Year: 1998
Directed By: Garry Marshall
Written By: Alexandra Rose and Blair Richwood (story), Garry Marshall and Bob Brunner (story and screenplay)
RYAN’S REVIEW
This is a nice and heart warming movie. It’s not the type of movie I typically go for and truthfully it wouldn’t be in the collection if not for Amber. I don’t dislike it though. It’s funny at the right times, dramatic at the right times, and it tells a nice feel good story I appreciate when watching.
One of my favorite actresses of all time is Juliette Lewis. She was in many movies I specifically loved during the 90s and I always thought her performances were specifically impressive. I remember 2003 when I saw her in a really small role in Old School it occurred to me that she hadn’t been in anything in a while. I remember thinking she was really hot with the blonde hair, although it was never something I thought about her before. I also remember wondering why she was doing such a small bit part in this film that bore no significance. Now, eleven years later, I feel like I still haven’t seen her in anything significant in the longest time.
Looking back over her filmography it seems that this was one of her last big time roles. Not to sully the significance of the content of this film and by no mean any disrespect to the mentally handicapped, but when I think about this movie and Juliette Lewis’s career in the aftermath this is all I can think of:
Insensitive? Yes, but there just seems to be a correlating factor there. I love Juliette Lewis, she was Mallory Knox after all, but I miss her. As to her performance in this movie I think it was hot and cold. Sometimes I don’t like her portrayal but there are some scenes in which she really brings it. She was a fearless actress in her day, and if I’m not mistaken she has a really interesting life story too. I read about her years ago but haven’t reviewed that in a long time so I can’t remember any of it accurately.
Giovanni Ribisi’s career also seemed to turn south after his role in this movie. I have always liked Ribisi with the exception of his role on Friends, when he more or less played the same character we see in this movie. I think Ribisi plays the better part in this movie actually. I like what he does with the Daniel character. He is hilarious when it comes to sex and heartwarming when it comes to love.
Tom Skerritt plays a great part as the father in this movie and Diane Keaton is appropriately shrewd as the overbearing WASP mother. I remember it was weird for me the first time I saw Annie Hall because I had only known Keaton from this later stage in her career. At this point she generally played characters exactly like the one we see in this movie and after seeing some of her earlier work I had a completely different perspective of her.
This is a nice movie. It’s a feel good movie and if you are looking for a film that will offer you a pick me up you can’t go wrong with this one. This movie is easily worth your time and if you find yourself watching it you will enjoy it. It’s not a film I frequent or often find myself recommending but that doesn’t take anything away from it. It’s just not the type of film I typically watch.
AMBER’S REVIEW
I love this movie so much. My brother and I must have watched this film a million times growing up and I can still quote it word for word. We still can randomly spit out a quote when we are around each other and know exactly what movie we are talking about.
I think this movie is incredibly sweet. It shows that love is an emotion that transcends mental capacity. It completely pulls on your heart strings and makes you root for them to make it. Diane Keaton played a incredibly over bearing mother, and watching again as a mother, it terrifies me into not wanting to be like that. She is the character change through the move however and learns to accept that her daughter is who she is and isn’t going to change just because her mother wants her to. Another side note here before I move on to the poster, I have always been an incredibly strong gay ally. It’s more about equal rights for all and everyone should be treated equally and given the same benefits regardless of who they are who they love. This was one of the first films I remember seeing that involved a lesbian couple. I may not have understood at the time, but now I see how they were showing that struggle of a controlling mother trying to avoid the obvious fact that her daughter was gay. It’s an important issue that has been going on for a long time and I just wanted to put it out there, it’s important to accept and love your children as they are, whoever they are no matter what.
See? Doesn’t this poster just melt your heart? No? Just me?
There is nothing very special about this poster, it just simply shows the two main characters engaging in a sweet pose. The typography is also nothing to special, and in fact probably could have been a little more playful with the “other.” Overall, the poster is ehh, but the movie is endearing and melts my heart every time.
Year: 1972
Directed By: Francis Ford Coppola
Written By: Mario Puzo
RYAN’S REVIEW
This is one of if not the best film adaptation of a book ever. Watching this movie is like getting little snippets from the book perfectly crafted into a condensed version of a larger story. I love the book that this film is based off of and I think the movie is incredible. I love this movie and book on a different level than most. Every time I watch the movie or read the book I find myself so immersed in the story. It has proved to have a great influence on my life and I have learned many lessons from it. The movie was legendary when it came out forty years ago and since then the legend has only grown. For FORTY years this film has been considered one of the best, and in many cases it is called the best. It is an excellent movie that I always encourage anybody to see, and then I suggest they read the book.
