THE GODFATHER III (1990)

30 from the 90's (Post 7 of 30)

The Godfather III

The first two Godfather films are acknowledged classics and personal favorites of mine. Both also won Best Picture Oscars.

The reputation of the third film?

Not so good.

But I wouldn’t dismiss it so quickly. The Godfather III's conflict between the Corleone family and the political workings of the Vatican actually makes for a pretty interesting plot. The helicopter attack on the Dons and the dramatic opera finale are both memorable scenes. And the film has fine characterizations from Godfather first timers Andy Garcia, Eli Wallach and Joe Mategna.

The main casting criticism has been of Coppola’s daughter Sophia is the pivotal role of Mary Coleone. I do agree that Winona Ryder would have been better. However, this isn't the major casting problem of The Godfather III. Coppola said he wanted to get Robert Duvall back as Tom Hagen and the film would balance on a rivalry between Hagen and Michael Corleone. I would have loved to have seen that movie! However, Coppola couldn’t get Duvall and he had to wipe out that part of the plot. I’m guessing that’s why a well known actor like John Savage (playing Tom Hagen’s son) would have such a inconsequential role. Savage doesn’t have the actor playing his father in the movie, so he seems to have little left to do. The Corleone lawyer is played by George Hamilton and I felt like booing him every time he came onto the screen.

I don't give star ratings, but if I did, the first two Godfathers would clearly be 4 star movies, but I'd still give the third one a 3.

Interesting note on the title: Coppola said that when he wanted to call The Godfather Part II by the name that we know it, the studio didn’t want to do it, thinking that the audience might be confused and think it was part of the first film. But The Godfather gave Coppola so much clout, he got his wish with the title and sequel title history hasn’t been the same sense.

When Coppola made the third Godfather film, he actually wanted to call it The Death of Michael Corleone, By 1990, Coppola no longer had enough influence to get the title he wanted and the studio informed him that the title would be, of course, The Godfather, Part III.

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SLING BLADE (1996)

30 from the 90's (Post 6 of 30)

Sling Blade

Sling Blade is one of the omissions from the 1001 list that I definitely think should be included. Billy Bob Thornton really created a unique character in Carl, the mentally retarded man who is released from a mental facility into the real world as an adult after killing his mother and her lover with a sling blade as a child. Sling Blade is a uniquely Southern story, and doesn’t feel like just a Hollywood version of the South the way many others do. The supporting characters are very good from Dwight Yokam as the evil Doyle Hargreves, John Ritter as the gay friend and J. D. Walsh as a serial killer of some kind locked in the mental ward with Carl. Memorable dialogue includes Carl’s monologue about why he used a Sling Blade (Some folks call it a sling blade, I call it a Kaiser Blade) in the first place, Carl’s attempt at telling a joke and his love of French fried potatoes.

The real center of Sling Blade is Carl’s relationship with the boy he befriends. This is a movie with heart, and that’s a mighty big place to be (Paraphrasing Carl).

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BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (1999)

30 from the 90's (Post 5 of 30)

Being John Malkovich

I tried to watch this film a few years ago, but you really have to be in the proper mood for a film about a portal that leads to a portal you enter which eventually leads to reality as seen by actor John Malkovich. I liked Adaptation, the other Stanley Kaufman written film from the 1001 list and liked that one quite a bit.

After viewing Being John Malkovich this time around, I found it pretty clever but very odd. Ok, it’s a portal to a world of John Malkoviches and they charge people to go through it like it’s a sideshow attraction. What can you really say about that? Let’s see…

It does have some interesting insight into puppeteering. Now how many movies can claim that!

And, what else, let’s see…

And you gotta love any movie that has such a nice role for perennial 70’s game show panelist Orson Bean!

And, what else, let’s see…

And if you ever wondering what John Malkovich would look like with cleavage, well, this is about the only show in town my friend.

And, what else, let’s see…

I guess that’s about it.

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DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)

30 from the 90’s month (Post 4 of 30)

Dances With Wolves

When a film wins a Best Picture Oscar, is a big hit and gets almost unanimous good reviews when it comes out, it seem almost inevitable that years down the road, one could look at it and ask, why did this movie win Best Picture again? (For lack of a better term, I call it Howgreenwasmyvalley Syndrome)

As far as Dances With Wolves goes, it hasn’t helped that Kevin Costner’s later directoral efforts are not considered as being very successful (Though I confess to liking Waterworld). It’s hard not to look through Dances With Wolves (or Driving Miss Daisy or The English Patient or Titanic) as having a higher standard because of the little Oscar fellow it has to carry on its back. How Green Was My Valley doesn’t stand a historical chance because it had the temerity to beat out Citizen Kane for Best Picture in 1942.

Looking at Dances With Wolves now, the down side includes a not totally satisfying ending and the fact that some of the same territory was already covered in Little Big Man.

On the positive side, it has a wonderful John Barry score, great locations and a story whose heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, it may be remembered as a sidenote to the trivial pursuit question, “What movie undeservedly beat out Goodfellas for Best Picture in 1991?

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CLERKS (1994)

30 from the 90’s month (Post 3 of 30)

Clerks

Moviegoers tend to have very differing opinions on the films of Kevin Smith. They either think he’s a genius or hopelessly infantile. I went through a period where I watched most of the Kevin Smith films, but he’s one of those filmmakers that you tend to feel less about the older you get. The relentless bathroom humor doesn’t quite seem as hilarious as it once did. However, I do think one Kevin Smith movie should be in the 1001 book and Clerks does seem like the obvious choice. It’s his first movie and it does have a lot of clever dialogue (as well as some tasteless dialogue as well) and there are many funny situations. The best lines in the film come from Randal (Jeff Anderson).

