#2 THE GODFATHER PART II-1974

The Godfather Part II-1974   (Academy Award for Best Picture)

Rated: R  Running Time: 3hrs & 20mins

Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Written By: Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo
Cinematography by: Gordon Willis
Music By: Nino Rota

Cast:
Al Pacino.....Michael Corleone
Robert De Niro.....Vito Corleone
Robert Duvall.....Tom Hagen
John Cazale.....Fredo Corleone
Lee Strasberg.....Hyman Roth
Diane Keaton.....Kay
Talia Shire.....Connie Corleone
Michael V. Gazzo.....Frankie Pentangeli
Bruno Kirby.....Young Clemenza
G.D. Spradlin.....Senator Pat Geary
Dominic Chianese.....Johnny Ola


Its very rare in film to have a sequel equal to or greater than the original, this will be one example of that! Part II is every bit as good as Part I.  Michael has become the new Don and moved his family out to Nevada. Michael is no longer the shy Army man that he was at the beginning of the first film, he is now the head of the Corleone family business and is cold, calculating, and a ruthless businessman.  We see in an early scene him dealing with a US Senator, and then after the Senator basically insults his family we see Michael not only get angry but then refuse to do what the Senator wanted, showing that he is now powerful enough and that he will not be pushed around even by a Senator. With all do respect to Art Carney who won Best Actor in 1974 for Harry and Tonto, Al Pacino was robbed!! Pacino is fantastic in this film as we see Michael become a very intense person that after an attempted assassination on his life, he his full of vengeance and spends all his time trying to figure out who was involved and then how to get revenge, meanwhile he neglects his wife and children, which is something that his father never did when he was the Godfather. Once again wonderful cast all the way around with Duvall, Cazale, and Lee Strasberg.  The film is long, but it never felt long! As the film moves along we that Michael has realized that Hyman Roth has been the one behind the assassination attempt and that the person within his organization that indirectly helped was non other than (SPOILER ALERT!!!!)  his brother Fredo. One of the cool things about this film is that it has 2 storylines going on at the same time. While we are watching Michael Corleone we are also being shown the story of his father Vito and how he came to America and became the head of one of the most powerful mafia families in America. The young Vito is played beautifully by Robert De Niro. We see Vito become the Godfather all while still being a family man, which in reverse is what we see Michael struggle with throughout the film. Again a masterful job with the cinematography by Gordon Willis. Every shot seemed to be a work of Art. Also the music is once again as brilliant and wonderful as the first film. By the end of the film we see (SPOILER ALERT!!!) Kay realizing that her husband is not the same and despite his promises to make the family "legit" that it will never happens and in a emotion scene we see her tell Michael she is leaving him and taking the children. Of course Michael fights back and says he will do everything in his power to make sure she and the children wouldn't leave. Kay realizing that as long as Michael loves her wont allow her leave, so she reveals that the miscarriage she had was in fact an abortion, and that she knew it was a boy, but didn't want him being brought up in this kind of a family. Out of pure rage and feeling betrayed by her Michael strikes Kay knocking her onto the coach and he then kicks her out.  Michael has only his sister left to take care of him by the end of the movie and you can Michael broken down, lonely, feeling betrayed by those that loved him and that he loved.  I give the film 5/5 stars and rank it up there with the other great classic masterpieces in film history!

#1 THE GODFATHER-1972

The Godfather-1972    (Academy Award for Best Picture of 1972)

Rated: R  Running Time: 2hrs 55mins

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Cast:
Marlon Brando.....Don Vito Corleone
Al Pacino.....Michael Corleone
James Caan.....Sonny Corleone
Robert Duvall.....Tom Hagen
John Cazale.....Fredo Corleone
Talia Shire.....Connie Corleone
Diane Keaton.....Kay Adams
Al Lettieri.....Sollozzo
Abe Vigoda.....Tessio
Richard S Castellano.....Clemenza

Cinematography By: Gordon Willis
Music By: Nino Rota
Written By: Mario Puzo (novel)  Mario Puzo & Francis Ford Coppola (Screenplay)

"That's my family Kay, Its not me" we hear Michael Corleone say to his girlfriend at his sister's wedding! Its from that moment on in the film that a series of events starts to unfold that will eventually pull Michael into the family business and down a dark path! What a masterpiece of  film The Godfather is! Right from the start you get hooked with being a part of the Corleone family! The cast is superb and at least on film really worked well together! Brando plays Don Vito Corleone so very well, with that husky voice, to his loyalty to family and to the business that he has created. Very quiet yet calculating and we can tell he has no trouble ordering brute force or even death to get what he or his family needs. "Im gonna make him an offer he cant refuse"  James Caan is perfect as the hot headed oldest son Sonny. Robert Duvall adds his usual charm as Tom Hagen. Diane Keaton is solid as Kay Adams, the naïve girlfriend who has a deep love for Michael. John Cazale in a small supporting role is excellent as the quirky brother Fredo, who appears to be sort of the black sheep of the family and doesn't seem to be trusted with the major parts of the family business. (its kind of sad watching Cazale because he was so talented but cancer would take his life 6yrs later and his full potential was never reached) Then there is Al Pacino, who did a heck of a job as Michael. Pacino takes Michael from the quiet World War II hero at the beginning of the film and makes him into the ruthless and also very calculating Don we see at the end of the film. The Cinematography by Gordon Willis was extraordinary as he goes from the colorful lights of the Wedding and into some of the dark shadows of the organized crime world. Even though these are bad people that do bad things, you cant help but to try and like and understand their way of life. The film is long at almost 3hrs, but I have to be honest I never notice the time when I watched it and it kept me wanting for more. Good thing that 2yrs later they made the sequel!  I give The Godfather 5 out of 5 stars, certainly not a perfect film, but after you add everything up it certainly feels like you watched perfection. 

A Year with the greatest films in history!

I love going to the movies! Ever since I was a young child and got a glimpse of Star Wars, I have been hooked on movies. For those that know me, know that I have a true "passion" for all things movies! Movies take us for a front seat ride into laughter, emotions, adventures, action, distant lands, even those in a galaxy far far away! Movies show us people and characters whom we come to love and at times hate or admire. Simply put it movies are fun! I recently started a crazy project where I took 80 different top 100 films lists from IMDB, Flickchart, Letterboxd, and different critics and movie lovers lists I found on line. I took these 80 lists and then formed a master list of the greatest films! If a film was #1 on a list then I awarded it 100pts and so on and then added it all together and got a master list. Obviously this is not a perfect system but I felt it worked as a good frame of reference to build a master list. I wanted a list that had classic films, but also a representation of some of the newer films over the past 15yrs. There are films on the list I have already seen and then there are some I have not. I am looking forward to enjoying each and every one of them. Since I thought of a "year with the greatest films" I will watch roughly 365 films for this project. Obviously I don't have the ability to watch one film a day so this will take a little longer than a year! I plan on posting each film after I have seen them, so if you are interested you can follow along with me. Im not a great writer but I will do my best to give a decently written review and my thoughts and opinions of each film. I will start at #1 and work my way down. In certain cases when I run into a film that's part of a series or trilogy, I will watch the entire trilogy or series. Hope you enjoy! Please comment, I would love to hear anyone's thoughts and opinions.

Noel