things wrong with Godfather I and II

[Stankfoot]

Calm down! I agree these are two of the greatest movies ever made. I quote them constantly in everyday life. But is there anything in the movies that you feel is wrong or doesn't ring true?

Here's what has been bothering me -

1) I can't stand Kay - she whiny and not very attractive. I can't figure out what Michael sees in her. Diane Keaton is awful and sticks out like a sore thumb compared to all the great acting surrounding her. And what a letdown from Appollonia!

2) The part where Al Pacino plays Don Corleone - when he's young and in NYC. That guy Don Fanucci ("You should let me wet my beak a little..") never seems to have anybody working for him - he's always alone. What kind of Don walks around like that? No wonder Vito wasn't afraid of him!

I know I'll think of more but thats a start.

[mikeyboy]

Well, of course there's the little boy in short pants kicking a ball around in the snow.

[JPMNICK]

the kid in shorts in the middle of winter takes me right out of the movie

[mikeyboy]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/mikeyboy/GodfatherMikeyD.jpg

[drjoek]

Godfather I and II, should I add those to my Netflicks list? are they any good?

[FUNKMAN]

Sonny being killed at the toll booth - worst 'gunned down' scene in the history of human film

he took about 20 bullets in the car before getting out to take the next hundred or so all the while standing and sounding like he was gagging on a pasta ciotta

[underdog]

Godfather I and II, should I add those to my Netflicks list? are they any good?

Nope, just skip ahead to Godfather III.

[JPMNICK]

Sonny being killed at the toll booth - worst 'gunned down' scene in the history of human film

he took about 20 bullets in the car before getting out to take the next hundred or so all the while standing and sounding like he was gagging on a pasta ciotta

i always forget how much i hate that scene until it comes on for that exact reason

[Bulldogcakes]

I never liked the scene with Don Corleone and Johnny Fontaine where he jumps up and shouts "YOU CAN ACT LIKE A MAN!" It just seemed so out of character for the usually cool, calm and collected Don.

I loved any scene with Frankie Pentangeli in it.

[IamFogHat]

Well, of course there's the little boy in short pants kicking a ball around in the snow.

He never cut anyone any slack.

[jetdog]

Well, of course there's the little boy in short pants kicking a ball around in the snow.

If I remember correctly, this is a scene in Lake Tahoe? In Lake Tahoe it is not uncommon for shorts and even a T-shirt during a warm spell of the late winter months. Temps can leave snow on the ground with spring in the air.

[MadMatt]

If I remember correctly, this is a scene in Lake Tahoe? In Lake Tahoe it is not uncommon for shorts and even a T-shirt during a warm spell of the late winter months. Temps can leave snow on the ground with spring in the air.

It's in GF1 and New York City around Christmas. Shorts would be retarded.

They aren't out west until GF2.

[Mike Teacher]

When James Caan is beating the shit outta the guy on the street, one of his punches misses by a mile and the guy reacts as if it hit dead on.

This is in so many movies, but that scene rules, and that miss takes me out of it.

[MadMatt]

Godfather I and II, should I add those to my Netflicks list? are they any good?

Nope, just skip ahead to Godfather III.

Actually, it's probably better to see Godfather III before you see the other 2.

That was my deal and I liked it a lot more because it was the first one I saw - without the other 2 to cloud your expectations, III isn't too bad.

[King Hippos Bandaid]

first Jim Morrison and the Doors, now the Godfather 1 & 2, do you people have no soul

[epo]

Actually, it's probably better to see Godfather III before you see the other 2.

That was my deal and I liked it a lot more because it was the first one I saw - without the other 2 to cloud your expectations, III is fucking horrible.

Fixed it for ya!

[Bulldogcakes]

When James Caan is beating the shit outta the guy on the street, one of his punches misses by a mile and the guy reacts as if it hit dead on.

This is in so many movies, but that scene rules, and that miss takes me out of it.

Hahahahhahahah!! I forgot about that one. That is so bad and sooooo obvious. With all the editing they did, they could have eliminated those 2 seconds and that scene would have been perfect.

Speaking of editing, every so often (like long holiday weekends) A&E will run the UNEDITED first Godfather movie, with all the scenes they cut out left in. Its amazing how fucking awful some of these scenes are. There's a scene where Don Corleone visits his patrone who is dying in a hospital. It's some of the worst acting, scriptwriting and lighting I've ever seen. Just awful. There's also a bunch of scenes which spell out explicitly much of the intrigue that you had to watch the film 5 times to piece together. With those scenes left in the movie, everything is spelled out for you and all the magic is gone.

