary sequence at the casino city of Canto Bight that goes straight from a political sermon into a plot hole

Ethan Sacks, New York Daily News - Fresh

The bad news is, this involves an unnecessary trip to a kind of casino planet that doesn’t really advance the story.

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic - Fresh

A scene in an opulent casino is easily the most painful yet in this new generation of Star Wars flicks, eliciting images of the green screen busy set pieces of the early-2000 franchise additions, enticing to the youngest members of the audience who need their stories overly padded with shiny spectacle.

Matt Oakes, Silver Screen Riot - Fresh

Boyega is a loveable hero, and his new compadre Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) is a nice addition. However, as much as it isn’t overbearing, their entire sub-plot is when the adventure loses steam. This moves the film away from where all the interest is – Luke. At this point, it becomes a little disjointed and unnecessary, never reaching a point of excitement required for a chunk of plot of this degree.

Cameron Frew, FrewFilm - Fresh

an extended digression with Finn and Rose that doesn’t end up counting for much plotwise

Bob Chipman, Moviebob Central - Fresh

Sadly, Boyega's Finn -- still an appealing character -- is saddled with a go-nowhere plot-line that has him and Resistance mechanic Rose show up at a space casino and cross paths with a rogue with a heart of a gold (or maybe just rogue?) played by Benicio Del Toro. There's the kernel of interesting idea there as we glimpse the socioeconomic underpinnings of this galaxy far, far away in a way we've never seen before, but it's a digression whose payoff doesn't warrant the build-up. And when you're already the longest Star Wars ever made (two and a half hours!), some snipping here and there might not have been a bad idea.

Zaki Hasan, Zaki's Corner - Fresh

I’m not a big fan of Finn and Rose’s side adventure, which has the air of a spinoff story being tacked onto the main narrative (probably to give Finn a purpose, since Rey is doing her own thing with Luke). Apart from showcasing the power of hope on a younger generation, it’s not as well integrated into the seams of the larger story as it could’ve been.

Tomas Trussow, The Lonely Film Critic - Fresh

It’s Finn’s mission which takes the film off on a diversion where it didn’t really need to go. There’s a lot of comedic hijinks involved in all of this which George Lucas would have excised from the first draft of anything he ever wrote.

Niall Browne, Movies in Focus - Fresh

Much of the Canto Bight sequence feels unnecessary

Molly Templeton, Eugene Weekly - Fresh

First, both prominent new characters Rose and DJ seemed shoe-horned in, and Rose especially doesn't seem to have a real place in this film nor does she add anything to be hopeful about in the future. And while both Rey and Poe fans will probably be pleased with where their characters go, Finn sort of takes a step back, as he is sent off on a side adventure that seems like second-tier Star Wars. It's a diversion that takes up a good portion of the film and really serves no purpose to the overall story...worse yet, it seems to contain some heavy-handed political messages not commonly found, at least not this blatantly, in the Star Wars universe. These are more than just quibbles too: Most fans will not be used to the slow, lumbering pace or the general unevenness of this film...especially coming on the heels of the action-packed pacing that JJ Abrams brought in Episode VII.

Tom Santilli, AXS.com - Fresh

There’s some stuff that feels extraneous (the whole Canto Bight sequence, which seems to exist to set up a new Lando-like character played by Benicio del Toro), and the cycle of attack and retreat — mostly retreat — gets a bit monotonous.

Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com - Fresh

Muchas de las situaciones se sienten forzadas e innecesarias (por ejemplo, la aventura de Finn y Rose, me parece innecesaria).

Ruben Peralta Rigaud, Cocalecas - Fresh

Their jaunt to the casino planet of Canto Bight serves little purpose besides introducing Del Toro, updating the cantina scene, and offering up a tired CGI chase scene that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Attack of the Clones. Kudos (maybe) to Johnson for introducing income inequality to the Star Wars universe, but the entire sequence feels rushed and shoehorned into an already long movie.

Pete Vonder Haar Houston Press - Fresh

The weakest of these is Finn's. It's briskly paced and full of action yes, but let's just say a casino is no cantina... Worse, it also sees him interacting with Prequel Trilogy levels of CGI critters.

Karl Puschmann, New Zealand Herald - Fresh

But the worst distraction “The Last Jedi” has to offer involves erstwhile Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) and a Resistance maintenance worker named Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), a subplot every bit as visually and narratively inept as Lucas’ prequels were taken as.

J. Olson, Cinemixtape - Rotten

Finn’s entire storyline could be cut and the film would be better off. As Finn was one of the driving-force leads of The Force Awakens and also a charming character, this is a disappointing development. His adventure is such a low point that it would not seem out of place in one of George Lucas’ efforts from between 1999 and 2005, and it serves little purpose to the film’s overall plot.

Alex Doenau, Trespass - Fresh

there’s too much going on in The Last Jedi, and a lot of it feels like filler. Besides the aforementioned, stalled-out space battle, there’s a clunky sequence in a casino that goes on far too long, a lot of distracting cameos, and new characters inhabited by Laura Dern and Benicio del Toro, who bring close to nothing to the proceedings.

Bob Grimm, Reno News and Review - Fresh

Finn and Rose (a new addition to the principal cast) distract the audience with an overlong and ultimately unnecessary side plot.

Richard Dove, International Business Times - Rotten

And this plotline feeds right into the absolutely unforgivably terrible subplot, which is the adventures of Finn (John Boyega) the cowardly ex-storm trooper, and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), the class-conscious engineer, who go on a fetch quest that is every bit as pointless as the whole matter of the military nonsense, only even worse, because it hinges on terrible comedy, bad CGI, and a spectacularly horrible moment when Johnson stops the film in its tracks to provide a ruthlessly on-the-nose lesson about economic inequality and the military-industrial complex.

Tim Brayton, Alternate Ending - Rotten

Some of what happens on the casino planet — called Canto Bight, and sure to figure in the next film — is goofy on a level as cringe-inducing as things we saw in the prequel trilogy; like, Jar-Jar Binks–awful.

MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher - Fresh

Johnson does his best to hustle from one location to the next, but the narrative has a tendency from time to time to drag. The biggest example of this are the scenes on Canto Bight. Which is a shame, because a huge chunk of the film’s message is established on these scenes. But the very nature of the story, with its many moving parts, inadvertently makes this section of the film feel like a diversion.

Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm - Fresh

The humour is kind of sour in other places, too, such as the silly neo-cantina scene as Finn and Rose track the whereabouts of a mysterious encrypter, who might be the rebellion’s last hope, into a sort of galactic Monte Carlo. The abundance of slapstick there and in other parts of the film doesn’t click and feels forced.

Diva Velez, TheDivaReview.com - Fresh

In an unnecessary and quite frankly preposterous third subplot, Finn (John Boyega) and a new character, Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), race against the clock to locate an underworld figure who can help them neutralise the First Order’s tracking device, thus allowing the diminished rebel fleet to escape.

Vicky Roach, Daily Telegraph (Australia) - Rotten

Weak points come with awkward humour that lacks comedic rhythm and an unnecessary casino escapade, where a disposable underworld character DJ (Benicio del Toro) is introduced, that subsequently soft lens into what is essentially a children's adventure tale about animals

Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight - Fresh

Unfortunately, we keep getting dragged away from the only emotionally resonant portion of the film to watch Finn and Rose engage in sub-prequel hijinks on the casino planet. Everything here is forced and awful, visually uninteresting and often dark to the point of unwatchability, lousy with mawkish little kids making bug eyes at the camera as we marvel at the horror of economic inequality, and drowned in an atrocious patina of truly terrible CGI. It calls to mind the droid factory in Attack of the Clones and the pre-podrace sequence in The Phantom Menace. Most offensively, the whole Finn/Rose diversion has absolutely no importance to the forward momentum of the plot—it's utterly irrelevant, even nonsensical.

Sonny Bunch, Washington Free Beacon - Rotten

Not everything in the film works: a few of the goofier comic moments fail to land and true to the legacy of Lucas there’s a fair amount of eye-wincing dialogue. More importantly, the second act bows under the weight of too many narrative strands; Finn’s away mission comes off as a bit superfluous, as does Laura Dern’s Vice Admiral Holdo, and both Rose and the beloved Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) are sadly underwritten. In a trade-off that brings scope and complexity, Johnson has sacrificed narrative efficiency.

Christopher Machell, CineVue - Fresh

I didn't like the sequence in a casino--a callback to the Star Wars Cantina, of course, but also a chance to discuss the evils of war profiteers and the 1%. There are creatures there, there's slapstick, there's a heist of sorts, and it all harks back to my favourite of Johnson's films, The Brothers Bloom, in the interplay between the characters, in the lightness and clarity of the scheme. But it's tonally disruptive, and it introduces a trio of children who seem like part of a different film.

Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central - Fresh

Finn and Rose’s trip to a gambling planet – basically a space Monaco – flits between light fun and on-the-nose political narrative.

Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle - Fresh

It also begs the question why the space casino sequence, arguably the least relevant to the core story, wasn’t dramatically trimmed back. Aside from a throwaway final shot, this section of the film is the weakest – designed to depict profiteering space-capitalism run rampant (ironically, also depicting a stable of space-horses also running rampant).

Patrick Kolan, Shotgun Cinema - Fresh

But as ingenious as this setup may be, it also gives rise to the film's most pointless subplot. After waking from his coma, Finn (John Boyega) contrives a means by which he can disable the New Order's tracking device, albeit one that requires him to sneak off the fleeing vessel, travel to a Monaco-styled casino planet, track down a master codebreaker and infiltrate the enemy's warship undetected. This enormous MacGuffin sees Boyega partnered with the charming Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, a Resistance engineer low in status but high in pluck. The problem is that their side adventure does absolutely nothing to advance the actual story.

Tom Glasson, Concrete Playground - Fresh

Unfortunately, John Boyega’s Finn, Oscar Isaac’s Poe and Kelly Marie Tran—as Finn’s new partner-in-rebellion Rose—are given the equivalent of busywork while the rest of the cast moves the plot along.

Simon Miraudo, Student Edge - Fresh

A detour to a casino planet where Finn and a resistance mechanic named Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) search for a codebreaker to help them disrupt the First Order's tracking of the retreating resistance ships feels like a trip into another movie. The stakes here seem far lower than the live-or-die scenario facing Poe, General Leia Organa (the late Carrie Fisher) and the others trying to make their getaway.

Greg Maki Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) Fresh

The only characters not doing a huge amount of growing are Finn (John Boyega) and mechanic Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), and not for nothing, their subplot opens up a momentum drain that is the only weakness in The Last Jedi. Boyega and Tran are perfectly enjoyable, and their subplot isn’t a complete waste of time, but you start to feel the length of The Last Jedi when it veers off with them, and Finn’s arc is a pale echo of Poe’s so it’s not like much is being accomplished.

Sarah Marrs Lainey Gossip Fresh

Rey’s journey toward learning the ways of the Jedi is far more entertaining than Finn’s convoluted (and ultimately pointless) storyline

Josh Bell Las Vegas Weekly Fresh

Rose’s character is front and center in the film’s weakest sequences. We’re diverted to a city where the worst of the worst frolic. No, not the usual hives of scum and villainy. It’s a casino where the very, very rich cavort. The evil One Percenters! If you’re not immediately yanked out of the story here you deserve a prize. The accompanying dialogue is equally clunky, as is the reason all these vapid souls gained their fortunes.

Christian Toto, HollywoodInToto.com - Rotten

Far less successful is the time spent with the rebels on the run from Hux and the First Order. Not only is it centered on the slowest space chase in sci-fi history, but subplots featuring Poe, Finn (John Boyega), and Rose (newcomer Kelly Marie Tran) go absolutely nowhere. Sure we get introduced to DJ (Benicio Del Toro) and Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern), but it’s with actions that fail to connect either through sheer stupidity or the simple truth that their absence wouldn’t change the story in the slightest. They’re obvious filler, and as is the Disney way (witness their Marvel films) the studio’s never met a character that couldn’t be jammed into a movie for no reason other than the misguided belief that more is better. Finn and Rose’s adventure in particular offers some additional action beats and a visit to a casino — think the Mos Eisley Cantina scene from Star Wars, but for the 1% — but it is meaningless noise.

Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects - Fresh

Meanwhile, what feels too much like the “B plot” side adventure has Finn and Rose on a mission that takes them into another film entirely, a sort of intergalactic James Bond-meets-Free Willy. It’s hard not to feel that their entire subplot could be axed in order to make The Last Jedi stronger and tighter, which is unfortunate.

Kaila Hale-Stern, The Mary Sue - Fresh

There is a whole section that feels out of kilter and harks back to the CGI naffness of the prequels — and is also virtually pointless to the plot.

Jamie East, The Sun (UK) - Fresh

The film’s epic 150-minute runtime allows plenty of room for Johnson’s inventiveness, but there’s also a tiny bit of fat in the middle of the movie, specifically in the Canto Bight scenes with Finn and Rose. The casino city itself is gorgeous and has some crazy-cool characters, plus Finn and Rose’s presence there shines a light on some new, worthwhile themes for the Star Wars franchise. However, in terms of the overall story, the whole escapade feels a little pointless and small. It doesn’t help that Benicio del Toro’s new character, DJ, who is part of the same storyline, is largely insignificant.