About three or four years ago Amber picked this book up for me on the spur of the moment. She knew I liked the movie and thought that I would like it. I did not do very much reading at the time and really wasn’t interested in taking the time to read any book. To humor her I gave it a shot, but I was barely through the first page before I was hooked. Mario Puzo put words together in a way that spoke to me and I found myself having difficulty putting the book down. When I finished reading I went on to read most of Puzo’s books, and then The Godfather sequels written by Mark Winegardner. I have never stopped reading since and to this day read constantly and as much as I can. I credit all I have learned in that time to Mario Puzo and his awesome story, The Godfather for showing me that reading can be so interesting. I cannot even begin to estimate how much I have learned from all the reading that started with that book. It has had a significant impact on my life, and because of that the film is very important to me.
One of the things I have found so interesting about this film is how successful it turned out to be despite serious problems all through production. Francis Ford Coppola had a really rocky relationship with Paramount pictures and was nearly fired multiple times. The studio also specifically hated the casting of both Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. Literally just about everyone involved in this film met enormous success once the film was released, but it wasn’t really an easy journey getting there. The film won the Academy Awards for both Best Picture and Best Actor for Brando, as well as Best Adapted Screenplay for Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola. Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall and Francis Ford Coppola (for direction) were all nominated as well. This movie became the highest grossing film of all time when it was released and remains the highest grossing film of 1972 earning over $134 million domestically. Its domestic grosses equal to over $625 million once ticket prices are adjusted by today’s rate.
I have never been a big fan of Brando despite how great he was. I do think he was incredible in this film and this is how I like to remember him. He got so pathetic later in life; he ballooned into a serious weight problem and became quite the recluse in his old age. He was great in his youth, and he has a very interesting life that is worth looking into sometime. Despite all that, I really haven’t ever been a big fan with an exception of this movie and a few others. He is great in this role, and I have read before that he actually met with real life mafia Dons to learn mannerisms and other character traits he could mimic. His performance reflected his research too and it will be remembered for all time. As Don Vito Corleone Marlon Brando became a legend. He looked the part so much and he had such a great and memorable voice as the Godfather. He spoke with such patience and power, and when he spoke wisdom rolled out of his mouth that could be either insightful or dangerous.
Al Pacino is great as the reluctant Michael Corleone, the family rebel that would prove to be the most cunning and most ruthless of them all. What I have always found so interesting about his role in this movie is how different he looks. He looks younger and better looking in this movie, for nearly the rest of his career he has both looked and sounded dramatically different. I grew up seeing Pacino in films but he was always the older guy. He was the guy that in any given movie got that crazy look in his eyes and started screaming about something. Pacino loves to raise his voice and does so frequently. I have heard that Pacino is a really heavy smoker and I assume that the habit has wreaked havoc on both his looks and sound over the years. I like to make a joke occasionally that I tried to “Pacino” my voice by smoking for a few years so I wouldn’t sound exactly like my dad. Pacino, if nothing else, has had a long and significant career in the movie industry. He has played many legendary and iconic characters over the years and it all started with this film. Pacino turned out to be perfect for the part and it gave him the opportunity to go on and do so much.
Robert Duvall was so young in this movie too. I had always associated him with being one of those old actors who still had a lot to offer and I was surprised to see him so young. He is great as Tom Hagen and always stays true to the character. Hagen is clever and resourceful. He blends in and knows the importance of remaining anonymous or unnoticed. Hagen is one of the strengths of the family but it wasn’t until I read the book that I realized he was one of the most significant problems for the family. Hagen was dear to the Corleones and undeniably talented but he was Irish-German. Having him held in such high regard within the Sicilian mafia family weakened the power the Corleones had in the eyes of the other five families of New York. It was Hagen’s appointment as Consigliere that even made the possibility of taking out Don Corleone a topic for discussion. When the character of Sollozzo talks to Michael at the restaurant in Sicilian he mentions this. He mentions how the Don was a legend but is being unreasonable over the situation at hand. He suggests that the Don, as great as he was, is slipping a little and that the appointment of an Irish Consigliere proves as much. If you are interested in what he said specifically read the book because everything is written in English. Nevertheless Hagen remained an important part of the Corleone family and never wavered in his loyalty. Duvall embodied everything that Hagen was in my eyes and I think he was great in the part.