After I saw the unedited version, I didn't think it was the greatest film of all time. I thought it was the greatest editing job of all time.

[drjoek]

Nope, just skip ahead to Godfather III.

Good idea skip right to the best one

[Gmann]

Watching part 2 the other night I came upon this little gem in the movie. The scene where Michael walks into the bedroom with Kay and 2 secs later the room gets shot up. Then few minutes later after they find the dead gunmen and Michael has a heart to heart with Tom, he goes into his sons bedroom WHO IS STILL SLEEPING LIKE HE NEVER HEARD A FUCKING THING. Maybe I could be wrong here but wouldnt the childrens bedroom be sorta near the parents' bedroom, and wouldnt the kids be in hysterics and whatnot hearing gunshots in the middle of the night ??

Maybe Im reading a little bit too much into it.

[Stankfoot]

How about the scene where the sister Connie is freaking out on Carlo and smashing everything in the apartment? She is very determined to smash all three vases on a shelf. She can barely reach one and has to stop and lunge at it to get it. It just seemed forced.

[Gmann]

I'll never forget years ago being at a bar in Long Island w/ couple friends and Silera yelling at the tv at Connie. Something to the effect of "you stupid bitch, why are you breaking everything, you know you're just gonna have to clean it up later".

Everytime I watch that part now I laugh and think of that.

[FUNKMAN]

how about the Luca Brazzi strategy? they send some dope into the rival gangs territory and his reason " i'm unhappy with the Corleones, i want to work for you now so tell me everything about what youz guyz are doing "

it was like sending a big mac into a pack of ethiopians

what a bunch of fargin iceholes

[Slumbag]

1) I can't stand Kay - she whiny and not very attractive. I can't figure out what Michael sees in her. Diane Keaton is awful and sticks out like a sore thumb compared to all the great acting surrounding her. And what a letdown from Appollonia!



I watched I and II on AMC the other day, and I was saying the same thing. I think Diane Keaton was awful in those things. Just some of the lines she has makes me want to shut the movie off. She's not terrible in the scene where she lets Michael know she had an abortion, but everything else is acting class horrible.


And I know III isn't part of the conversation, I just want it to be known I HATE Sofia Coppola. She got a giant role in that film, cause her dad was the director?? Lunacy. As bad as that movie is, I could find it watchable if not for her.

[mikeyboy]

And I know III isn't part of the conversation, I just want it to be known I HATE Sofia Coppola. She got a giant role in that film, cause her dad was the director??

Not exactly. Winona Ryder was cast in the film but had to drop out for "exhaustion". Allegedly, Sofia Copolla took on the role as a favor to her father when he found himself without an actress.

[Jughead]

When James Caan is beating the shit outta the guy on the street, one of his punches misses by a mile and the guy reacts as if it hit dead on.

This is in so many movies, but that scene rules, and that miss takes me out of it.

This I notice every time....I always wondered why the edit was so bad,,,did someone just not notice???

[conman823]

how about the Luca Brazzi strategy? they send some dope into the rival gangs territory and his reason " i'm unhappy with the Corleones, i want to work for you now so tell me everything about what youz guyz are doing "

it was like sending a big mac into a pack of ethiopians

what a bunch of fargin iceholes

Micheal did the same thing in GF3 with Vincent, unfortunately it didn't end the same way.

[CofyCrakCocaine]

When James Caan is beating the shit outta the guy on the street, one of his punches misses by a mile and the guy reacts as if it hit dead on.

This is in so many movies, but that scene rules, and that miss takes me out of it.

Oh! Oh! And where he takes the garbage can and smashes the railing like to Carlo's far left and he acts like "OH YA GOT ME WITH A GARBAGE CAN"

I have a general rule though when it comes to movies that makes it more bearable. My philosophy: if it was before MY lifetime, i.e. Star Wars, the special effects were never overly valued by moviemakers and therefore sucked. Yes, there are gaps in this philosophy, like all other philosophies in the world, but fuck it, it allows me really enjoy Seven Samurai alot more, considering how ridiculously far off those (rubber?) swords are from the guys they kill throughout the flick.