Germain Lussier, io9.com - Fresh

Star Wars: The Last Jedi does have a clear weak spot -- specifically the side plot that develops between Finn (John Boyega) and newly-introduced Resistance member Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran). Following a genuinely funny meet-up between the two characters, they are given their own special mission searching for a codebreaker who can assist in the battle against the First Order. But this storyline never feels particularly inspired or impactful as everything else going down in the movie. While it is constructed to fit with the larger themes of the film, features its own interesting expectation-flipping turns, and does eventually have a key impact on the macro scale, it's also the only part of the feature that ever feels expendable, and not helping anything is that it features the weakest visual effects of the blockbuster (especially during a second-act chase sequence).

Eric Eisenberg, CinemaBlend - Fresh

Finn and Rose’s mission takes them to Canto Bight, a kind of Monte Carlo peopled by extras from Babylon 5, and feels like it is just ticking the Weird Alien Bar box started by the Cantina. A ride on space horses also feels like a needless diversion, as does Benicio Del Toro’s space rogue, whose strange, laconic presence never really makes its mark.

Ian Freer, Empire Magazine - Fresh

It’s a shame, then, that the righteousness of Finn and Rose’s place in the film is undermined slightly by the limpness of their mission. Perhaps feeling there had to be some kind of Mos Eisley–esque sequence in the film, Johnson sends the pair to a casino city full of all kinds of creatures. It’s fun, sure, but the whole operation ultimately turns out to be a red herring. At least there’s some nice musing on liberation during this stretch, reminding us of the real stakes of this long story—freedom is, after all, what the Empire denies and the Rebel Alliance promises. And in a gorgeous third-act sequence—which includes the film’s true Empire Strikes Back homage—Finn and Rose finally get the emboldened moments they deserve. I just wish they fit more integrally into the central thesis of the film, that they were just as special, in their way, as Rey is, glinting with messianic power as she ascends.

Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair - Fresh

Of the three simultaneous plots, it’s Finn’s that sometimes drags down the energy, particularly with an introduction of a shady thief played by Benicio del Toro, the only new addition to the cast that doesn’t quite work; he seems to be acting in his own private movie, and it’s not as good as this one.

Will Leitch Paste Magazine - Fresh

Where the film struggles the most is on Canto Bight. Taken on her own, Rose isn’t a bad addition to the Star Wars mythos, and the movie definitely needs someone to play against Finn. Unfortunately, they lack the electric chemistry we saw between Finn and Rey in The Force Awakens, and their secret mission in a casino feels like it should be far more entertaining than it actually is.

Matt Goldberg, Collider - Fresh

Some action sequences are superfluous and unengaging. Benicio del Toro all but cameos as a sort of hobo hustler, while John Boyega’s Finn is sidelined, relegated to relatively inconsequential hi-jinx.

Alex Godfrey, GQ Magazine [UK] - Fresh

Finn (John Boyega) and newcomer Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) attempt an espionage mission that takes them to what is the Star Wars equivalent of the French Riviera. It’s a casino city named Canto Bight, and their adventures here push the Rick’s Café sensibilities from the original Star Wars’ cantina sequence to their limit. Nevertheless, this entire subplot amounts to a whole lot of padding while the real tough and revelatory decisions are made on Ahch-To.

David Crow, Den of Geek - Fresh

Plot-wise, I felt the entire side story at the casino world of Canto Bight was unnecessary. If you cut the entire sequence out of the film, it would have little impact on the core narrative.

Scott Chitwood ComingSoon.net - Fresh

Finn (John Boyega) wakes up, meets a admiring fan down in maintenance named Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) and they head off on their own adventure, a detour that somehow combines the louche slickness of Cloud City and moralizing at its most Disney.

Joe Gross, Austin American-Statesman - Fresh

But The Last Jedi’s two-and-half-hour sprawl still includes an awful lot of clunky, derivative, and largely unnecessary incidents to wade through in order to get to its maverick last act. This is especially true when it comes to the plausibility-straining mission of stormtrooper turned Rebel Alliance fighter Finn (John Boyega) and puckish series newcomer Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran).

Sam C. Mac, Slant Magazine - Rotten

There are a couple of big names that fail to deliver much aside from, perhaps, realizing their childhood dreams of being in a “Star Wars” movie. A trip to a city that might as well be called Space Macau also fails to pay many dividends.

Christopher Lawrence, Las Vegas Review-Journal - Fresh

Case in point is the plot involving Finn (John Boyega) and new hero Rose's (Kelly Marie Tran) McGuffinesque mission to Canto Bight, which is of the ashtray-on-a-speederbike variety, and takes away from the tension cranked up elsewhere.

Harry Guerin, RTÉ (Ireland) - Fresh

The remaining 20% is made up of two different locales, one of which is entirely superfluous to the story. Essentially, there is a subplot that introduces Benicio del Toro’s mysterious work of eccentricity, except it doesn’t really do much of interest with him. Admittedly, it feels as if the character could be destined for bigger things in the final chapter, but I can only go off of what I watched, and well, the middle portion of The Last Jedi is stuck in the furthest setting from lightspeed. The journey expands to a space-Vegas full of various alien life forms and inhabitants, but it’s not as visually striking as previously explored planets. Additionally, by design, there seems to be filler injected simply because the other characters need things to do while Rey accomplishes what she needs to with Luke.

Robert Kojder, Flickering Myth - Fresh

The scenes on Canto Bight seemed like an unnecessary divert for Rose (a new character I actually really like) and Finn. This “casino planet” was like a scene right out of a low-budget Sy-Fy channel movie shot in Vancouver. It felt too familiar and earthbound to be a scene in an other-worldly scene in a Star Wars movie. The Rose/Finn alien horse race through the casino that ruined the galactic one-percenters good time and did some property damage was just ridiculous and should have been cut. Rose and Finn flopping around on the alien horse just looked like a bad theme park ride.

Chris Gore, Film Threat - Fresh

There’s a lengthy diversion to the casino planet of Canto Bight that feels pointless and tacked on just for the sake of giving us a cool new corner of the galaxy to feast our eyes on.

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly - Fresh
And that's it for Part II. Happy Holidays to all my fellow fans and miners! Next week I will conclude with Part III, which will cover- well, let's just say it's the longest of this series by far. Heh.

With Spring Break starting on Friday, I wanted to share this week's of events early so those who are leaving Blacksburg for the week can enjoy some local fun before they leave and also help those staying behind (hand raised, that's what I did every year in college).
So here's this week's 21 events: 1. Women's Lacrosse: William & Mary vs. Virginia Tech Indoor Practice Facility, Virginia Tech Wednesday, March 4, 2020, 4:00 - 6:00 PM Admission: Free Watch the Virginia Tech Women's Lacrosse team compete against non-conference and in-state opponent William & Mary. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540289
2. College Baseball: Marshall University vs. Virginia Tech English Field, Virginia Tech Wednesday, March 4, 2020, 4:00 - 7:00 PM Admission: Free Watch the Virginia Tech Baseball Team compete against non-conference opponent Marshall University. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540294
3. Men's Basketball: Clemson vs. Virginia Tech (Senior Night & Home Finale) Cassell Coliseum, Virginia Tech Wednesday, March 4, 2020, 7:00 - 9:00 PM Individual Ticket: $30.00, StubHub.com starting at $6.00 The Virginia Tech Men's Basketball hosts ACC conference opponent Clemson University in their 2019/2020 regular season home finale. This game will serve as Senior Night. Halftime entertainment will be provided by the Red Panda. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=535891
4. Comedy Night with Headliner Sonya White McClain's at First & Main, Blacksburg Wednesday, March 4, 2020, 8:00 - 9:30 PM Admission: $10.00 Bonkerz Comedy Club - Blacksburg presents Comedy Night featuring headliner Sonya White with comedian and professional wrestler Tate Griffen. Sonya White is based in Chicago, IL and originally from Virginia. White’s observational comedy is enhanced by dead-on impersonations and appropriate sound effects. Both her comedy stage show and her one-woman show, “Airing Dirty Laundry,” are based on real-life experiences and her fond, but irreverent, interactions with friends, family and the world at large. Must be 18 or older to enter. She has combined southern charm with big city street smarts to create a show that won her multiple appearances on CBS’ “Star Search”, a promo spot on NBC’s "Last Comic Standing 4" and CMT'S production “Southern Fried Chicks”. Sonya has also appeared on Oxygen’s “Girls Behaving Badly", been featured on “Comcast Comedy Spotlight Roadtrip 2002” and at The U.S. Comedy Arts Festival 1999 which was aired on HBO, E, and Comedy Central. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540878
5. The Jared Stout Band Duo in Concert McClain's at First & Main, Blacksburg Thursday, March 5, 2020, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Enjoy the music of Jared Stout and Robby Carden. Jared Stout is a musician based in Blacksburg, VA playing all the music under the sun. Enjoy him and his band performing a firm variety of country, pop, rock, R&B, folk and many others. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540716
6. Public Lecture: The Oldest Green Seaweed: Come and Taste One Billion Years of Evolution” Museum of Geosciences, Virginia Tech Thursday, March 5, 2020, 7:00 - 8:00 PM Admission: Free The Museum of Geosciences at Virginia Tech presents a public lecture titled "The Oldest Green Seaweed: Come and Taste One Billion Years of Evolution”. Virginia Tech paleontologists have discovered the oldest green seaweed yet, over 1 billion years old! This is the first presentation for the general public. Enjoy brief presentation about this important discovery followed by a hands-on, meet-the-scientists reception. There will be examples of ancient and modern seaweeds and even some seaweed you can taste! Admission is free and preregistration with [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) is appreciated, but not required. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540797
7. FLIP Fabrique: “Blizzard” Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg Thursday, March 5, 2020, 7:30 - 9:00 PM Adult Tickets (based on seat location): $25.00-$55.00, Students with ID and Youth 18 and Under: $10.00 FLIP Fabrique takes you on a crazy, poetic, and gentle journey in the dead of winter and invites you to lose yourself in a moment of complete wonder. "Blizzard" is the story of a group of friends, each one different from the other, like snowflakes, exploring the awe and wonder of a winter storm. Through the lens of their very special and intimate relationship with winter. With some of the most exciting circus performers of the moment, all original music performed live, and breathtaking visual poetry, "Blizzard" is taking the stage by storm! Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=517713
8. Women's Tennis: NC State vs. Virginia Tech Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center, Virginia Tech Friday, March 6, 2020, 2:00 - 5:00 PM Admission: Free The Virginia Tech Women's Tennis team hosts ACC conference opponent NC State. Virginai Tech's Shiran Arol Wiegand's home country of Israel will be highlighted. The match will include trivia and facts about Israel with a prize pack winner. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540975
9. Leslie Brooks in Concert India Garden Restaurant, Blacksburg Friday, March 6, 2020, 6:00 - 8:30 PM Admission: Free Leslie Brooks is a singer-songwriter, performing solo with guitar, playing jazz, folk, blues, rockin' country and popular favorites. She has played the best venues in a 16-state area, as well as in Norway and Monte Carlo. Opened for Heart, James Taylor, Bob Margolin and Willie Nelson to name a few. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540524
10. Kat Mills in Concert Eastern Divide Brewing, Blacksburg Friday, March 6, 2020, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Kat Mills is a songwriter, folk singer, guitarist, community cheerleader and seeker rooted in GenX habits, nodding to 60s and 70s troubadour traditions, and openly commenting on the aches and triumphs of the moment. She was a founding member of acclaimed newgrass band, Grass. Kat is currently based in Blacksburg VA and touring as a solo singer and songwriter throughout the East and beyond. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540971
11. Waltz Disney Dance Old Dominion Ballroom, Virginia Tech Friday, March 6, 2020, 7:00 - 11:00 PM Admission: Free Ballroom Dance at Virginia Tech presents the Waltz Disney Dance in their first dance of the semester. All of the music played will be from Disney. Dress up to show the spirit or just wear some jeans, they don't discriminate. Admission is free and no experience is necessary. There will be free snacks and drinks and a Viennese Waltz dance lesson for beginners. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540977
12. Men's Tennis: NC State vs. Virginia Tech Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center, Virginia Tech Saturday, March 7, 2020, 12:00 - 4:00 PM Admission: Free The Virginia Tech Men's Tennis team hosts ACC conference opponent NC State. There will be a raffle for Bull & Bones Gift Card. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540974
13. Play: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Warm Hearth Village Center, Blacksburg Saturday, March 7, 2020, 3:00 - 5:15 PM Saturday, March 7, 2020, 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM, Sunday, March 8, 2020, 8:00 PM Adults: $12.00, Seniors: $10.00, Students: $10.00 New River Stage presents the play "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens with six performances. This adaptation is a fast moving melodrama about the adventures of an orphan redeemed from a cruel life of poverty and crime. The cast is made up of 14 local actors playing over 30 roles and will include original music by Anna and David Smith. The play is recommended for ages middle school and up due to depictions of child abuse, domestic abuse and stage violence. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=538797
14. 2020 Wild Life Dinner Camp Tuk-A-Way, Blacksburg Saturday, March 7, 2020, 5:00 - 8:00 PM Adults: $10.00, Kids Ages 5-12: $5.00, Kids Age 4 & Under: Free Craig Valley Gospel Fellowship presents the 11th Annual Wild Life Dinner. Enjoy a great dinner with lots of wild game options including deer, turkey, bear, squirrel rabbits and more. In addition, non-wild game meats will also be offered including chicken and pork in addition to sides. There will also be music, raffles, door prizes, great fellowship and music. Proceeds benefit the Craig Valley Gospel Fellowship Church. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540877
15. St. John Neumann Academy's 2020 Casino Knight German Club Manor, Virginia Tech Saturday, March 7, 2020, 5:30 - 10:30 PM Admission: $45.00 Picture an elegant evening at the Virginia Tech German Club, all of the energy of a Las Vegas casino, fantastic prizes, a fabulous silent auction, delicious food and great music at St. John Neumann Academy's annual Casino Knight promises to be a fabulous evening. The admission price includes: $10,000 in "play money" for casino games including Roulette, Black Jack, Craps and Texas Hold’em, five prize tickets for fabulous raffle prizes, heavy hors d’oeuvres & delicious pasta stations, a magic mirror photo booth, and more. All proceeds support student scholarships and needed curriculum materials. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540790
16. March Jazz Jam Tea & Jam Cafe, Blacksburg Saturday, March 7, 2020, 7:30 - 9:30 PM Admission: Free Tea & Jam Cafe presents the March Jazz Jam. Bring your instrument and jam with some local jazz legends in the tea shop. This month the jam will be led by Bob McGraw the front man of local jazz group Wine and Roses. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=538273
17. The Floyd Radio Show March Edition with The Deer Creek Boys, Paul Brown & Terri McMurray Floyd Country Store, Floyd Saturday, March 7, 2020, 7:30 - 10:00 PM Advance Tickets: $12.00, Day of the Show: $15.00 This month’s guests include the Deer Creek Boys, Paul Brown and Terri McMurray and The New Macedon Rangers. The Floyd Country Store brings together a new variety show every month celebrating American roots music. A series of guest hosts will perform original radio plays, comedy bits, ads, jingles, music and more. Each show features the finest old-timey musical acts, from storytelling banjo players to flatpicking guitarists to hard-driving string bands. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540038
18. Prime Time Wine Series Beliveau Farm Winery, Blacksburg Sunday, March 8, 2020, 12:00 - 5:00 PM Admission: $15.00 The Prime Time Wine Series is Beliveau's biannual "mini wine festival". Each of the participating local Virginia Farm Wineries will offer intimate tastings lead by the wine maker or owners so you are guaranteed a unique experience. The two guest wineries are Zephaniah Farm Vineyard out of Leesburg, VA and Brix & Columns Vineyards in McGaheysville, VA. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=536128
19. Women's Tennis: Georgia Tech vs. Virginia Tech (International Women's Day Celebration) Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center, Virginia Tech Sunday, March 8, 2020, 1:00 - 4:00 PM Admission: Free The Virginia Tech Women's Tennis team hosts ACC conference opponent Georgia Tech. The match will celebrate International Women's Day with a giveaway of Virginia Tech scrunchies for the first arriving fans. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540976
20. Sunday Blues & Brews (and Bloody's) with The Woogemen Eastern Divide Brewing, Blacksburg Sunday, March 8, 2020, 3:00 - 6:00 PM Admission: Free Eastern Divide Brewing and the New River Blues Society present the first Sunday Blues & Brews (and Bloody's) with The Woogemen. The Woogemen are a New River Valley group playing a true variety of all genres of music. In addition to food and their craft beers, Eastern Divide will be offering Bloody Marys for this event. The New River Blues Society formed to help keep traditional blues alive in the New River Valley and surrounding area. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=540882
21. Elkhorn and Eight Point Star in Concert Odd Fellows Building Lodge #20 (Wilson Avenue), Blacksburg Sunday, March 8, 2020, 7:00 - 10:00 PM Admission: Free The Rays of Joy series presents Elkhorn and Eight Point Star with the Blacksburg Drone Orchestra in concert. Elkhorn is a mesmerizing, sound-scapey guitar duo of acoustic 12-string picker Jesse Sheppard (Philadelphia) and electric player Drew Gardner (New York), touring to support their newest album of instrumental vignettes, “The Storm Sessions". Eight Point Star is a New River Valley-Roanoke collective gathered around old-time and improvisational fiddler Mike Gangloff and bluesy fingerstyle guitarist Matt Peyton that draws on traditional and international roots to create a sound all their own. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=539369
For all those traveling, drive and travel safely, and for those staying in Blacksburg, there's still fun you can enjoy! Have a great rest of your week!

