Heat Movie Review

It’s sort of improbable that Michael Mann was able to make Heat the way he wanted to at the length of nearly three hours. How did a studio greenlight that decision? Mann was not a known director like a Scorsese or a Spielberg. Crime drama was not exactly a genre that typically lent itself to epic scope and length. I can only surmise that it was on the strength of having Robert De Niro and Al Pacino as the two leads that made executives believe that people would come to this movie. It didn’t hurt, I’m sure, that the movie is exceptionally well-made.

Danny Collins Movie Review

There’s hardly a more heartbreaking story of a once great acting talent becoming a washed-up caricature of bombast and overacting than Al Pacino. He was such a marvel in the 70’s. He was good-looking with the most expressive eyes of any actor of his generation. His delivery was subtle and always perfect. When I look at him now, I don’t even see the same man. His sad hangdog face obscures the depths that used to reside within. Every now and then, as in Donnie Brasco, he has flashes of greatness once again. Some have been giving similar accolades for his latest, a heartfelt story of redemption called Danny Collins, written and directed by Dan Fogelman.

Short Cut Movie Review From My Collection: Ocean's 13

A Short Cut Movie Review is normally less than 400 words, but in some cases may go slightly over. This is my attempt to keep writing about as many films as I see without getting bogged down with trying to find more to say. They are meant to be brief snapshots of my reaction to a movie without too much depth.

Ocean’s 13, the second sequel to Steven Soderbergh’s successful remake of the Rat Pack feature, reaches critical mass with the number of characters piled onto the series. Soderbergh should be thankful that Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta Jones bowed out of the series. I don’t see where there’s room for them. You’ve got the original eleven; plus Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), their mark in the first film and a confederate this time; Roman Nagel (Eddie Izzard), a tech wizard who aided them in the last film; Toulour (Vincent Cassel) from the last film; Al Pacino as Willy Bank, their newest mark, a hotel magnate whose shady business antics put Reuben in the hospital; Ellen Barkin as Abigail Sponder, Bank’s right hand woman; and a small role for Julian Sands as the designer of the Bank Casino’s security shield; and David Paymer as the poor schmo of a hotel critic whose room is sabotaged by the crew.

The characterization should be spread too thin, but because the original crew has been so well-established in the first two films, Brian Koppelman and David Levien are able to leave out the usual montage of introductions. It’s just as funny as the second film, again at the expense of Linus (Matt Damon) most of the time. There’s also something about bringing the series back to Las Vegas that gives it a certain retro hipness – there’s a code between guys who’ve shook Sinatra’s hand – that the first sequel lacked. It’s tighter and better conceived than Ocean’s12, and quite thankfully doesn’t rely too heavily on such a dramatic bait and switch. Like the first film, of course there’s a twist in the reveal that you can’t really see coming, but at least it doesn’t bother setting us up for 30 minutes with a fake heist.

"And Don't Lose That Famous Temper of Yours, huh, Sonny?": Godfather Analysis Part VII

Go to Part VI: "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already."

After the violent events of the previous sequence we go first to an establishing shot of the exterior of Radio City Music Hall and then to Michael and Kay coming out from a show. This is another example of how Michael is separate from the business dealings of his family. Immediately after his father is gunned down, there is a cut to some time later (the sun was still out when Vito was shot and here it is night). Their conversation is completely inconsequential until Kay notices the newspapers proclaiming the shooting of Vito Corleone. After Michael rushes across the street to the phone booth to call Sonny, he closes the phone booth door, leaving Kay standing outside. This is shot deliberately to illustrate how Kay is left on the outside. It is the first of many times Michael will close Kay out of his dealings, not only in this film, but continuing into The Godfather Part II as well. Later he will leave her in the hotel when he goes to the hospital to visit his father. When he returns from Sicily and finds Kay he won’t tell her anything about his business other than that he intends to be legitimate in five years’ time. Finally, the closing shot of the film will be the door shutting Kay out of Michael’s office. Michael enters the booth, Kay remains outside. There is a cut to a close up of Kay looking in before the cut to the interior of the phone booth. The conversation Michael has with Sonny lasts 26 seconds and Kay is visible outside the phone booth the whole time, an outsider looking in.