[extracheese]

ill add one.
Corleone (through Tom) threatens Wolz - the hollywood producer refusing to put Johnny in the movie. Wolz admits he knew that Corleone held a gun to a band leader and forced him to sign a contract....so where the hell was the security?? They got his horse - bad enough...but to get into his bedroom without a sound?? puhlease. A man like him would have 10 guards patrolling his estate.

[Jughead]

Family is the foundation of this movie...But when the Don finds out his son is dead his reaction is not what i thought it should be.....as great as his performance was.... Just call the undertaker???

[CofyCrakCocaine]

Not exactly. Winona Ryder was cast in the film but had to drop out for "exhaustion". Allegedly, Sofia Copolla took on the role as a favor to her father when he found himself without an actress.

This still doesn't reconcile my misgivings over that whole Nicholas Cage problem.

[Dude!]

any scene with connie
she is about the worst actress in the history of film
she is nauseatingly ugly and ruins every scene shes in
she must of slept with the director to get that part
oh wait...

[CofyCrakCocaine]

Family is the foundation of this movie...But when the Don finds out his son is dead his reaction is not what i thought it should be.....as great as his performance was.... Just call the undertaker???

This is why the movie rules. Cuz I can debate ya on this. He reacted the way he did 'cuz he loved his son Michael (maybe Fredo too) and knew blind acts of vengeance would just guarantee all his children would be dead. It's a classical Greek theme... the extension of oneself through your progeny, thus achieving a kind of immortality. There's nothing more threatening than losing a child. You find this kind of thing in Plato's Republic or the Symposium time and time again. So for me personally, his reaction is very understandable.

Plus he's always calm and collected or something. Lots of farce that is.

[conman823]

Family is the foundation of this movie...But when the Don finds out his son is dead his reaction is not what i thought it should be.....as great as his performance was.... Just call the undertaker???

In my mind I thought he was upset but understood that Sonny was a hot head and kinda walked into it (which he did).

The whole Tessio going off to his death all willingly like that seemed a little stupid too me. Why wouldn't he even try to save his own life? He's like "Ah, What the fuck I got caught....Lets go die." Who does that?

[FUNKMAN]

there was one really big strange problem i had with GF III even though I watched very little of it

Andy Garcia

how can someone with the last name of Garcia play an italian... i like Andy Garcia but the last name just sounds soooo Spanish/Latin

[conman823]

there was one really big strange problem i had with GF III even though I watched very little of it

Andy Garcia

how can someone with the last name of Garcia play an italian... i like Andy Garcia but the last name just sounds soooo Spanish/Latin

Pacino........Scarface?

[mikeyboy]

Pacino........Scarface?

Haha. Great point.

[FUNKMAN]

there was one really big strange problem i had with GF III even though I watched very little of it

Andy Garcia

how can someone with the last name of Garcia play an italian... i like Andy Garcia but the last name just sounds soooo Spanish/Latin

Pacino........Scarface?

i have to say I never thought he pulled off the cuban thing... he came off as goofy/funny

[CofyCrakCocaine]

Just awful. There's also a bunch of scenes which spell out explicitly much of the intrigue that you had to watch the film 5 times to piece together. With those scenes left in the movie, everything is spelled out for you and all the magic is gone.

After I saw the unedited version, I didn't think it was the greatest film of all time. I thought it was the greatest editing job of all time.

What? I'm all for shitting on these scenes, but this post actually annoyed me. Why don't you go shit all over every film Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Kurosawa made too? By that logic every movie is shit. Like writing, there are rough drafts to something but that's not how works of art are evaluated- writing requires rewriting, editing, and so on, and people judge the finalized presentation, the so-called final draft, which is the culmination of all that effort. Editing is work too, even if the audience sees less because of it. Jee-zus.

I guess T.S. Elliott was complete shit because there's a museum somewhere with his rough drafts on display with entire pages crossed out in large red X's and Ezra Pound's handwriting screaming "NO!" on them. Bash on something legitimate for gawd's sake. With all due respect Don Cakes...

[sailor]

Not exactly. Winona Ryder was cast in the film but had to drop out for "exhaustion". Allegedly, Sofia Copolla took on the role as a favor to her father when he found himself without an actress.

i blame gene wilder.

[conman823]

Its true since DVD's started featuring unedited version or just the deleted scenes I've realized most edits are great and are for good reasons.

[Slumbag]

Not exactly. Winona Ryder was cast in the film but had to drop out for "exhaustion". Allegedly, Sofia Copolla took on the role as a favor to her father when he found himself without an actress.