Part 1/3: https://www.reddit.com/saltierthancrait/comments/a7tzug/critics_criticisms_part_i_humo
Part 2/3: https://www.reddit.com/saltierthancrait/comments/a91mnv/critics_criticisms_part_ii_canto_bight/
Part 3/3: https://www.reddit.com/saltierthancrait/comments/aahmu6/critics_criticisms_part_iii_length/

Part 1/3

Critic's Criticisms Part I: Humor

A few months ago I completed a read through of all ~400 TLJ reviews on RT(now up to ~415). It was painfully boring at times, but that's salt mining for you. I wanted to get a handle on the critical reception which is commonly cited as universal praise. While it's generally true that critics loved TLJ, they also had some criticisms that would be right at home here at STC, and these come from super experienced and intellectual film critics, so they have to be valid, right? After all, these people know so much more about film than a layperson. They can fully evaluate a film on countless criteria that average fans don't comprehend. /s, but you see where I'm going here: many TLJ fans have put critics on a pedestal, as if their opinion is somehow more valuable as a baseline for TLJ's quality. So what about when critics are echoing our own criticisms of TLJ?
Almost every criticism we have lobbed at this movie was shared by at least a few critics, but there were three main criticisms that stood out as the most common. I'll start this series with humor in TLJ.
Peter Debruge, Variety -Fresh

Luke is funnier than we’ve ever seen him — a personality change that betrays how “Star Wars” has been influenced by industry trends. Though the series has always been self-aware enough to crack jokes, it now gives in to the same winking self-parody that is poisoning other franchises of late, from the Marvel movies to “Pirates of the Caribbean.” But it begs the question: If movies can’t take themselves seriously, why should audiences?
Harrison Ford was a good enough actor, and Han Solo an aloof enough character, that he could get away with it, but here, the laughs feel forced — as does the appearance of cuddly critters on each new planet.

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter -Fresh

General Hux, who's goofily played by Domhnall Gleeson as if he were acting in a Monty Pythonesque parody

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger -Fresh

humor is not only prevalent but often turned, mockingly, on the self-serious mythology of the whole saga. Sometimes there are too many jokes; certainly there's an overabundance of cutesy aliens.

Niall Browne, Movies in Focus -Fresh

It’s Finn’s mission which takes the film off on a diversion where it didn’t really need to go. There’s a lot of comedic hijinks involved in all of this which George Lucas would have excised from the first draft of anything he ever wrote.
There’s more humour in The Last Jedi than previous Star Wars movies; some of it hits, some of it doesn’t. The much publicised Porgs work for a moment or two, but they outstay their welcome. The film drew to a halt too many times to show-odd cute creatures. I didn’t care for the crystal wolves during the climatic battle and the aforementioned space Llamas feel like they belong in a Disney movie (wait, this is a Disney movie!)

Rendy Jones, Rendy Reviews -Fresh

"The Last Jedi" is a movie that follows elements of other Star Wars movies that works on its own but feels so similar to a Marvel film because the first half of this movie is a comedy. Seriously a lot of the first half of the movie has a silly vibe amongst all the death and destruction that surrounds it. It desperately tries to be a parody of itself by making serious situations comedic.

Ruben Rosario, MiamiArtZine -Fresh

Much has also been made of “Jedi's” jarring tonal shifts. Johnson inserts broad humor, then abruptly makes things serious, then back again to goofy content.

Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Festival Today -Fresh

[Kylo's] partner in evil, Domnhall Gleeson, as General Hux, is less fine, though much of the problem stems not so much from the actor as from the tonally strange, abusively co-dependent relationship between the two men; their jokey rapport feels like it belongs in a very different movie.

Alex Doenau, Trespass -Fresh

However, from the beginning there’s a discordant sense of humour that’s somewhat counter to the series’ ethos to date: rather than funny situations rising organically in the script, many of the characters openly seem to be making jokes. It’s how we introduce Poe this go-round, and it feels slightly off.

Owen Richards, The Arts Desk -Fresh

There’s a surprising amount of comedy in the film, quite a bit at the expense of beloved characters or series law; it’s funny, but not respectful.

Tim Brayton , Alternate Ending -Rotten

The Last Jedi has an impressively poor batting average for its jokes: it opens with a vengefully dumb "I have a bad phone connection" bit that put me on the movie's bad side basically as soon as it had a side to be on, and it's not exactly all uphill from there.

James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk -Fresh

Sometimes, however, his proclivities come at the film’s expense, such as his penchant for inserting quippy humor, sarcasm, and sight gags at odd times, which often undercuts the drama or simply smacks of too much effort.

Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight -Fresh

Weak points come with awkward humour that lacks comedic rhythm and an unnecessary casino escapade, where a disposable underworld character DJ (Benicio del Toro) is introduced, that subsequently soft lens into what is essentially a children's adventure tale about animals.

Rob Dean, Bullz-Eye.com -Fresh

Further pushing the disconnect is that the script is far too self-aware, constantly making the sort of jokes that nerds have been making about “Star Wars” for decades, as if it’s too cool to purely accept itself on its own merits. The comedy works about half the time, but there are a ton of jokes in this film that underscore all of the overly serious talk of hope that populates the movie.

Sonny Bunch, Washington Free Beacon - Rotten

Johnson tries too hard on the humor front. Just one, brief, example: The whole opening sequences involves Poe doing conference call shtick while trolling Admiral Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). It's weirdly un-Star-Wars in the sense that it feels like something you could see on any dreadful sitcom here on planet Earth; this sequence is more fit for The Big Bang Theory than a supposedly dark entry in the Star Wars canon. The Star Wars movies have always been funny, of course, and there are moments when Johnson makes it work in a Star-Wars-sort-of-way. On the whole, though, it feels desperate and forced.

Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru - Rotten

Johnson's screenplay awkwardly blend action and drama with comedy and little bit of tacked-on romance. One particular scene involving an image that's not what it initially appears to be comes out of nowhere and feels like it belongs in a parody of Star Wars even though it does generate laughter.

Tom Glasson, Concrete Playground -Fresh

With more gags, one-liners and quirky moments than all the other Star Wars films combined, The Last Jedi introduces a levity to the staid franchise in the vein of Roger Moore's turn as post-Connery Bond. At times it works, even to the point of guffaws, but ultimately the humour feels misplaced. In a story where loss abounds and crushing defeat looms large at every turn, the repeated cutaways to doe-eyed porgs purring like extras from a Pixar film distract more than they entertain. So, too, does Domhnall Gleeson, whose character General Hux plays more like a parody of a Star Wars villain. As a result, both the New Order and the film itself are robbed of their most enduring menace: the Empire.

Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com -Fresh

In “The Last Jedi,” we watch Poe poke at Hux, who’s been turned into a buffoon for the new film, teasing him by faking communication issues and sharing an opinion about his mother. It’s the first of many awkward attempts at humor from Johnson, who isn’t known for funny business

Kevin McCarthy, WTTG-TV -Fresh

The first act of the film features major pacing issues combined with unnecessary comedic moments that ultimately hurt the tone of the film. Unfortunately, a lot of this comes from Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker character.

Jonathan W. Hickman, Daily Film Fix -Fresh

I found myself frustrated that the tone was comedy and sometimes almost veered into parody.
Everything else is jokes and comedic references with a side of cheese. I found myself shaking my head more than laughing along.

Ray Greene, CineGods.com - Rotten

But it also doesn’t feel quite right — the language, the iconography, the weirdly campy humor at the beginning — it doesn’t feel a part of the Star Wars universe.

Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly -Fresh

The less said about the awkward attempts at comic relief, the better.

Matt Looker, TheShiznit.co.uk -Fresh

the comedy - and there is plenty of it - is spread out more evenly across the whole cast. In the case of Domhnall Gleeson's Hux, this becomes a good opportunity to poke fun at the horribly hammy performance he gave in The Force Awakens. But when he is playing those laughs off against his only foil - Kylo Ren - Johnson threatens to undermine their status as epic villains.

Christian Toto, HollywoodInToto.com - Rotten

Johnson drops plenty of cutesy comic moments into the mix, some of which would make even George Lucas blush. What was passable in 1977 no longer flies as easily today. And a franchise as esteemed as this one deserves richer comic relief.

Mark Hughes, Forbes -Fresh

The first act's humor is the shakiest, with some gags seeming more like something out of a Star Wars satire. The tone and irreverence of it was out of place, and a couple of bits went on one or two beats too long.

