Seeing The Godfather (1972) for the first time on the big screen

My local AMC theater was showing a 50th anniversary screening of The Godfather; I had never need it, believe it or not - only parts of it. 

First of all -- I wish there were an intermission! Movies that are 3 hours should always have an intermission! It used to be a standard thing in the 1950s and 1960s; what happened in the 70s? Sigh. 

But, the movie was good, and emphasizes "family loyalty" in organized crime family. Al Pacino never wanted to be in the family business, but he is drawn in to protect his father at the hospital. His first murder at the restaurant is very suspenseful and dark. It 'feels like this character is being born' says Deep Focus Lens in the video review (see below). 

I need to see Part II and Part III to fully experience the full Saga. I remember when Part III came out but just wasn't interested in it or Part II enough. What bothers me in the film is the racism of the characters; several uses of racial slurs are used and makes these characters very unsympathetic to me. 

But Al Pacino's character is really the focus of the saga. See Siskel and Ebert's review below in honor of the 25th Anniversary. Siskel says the sequence where Al Pacino hides out in Sicily is something that was never seen in a mob film before. I liked this sequence and I think it is my favorite in the film. 

Vlog review of The Godfather by Deep Focus Lens which covers earlier gangster films and how they compare with this film, as well as how it inspires later Italian gangster films like The Sopranos later on.

The trailer for the 50th anniversary show is really cool.

Siskel and Ebert review (1990s)

New York Stories (1989)

This film came out in 1989, an anthology, composed of three short films (about 40 minutes each) from 3 directors.

Woody Allen has one of the films, called "Oedipus Wrecks". He plays himself, a single man who is dating Mia Farrow (who has 2 kids - one of them Kristen Dunst). He also has a mother who is always making disapproving comments, is overly critical, and generally overbearing. I have a relative with the same personality! There's a part where she comes over to his office and interrupts a business meeting. The old mother is played by Mae Questel who was the old senile lady in Christmas Vacation. She's really funny in this and should have been in more movies. I liked the short because it shows how Woody deals with her and learns to cope with her and accept her and I could relate to that.

I couldn't relate to the short film that Francis Ford Coppola directed. It's about a rich girl who lives in a hotel in New York. She has a famous musician dad (Giancarlo Gianni) and wants to see him reunite with her mom played by Talia Shire. There's also a new rich boy who comes from royalty from an unnamed country. The girl befriends him. There's also a robbery, and some funny moments with her butler played by Don Novello. He's the only down-to-earth character in this and funny; I don't know why he hasn't done more movies. Most critics don't like this short. It feels really choppy as if were three half-hour sitcom episodes cut to 40 minutes. His daughter Sophia Coppola co-wrote this, so there may be some personal/semi-autobiographical content in this, but I'm not sure. I know Francis' father was a professional flautist, so certainly there's a familial connection there.

In one scene, some of the characters take a stroll in New York's Central Park, and there's a cool shot of this awesome-looking bridge (see below). I'd love to see that bridge one day if I ever get a chance to visit New York:

Finally, Martin Scorsese's film Life Lessons is the first short, and it's pretty good. Scorsese only directed; he didn't write this film. Nick Nolte plays an artist in New York with a big studio apartment with lots of paint and canvases, and he has an apprentice/former lover (Rosanna Arquette) who lives there too. It's basically a simple story, and it's lighthearted and funny.  Nolte makes a good artist, I thought. Believable as he whips his paintbrush and oil paints on the canvas. He reminds me of a friend I had (who died last year) who was about the same age as Nolte's character in the film. We went to art galleries together and browsed and talked about the art. He even loved to paint on canvas (I have some of this paintings I want to keep) and inspired me to do more painting as well.