The Godfather (56:36)
If we have to hard-sell you on T100P podcast #85, then you probably don’t like classic movies in the first place. Then again, maybe you—like Peter Griffin—believe the movie “insists upon itself.” Either way, we’ve got a lengthy discussion ready for your earholes. Even so, we probably missed 12 or 40 good points of discussion. While you listen to us break down one of the greatest of the greats, head on over to Sparkplug Coffee!
LINKS:
Mario Puzo’s Godfather novel on Wikipedia
Links to: Francis Ford Coppola and Marlon Brando and Al Pacino and James Caan and Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton and Mario Puzo
Box Office Mojo Top 300 Adjusted For Inflation
1972 Academy Award winners and nominees
Oscar acceptance speeches: Coppola (at 2:39) + Brando/Littlefeather + Ruddy and Sofia Coppola for writing Lost In Translation
Links to: The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III and Goodfellas
YouTube links: The horse head in the bed and Michael ruins everyone’s dinner and sheds mob blood and Michael & Vito share a tender scene of mafia-related issues
Next week on The Not 100 Project: Groundhog Day
T100P 
It’s me and Peter Griffin versus the world on this one.
Well, I’m glad you at least kind of agree with just a couple of my problems with this film. The sequence of Michael in Italy certainly was the weakest part. By the time I got there I was so bored I was ready to scream — although I hadn’t exactly spent much time before that riveted, either. It’s also crazy that Brando won Best Actor for this sloppy, cartoonish performance; he didn’t even look like he was trying to be believable. I think Caan gave the film’s best performance. I know everyone loves Pacino in this movie, but to me he crossed the line between subtle and lifeless, and he came close to the line between lifeless and “Hey, is that guy even awake?” And Duvall was fine, but he was just playing Robert Duvall.
It’s a great-looking movie, and the slow reveal of Vito’s office in the opening scene was very well done, and I liked the tension they were building to while Michael’s looking for the gun in the restaurant bathroom — although it’s too bad that tension only lasted literally a second and a half. And I don’t know what Peter Griffin meant by saying the film “insists upon itself,” but I’ll say that it’s way too impressed with itself, and it never spends 5 minutes making a point that it can take 45 minutes to make. I think it’s quite possibly the most overrated anything in the history of all of pop culture. And Godfather fanatics have scolded me for saying this before, but there is absolutely nothing this film does that ‘Goodfellas’ doesn’t do much more involvingly and entertainingly.
But at least it’s better than ‘Scarface.’
Strong sentiments. We’re going to talk about what you’ve said here when we do Part II in a few weeks. That’ll give you more recognition than blithering on about it right now. 🙂
Well, you can recognize if you want to, but don’t feel it’s necessary. After all, I’m apparently the only person on the planet who feels this way about it.
I’ll also point out that these are my observations after my second viewing. The first time I didn’t even like it that much.
The fact that you feel so negatively and strongly about it is all the more reason to acknowledge these points in our Part II ‘cast. If you loved it like most people, well, where’s the fun in that?
Fair enough. Meanwhile, I’m psyched about your next three titles, and about Jill and I doing our sixth annual Pennsylvania Polka tomorrow!