Scott Menzel, We Live Entertainment -Fresh

Speaking of laughs, the jokes and humor just fall flat. The jokes seemed out of place or were just so “on the nose” that I couldn’t help but be annoyed by them. I feel like the modern day humor didn’t feel the tone of the story and yet Johnson kept trying to lighten the mood by adding in cheesy jokes that weren’t even remotely amusing but instead were rather cringe-worthy.

Kevin Jagernauth The Playlist -Fresh

In the pursuit of providing some buoyancy to the picture, Johnson wields comedy like a sword, but it’s unfortunately the weakest element of the film. “Star Wars” has always been home to plenty of cornball one liners, and comedic passages, but there’s a delicacy to how they’re employed and delivered that allows them to land….or simply fall flat. Far too often, it’s the latter outcome in this picture, with some of the laughs feeling underwritten or simply shoehorned in. There’s a distinct lack of cleverness to the wit employed here — think something as seemingly spontaneous as BB-8’s “thumbs up” in ‘The Force Awakens’ — and while the gags don’t grind the picture to a halt, there are certainly some awkward patches where the expected laughs don’t materialize.

Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects -Fresh

The film is a series of points both high and low, and it’s nowhere more clear than in the humor. Several beats work well to bring a smile, but others fall tone deaf to the carnage and pain surrounding them. From the very beginning Hux’s scenes are made to feel like lost reels from Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs, and poor Boyega can’t catch a break as Finn is saddled with lame one-liners at every turn.

Alex Godfrey, GQ Magazine [UK] -Fresh

It’s funny, though not always when you want it to be – perhaps fearing too much gravitas, Johnson undermines it a little too often.

Robert Kojder, Flickering Myth -Fresh

Rian Johnson has crafted an installment that largely defies saga standard narrative structure and tone. There is a quick comedic dialogue exchange in the beginning between Oscar Isaac’s fighter pilot Poe Dameron and Domhnall Gleeson’s First Order General Hux that falls in line with the brand of humor Disney and Marvel inject into that particular cinematic universe.

John Serba, MLive.com -Fresh

Some stabs at comedy feel overwrought and clunky, including a stint on a ritzy planet of war profiteers, an extended sequence of skillfully directed silliness destined to be beloved fodder for apologists only.

Up next is Part II: Canto Bight.
​

Part 2/3

Critic's Criticisms Part II: Canto Bight

This is the continuation of my series highlighting specific critic's criticisms of TLJ. Part I on Humor is here, which also details my reasoning for this mining operation. Here we are covering Canto Bight, and we have everything from run of the mill iodized stuff to hail-sized rock salt on display, so adjust your goggles accordingly.

Johnson overplays his hand occasionally — most notably an unnecessary sequence at the casino city of Canto Bight that goes straight from a political sermon into a plot hole

Ethan Sacks, New York Daily News - Fresh

The bad news is, this involves an unnecessary trip to a kind of casino planet that doesn’t really advance the story.

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic - Fresh

A scene in an opulent casino is easily the most painful yet in this new generation of Star Wars flicks, eliciting images of the green screen busy set pieces of the early-2000 franchise additions, enticing to the youngest members of the audience who need their stories overly padded with shiny spectacle.

Matt Oakes, Silver Screen Riot - Fresh

Boyega is a loveable hero, and his new compadre Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) is a nice addition. However, as much as it isn’t overbearing, their entire sub-plot is when the adventure loses steam. This moves the film away from where all the interest is – Luke. At this point, it becomes a little disjointed and unnecessary, never reaching a point of excitement required for a chunk of plot of this degree.

Cameron Frew, FrewFilm - Fresh

an extended digression with Finn and Rose that doesn’t end up counting for much plotwise

Bob Chipman, Moviebob Central - Fresh

Sadly, Boyega's Finn -- still an appealing character -- is saddled with a go-nowhere plot-line that has him and Resistance mechanic Rose show up at a space casino and cross paths with a rogue with a heart of a gold (or maybe just rogue?) played by Benicio Del Toro. There's the kernel of interesting idea there as we glimpse the socioeconomic underpinnings of this galaxy far, far away in a way we've never seen before, but it's a digression whose payoff doesn't warrant the build-up. And when you're already the longest Star Wars ever made (two and a half hours!), some snipping here and there might not have been a bad idea.

Zaki Hasan, Zaki's Corner - Fresh

I’m not a big fan of Finn and Rose’s side adventure, which has the air of a spinoff story being tacked onto the main narrative (probably to give Finn a purpose, since Rey is doing her own thing with Luke). Apart from showcasing the power of hope on a younger generation, it’s not as well integrated into the seams of the larger story as it could’ve been.

Tomas Trussow, The Lonely Film Critic - Fresh

It’s Finn’s mission which takes the film off on a diversion where it didn’t really need to go. There’s a lot of comedic hijinks involved in all of this which George Lucas would have excised from the first draft of anything he ever wrote.

Niall Browne, Movies in Focus - Fresh

Much of the Canto Bight sequence feels unnecessary

Molly Templeton, Eugene Weekly - Fresh

First, both prominent new characters Rose and DJ seemed shoe-horned in, and Rose especially doesn't seem to have a real place in this film nor does she add anything to be hopeful about in the future. And while both Rey and Poe fans will probably be pleased with where their characters go, Finn sort of takes a step back, as he is sent off on a side adventure that seems like second-tier Star Wars. It's a diversion that takes up a good portion of the film and really serves no purpose to the overall story...worse yet, it seems to contain some heavy-handed political messages not commonly found, at least not this blatantly, in the Star Wars universe. These are more than just quibbles too: Most fans will not be used to the slow, lumbering pace or the general unevenness of this film...especially coming on the heels of the action-packed pacing that JJ Abrams brought in Episode VII.

Tom Santilli, AXS.com - Fresh

There’s some stuff that feels extraneous (the whole Canto Bight sequence, which seems to exist to set up a new Lando-like character played by Benicio del Toro), and the cycle of attack and retreat — mostly retreat — gets a bit monotonous.

Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com - Fresh

Muchas de las situaciones se sienten forzadas e innecesarias (por ejemplo, la aventura de Finn y Rose, me parece innecesaria).

Ruben Peralta Rigaud, Cocalecas - Fresh

Their jaunt to the casino planet of Canto Bight serves little purpose besides introducing Del Toro, updating the cantina scene, and offering up a tired CGI chase scene that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Attack of the Clones. Kudos (maybe) to Johnson for introducing income inequality to the Star Wars universe, but the entire sequence feels rushed and shoehorned into an already long movie.

Pete Vonder Haar Houston Press - Fresh

The weakest of these is Finn's. It's briskly paced and full of action yes, but let's just say a casino is no cantina... Worse, it also sees him interacting with Prequel Trilogy levels of CGI critters.

Karl Puschmann, New Zealand Herald - Fresh

But the worst distraction “The Last Jedi” has to offer involves erstwhile Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) and a Resistance maintenance worker named Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), a subplot every bit as visually and narratively inept as Lucas’ prequels were taken as.

J. Olson, Cinemixtape - Rotten

Finn’s entire storyline could be cut and the film would be better off. As Finn was one of the driving-force leads of The Force Awakens and also a charming character, this is a disappointing development. His adventure is such a low point that it would not seem out of place in one of George Lucas’ efforts from between 1999 and 2005, and it serves little purpose to the film’s overall plot.

Alex Doenau, Trespass - Fresh

there’s too much going on in The Last Jedi, and a lot of it feels like filler. Besides the aforementioned, stalled-out space battle, there’s a clunky sequence in a casino that goes on far too long, a lot of distracting cameos, and new characters inhabited by Laura Dern and Benicio del Toro, who bring close to nothing to the proceedings.

Bob Grimm, Reno News and Review - Fresh

Finn and Rose (a new addition to the principal cast) distract the audience with an overlong and ultimately unnecessary side plot.

Richard Dove, International Business Times - Rotten

And this plotline feeds right into the absolutely unforgivably terrible subplot, which is the adventures of Finn (John Boyega) the cowardly ex-storm trooper, and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), the class-conscious engineer, who go on a fetch quest that is every bit as pointless as the whole matter of the military nonsense, only even worse, because it hinges on terrible comedy, bad CGI, and a spectacularly horrible moment when Johnson stops the film in its tracks to provide a ruthlessly on-the-nose lesson about economic inequality and the military-industrial complex.

Tim Brayton, Alternate Ending - Rotten

Some of what happens on the casino planet — called Canto Bight, and sure to figure in the next film — is goofy on a level as cringe-inducing as things we saw in the prequel trilogy; like, Jar-Jar Binks–awful.

MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher - Fresh

Johnson does his best to hustle from one location to the next, but the narrative has a tendency from time to time to drag. The biggest example of this are the scenes on Canto Bight. Which is a shame, because a huge chunk of the film’s message is established on these scenes. But the very nature of the story, with its many moving parts, inadvertently makes this section of the film feel like a diversion.

Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm - Fresh

The humour is kind of sour in other places, too, such as the silly neo-cantina scene as Finn and Rose track the whereabouts of a mysterious encrypter, who might be the rebellion’s last hope, into a sort of galactic Monte Carlo. The abundance of slapstick there and in other parts of the film doesn’t click and feels forced.

Diva Velez, TheDivaReview.com - Fresh

In an unnecessary and quite frankly preposterous third subplot, Finn (John Boyega) and a new character, Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), race against the clock to locate an underworld figure who can help them neutralise the First Order’s tracking device, thus allowing the diminished rebel fleet to escape.

Vicky Roach, Daily Telegraph (Australia) - Rotten

Weak points come with awkward humour that lacks comedic rhythm and an unnecessary casino escapade, where a disposable underworld character DJ (Benicio del Toro) is introduced, that subsequently soft lens into what is essentially a children's adventure tale about animals

Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight - Fresh

Unfortunately, we keep getting dragged away from the only emotionally resonant portion of the film to watch Finn and Rose engage in sub-prequel hijinks on the casino planet. Everything here is forced and awful, visually uninteresting and often dark to the point of unwatchability, lousy with mawkish little kids making bug eyes at the camera as we marvel at the horror of economic inequality, and drowned in an atrocious patina of truly terrible CGI. It calls to mind the droid factory in Attack of the Clones and the pre-podrace sequence in The Phantom Menace. Most offensively, the whole Finn/Rose diversion has absolutely no importance to the forward momentum of the plot—it's utterly irrelevant, even nonsensical.

Sonny Bunch, Washington Free Beacon - Rotten

Not everything in the film works: a few of the goofier comic moments fail to land and true to the legacy of Lucas there’s a fair amount of eye-wincing dialogue. More importantly, the second act bows under the weight of too many narrative strands; Finn’s away mission comes off as a bit superfluous, as does Laura Dern’s Vice Admiral Holdo, and both Rose and the beloved Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) are sadly underwritten. In a trade-off that brings scope and complexity, Johnson has sacrificed narrative efficiency.

Christopher Machell, CineVue - Fresh

I didn't like the sequence in a casino--a callback to the Star Wars Cantina, of course, but also a chance to discuss the evils of war profiteers and the 1%. There are creatures there, there's slapstick, there's a heist of sorts, and it all harks back to my favourite of Johnson's films, The Brothers Bloom, in the interplay between the characters, in the lightness and clarity of the scheme. But it's tonally disruptive, and it introduces a trio of children who seem like part of a different film.

Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central - Fresh

Finn and Rose’s trip to a gambling planet – basically a space Monaco – flits between light fun and on-the-nose political narrative.

Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle - Fresh

It also begs the question why the space casino sequence, arguably the least relevant to the core story, wasn’t dramatically trimmed back. Aside from a throwaway final shot, this section of the film is the weakest – designed to depict profiteering space-capitalism run rampant (ironically, also depicting a stable of space-horses also running rampant).

Patrick Kolan, Shotgun Cinema - Fresh

But as ingenious as this setup may be, it also gives rise to the film's most pointless subplot. After waking from his coma, Finn (John Boyega) contrives a means by which he can disable the New Order's tracking device, albeit one that requires him to sneak off the fleeing vessel, travel to a Monaco-styled casino planet, track down a master codebreaker and infiltrate the enemy's warship undetected. This enormous MacGuffin sees Boyega partnered with the charming Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, a Resistance engineer low in status but high in pluck. The problem is that their side adventure does absolutely nothing to advance the actual story.

Tom Glasson, Concrete Playground - Fresh

Unfortunately, John Boyega’s Finn, Oscar Isaac’s Poe and Kelly Marie Tran—as Finn’s new partner-in-rebellion Rose—are given the equivalent of busywork while the rest of the cast moves the plot along.

Simon Miraudo, Student Edge - Fresh

A detour to a casino planet where Finn and a resistance mechanic named Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) search for a codebreaker to help them disrupt the First Order's tracking of the retreating resistance ships feels like a trip into another movie. The stakes here seem far lower than the live-or-die scenario facing Poe, General Leia Organa (the late Carrie Fisher) and the others trying to make their getaway.

Greg Maki Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) Fresh

The only characters not doing a huge amount of growing are Finn (John Boyega) and mechanic Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), and not for nothing, their subplot opens up a momentum drain that is the only weakness in The Last Jedi. Boyega and Tran are perfectly enjoyable, and their subplot isn’t a complete waste of time, but you start to feel the length of The Last Jedi when it veers off with them, and Finn’s arc is a pale echo of Poe’s so it’s not like much is being accomplished.