When I saw this movie for the first time I didn’t really like it. I was young and too immature to recognize the value and quality of the film. I was however quite taken with the Sonny Corleone character as a teenager. I loved his reckless and violent behavior. I remember thinking that this movie sucked because they killed off the best character but I was wrong. James Caan did do an awesome job portraying the character. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when he goes nuts and beats his brother-in-law on the street in front of everyone. Sonny was a wild and viscous character who met an unfortunate end much too early, but he managed to make quite an impression with the time available to him. I like James Caan quite a bit and think he has been great in several films.
John Cazale plays a smaller role in this movie but represents a character very important to the Godfather universe. As Fredo Corleone I think he really looks the part, the character of Fredo goes on to be very interesting in the books by Mark Winegardner. John Cazale was Al Pacino’s best friend in the 70s and they appeared in a few other films together. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer in the late 70s but continued acting despite the diagnosis. He died in 1978 shortly after completing work on Deer Hunter. Cazale was a very interesting man who is worth looking into. In this film he did an excellent job and I liked him quite a bit as Fredo.
Diane Keaton, Richard Castellano, Sterling Hayden, Abe Vigoda, and Talia Shire all played great roles in this movie too. I got so immersed into the story at one point that I really got to know all of the characters pretty well. I think that all these actors did an excellent job playing their parts. I think they not only look the part but became the characters that they played, at least in my imagination. I do tend to think too highly of everything in this movie because I think it was really really well made. I am not really a big fan of most of Francis Ford Coppola’s work, but he got everything right in this one. He has always been significant and has a name that commands power because he made this film. Nothing else he has ever done mattered because he was the man that made The Godfather, so we all owe him mad respect.
This story is the classic example of the romanticized mafia. I sometimes feel like a cliché for falling for it because I am one of those people that are somewhat obsessed with the organized crime world. I have researched not only the Italian Mafia but several other factions of organized crime syndicates. They are not like we see in the movies; they are violent and ruthless people that will stop at nothing to get what they want. They usually do not have honor in the ways that we see in the movies but they are still fascinating. They live interesting lives that draw the attention of everyone because if nothing else, we do love the drama in this country and these are dramatic people. There is a small part of all of us that wants to root for the bad guy sometimes, and these kind of bad guys offer a good opportunity to do so.
I said this movie and book made quite an impression on me and it has. This movie taught me the importance of cunning, and I try to be cunning in every aspect of life. The men in this movie are cold and calculating. They have serious issues to deal with and they come up with elaborate plans to resolve them. I am the kind of person that plans for everything, and this story taught me a thing or two about planning. This movie also got through to me the importance of honor, and respect. In the mafia world the people that don’t know how to show respect get killed, and I suppose there is something appealing about that part of their world. Couldn’t we all do with a little less of the disrespectful idiots out there in the world?
This book made Mario Puzo a mega star and he went on to write several other books involving organized crime. I would recommend all of them because I did thoroughly enjoy all of them. Puzo was an Italian American and he wrote a lot about his own experiences in life. He also wrote quite a bit about Sicilian culture and it has always appealed to me. Sicilians have such an interesting history and their people are so fascinating in his stories. The Sicilianwas connected to The Godfather universe and was a really excellent book; I would recommend that everybody read it. It was loosely based on a real life person and Puzo wrote a great story. There was also a movie based off of the book starring Christopher Lambert as the main character. Obviously, that movie is not worth your time. The Godfather story too was loosely based on real life and Mark Winegardner’s sequels continued that trend. When Puzo was on set for the movie he was actually confronted by an angry and aggressive Frank Sinatra who was angry that the Johnny Fontane cried on film. The character is and was obviously based on Sinatra but that wasn’t what bothered him, it was the fact that his character showed the weakness of crying that he got angry. Puzo was a big fan of Sinatra, and the experience really shocked him. It is really obvious in all of Puzo’s books that he really despised the Hollywood lifestyle.
