I could go on, but I think you understand where I am coming from. I hadn't seen that movie since I saw it in a theater when it was released, then I watched it last night. It didn't magically improve when I wasn't looking. In fact, scenes like the shootout at the street festival were so poorly done that I was embarrassed for whoever directed that - hold it - what's this? It was Frankie Ford Coppola! I thought he knew how to direct those kind of things. This one was so clunky, so poorly blocked, so badly shot (I KNOW!) that he should go to his room and think about what he has done.
But that's not what I am here to talk about. What this post is about is much more topical. I read a lot about Russians and Civil War and other boogie men (no, not Dr. John) and this morning I saw a movie that mashes those themes into one neat package. But before we get there, because poetry is so beloved around here, first a poem by Ogden Nash:
To Barbara Frietchie
I bet she scratched
When she was itchy.
That is the proper setup for the following:
34 comments:
Yes.
The movie sucked, but it did give us a few scenes of Pacino over acting that are classics.
And it had everything going for it: Bridget Fonda, until she just disappeared. Robert Duval, who had been pre-disappeared. His son, the priest, so central to the arc of the story. And last but not worst, Sophia Copolla, who smoked the competition for the golden raspberries that year.
Funny thing is Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos did a better Michael Corleone than that little creep Pacino did. "Hey, do that scene again, Sil!" "They keep pulling me back in!" Hahahaha...
In 60 years, I have never forgotten, "Is Stonewall Boris. Hi, you all".
And it ends with a pertinent sentiment for our own time.
Sofia was so hideous in that movie I had to watch her scenes - she is a talent-free zone. Her sneering face shows up on screen and the movie stops. I guess she does okay directing which is good - we need never see her again in front of the camera, so I am in favor of that career move.
Indeed, edutcher, that is a classic line. Made me laugh then and now.
Involving Dr John in this just raises more questions.
Was Sofia in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time? Or was she in the wrong place, but it must have been the right time?
I only saw it once. Sofia was memorably bad. It really stood out. The rest of the movie wasn't god awful, but the problem was Godfather II. That movie was superlative, and in some ways topped The Godfather. People's expectations were too high.......It's worth noting that the Mafia has been around in Sicily at least since Napoleon, and they're still a potent force. In America, they only had a grip in a few places and then only for two or three generations. We did something right in America that they didn't do in Sicily. Don't hold your breath waiting for a movie celebrating that.......I think the DiMaggio family is more typical than the Corleones of the journey that Italian Americans in America have made. Their story is certainly interesting in both a cautionary and exemplary way. I don't know why Italian Americans directors like Scorsese and Coppola are so attracted to gangsters when there are so many other stories to be told.
I didn't mind it and didn't mind Sofia, either. Lots of young girls talk like that, with the precious baby voice. I don't like it but it's not inauthentic. Some of the acting was a bit crap but I was there to see how the story wrapped up. Kind of like Game of Thrones. Some of the acting is crap, the plot's paper thin in places, but it's about the STORY. A bit of a disappointment in both cases but not unexpected.
It was misunderstood.
Coppola should have incorporated the Apalachin meeting into the story and ended on a comic note.
Of course one would have to have a heart of stone to watch the death of little Sophia without dissolving into cheers.
Coppola should have incorporated the Apalachin meeting into the story and ended on a comic note.
Of course one would have to have a heart of stone to watch the death of little Sophia without dissolving into cheers.
A Godfather thread and no Troop? Speaking of whom, a ristorante frequented by Mafiosos (or is that Mafiosi?), Marco Polo in Carroll Gardens, was shot up yesterday. I mean not inside the joint but the front door was peppered with bullets in what has been described by police as "a warning." I'm pretty sure Troop frequented that place in the past. Anyhow, proof the Mafia is still active, perhaps not what it was in the 20th century but still leaning on somebody somewhere.
No, the worst movie ever made is Gigli.
Did anyone check to see if Troop was involved, either as a perp or a victim? One thing for sure, he was not the wheel man, being the no-license having city-slicker that he is.
Aw man, it's no fun mocking him if he isn't here to return volley.
From the story in the NY Post: "Wiseguy restaurant owner Joseph Chirico, 73, pleaded guilty to laundering money for the Gambino crime family in 2008. Chirico copped to collecting $1,500 extorted from trucking company executive Joseph Volaro on behalf of fellow Gambino soldier Jerome Brancato, but dodged jail time after getting character references from former Brooklyn borough presidents Howard Golden and Marty Markowitz -- both of whom previously took donations from the mobbed-up restaurateur."
Character references. Ya gotta love it. And get those ethnicities. ;^)
What, no Micks?
Methadras said...
No, the worst movie ever made is Gigli.
Ever see "The English Patient"?
The English Patient was also some bad shit. Don't believe that I ever watched Gigli.
Hey Lem,
Did you see that the Godmother put a hit out on our conversation over there today? I think I was right about the dust up being more about "splooge stooge" misandry and not gay marriage. At least that's what bothered me along with the general tone around that time.
Must not comment, must not comment...
I never thought I'd enjoy being deleted, but I do. I feel like a conservative on campus. I feel young again! Lets get a keg.
You got deleted? Your comment? I am reluctant to go rooting around over there. I am happy here.
As for a keg - heck, a single beer would be sufficient unto the day. Sheeeeit - now I want a beer.
Heresy, I know. But I saw none of the Godfather films, neither then nor recently.
I did see Dr. John live, though. At a high school auditorium in N. Virginia somewhere.
It must be a dwindling number now that understand the story behind ""splooge stooge"". What interesting times.
My then-wife saw GFI when it came out - her father used to take their family to Louis' restaurant in Da Bronx which is where Michael settles a family score. The second GF movie is actually a pretty good movie on its own. I really like how young Vito stalks Don Fanucci at the Feast of San Genaro. That was a riveting scene, pivotal to the myth of Don Corleone, and when Coppola totally hosed the redux in GFIII I couldn't believe how bad it was compared to the original version. In fact, all of the replays of earlier scenes were like that - they suffered in comparison to the earlier movies. Time and time again I could read the setup and notice how heavy-handed it was. The hits, the scenes in church, man, this is all so much deja vu again.
As for Dr. John - man - what a gifted musician he is. The ring finger on his left hand, the important hand in boogie woogie piano playing, was injured in a shooting incident, and even with that handicap he outplays almost every other piano player I have listened to. He is funny as hell, too.
My loss, GF, I guess. Dr. John, I enjoyed him, that's what I remember.
I don't even remember any details from Godfather III. I've seen the first 2 countless times. To me, Sofia Coppola is just a middling sparkling rose.
bagoh20 said...Did you see that the Godmother put a hit out on our conversation over there today?
Which thread? Missed it.
It was the one on hodology. A couple commenters including Lem brought up the exodus, she pushed back at Lem, I disagreed with her account, and a few minutes later all those comments disappeared. She called it a distraction. Nothing there to see now.
Battered commenter syndrome
My bride and I had a great evening @ Marco Polo w/ Trooper and his lovely bride just before his heart episode.
Not the worst movie, but not great. I'm a huge fan of the first two, and I've tried really hard to fit the third one with them. I really can't.
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