Sarah Marrs Lainey Gossip Fresh

Rey’s journey toward learning the ways of the Jedi is far more entertaining than Finn’s convoluted (and ultimately pointless) storyline

Josh Bell Las Vegas Weekly Fresh

Rose’s character is front and center in the film’s weakest sequences. We’re diverted to a city where the worst of the worst frolic. No, not the usual hives of scum and villainy. It’s a casino where the very, very rich cavort. The evil One Percenters! If you’re not immediately yanked out of the story here you deserve a prize. The accompanying dialogue is equally clunky, as is the reason all these vapid souls gained their fortunes.

Christian Toto, HollywoodInToto.com - Rotten

Far less successful is the time spent with the rebels on the run from Hux and the First Order. Not only is it centered on the slowest space chase in sci-fi history, but subplots featuring Poe, Finn (John Boyega), and Rose (newcomer Kelly Marie Tran) go absolutely nowhere. Sure we get introduced to DJ (Benicio Del Toro) and Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern), but it’s with actions that fail to connect either through sheer stupidity or the simple truth that their absence wouldn’t change the story in the slightest. They’re obvious filler, and as is the Disney way (witness their Marvel films) the studio’s never met a character that couldn’t be jammed into a movie for no reason other than the misguided belief that more is better. Finn and Rose’s adventure in particular offers some additional action beats and a visit to a casino — think the Mos Eisley Cantina scene from Star Wars, but for the 1% — but it is meaningless noise.

Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects - Fresh

Meanwhile, what feels too much like the “B plot” side adventure has Finn and Rose on a mission that takes them into another film entirely, a sort of intergalactic James Bond-meets-Free Willy. It’s hard not to feel that their entire subplot could be axed in order to make The Last Jedi stronger and tighter, which is unfortunate.

Kaila Hale-Stern, The Mary Sue - Fresh

There is a whole section that feels out of kilter and harks back to the CGI naffness of the prequels — and is also virtually pointless to the plot.

Jamie East, The Sun (UK) - Fresh

The film’s epic 150-minute runtime allows plenty of room for Johnson’s inventiveness, but there’s also a tiny bit of fat in the middle of the movie, specifically in the Canto Bight scenes with Finn and Rose. The casino city itself is gorgeous and has some crazy-cool characters, plus Finn and Rose’s presence there shines a light on some new, worthwhile themes for the Star Wars franchise. However, in terms of the overall story, the whole escapade feels a little pointless and small. It doesn’t help that Benicio del Toro’s new character, DJ, who is part of the same storyline, is largely insignificant.

Germain Lussier, io9.com - Fresh

Star Wars: The Last Jedi does have a clear weak spot -- specifically the side plot that develops between Finn (John Boyega) and newly-introduced Resistance member Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran). Following a genuinely funny meet-up between the two characters, they are given their own special mission searching for a codebreaker who can assist in the battle against the First Order. But this storyline never feels particularly inspired or impactful as everything else going down in the movie. While it is constructed to fit with the larger themes of the film, features its own interesting expectation-flipping turns, and does eventually have a key impact on the macro scale, it's also the only part of the feature that ever feels expendable, and not helping anything is that it features the weakest visual effects of the blockbuster (especially during a second-act chase sequence).

Eric Eisenberg, CinemaBlend - Fresh

Finn and Rose’s mission takes them to Canto Bight, a kind of Monte Carlo peopled by extras from Babylon 5, and feels like it is just ticking the Weird Alien Bar box started by the Cantina. A ride on space horses also feels like a needless diversion, as does Benicio Del Toro’s space rogue, whose strange, laconic presence never really makes its mark.

Ian Freer, Empire Magazine - Fresh

It’s a shame, then, that the righteousness of Finn and Rose’s place in the film is undermined slightly by the limpness of their mission. Perhaps feeling there had to be some kind of Mos Eisley–esque sequence in the film, Johnson sends the pair to a casino city full of all kinds of creatures. It’s fun, sure, but the whole operation ultimately turns out to be a red herring. At least there’s some nice musing on liberation during this stretch, reminding us of the real stakes of this long story—freedom is, after all, what the Empire denies and the Rebel Alliance promises. And in a gorgeous third-act sequence—which includes the film’s true Empire Strikes Back homage—Finn and Rose finally get the emboldened moments they deserve. I just wish they fit more integrally into the central thesis of the film, that they were just as special, in their way, as Rey is, glinting with messianic power as she ascends.

Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair - Fresh

Of the three simultaneous plots, it’s Finn’s that sometimes drags down the energy, particularly with an introduction of a shady thief played by Benicio del Toro, the only new addition to the cast that doesn’t quite work; he seems to be acting in his own private movie, and it’s not as good as this one.

Will Leitch Paste Magazine - Fresh

Where the film struggles the most is on Canto Bight. Taken on her own, Rose isn’t a bad addition to the Star Wars mythos, and the movie definitely needs someone to play against Finn. Unfortunately, they lack the electric chemistry we saw between Finn and Rey in The Force Awakens, and their secret mission in a casino feels like it should be far more entertaining than it actually is.

Matt Goldberg, Collider - Fresh

Some action sequences are superfluous and unengaging. Benicio del Toro all but cameos as a sort of hobo hustler, while John Boyega’s Finn is sidelined, relegated to relatively inconsequential hi-jinx.

Alex Godfrey, GQ Magazine [UK] - Fresh

Finn (John Boyega) and newcomer Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) attempt an espionage mission that takes them to what is the Star Wars equivalent of the French Riviera. It’s a casino city named Canto Bight, and their adventures here push the Rick’s Café sensibilities from the original Star Wars’ cantina sequence to their limit. Nevertheless, this entire subplot amounts to a whole lot of padding while the real tough and revelatory decisions are made on Ahch-To.

David Crow, Den of Geek - Fresh

Plot-wise, I felt the entire side story at the casino world of Canto Bight was unnecessary. If you cut the entire sequence out of the film, it would have little impact on the core narrative.

Scott Chitwood ComingSoon.net - Fresh

Finn (John Boyega) wakes up, meets a admiring fan down in maintenance named Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) and they head off on their own adventure, a detour that somehow combines the louche slickness of Cloud City and moralizing at its most Disney.

Joe Gross, Austin American-Statesman - Fresh

But The Last Jedi’s two-and-half-hour sprawl still includes an awful lot of clunky, derivative, and largely unnecessary incidents to wade through in order to get to its maverick last act. This is especially true when it comes to the plausibility-straining mission of stormtrooper turned Rebel Alliance fighter Finn (John Boyega) and puckish series newcomer Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran).

Sam C. Mac, Slant Magazine - Rotten

There are a couple of big names that fail to deliver much aside from, perhaps, realizing their childhood dreams of being in a “Star Wars” movie. A trip to a city that might as well be called Space Macau also fails to pay many dividends.

Christopher Lawrence, Las Vegas Review-Journal - Fresh

Case in point is the plot involving Finn (John Boyega) and new hero Rose's (Kelly Marie Tran) McGuffinesque mission to Canto Bight, which is of the ashtray-on-a-speederbike variety, and takes away from the tension cranked up elsewhere.

Harry Guerin, RTÉ (Ireland) - Fresh

The remaining 20% is made up of two different locales, one of which is entirely superfluous to the story. Essentially, there is a subplot that introduces Benicio del Toro’s mysterious work of eccentricity, except it doesn’t really do much of interest with him. Admittedly, it feels as if the character could be destined for bigger things in the final chapter, but I can only go off of what I watched, and well, the middle portion of The Last Jedi is stuck in the furthest setting from lightspeed. The journey expands to a space-Vegas full of various alien life forms and inhabitants, but it’s not as visually striking as previously explored planets. Additionally, by design, there seems to be filler injected simply because the other characters need things to do while Rey accomplishes what she needs to with Luke.

Robert Kojder, Flickering Myth - Fresh

The scenes on Canto Bight seemed like an unnecessary divert for Rose (a new character I actually really like) and Finn. This “casino planet” was like a scene right out of a low-budget Sy-Fy channel movie shot in Vancouver. It felt too familiar and earthbound to be a scene in an other-worldly scene in a Star Wars movie. The Rose/Finn alien horse race through the casino that ruined the galactic one-percenters good time and did some property damage was just ridiculous and should have been cut. Rose and Finn flopping around on the alien horse just looked like a bad theme park ride.

Chris Gore, Film Threat - Fresh

There’s a lengthy diversion to the casino planet of Canto Bight that feels pointless and tacked on just for the sake of giving us a cool new corner of the galaxy to feast our eyes on.

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly - Fresh
And that's it for Part II. Happy Holidays to all my fellow fans and miners! Next week I will conclude with Part III, which will cover- well, let's just say it's the longest of this series by far. Heh.

Spinning the reels of your favourite games at some preferred online casinos (카지노) from the comfort of your homes is convenient on so many levels, but we have all wondered (without an exception!) what it would be like to visit and play at some of the world’s most famous land-based casino establishments. And who can blame us? Some of you may have seen at least one of the world’s famous gambling destinations, but in case you haven’t, let us present to you the oldest casinos that are still standing!

Five Oldest Casinos in the World

Given the fact that Las Vegas and Monte Carlo are among the greatest gambling destinations on Earth, it’s interesting that the world’s oldest casino did not originate from either of these two places. To find out which one it is (and so much more) we’ve decided to create an entire list of the 5 oldest casino destinations in the world, so here’s our countdown:

5. Golden Gate Casino

You have probably wondered - what was the first casino built on the Las Vegas strip? We’ll tell you right away! Located in the centre of the city, on the corner of Main and Fremont Streets, one of the oldest casinos in Las Vegas is Golden Gate Casino. The property was purchased for $1,750 by John F. Miller in 1905, who opened it a year later. The casino operated within the hotel, until a state gambling ban took effect in 1909.

4. Casino de Monte-Carlo

Moving on to the next entertainment complex - Casino de Monte-Carlo, located in Monaco. The property is owned and operated by the Société des bains de mer de Monaco. It was built back in the 1856 when Princess Caroline of the House Grimaldi came up with an idea to build a casino, in order for Monaco to avoid the bankruptcy. In 1863, a new site for the casino was found. Amongst the investors were the Bishop of Monaco and the future Pope Leo XIII.

3. Kurhaus of Baden-Baden

Next casino on our list is Kurhaus of Baden-Baden, which was opened in the nineteenth century, in 1834. It’s an entire complex made of a casino, spa resort, and conference. The main entrance of the building has Corinthian columns featuring the neo-classical architecture. The place became very popular in the mid-1830s, during the time when gambling was forbidden in France, so many people from abroad would hop over the border to test their luck and the casino.

2. Casino de Spa

Being built back in 1763 and located in Belgium, the Casino de Spa is the next landmark on our list. Due to an extensive fire damage during the World War I, most of the building’s structure was destroyed. However, the place was rebuilt in 1918 and has undergone several transformations for hundreds of years. Finally, the building went through a complete renovation in the 1980s.

1. Casino di Venezia

We’ve made to the number 1 place on our list, dedicated to the oldest casino in Italy (and in the entire world), known as Casino di Venezia. It is a 381-year old establishment, which was built in the 17th century, in 1638 – to be precise. This Renaissance style building is located on the Grand Canal in the Cannaregio quarter of Venice (Veneto) and the best way to approach it, believe it or not, is by gondola or water taxi.