I could literally go on forever and ever about this movie and about the entire series because for a while it was my obsession. This is not a movie I need to validate because it was one of the greatest ever made. It has been significantly inspiring and important to me but that should mean little to other serious movie watchers. This is the kind of movie that means something to all of us, it has taught us all different things and there is no end to the different things we all love about it. This film is worth your time and worth your attention. Don’t be the fool I was as a teen when I watched it simply looking for violence. You have to let this story suck you in and see where it takes you. There are plenty of lessons to be offered in this one and they are just sitting there waiting to be absorbed. I recommend this movie to everyone and scold the people who admit to having never seen it before.
Ugh, I finished this review before I finished the film and there is so much to say as the movie goes on but I have already written so much. The mafia’s involvement in Las Vegas is really fascinating. The character of Moe Greene is based off of real life Jewish mobster Bugsy Siegel who was executed by the mob for blowing too much money. This movie is loosely based off of real history, sort of a fictionalized history if you will. I would suggest anybody interested in the story first read the book. Then find books about the true history it is based on. All of it is really fascinating stuff.
AMBER’S REVIEW
The Godfather logo is one of the most recognizable logos in our society today. The font is completey unique and can only ever be used again to parody the typography in this logo.
The puppet hand symbolizes The Don’s power over the mob players. He holds the reins and they are at his bidding. A deeper explanation can be gathered from the following quote from the movie: “And I refused to be a fool dancing on a string held by all of those big shots.” Don Vito says this is a conversation with Michael and means that he didn’t want to be the puppet held by someone else. The ironic thing is, he turned out to be the puppeteer while making his own way in life.
Year: 1977
Directed By: Woody Allen
Written By: Woody Allen
RYAN’S REVIEW
I have been a lover of movies my whole life, in many ways they have taught me how to live. My dad was a movie theater manager when I was born and for years I grew up with those big giant screens for babysitters. At five years old I was watching Tim Burton’s Batman by myself as my dad worked. It was always like this until my dad changed careers and by that time I worked two jobs, one at a video rental store and another as a movie builder at the theater (yeah, like Tyler Durden in Fight Club). My point here is that I have always had heavy exposure to many films, I have always studied them, learned from them. Despite this, it wasn’t until I was 22 that I saw this movie, or any Woody Allen movie for that matter. Personally, I attribute this fact to my southern heritage, the south does not like Woody Allen. He is a yankee through and through, he might as well have New Yorker stamped on his forehead, and then there was that thing with his step daughter. I like to think of Woody Allen as a mathmatical equation that equals “hated by south.” However I did love this movie the first time I saw it and I still think it is hilarious today.
Woody Allen is without doubt very eccentric, and I can completely understand why he is the kind of film maker that people either love or hate. I don’t love him by any means, he has made 47 films and this one is still the only one I have seen, and I was actually required to watch it for a film class. His style is very unique and that is what I appreciate about this movie so much. This has long been hated as the movie that robbed Star Wars of the Academy Award for best picture in 1977 but that was a justified win. This movie is smart, it’s clever, and it’s witty. This movie isn’t for everyone because Woody Allen isn’t for everyone, but if you have the opportunity to see it give it a chance, it may surprise you. If nothing else, see this to catch sight of a much younger Christopher Walken, playing Diane Keaton’s brother Duane.
AMBER’S REVIEW
I remember the first time Ryan told me that he wanted to watch this. All I knew of it was that Woody Allen was the voice of the main ant in the movie Ants. I really enjoy this film. It is set in the point of view of a guy that is nothing like myself, so I find this story very interesting. I also find him completely whinny and complaining all the time. I also think the cinematography in this film is really nice. The cameras follow the characters walking down the street and captures in such a realistic way. The way the extras are nonchalantly walking the streets not paying attention to Allen at all. It is very nicely done. The best part about this film is Diane Keaton. She is so young a vivacious in this film. Years after watching Annie Hall for the first time, I was watching an episode of That 70s Show where Foreman goes on a date with his mom to see Annie Hall. He admits on the way home that he couldn’t stop looking at Keaton’s breasts, which can be pretty embarrassing for a teenager and his mom. Later that episode, they do a spoof of it where Topher Grace plays Woody Allen and Laura Prepon plays Diane Keaton. It is hilarious and unfortunaltely, everytime this movie is mentioned, my mind goes directly to that 70s show first. Allen’s character is someone that all men need to learn from. What not to in a relationship and “what never to say to a woman.”
If you like movies more than the average joe , then this is one that you need to see as it definitely holds it’s place in movie history.
The Movie Snobs 