If you've never seen a Smith film, Clerks can serve as a Beta test for Smith fans. If you like it, you may want to try Chasing Amy. If you don’t like Clerks, you probably want to stay away from Dogma.

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THE PLAYER (1992)

30 from the 90's (Post 2 of 30)

The Player

There is a central plot in The Player about filmmaker Griffin Mills (Tim Robbins) receiving threatening letters and being involved in a murder, but the main appeal of this movie is the overall dynamic by which the Hollywood system operates. How do movies get made? How do studios justify spending millions of dollars on film production when they usually have no idea if a movie is going to be successful or bankrupt the studio? That question isn't resolved of course, but it's a lot of fun to see it played out here.

There are dozens if not close to a hundred cameos and bit parts played by some of the most famous movie stars alive at the time this movie was made, but I think special mention should go to two lesser known players. One is Richard E.Grant, who plays a passionate screenwriter who makes a detailed pitch to Griffin about a movie that is art and uncompromising in nature and…Cynthia Stevenson as Griffin’s put upon girlfriend who is the one character who truly seems to stand for something in this film. We, the audience sympathize with her, but nobody actually in the film seems to.

This is probably my favorite Altman not made in the 70’s.

...and you got to like any movie that has dialogue between characters who have just seen the movie Freaks.

...and has some of those same characters going to a screening of The Bicycle Thief.

Bruce Willia and Julia Roberts in The Player's non-existent film-within-a-film Habeas Corpus

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PULP FICTION (1994)

I have looked back at all the movies I have posted a blog on (Be it one word or 18 pages) and have seen a lack of posts of movies from the 1990’s. Perhaps that's because 90’s movies aren’t really current anymore, but they aren’t old enough to really be have reached a point of nostalgia with me. I’m sure there are people in their early 20’s who talk about Forrest Gump as a popular movie from their childhood, but that’s not me. I'm more of a Love Story and Airport as popular movies from my childhood kind of guy. Anyway, I’m going to try for 30 posts on movies from the 90’s this month just to give my “films I’ve gone through list” a little more balance on the back end of the timeline.

30 from the 90’s month (Post 1 of 30)

Pulp Fiction

I remember how big this movie hit when it came out. Who was this Quentin Tarantino fella? He had already done Reservoir Dogs, but I didn’t see that one until after Pulp Fiction made a splash. Seeing Pulp Fiction again, for probably the seventh or eighth time, it may no longer be in my imaginary top ten favorite list, but it’s certainly in my top twenty. I’m not sure what to say about it, so I’ll just list five things I still like about Pulp Fiction.

1. The Dialogue from Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary-The best known example is probably the famous royale with cheese scene between John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson, but other examples of memorable dialogue include Christopher Walken’s monlogue on the watch, Marcellus Wallace's (Ving Rames) speech to Butch (Bruce Willis)on being a washed up fighter and the histrionic interactions right before the needle is plunged into Uma Thurman’s chest.

2. More nostalgic references-There are plenty of these in any Tarantino movie. The most obvious example from Pulp Fiction is the 50’s themed restaurant Jack Rabbit Slims, where the waiter is Buddy Holly, your host is Ed Sullivan, your waitress is Jayne Mansfield and you dance to Chuck Berry songs. Even having John Travolta dancing to Berry is actually a nostalgic 70’s reference to Travolta's dancing from Saturday Night Fever. I guess you could label this as a crossover 70’s reference within a 50’s reference.

3. Plot Twists and Mysteries to Ponder- Just when you thought Vincent (Travota) might sleep with Mia (Uma) and get in trouble with Marcellus, the movie has Mia overdose instead. And who would would have thought that the battle between Butch and Marcellus would lead to an S & M rape scene?
Additional mysteries to ponder: What’s in the stolen case? And just who the hell is The Gimp?

4. Perfomances-Sam Jackson as Jules clearly steals the show, but the movie also really benefits from the addition of Travolta. But really everyone is good here, even in the smaller roles played by Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Ving Rhames, etc. I could basically just list the whole cast here. An additional bonus might be the casting of Travolta and Bruce Willis may have saved us from an additional Look Who’s Talking movie.

5. Plot Construction I love the way the story is presented. Here is the order it comes to us in the movie.

1. Scene 1-Ringo and Hunny Bunny in the Dinner
2. Scene 2-Jules and Vincent retrieve the case
3. Scene 3-Marcellus Wallace advises Butch to throw the fight
4. Scene 4-Vincent buys drugs and has a date with Mia Wallace.
5. Scene 5-Flashback to the Officer giving the young Butch the watch
6. Scene 6-Butch throws the fight, encounters Marcellus
7. Scene 7-Return to the second half of Jules and Vincent retrieving the case

If this had been presented chronologically, this would be the order:

Scene 5 would be first
Scene 2 would be second
Scene 7 would be third,
But is simultaneous with Scene 1, so they are both third
Scene 3 would be fifth
Scene 4 would be sixth
Scene 6 would be seventh
So chronologically the last line of the film should be, “Zed’s dead baby, Zed’s dead.”

I think I have this right, but I may have missed something. Anyway, the chronology works like a charm.

After listing all the positives, I’ve decided to put Pulp Fiction back into my top ten list. What the hell, the list is imaginary anyway.

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