These mobsters need to be executed.
Thomas Gambino Sr. runs a Medical charity racket in NY and resides in Florida as one of the top members of the modern Commission. Thomas Sr.'s wife is Frances Lucchese. They oversee the Luccheses and factions of the Gambinos.
Carlo Gambino "Lucchese" is the grandson of the founder of the Gambinos through his father and grandson of the founder of the Luccheses through his mother. The Luccheses have an alliance with the Russian Mafia. The Russian Mafia have operations in Florida and California and the Gambinos live in New York, Florida, and California.
Thomas Gambino "Lucchese" Jr. owns an international warehouse and distribution company called Dynamic Worldwide with operations in China and other parts of Asia as well as in Texas next to the Mexican border. Thomas Jr. is headquartered out of Florida.
Frank Cali is the top boss in California and Los Angeles and has high authority within the Gambino crime family. Frank Cali covertly works with the Israeli-American businessmen Lyor Cohen who works with criminal rappers like Jay Z, Kanye West, DMX, and Method Man. Lyor Cohen is married to the deputy chairman of Christie's Asia Xin Li. The Massimo family of Rome own the Gambinos and Prince Tancredi Massimo works at Christies.
Rosario Gambino is Frank Calis uncle and adviser with close connections to Rome.
Leonardo Rizzuto is the head of the Montreal crime family which includes the Rizzutos and Cuntrera Caruana mafia. They have a business alliance with Venezuelan drug cartels and the Sinaloa Cartel. The Rizzutos have residences in Venezuela and meet with the Sinaloa Cartel on the Island of Margarita and properties owned by the Rizzuto crime family's owners the Ruspoli noble family of Rome.
Jack Giacalone runs the Detroit Mafia and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in the US through James Hoffa the son of Jimmy Hoffa who was disappeared by the Giacalones. The Detroit Mafia runs rackets on the US automotive industry. Giacalone also works with the Jewish billionaire and crook Daniel Gilbert who owns casinos in Detroit, Cleveland, and also owns the Cleveland Cavaliers. Dan Gilbert renamed his casino company Jack Entertainment to honor Jack Giacalone.
Russell Papalardo is a top boss of the Cleveland crime family which works closely with the Detroit Mafia. The Licavole family have been top members of the Cleveland crime family. Their relative named Jimmy Laccavole is one of the most insane and relentless gang stalkers and paid slanderers in my region. He is a small little zealous psychopath that specializes in poisoning people and brainwashing them with insane lies.
Meyer Lansky III runs territories in Vegas today and is a top member of the Jewish-Polish Mafia and associate of the Chicago Outfit. His grandfather Meyer Lansky was a Polish-Jew. Lansky III works with Tamares Group which is a casino company in Vegas owned by the Zabludowicz family which are Polish-Israeli Jews with Poju Zabludowicz.
Simone Rizzo DeCavalcate Jr. oversees the New Jersey crime family from Florida and he works with Wu-Tang rapper RZA or Robert Fitzgerald Diggs who lives in NJ and runs AVLN gangs, 5 Percenter Islamic Gang Stalkers, and other street gangs involved in drug trafficking of marijuana, PCP, crack-cocaine, and heroin. Wu-Tang also works with the Gambinos, Westies, and the Triads.
John Bokun is a high level and extremely dangerous Irish gangster that runs the Irish Westies in Hells Kitchen. John Bokun has a monopoly on marijuana both in the streets and in the medical industry. He extorts the medical marijuana industry and street sale of marijuana in the US. The Westies are allied with the Gambinos and Gottis. John Bokun is an extremely evil murderous psychopath that needs to be executed immediately.
Jay O'Connor is an Irish Mafia boss from Dublin. The Irish Mafia are extremely violent and involved in drug trafficking, gun trafficking, murder, extortion, thefts, robberies, and business rackets. The Irish Mafia often operate out of boxing clubs, bars, and racetracks.
Gerry Hutch is an Irish Mafia boss that runs rackets in the boxing industry and has been involved in robberies. Hutch has worked with the boxer Mike Tyson and has run boxing rings in Ireland. Conor McGregor is an associate of the Irish Mafia in Dublin and is a boxer and MMA fighter. The mafia rig fights for their bets. Bookies will collect bets and then the mafia decides who wins based on which is most profitable for them. Conor McGregor is an Irish mobster.
Terry Adams is an English gangster in Clerkenwell, London. The Adams crime family are involved in extortion, drug trafficking, human trafficking, sex trafficking of minors, blackmail, contract killings, and gold heists. The Clerkenwell Mafia is extorting the royal vault for gold. The Clerkenwell Mafia or Adams crime family are owned by the Massimo of Roccasecca family which live in London. Prince Stefano Massimo's mother was Dawn Addams.
Philip Andrew Genovese is a major pedophile living in Massachusetts and he is the grandson of Vito Genovese the founder of the Genovese crime family which works with the Springfield Crew in Massachusetts. Philip Andrew Genovese oversees Philip Gigante and Andrew Gigante of the Genovese crime family.
Richard Valentini is the street boss of the Springfield Crew and he is one of the most violent and murderous members of Cosa Nostra.
Andrew Gigante is a top boss of the Genovese crime family which have infiltrated Wall Street and run high end prostitution rings. Gigante means giant. The Gigantes work with the Mara family which own the NY Giants. The mafia rig sports for their bets. The Mara family are Irish white collar mobsters connected with the Jesuits and they work with the Rooney family through marriage which are white collar Irish mobsters, businessmen, and politicians that ran the Yonkers Raceway for decades. Racetracks are often mafia headquarters used for money laundering. The mafia works with owners of racetracks which allow them to claim their criminal profits like from drug trafficking were gambling wins.
Philip Gigante is a mobster and mayor in Airmonte, NY.
Liborio Bellomo is a high level mafia boss in the Genovese crime family. Liborio Bellomo spreads insane lies into society like a virus. Bellomo is from a Sicilian noble family and there is still a Bellomo castle in Syracuse, Sicily today. Bellomo operates out of the Bronx and oversees many African American gangs and mafias including a large gang ran by the criminal rapper Papoose out of Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. This Bed-Stuy black mafia are major gun traffickers in New York.
Vincent Badalemeti is a ruthless and murderous boss of the Bonanno crime family. The Bonannos have an alliance with the Ceritto crime family which have moved from California to Texas. The owners of the Bonannos are the Boncompagni-Ludovisi family of Rome. Bon-compagni translates to good fellow or Goodfella which is a term for made men.
Joseph Merlino is one of the top bosses in Atlantic City and oversees Ft Lauderdale from Boca Rotan. The Merlinos were involved in building many of the casinos in Atlantic City including Trumps casinos. Donald Trump works with the Philly crime family and his Counselor Kellyanne Conway's grandfather was an associate of the Philly crime family. Merlino works with the Israeli white collar mobster and billionaire owner of the Miami Heat Micky Arison. Merlino also works with black street gangs run by the gangster rapper Cassidy who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for what was originally a murder charge. The Gaetani family are owners of the Philly Mob and the Merlinos. Trump is friends with Prince Gaetani d’Aragona Lovatelli and his ex wife dated him for years. Lovatelli just as Philly is called the City of Brotherly Love.
Joseph Ligambi is a high level consiglieri for the Philly Mob and he works with the Jewish billionaire and owner of the Philadelphia Eagles Jeffrey Lurie who rigs games for the mafias bets. Joseph Ligambi also works with the Jewish billionaire Joshua Harris who is an owner of the Philadelphia 76's and co founder of Apollo Global Management with the Jesuit educated Knight of Malta Tony Ressler. Ligambi has similar ancestry as the Gambinos and has Philly mobsters loyal to him including George Borgesi, Joseph Massimino, and Mikey Lancelotti and all of their names refer to the Roman noble families; the Borgheses, Massimos, and Massimo-Lancellottis which are owners of the Gambinos.
John Gotti Jr. is a high level member of the modern Commission. He works with 50 Cent who runs both Bloods and Crips on the East Coast. Gotti Jr. and 50 Cent can be seen hanging out together. Gotti Jr. operates out of Long Island and manages Jewish billionaires and businessmen in New York through blackmail and extortion. The mafia provides children and underage sex workers to pedophiles in business and politics while taping them in the act and then use this to blackmail them. They use violence to control wealth. John Gotti is an extremely dangerous coward that controls other men through faggotry. Many Jewish billionaires are working with mafia including the child murdering pedophile Michael Bloomberg.
Louis Vallario is a Gambino street boss from Brooklyn working under the Gottis and he manages the Brooklyn born record producer Jimmy Iovine. Jimmy Iovine is an associate of the Gottis and Gambinos and he manages Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg are top bosses of the West Coast Crips and they are extremely evil. Jimmy Iovine who is worth over 900 million is close friends with Dre who is worth about 700 million. Dr. Dre and the Crips are involved in human trafficking and pedophilia cults. They use faggotry to control other men. Dr. Dre is a major faggot and pedophile. This makes him extremely insecure and dangerous.
John Gotti III is a UFC fighter and has infiltrated mixed martial arts industry which is used for rigging fights for bets and recruiting mafia enforcers. Gotti III is ruthless and murderous.
The Fertitta family with Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Tilman Fertitta are billionaires and members of the Galveston crime family and run the UFC. The Fertittas married with the Maceo crime family of Galveston, Texas. The Ferttitas operate in Nevada and Texas. The Fertittas also own Station Casinos which operates in Vegas. They use casinos for money laundering. Casinos are rigged. Dan Caldwell is an Irish mobster and owner of Tapout. Caldwell works with the Fertittas and Irish Mafia and he is extremely evil. Dan Caldwell is a psycho. Tillman Fertitta is the owner of the Houston Rockets and manages James Harden who is a ruthless gang stalker, faggot-rapist, and cannibal that defends the Fertittas. James Harden is a horrible person.
Vincent Civella is a high level made man in the Kansas City crime family which have operations in Missouri, Texas, and Nevada. The Sansone family are members of the Kansas City crime family with Michael Sansone and Anthony Sansone as made men and they have white collar mafia relatives running a large real estate company in Missouri. The mafia infiltrates everything including real estate. They have rackets in nearly every industry.
Vincenzo Isoldi is a Camorra mobster in Pittsburgh and associate of the Pittsburgh crime family. The Pittsburgh crime family runs the Jewish billionaire Mark Cuban who owns the Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban was originally from Pittsburgh and he is involved in rigging games for the mafias bets. The Borghese, Torlonia, and Rocco di Torrepadula families are owners of the mafia in Pittsburgh sometimes called the LaRocca crime family and the Torlonias also own the Kansas City crime family which have criminal operations in Dallas. The Torlonias are a continuation of the ancient Conti di Segni family and Gregorio Conti founded the Pittsburgh crime family. The Torlonias are the Princes of Civitella Cesi. The Civella family were founding members of the KS crime family. Civitella and Civella both mean owl. The Hunt family own the Kansas City Chiefs and are also connected with Dallas. The Chiefs CEO and President Clark Hunt was born in Dallas.
Victoria Gotti is a female member of Cosa Nostra. Female members of the mafia are directly involved with pedophilia, child trafficking, and murdering children. Victoria Gotti is really evil and ruthless.
Carmine Agnello is a Gambino-Gotti associate and made man in the Cleveland crime family. Agnello and the Cleveland mafia infiltrate blue collar industries.
Frank Agnello-Gotti is a high level made men in the Gambino crime family and they also manage the Albanian Mafia with his brothers Carmine and John.
Carmine Agnello-Gotti is a high level mobster
John Agnello-Gotti is likely the head of the Gotti-Agnellos. John Agnello-Gotti is a murderous thug.
John Alite is a high level Albanian mobster and Gambino made man and hitman. Alite works with the Gottis and Gambinos and oversees factions of the Albanian Mafia. The Jewish-Albanian rapper named Action Bronson is a covert Albanian mafia boss and oversees a US faction of the Hellbanianz which are headquartered in London. The Hellbanianz oversee the Albanian Boys which are a national crime organization.
Chris Colombo runs prostitution rings, pedophilia rings, and specializes in blackmail. The Colombos also have a monopoly on cocaine trafficking. A man named Vincent Martello works with the Colombos in the Greenwich and Long Island area. He runs an intelligence network for Cosa Nostra. He also makes threats on behalf of the mafia and is involved in trafficking children in the trunks of vehicles that he sells.
Raymond Patriarca Jr. is a hidden boss of the New England crime family which have operations in Boston, Providence, and New Haven. They are involved in human trafficking, extortion, and blackmail. They are an extremely violent and oppressive mafia and they are allied with Jewish white collar mobsters, Irish Mafias in Boston including the Winter Hill Gang and the Puerto Rican Mafia in Boston headed up by the criminal Puerto Rican rapper Termanology or Daniel Carrillo who lives outside of Boston. The New England crime family work closely with the Romney family and with Bain Capital and Bain & Company through Stephen Pagliuca a co-founder of Bain Capital and owner of the Boston Celtics. Romney's Bain Capital was originally financed by offshore accounts from Latin American businessmen including associates of the Puerto Rican Mafia. Raymond Patriarca Jr. is Italian-Irish and has a Jewish wife.
Carmen Dinunzio is a top boss of the New England crime family and its Boston faction. Carmen Dinunzio works with the Jewish-Zionist billionaire Robert Kraft the owner of the New England Patriots. The Patriots are known for fixing games with spying and deflating footballs during a game because they practiced with deflated balls giving them an advantage. Robert Kraft has donated large amounts of money to the Jesuit colleges Boston College and College of the Holy Cross. The primary owners of the New England crime family are the Bourbon-Two Sicilies family and their ancestors officially established the Jesuits.
Frank Colacurcio Jr. runs the sex trafficking industry including trafficking of children in the North West part of the US including in northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. The Coacurcios own a lot of strip clubs in Seattle used as fronts for brothels. The Seattle crime family works with Aryan Brotherhood gangs, Nazis, and Yakuza. There is a large scale human trafficking network from Asia to the West Coast with members of the mercenary company United Resources Group involved. Yakuza and Triads have also infiltrated the ports on the West Coast. The Palin family in Alaska are heavily involved in human trafficking. The Seattle crime family also works with Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos who finance and participate in human trafficking. They use their collective hundreds of billions to bribe police and government agents.
Vincent Loscalzo is a top member of the Trafficante crime family of Florida. The Trafficantes work with the Cuban Mafia and are involved with cocaine trafficking with the Cuban Jesuit Fanjul family of sugar manufacturers. They conceal cocaine as sugar. The Trafficantes work with the CIA and have operations and casinos in Cuba. Cuba is a hide out for mobsters. The CIA also fakes deaths of high profile criminals which hide out in Cuba like the ruthless mobster and rapper Lesane Parish Crooks. The Trafficantes also work with the New Orleans crime family which are major human traffickers and specialize in murder and disposing of bodies. The New Orleans crime family has an alliance with the Gulf Cartel.
Chris Paciello is a former mafia hitman and currently a night club owner in Miami, Florida. Paciello is still a member of Cosa Nostra and works covertly with the Trafficantes. He also manages the criminal rapper Rick Ross who took his name from the drug trafficker Freeway Ricky Ross. Trina is a female member of the African American mafia in Miami and is involved in child trafficking and child murder.
Joseph Caridi is a high level member of the Lucchese crime family which have a monopoly on the heroin market. They own a funeral home called Joseph A Lucchese Funeral Home with a crematorium in the Bronx which they use for disposing of bodies. The Luccheses are probably the most murderous mafia on the planet. They work with the Corsican Mafia which are headquartered in Baltimore. They import opium and heroin mostly through the ports on the East Coast and Thomas Gambino-Lucchese Jr. also traffics in heroin through Mexico.
Joseph Lubrano is a high level Lucchese mobster headquartered in Yonkers and he oversees rappers from Wu-Tang, Yonkers based D-Block, and the Harlem based Diplomats which are running the modern day Drug Council which is the head of the African American Mafia in the United States. Confirmed members of the modern Council include Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, Styles P, Ghostface Killah, and Jim Jones with his associate Hell Rell. The Yonkers based gangster rap group D-Block are the head of the modern Council and they work with Jay Z.
Semion Mogilevich is a Jewish-Russian mafia boss headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. Mogilvech's mafia runs some Israeli Mafias and has a portion of authority over the IDF through former IDF Chief Benny Gantz whose family was from Hungary. Mogilvech has owned a military arms manufacturing plant and this mafia also specializes in making snuff films.
Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov is a Russian Mafia boss with operations in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Tokhtakhunov is an associate of the Corleonisi mafia clan of Sicily which also have operations in Monte Carlo where they launder their criminal profits through casinos. The royal family of Monaco the Grimaldis previously ruled in Genoa which ruled in the Black Sea region and they had relationships with the Romanovs and Khazarian nobles. Putin is a close friend with Prince Albert II of Monaco. Tokhtakhunov has admitted to meeting Putin.
Kwok Wing-hung is a Chinese Triad boss. The Triads have operations on the West Coast in the US and have infiltrated the ports. They are involved with human trafficking of Asian women and children. They are also involved in thefts, protection rackets, and manufacturing and selling knock offs of high end goods. Prince Francesco Luca Costa Sanseverino di Bisignano is from a Sicilian noble family and he was born in and resides in Hong Kong overseeing the Triads. Most mafias are managed by Cosa Nostra and pay them tributes.

