VERSUS THE SCARECROW: Living in New Orleans away from the rest of the FTS crew, I feel guilty sometimes not contributing a whole lot. So I decided to challenge myself and really open the doors of my film knowledge and take on “The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide”. It’s 808 pages of movies and movie reviews from some of the most knowledgeable movie people you don’t know. It’s a book put together by a staff that praises, and destroys, some of our favorites and not so favorites.
Each episode, I’m going to tackle three films from three different categories. Two films will be films I’ve never seen before and one will be one I’ve seen before or own. For the new films, well, new to me, I’m going to review them like a typical FTS review using the TOAST Rating system. But, for the films I’ve seen, I’m going give a quick paragraph or two about why I like or don’t like the film. We’ll try to include the poster and trailer for each film.
First I tackled Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys, then David Fincher’s Panic Room, and now here are my thoughts on The Godfather.
The Godfather (1972) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Written by: Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola. Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan.
I could go on for pages about how the Godfather is a masterpiece or how flawless the film is, despite how many times you watch it and how hard you look for flaws. I could go on about the amazing performances and iconic score. I could even go on about how legendary a film this is and why it’s stayed at the top of film lists for years and how it will continue to do so, but that’d be too easy. I’m not even going to try and talk about parts of the film I disliked or could have been done better because, well, I have nothing for those examples. Everything I could possibly say about this film has already been said.
So instead I’m going to talk about my most recent viewing of this film. The local theatre, the Prytania, was showing this film one weekend at noon for five dollars. Yeah. Five dollars. Naturally I went and surprisingly it was packed. The screening was maybe ten people short of being sold out and as the movie unfolded before our eyes, not a sound was made. Not a rustle of popcorn or a cough or even a chuckle at an off color remark made by Sonny. The theatre was silent. I was stunned. A majority of the audience was easily thirty years my senior and they’ve seen the film before. But that goes to show the power this film has and the respect it commands of it’s audience. Even when the film ends with the closing of the doors as Michael descends into villainy, and the credits roll, the audience stood in applause. I haven’t seen that in a theatre for sometime. This film is a true masterpiece to be seen by all.
Read the first part of the episode here, where I review Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys. Also, check out part 2 of episode 1 with my review of on Panic Room.