stars ray liotta , robert de niro , lorraine bracco and paul sorvino were all in attendance for saturday 's special 25th anniversary screening .
not in attendance were director martin scorsese , who was filming in taiwan , and joe pesci who had won an oscar for his role in the 1990 movie .
` joe pesci could n't be here , but he sent this email : ` f *** , f *** , f *** , f *** ity f *** , f *** ' read de niro .
scorsese sent a video message and recalled how the movie upset the owner of his then favorite nyc italian restaurant .
throughout the two-and-a-half-hour screening the audience cheered each major character 's first appearance .
jon stewart then held a q&a with the actors and liotta recalled henry hill thanking him for ` not making me look like a s *** bag '