Thomas Gambino Sr. runs a Medical charity racket in NY and resides in Florida as one of the top members of the modern Commission. Thomas Sr.'s wife is Frances Lucchese. They oversee the Luccheses and factions of the Gambinos. The Lucchesi-Palli family are a nobility of Sicily, Tuscany, and Austria and they own the Lucchese crime family. The Russian Mafia in Brighton Beach, New York pay tributes to the Lucchese crime family. The Russian Mafia has held meetings in Austria where the Lucchesi-Palli are nobles. Frank Stronach is an Austrian businessman that owns horse race tracks in the US including the Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland where the Corsican Mafia are covertly headquartered. The Corsican Mafia partnered with the Lucchese crime family through their "French Connection" heroin operation. The mafia use horse race tracks as headquarters for money laundering.
Carlo Gambino "Lucchese" is the grandson of the founder of the Gambinos through his father and grandson of the founder of the Luccheses through his mother. The Luccheses have an alliance with the Russian Mafia. The Russian Mafia have operations in Florida and California and the Gambinos live in New York, Florida, and California.
Thomas Gambino "Lucchese" Jr. owns an international warehouse and distribution company called Dynamic Worldwide with operations in China and other parts of Asia as well as in Texas next to the Mexican border. Thomas Jr. is headquartered out of Florida.
Frank Cali is the top boss in California and Los Angeles and has high authority within the Gambino crime family. Frank Cali covertly works with the Israeli-American businessmen Lyor Cohen who works with criminal rappers like Jay Z, Kanye West, DMX, and Method Man. Lyor Cohen is married to the deputy chairman of Christie's Asia Xin Li. The Massimo family of Rome own the Gambinos and Prince Tancredi Massimo works at Christies.
Rosario Gambino is Frank Calis uncle and adviser with close connections to Rome. The Gambinos are owned by the Massimo family with Prince Fabrizio Massimo-Brancaccio who is like the godfather of organized crime. The Massimos received tributes from most mafias and cartels around the world.
Massimo Carminati who was imprisoned in 2017 was the head of the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari (NAR) a Neo-Fascist paramilitary group that still covertly exists and works with the Magliana Mafia of Rome. The NAR is involved in weapons trafficking, assassinations, and contract killings and they are owned by the Massimo family. Massimo Carminati was nicknamed the "Last King of Rome"
Leonardo Rizzuto is the head of the Montreal crime family which includes the Rizzutos and Cuntrera Caruana mafia. They have a business alliance with Venezuelan drug cartels and the Sinaloa Cartel. The Rizzutos have residences in Venezuela and meet with the Sinaloa Cartel on the Island of Margarita and properties owned by the Rizzuto crime family's owners the Ruspoli noble family of Rome.
Jack Giacalone runs the Detroit Mafia and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in the US through James Hoffa the son of Jimmy Hoffa who was disappeared by the Giacalones. The Detroit Mafia runs rackets on the US automotive industry. Giacalone also works with the Jewish billionaire and crook Daniel Gilbert who owns casinos in Detroit, Cleveland, and also owns the Cleveland Cavaliers. Dan Gilbert renamed his casino company Jack Entertainment to honor Jack Giacalone. The Detroit Mafia is owned by the Odescalchi family of Rome.
Russell Papalardo is a top boss of the Cleveland crime family which works closely with the Detroit Mafia. The Licavole family have been top members of the Cleveland crime family. Their relative named Jimmy Laccavole is one of the most insane and relentless gang stalkers and paid slanderers in my region. He is a small little zealous psychopath that specializes in poisoning people and brainwashing them with insane lies. The Orsini family are owners of the Cleveland crime family and they are merged with the German Rosenberg family which own some Jewish mafias with the Def Jam CEO Paul Rosenberg as a member of the Jewish Mafia.
Meyer Lansky III runs territories in Vegas today and is a top member of the Jewish-Polish Mafia and associate of the Chicago Outfit. His grandfather Meyer Lansky was a Polish-Jew. Lansky III works with Tamares Group which is a casino company in Vegas owned by the Zabludowicz family which are Polish-Israeli Jews with Poju Zabludowicz. The Colonna family are owners of the Chicago Outfit and use the Roselli del Turco and Capponi noble families of Florence to mange them. Al Capone and John Rosseli were Chicago mobsters and related to these noble families. The Colonna family of Rome also have a Polish branch called the Colonna-Walewski family. Meyer Lanski was a Polish Jew.
Simone Rizzo DeCavalcate Jr. oversees the New Jersey crime family from Florida and he works with Wu-Tang rapper RZA or Robert Fitzgerald Diggs who lives in NJ and runs AVLN gangs, 5 Percenter Islamic Gang Stalkers, and other street gangs involved in drug trafficking of marijuana, PCP, crack-cocaine, and heroin. Wu-Tang also works with the Gambinos, Westies, and the Triads.
John Bokun is a high level and extremely dangerous Irish gangster that runs the Irish Westies in Hells Kitchen. John Bokun has a monopoly on marijuana both in the streets and in the medical industry. He extorts the medical marijuana industry and street sale of marijuana in the US. John Bokun was arrested several years ago for transporting a half of million in marijuana on his 40 million dollar jet from California to the East Coast. The Westies are allied with the Gambinos and Gottis. John Bokun is an extremely evil murderous psychopath that needs to be executed immediately.
Jay O'Connor is an Irish Mafia boss from Dublin. The Irish Mafia are extremely violent and involved in drug trafficking, gun trafficking, murder, extortion, thefts, robberies, and business rackets. The Irish Mafia often operate out of boxing clubs, bars, and racetracks. The Rooney family in the US are Irish white collar mobsters involved in politics and business. They recently sold their Yonkers Raceway in 2019 to MGM. They owned the Yonkers Raceway since 1972. In 1995 there were arrests at the Rooney's Yonkers Raceway for a multimillion dollar gambling ring.
Gerry Hutch is an Irish Mafia boss that runs rackets in the boxing industry and has been involved in robberies. Hutch has worked with the boxer Mike Tyson and has run boxing rings in Ireland. Conor McGregor is an associate of the Irish Mafia in Dublin and is a boxer and MMA fighter. The mafia rig fights for their bets. Bookies will collect bets and then the mafia decides who wins based on which is most profitable for them. Conor McGregor is an Irish mobster.
Terry Adams is an English gangster in Clerkenwell, London. The Adams crime family are involved in extortion, drug trafficking, human trafficking, sex trafficking of minors, blackmail, contract killings, and gold heists. The Clerkenwell Mafia is extorting the royal vault for gold. The Clerkenwell Mafia or Adams crime family are owned by the Massimo of Roccasecca family which live in London. Prince Stefano Massimo's mother was Dawn Addams.
Richard Valentini is the street boss of the Springfield Crew and he is one of the most violent and murderous members of Cosa Nostra. The Arrivabene-Valenti-Gonzaga family own the Rochester crime family of New York which was headed up by Valenti mobsters with crime bosses Frank Valenti and Constenze Valenti. Their cousins own a large car dealership company in New England. Richard Valentini works under the Arrivabene-Valenti-Gonzaga family of Venice. Its believed the Springfield Crew is part of the Genovese crime family. The Savoys own the Genovese mafia. The Arrivabene-Valenti-Gonzaga family is currently married with the royal House of Savoy-Aosta. Prince Giberto Arrivabenne-Valenti-Gonzaga's wife is the daughter of Prince Amadeo of Savoy-Aosta.
Philip Andrew Genovese is a major pedophile living in Massachusetts and he is the grandson of Vito Genovese the founder of the Genovese crime family which works with the Springfield Crew in Massachusetts. Philip Andrew Genovese oversees Philip Gigante and Andrew Gigante of the Genovese crime family.
Andrew Gigante is a top boss of the Genovese crime family which have infiltrated Wall Street and run high end prostitution rings. Gigante means giant. The Gigantes work with the Mara family which own the NY Giants. The mafia rig sports for their bets. The Mara family are Irish white collar mobsters connected with the Jesuits and they work with the Rooney family through marriage which are white collar Irish mobsters, businessmen, and politicians that ran the Yonkers Raceway for decades. Racetracks are often mafia headquarters used for money laundering. The mafia works with owners of racetracks which allow them to claim their criminal profits like from drug trafficking were gambling wins.
Philip Gigante is a mobster and mayor in Airmonte, NY. The Savoy-Aosta family are owners of the Gigantes which have operations in New Jersey while the Savoys which live in Switzerland and are the princes of Naples and Venice are the owners of the Genovese family with the Gigantes being second in command. The Savoy-Aostas are also the Dukes of Apulia. The Apulian Mafia or Sacra Corona Unita mafia have deeply infiltrated New Jersey and work with the DeCavalcante crime family of New Jersey.
Liborio Bellomo is a high level mafia boss in the Genovese crime family. Liborio Bellomo spreads insane lies into society like a virus. Bellomo is from a Sicilian noble family and there is still a Bellomo castle in Syracuse, Sicily today. Bellomo operates out of the Bronx and oversees many African American gangs and mafias including a large gang ran by the criminal rapper Papoose out of Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. This Bed-Stuy black mafia are major gun traffickers in New York.
Vincent Badalemeti is a ruthless and murderous boss of the Bonanno crime family. The Bonannos have an alliance with the Ceritto crime family which have moved from California to Texas. The owners of the Bonannos are the Boncompagni-Ludovisi family of Rome. Bon-compagni translates to good fellow or Goodfella which is a term for made men.
Joseph Merlino is one of the top bosses in Atlantic City and oversees Ft Lauderdale from Boca Rotan. The Merlinos were involved in building many of the casinos in Atlantic City including Trumps casinos. Donald Trump works with the Philly crime family and his Counselor Kellyanne Conway's grandfather was an associate of the Philly crime family. Merlino works with the Israeli white collar mobster and billionaire owner of the Miami Heat Micky Arison. Merlino also works with black street gangs run by the gangster rapper Cassidy who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for what was originally a murder charge. The Gaetani family are owners of the Philly Mob and the Merlinos. Trump is friends with Prince Gaetani d’Aragona Lovatelli and his ex wife dated him for years. Lovatelli just as Philly is called the City of Brotherly Love.
Joseph Ligambi is a high level consiglieri for the Philly Mob and he works with the Jewish billionaire and owner of the Philadelphia Eagles Jeffrey Lurie who rigs games for the mafias bets. Joseph Ligambi also works with the Jewish billionaire Joshua Harris who is an owner of the Philadelphia 76's and co founder of Apollo Global Management with the Jesuit educated Knight of Malta Tony Ressler. Ligambi has similar ancestry as the Gambinos and has Philly mobsters loyal to him including George Borgesi, Joseph Massimino, and Mikey Lancelotti and all of their names refer to the Roman noble families; the Borgheses, Massimos, and Massimo-Lancellottis which are owners of the Gambinos.
John Gotti Jr. is a high level member of the modern Commission. He works with 50 Cent who runs both Bloods and Crips on the East Coast. Gotti Jr. and 50 Cent can be seen hanging out together. Gotti Jr. operates out of Long Island and manages Jewish billionaires and businessmen in New York through blackmail and extortion. The mafia uses violence to control wealth. This creates a layer of protection for the owners of the mafia which are the Black Nobility of Rome. The mafia provides children and underage sex workers to pedophiles in business and politics while taping them in the act and then use this to blackmail them. They use violence, blackmail, and extortion to control wealth. John Gotti is an extremely dangerous coward that controls other men through faggotry. Faggotry really means men raping other men to control them. Faggot derives from the word Fasces where the word Fascism also derived. Many Jewish billionaires are working with mafia including the child murdering pedophile Michael Bloomberg.
Louis Vallario is a Gambino street boss from Brooklyn working under the Gottis and he manages the Brooklyn born record producer Jimmy Iovine. Jimmy Iovine is an associate of the Gottis and Gambinos and he manages Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg are top bosses of the West Coast Crips and they are extremely evil. Jimmy Iovine who is worth over 900 million is close friends with Dre who is worth about 700 million. Dr. Dre and the Crips are involved in human trafficking and pedophilia cults. They use faggotry to control other men. Dr. Dre is a major faggot and pedophile. This makes him extremely insecure and dangerous.
