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Roquefort Robert wrote:Just watched "The Godfather" for the first time. Jesus, what a long ass movie. It was pretty goddamn good though.

Godfather II was good too. 3 not so much....

meme wrote:

Roquefort Robert wrote:Just watched "The Godfather" for the first time. Jesus, what a long ass movie. It was pretty goddamn good though.

Godfather II was good too. 3 not so much....

I just watched "The Godfather" for the first time, all the way through. Great film making. I was really struck with Michael's change in character, and how a whole lotta people needed to die at the end.

Hey, you understand, it's just business.

Roquefort Robert wrote:Just watched "The Godfather" for the first time. Jesus, what a long ass movie. It was pretty goddamn good though.

If escapism is your thing then there's something to be said for the occasional long, epic movie. Moving into another time and place through film is a treat for me, and breaking out from the 90 minutes & done format of most modern movies is one way of accomplishing this. Maybe it's the respite from a busy life or maybe it's the recreation of childhood experience when a Bill Kennedy-hosted movie seemed to last for an entire afternoon, but either way I can really enjoy getting lost in something that runs long and thereby allows the opportunity to know the characters and their experience.

I didn't care for The Godfather, but 3+ reelers that I have enjoyed include Apocalypse Now and Das Boot (both directors' cuts) and Thin Red Line. And I know that I'm stretching the long-movie pitch with this one, but the winter break where I sat and watched the entire HBO series The Pacific over a few days was an awesome experience for me and the daughter who gamely watched along with me.

frank - up in grand blanc wrote:I didn't care for The Godfather, but 3+ reelers that I have enjoyed include Apocalypse Now and Das Boot (both directors' cuts) and Thin Red Line. And I know that I'm stretching the long-movie pitch with this one, but the winter break where I sat and watched the entire HBO series The Pacific over a few days was an awesome experience for me and the daughter who gamely watched along with me.

I'm with you on The Godfather. Great cinematography and arrangement, to be sure, but the story lost me a while ago. Gangsters back then were not 'honorable' men; they were pimps, shakedown men and bookies whose sense of honor ended at threatening to hurt you really bad if you crossed them or didn't go along with them. The people portrayed in The Godfather never existed.

Goodfellas, on the other hand, showed what life in the mafia really was like. Eventually, you get locked up, rat on your friends to save your own ass or get killed by those very same friends. And when it's over, Henry Hill's only regret isn't for the terrible things he's done; it's that he's never going to get to do them again.

Coppola is an interesting guy. When he decided to film Apocalypse Now in the Philippines during rainy season people told him it was a bad idea. He didn't listen. All the sets were destroyed. While filming, if Frank decided that he wanted a gourmet meal or a good bottle of wine, he'd send the jet to Paris to pick it up. This is a person who had no problem spending other people's money.

On the other end, there are the people who churned work out on a deadline. I'm finishing up a book of interviews with B horror and science fiction film makers. They'd make movies in a week, or less, on no budget. In one chapter they talk to the guy who made The Blob. It's crap to me but apparently it's good for the genre. It was his first film, he was in the business doing distribution or running theaters before that, and he spent more time and money on it than most. He reminisced about people returning from a party where an actress they knew brought her husband, who was described as a loudmouthed arrogant prick. Everybody hated him. Later, he saw the guy in a play, he was an understudy to Jason Robards or someone, and he was good so he signed him for the lead in The Blob. His name was Steve McQueen.

The Blob made huge money, it's still making money, but he said dealing with McQueen almost killed him. The crew wanted to quit. He had signed Steve for two other movies, but he couldn't go through it again, and he would've had to hire a new crew. In retrospect, he wished he'd used him, he would've made more money, but he just couldn't do it again. Dealing with that kind of talent is not for the faint of heart.

James Garner described McQueen as an asshole in his autobiography too.

Speaking of Best Picture winners from the 1970s, I just watched Annie Hall. It was a very Woody Allen movie. The little bit of standup showcased him at his best I think -- he was a genuinely funny, witty guy. Diane Keaton was quite fetching.

Mulligan wrote:Speaking of Best Picture winners from the 1970s, I just watched Annie Hall. It was a very Woody Allen movie. The little bit of standup showcased him at his best I think -- he was a genuinely funny, witty guy. Diane Keaton was quite fetching.

I spent the summer of 1977 in the projection booth of the Royal Oak theatre running two movies: Harold and Maude and Annie Hall. I could recite it chapter and verse all these years later.

The Suburban Avenger wrote:

frank - up in grand blanc wrote:I didn't care for The Godfather, but 3+ reelers that I have enjoyed include Apocalypse Now and Das Boot (both directors' cuts) and Thin Red Line. And I know that I'm stretching the long-movie pitch with this one, but the winter break where I sat and watched the entire HBO series The Pacific over a few days was an awesome experience for me and the daughter who gamely watched along with me.