That wouldn't have helped. Winona Ryder has got to be one of the worst actressed of all time.

[keithy_19]

The whole Tessio going off to his death all willingly like that seemed a little stupid too me. Why wouldn't he even try to save his own life? He's like "Ah, What the fuck I got caught....Lets go die." Who does that?

He fucked up. He knew he fucked up. He's seen others who have fucked up meet the same fate. You go against the family, you die. He knew it going in. He had come to terms.

[sailor]

He fucked up. He knew he fucked up. He's seen others who have fucked up meet the same fate. You go against the family, you die. He knew it going in. He had come to terms.

sounds pretty, but completely unrealistic.

[keithy_19]

That wouldn't have helped. Winona Ryder has got to be one of the worst actressed of all time.

Um, have you seen MR. DEEDS!?

'Nuff said.

[keithy_19]

sounds pretty, but completely unrealistic.

It's an old fashioned mentality. You don't show that you're frightened. You bite the bullet. Act tough for whatever reason.

[PapaBear]

2) The part where Al Pacino plays Don Corleone - when he's young and in NYC. That guy Don Fanucci ("You should let me wet my beak a little..") never seems to have anybody working for him - he's always alone. What kind of Don walks around like that? No wonder Vito wasn't afraid of him!

I know I'll think of more but thats a start.
I recently finished reading the book for the first time. Fanucci didn't have many people working for him. He wasn't the same kind of Don that Corleone became. He was more of a neighborhood thug who had a few heavy hitters working under him. This is why Corleone didn't fear killing him. He saw that the fear that people had for him was unwarranted.

[Stankfoot]

Family is the foundation of this movie...But when the Don finds out his son is dead his reaction is not what i thought it should be.....as great as his performance was.... Just call the undertaker???

As Hyman Roth so eloquently put it (referring to Moe Green):
"I knew he was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go. And I said to myself, this is the business we've chosen; I didn't ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business! "

[A.J.]

When Clemenza and Michael are in the basement and Michael shoots the gun: what is he firing at? Does Clemenza have a firing range down there? And a gun that loud (to frighten off any pain in the ass innocent bystanders) fired in such a small place would have left both of them deaf.

[mendyweiss]

In the Restaurant, "I'm GOing To Speak Italian To Michael"
Sicilians Never Speak Italian TO Each Other - Sicilian
In Sicily, The New Wife Says To Michael" Andiamo !! Michael""
Again, That's Italian, In Sicily !!! Morte !!!

[Doctor Manhattan]

2) The part where Al Pacino plays Don Corleone - when he's young and in NYC. That guy Don Fanucci ("You should let me wet my beak a little..") never seems to have anybody working for him - he's always alone. What kind of Don walks around like that? No wonder Vito wasn't afraid of him!

Do you mean when Robert DeNiro played Vito Corleone young and in NYC? Yes he was Don Corleone, but it gets confusing since Michael (Al Pacino) became the Don as well.

And the only thing I could see as "wrong" in either film would be when you could see the reflection of Francis Ford Coppola and the camera equipment in the car window during the "wet my beak" scene in II. But since it's Francis I enjoy that goof up!

[ravn816]

Do you mean when Robert DeNiro played Vito Corleone young and in NYC? Yes he was Don Corleone, but it gets confusing since Michael (Al Pacino) became the Don as well.

And the only thing I could see as "wrong" in either film would be when you could see the reflection of Francis Ford Coppola and the camera equipment in the car window during the "wet my beak" scene in II. But since it's Francis I enjoy that goof up!

Thank you! I was just about to lose my mind that NO ONE noticed that one! :wallbash:

[Doctor Manhattan]

Thank you! I was just about to lose my mind that NO ONE noticed that one! :wallbash:

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2780/simpson4donhomerhh7.jpg

Molto bene. That's a nice a-donut.

[Stankfoot]

Do you mean when Robert DeNiro played Vito Corleone young and in NYC? Yes he was Don Corleone, but it gets confusing since Michael (Al Pacino) became the Don as well.

And the only thing I could see as "wrong" in either film would be when you could see the reflection of Francis Ford Coppola and the camera equipment in the car window during the "wet my beak" scene in II. But since it's Francis I enjoy that goof up!

Yes of course Robert DeNiro - I can't believe I got that wrong!

Now leave me alone so I can wallow in my shame ........

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a350/stankfoot/sad.jpg