"If I Wanted to Kill You, You'd Be Dead Already": Godfather Analysis Part VI

Go to Part V: "Never tell anybody outside the family what you're thinking again."

I have argued that Pulp Fiction, despite what most people believe, is not actually a very violent film. I stick strongly to that belief. I don’t want to say the same thing about The Godfather because I believe it is rife with violence, but it is worth noting that the first violent scene (the garroting of Luca Brasi) comes 42 minutes into the film. This suggests that violence exists in the film only when necessary. It places the focus on family (the subject of the opening wedding celebration), on loyalty (the subject of the meetings Don Corleone has, as well as the help he provides Johnny Fontane), and it is about business (the subject of the meeting with Virgil Sollozzo).

"I'm Gonna Make Him an Offer He Can't Refuse.": Godfather Analysis Part III

Go to Part II: "No Sicilian can refuse any request on his daughter's wedding day."

The family portrait now includes Michael and Kay.

Now Johnny Fontane arrives to the great joy and surprise of Vito, who proclaims that he came “all the way from California.” Tom, being realistic and perhaps a little jealous, points out, “it’s been two years. He’s probably in trouble again.” Of course, Tom turns out to be right as he’s come to ask a favor of the Don.

"No Sicilian Can Refuse Any Request on His Daughter's Wedding Day.": Godfather Analysis Part II

Go to Part I: "I believe in America."

After the dark interior opening, the film cuts to a sunny exterior shot of the wedding celebration with music playing and people dancing. This virtuoso opening sequence brilliantly introduces us not only to most of the important characters in the film, but also to some of the key plot points, although we don’t know it yet. The opening sequence in Corleone’s office has an average shot length of just under 27 seconds. The remainder of the wedding sequence averages just under 8 seconds per shot – an indication that the sequence moves quickly, cutting between exterior and interior scenes, revealing all the characters and some of their personality traits that will figure prominently later.

Classic Movie Review: The Godfather Part II

At the time it was made, could anyone have imagined that a sequel to The Godfather would possibly be anything near to the quality and sophistication of the first film? And yet Francis Ford Coppola surpassed his own film in many ways with The Godfather Part II. It is wider and more epic in scope, covering both the rise of a young Vito Corleone in 1920s Little Italy and the decline of his youngest son Michael 30-odd years later. It covers the ground both before and after the time period in which the first film is set.

The Godfather Film Analysis: Introduction

This is the first introduction to a complete film analysis of The Godfather from 1972. It is still a work in progress and I hope to get it completed with all parts posted by the end of November. This is not meant as a full academic study, but the beginnings of exploring how sequencing, lighting, shot composition and music contribute to cinematic storytelling in great movies.

Unfortunately I am too young to have had the opportunity to see The Godfather when it first opened in 1972. I can recall seeing it in bits and pieces throughout my childhood on television, cable and probably on video. Certain images resonated and stuck in my mind: the garroting of Carlo and his kicking out the windshield; Sonny’s violent death at the tollbooth; Sonny’s beating of Carlo on the street; Jack Woltz waking to find himself covered in blood and the head of his prized racehorse under the sheets; Michael’s killing of McCluskey and Sollozzo; the final montage of the baptism inter-cut with the killings of the heads of the five families. It is certainly no coincidence that the most violent scenes are what stayed with me all my life. I never had any awareness of the plot of the film until I watched the film in its entirety sometime when I was a teenager.

Classic Movie Review: The Godfather (Special 200th Posted Review Edition)

This reviews marks the 200th full length movie review I've posted to this blog since I began it in April 2010. When I hit my 100th earlier this year, I marked the occasion with a review for Pulp Fiction, followed by a scene-by-scene analysis of the film. Starting next week, I will begin posting a similar analysis for The Godfather.

Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather is regarded as such an important cinematic classic that it’s easy to forget what a bold undertaking it was and how unconventional Coppola decided to make it. Here is  adramatic and violent story, epic in scope, that begins with a thirty minute wedding celebration that has very little plot advancement, no action, and introduces about twenty key characters. The payoff comes later when we feel like we know these people like our own family.