I'm with you on The Godfather. Great cinematography and arrangement, to be sure, but the story lost me a while ago. Gangsters back then were not 'honorable' men; they were pimps, shakedown men and bookies whose sense of honor ended at threatening to hurt you really bad if you crossed them or didn't go along with them. The people portrayed in The Godfather never existed.

Goodfellas, on the other hand, showed what life in the mafia really was like. Eventually, you get locked up, rat on your friends to save your own ass or get killed by those very same friends. And when it's over, Henry Hill's only regret isn't for the terrible things he's done; it's that he's never going to get to do them again.

In the book Don Corleone is shown as more of what a gangster would really have been. He started off with an olive oil company, and terrorized any grocers in the Italian neighborhood that didn't carry it exclusively. Then prohibition started, so he segued his small fleet of trucks into bootlegging.

Mad Max wrote:

The Suburban Avenger wrote:

frank - up in grand blanc wrote:I didn't care for The Godfather, but 3+ reelers that I have enjoyed include Apocalypse Now and Das Boot (both directors' cuts) and Thin Red Line. And I know that I'm stretching the long-movie pitch with this one, but the winter break where I sat and watched the entire HBO series The Pacific over a few days was an awesome experience for me and the daughter who gamely watched along with me.

I'm with you on The Godfather. Great cinematography and arrangement, to be sure, but the story lost me a while ago. Gangsters back then were not 'honorable' men; they were pimps, shakedown men and bookies whose sense of honor ended at threatening to hurt you really bad if you crossed them or didn't go along with them. The people portrayed in The Godfather never existed.

Goodfellas, on the other hand, showed what life in the mafia really was like. Eventually, you get locked up, rat on your friends to save your own ass or get killed by those very same friends. And when it's over, Henry Hill's only regret isn't for the terrible things he's done; it's that he's never going to get to do them again.

In the book Don Corleone is shown as more of what a gangster would really have been. He started off with an olive oil company, and terrorized any grocers in the Italian neighborhood that didn't carry it exclusively. Then prohibition started, so he segued his small fleet of trucks into bootlegging.

Right. Having read the book really did enhance the movie experience.
It is true that both romanticized the whole bit, but the book-- in my opinion-- was a pulp-fiction extravaganza, and Coppola keyed into that vibe while legitimately capturing a certain time & place imagery.
I suppose that seeing it, for the first time, 40 years later might tend to deflate some of its power, but at the time of its release? What a mind-blower. Those levels of cinematography, writing, realism, and acting prowess were not common, among large-studio productions, at the time.
Everyone involved in the project seemed to be giving everything they had.

After Robin Williams died I went back and watched The Fisher King for the first time since I saw it in the theater (the now torn down Towne Theater on Greenfield) in 1991.

That's a damn good movie.

Andy wrote:After Robin Williams died I went back and watched The Fisher King for the first time since I saw it in the theater (the now torn down Towne Theater on Greenfield) in 1991.

That's a damn good movie.

That was a great movie; so was Awakenings but I'm afraid to watch it again because I'll cry.
Also Dead Poet's Society.

middle aged female wrote:

Andy wrote:After Robin Williams died I went back and watched The Fisher King for the first time since I saw it in the theater (the now torn down Towne Theater on Greenfield) in 1991.

That's a damn good movie.

That was a great movie; so was Awakenings but I'm afraid to watch it again because I'll cry.
Also Dead Poet's Society.

Garp is my favorite. Fisher King #2.

The Beav wrote:

middle aged female wrote:

Andy wrote:After Robin Williams died I went back and watched The Fisher King for the first time since I saw it in the theater (the now torn down Towne Theater on Greenfield) in 1991.

That's a damn good movie.

That was a great movie; so was Awakenings but I'm afraid to watch it again because I'll cry.
Also Dead Poet's Society.

Garp is my favorite. Fisher King #2.

Garp was great and I just re-watched Hook with my grandkids in July. They loved it.
All that being said, I think my favorite Robin Williams' movie may have been "Good Morning, Viet Nam"

The Beav wrote:

middle aged female wrote:

Andy wrote:After Robin Williams died I went back and watched The Fisher King for the first time since I saw it in the theater (the now torn down Towne Theater on Greenfield) in 1991.

That's a damn good movie.

That was a great movie; so was Awakenings but I'm afraid to watch it again because I'll cry.
Also Dead Poet's Society.

Garp is my favorite. Fisher King #2.

Garp more than makes up for the money I wasted at the theater on Patch Adams.

It Follows is really very good.