John Gotti III is a MMA fighter working with the UFC and has infiltrated mixed martial arts industry which is used for rigging fights for bets and recruiting mafia enforcers. Gotti III is ruthless and murderous.
Dennis Pappas is a high level criminal associate of the Colombo crime family and works as a financier and law adviser for Cosa Nostra. Dennis Pappas was convicted of racketeering and tax evasion and later worked for the wealthy Venetian Cipriani family who were also investigated and fined for tax evasion assisted by Pappas. Dennis Pappas worked as a high level executive of Cipriani USA which owns restaurants and nightclubs. The Ciprianis own clubs all over the world and are originally from Venice. They are likely worth billions. They moved their company headquarters to Luxembourg where there are banking secrecy laws. During Pappas original arrest in the 90's for racketeering he claimed he worked as a spy for the FBI involving 1993 World Trade Center bombing to blackmail them into getting a plea deal.
Salvatore DeLaurentis is the boss of the Chicago Outfit which has a covert alliance with the Los Zetas drug cartel. The Chicago Outfit also covertly runs many Vegas casinos today and use them for money laundering. The Chicago Outfit specializes in controlling democratic politicians including Clinton and Obama. Obama has business connections with Tony Rezko who was convicted of wire fraud, extortion, and corrupt solicitation. Obama is also friends with Alexi Giannoulias whose bank made loans worth millions to convicted mobsters Michael Giorango and Demitri Stavropoulos. The Chicago Outfit has agents that have infiltrated the Chicago police department and the Chicago Mafia also works with various black street gangs which move drugs for them.
James Inendino is a Chicago mobster operating out of Cicero right next to Chicago. They have a headquarters at the Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero owned by the Carey family. Hawthorne was involved in the 70's in gambling rings and an arson to cover it up.
Peter DiFronzo is a Chicago mobster and brother of the recently deceased mafia boss John DiFronzo. John DiFronzo owned car dealerships which the mafia use for moving stolen vehicles which they use to transport drugs and for human trafficking. They use dealer plates to move around these stolen vehicles. The Chicago Outfit is covertly involved in pedophilia rings and child trafficking and they blackmail politicians and businessmen that are propped up with videos of them molesting children.
The Fertitta family with Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Tilman Fertitta are billionaires and members of the Galveston crime family and run the UFC. The Fertittas married with the Maceo crime family of Galveston, Texas. The Ferttitas operate in Nevada and Texas. The Fertittas also own Station Casinos which operates in Vegas. They use casinos for money laundering. Casinos are rigged. Dan Caldwell is an Irish mobster and owner of Tapout. Caldwell works with the Fertittas and Irish Mafia and he is extremely evil. Dan Caldwell is a psycho. Tillman Fertitta is the owner of the Houston Rockets and manages James Harden who is a ruthless satanic psychopath and mafia associate that defends the Fertittas. James Harden is a horrible person.
Vincent Civella is a high level made man in the Kansas City crime family which have operations in Missouri, Texas, and Nevada. The Sansone family are members of the Kansas City crime family with Michael Sansone and Anthony Sansone as made men and they have white collar mafia relatives running a large real estate company in Missouri. The mafia infiltrates everything including real estate. They have rackets in nearly every industry.
Vincenzo Isoldi is a Camorra mobster in Pittsburgh and associate of the Pittsburgh crime family. The Pittsburgh crime family runs the Jewish billionaire Mark Cuban who owns the Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban was originally from Pittsburgh and he is involved in rigging games for the mafias bets. The Borghese, Torlonia, and Rocco di Torrepadula families are owners of the mafia in Pittsburgh sometimes called the LaRocca crime family and the Torlonias also own the Kansas City crime family which have criminal operations in Dallas. The Torlonias are a continuation of the ancient Conti di Segni family and Gregorio Conti founded the Pittsburgh crime family. The Torlonias are the Princes of Civitella Cesi. The Civella family were founding members of the Kansas City crime family. Civitella and Civella both mean owl. The Hunt family own the Kansas City Chiefs and are also connected with Dallas. The Chiefs CEO and President Clark Hunt was born in Dallas.
Victoria Gotti is a female member of Cosa Nostra. Female members of the mafia are directly involved with pedophilia, child trafficking, and murdering children. Victoria Gotti is really evil and ruthless.
Carmine Agnello is a Gambino-Gotti associate and made man in the Cleveland crime family. Agnello and the Cleveland mafia infiltrate blue collar industries. Carmine Agnello is extremely evil. The Gaetanis are part owners of the Gottis. The Gaetanis are married with the billionaire Agnelli-Elkann family with Ginevra Elkann the granddaughter of Gianni Agnelli married to Prince Giovanni Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona.
Frank Agnello-Gotti is a high level made men in the Gambino crime family and they also manage the Albanian Mafia with his brothers Carmine and John.
Carmine Agnello-Gotti is a high level mobster. The Gottis are considered royalty among the Italian Mafia.
John Agnello-Gotti is likely the head of the Gotti-Agnellos. John Agnello-Gotti is a murderous thug.
John Alite is a high level Albanian mobster and Gambino made man and hitman. Alite works with the Gottis and Gambinos and oversees factions of the Albanian Mafia. The Jewish-Albanian rapper named Action Bronson is a covert Albanian mafia boss and oversees a US faction of the Hellbanianz which are headquartered in London. The Hellbanianz oversee the Albanian Boys which are a national crime organization.
Chris Colombo runs prostitution rings, pedophilia rings, and specializes in blackmail. The Colombos also have a monopoly on cocaine trafficking. A man named Vincent Martello works with the Colombos in the Greenwich and Long Island area. He runs an intelligence network for Cosa Nostra. He also makes threats on behalf of the mafia and is involved in trafficking children in the trunks of vehicles that he sells. The Colombos are an extremely evil and active crime family in New York City and they work closely with Jewish white collar mobsters which specialize in embezzlement, criminal financing, and infiltration.
Raymond Patriarca Jr. is a hidden boss of the New England crime family which have operations in Boston, Providence, and New Haven. They are involved in human trafficking, extortion, and blackmail. They are an extremely violent and oppressive mafia and they are allied with Jewish white collar mobsters, Irish Mafias in Boston including the Winter Hill Gang and the Puerto Rican Mafia in Boston headed up by the criminal Puerto Rican rapper Termanology or Daniel Carrillo who lives outside of Boston. The New England crime family work closely with the Romney family and with Bain Capital and Bain & Company through Stephen Pagliuca a co-founder of Bain Capital and owner of the Boston Celtics. Romney's Bain Capital was originally financed by offshore accounts from Latin American businessmen including associates of the Puerto Rican Mafia. Raymond Patriarca Jr. is Italian-Irish and has a Jewish wife.
Carmen Dinunzio is a top boss of the New England crime family and its Boston faction. Carmen Dinunzio works with the Jewish-Zionist billionaire Robert Kraft the owner of the New England Patriots. Tom Brady is a criminal agent of Kraft and he is involved in cheating and fixing games for the mafia's bets. Tom Brady also works with motorcycle gangs including the Iron Horseman and Hells Angels which traffic meth and also adrenochrome which Tom Brady consumes. The Patriots are known for fixing games with spying and deflating footballs during a game because they practiced with deflated balls giving them an advantage. Robert Kraft has donated large amounts of money to the Jesuit colleges Boston College and College of the Holy Cross. The primary owners of the New England crime family are the Bourbon-Two Sicilies family and their ancestors officially established the Jesuits.
Frank Colacurcio Jr. runs the sex trafficking industry including trafficking of children in the North West part of the US including in northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. The Coacurcios own a lot of strip clubs in Seattle used as fronts for brothels. The Seattle crime family works with Aryan Brotherhood gangs, Nazis, and Yakuza. There is a large scale human trafficking network from Asia to the West Coast with members of the mercenary company United Resources Group involved. Yakuza and Triads have also infiltrated the ports on the West Coast. The Palin family in Alaska are heavily involved in human trafficking. The Seattle crime family also works with Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos who finance and participate in human trafficking. They use their collective hundreds of billions to bribe police and government agents.
Vincent Loscalzo is a top member of the Trafficante crime family of Florida. The Trafficantes work with the Cuban Mafia and are involved with cocaine trafficking with the Cuban Jesuit Fanjul family of sugar manufacturers. They conceal cocaine as sugar. The Trafficantes work with the CIA and have operations and casinos in Cuba. Cuba is a hide out for mobsters. The CIA also fakes deaths of high profile criminals which hide out in Cuba like the ruthless mobster and rapper Lesane Parish Crooks. The Trafficantes also work with the New Orleans crime family which are major human traffickers and specialize in murder and disposing of bodies. The New Orleans crime family has an alliance with the Gulf Cartel.
Chris Paciello is a former mafia hitman and currently a night club owner in Miami, Florida. Paciello is still a member of Cosa Nostra and works covertly with the Trafficantes. He also manages the criminal rapper Rick Ross who took his name from the drug trafficker Freeway Ricky Ross. Trina is a female member of the African American mafia in Miami and is involved in child trafficking and child murder. The rapper Rick Ross can be seen hanging out with Chris Paciello on numerous occasions at Paciello's Miami clubs.
Joseph Caridi is a high level member of the Lucchese crime family which have a monopoly on the heroin market. The Luccheses own a funeral home called Joseph A Lucchese Funeral Home with a crematorium in the Bronx which they use for disposing of bodies. Joseph Lucchese is a member of the Lucchese crime family and he disposes of bodies in his crematorium and also murders people by burning them alive. The Luccheses are probably the most murderous mafia on the planet. They work with the Corsican Mafia which are headquartered in Baltimore. They import opium and heroin mostly through the ports on the East Coast and Thomas Gambino-Lucchese Jr. also traffics in heroin through Mexico.
Joseph Lubrano is a high level Lucchese mobster headquartered in Yonkers and he oversees rappers from Wu-Tang, Yonkers based D-Block, and the Harlem based Diplomats which are running the modern day Drug Council which is the head of the African American Mafia in the United States. D-Block which are from Yonkers are the head of the modern day Council. Confirmed members of the Drug Council include Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, Styles P, Ghostface Killah, and Jim Jones with his associate Hell Rell. The Yonkers based gangster rap group D-Block are the head of the modern Council and they work with Jay Z. They recently signed to Jay Z's record label.
Semion Mogilevich is a Jewish-Russian mafia boss headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. Mogilvech's mafia runs some Israeli Mafias and has a portion of authority over the IDF through former IDF Chief Benny Gantz whose family was from Hungary. Mogilvech has owned a military arms manufacturing plant and this mafia also specializes in making snuff films. The Austrian House of Esterhazy and Lucchesi-Palli family are owners of the Mogilevich Mafia.
Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov is a Russian Mafia boss with operations in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Tokhtakhunov is an associate of the Corleonisi mafia clan of Sicily which also have operations in Monte Carlo where they launder their criminal profits through casinos. The royal family of Monaco the Grimaldis previously ruled in Genoa which ruled in the Black Sea region and they had relationships with the Romanovs and Khazarian nobles. Putin is a close friend with Prince Albert II of Monaco. Tokhtakhunov has admitted to meeting Putin.
Kwok Wing-hung is a Chinese Triad boss. The Triads have operations on the West Coast in the US and have infiltrated the ports. They are involved with human trafficking of Asian women and children. They are also involved in thefts, protection rackets, and manufacturing and selling knock offs of high end goods. Prince Francesco Luca Costa Sanseverino di Bisignano is from a Sicilian noble family and he was born in and resides in Hong Kong overseeing the Triads. Most mafias are managed by Cosa Nostra and pay them tributes. Cosa Nostra means "Our Thing" which refers to the Italian criminal's monopolization of organized crime.