The Godfather

The Godfather (1972)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola

Based on the novel by Mario Puzo

Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Abe Vigoda, Richard Castellano, Talia Shire, Diane Keaton, Al Lettieri, Sterling Hayden, Gianni Russo, and John Cazale

Please, don't hate me. I have never seen the movie in its entirety. I caught bits and pieces of it throughout the years. My expectations were high. Maybe they were too high.

Taking place after World War II, we follow the Corleone family as they try to take hold of the New York criminal underworld. I'm sure you all know the story by now, except me.

I had some gripes with the movie. I cannot believe that the wedding between Carlo and Connie (Russo, Shire) lasted for almost thirty minutes. Understandable to try to establish the characters. Cool. It felt stagnant to me.

The line delivery with the actors was like they had peanut butter stuck in their mouths. I could not understand what they were saying. The motivations of some characters were strange and jarring. Michael in Sicily, for example.

The time was not clear. I had to look up when the events of the movie took place. I wish Coppola put title cards or something make the audience better understand what was happening.

I know that there were some controversies with this movie with the score by Nino Rota was stolen from another composer. Al Pacino skipping the Oscars because of category fraud. I agree. Pacino had more screen time than Brando. Weird. There is also the endless slurs against almost every ethnic group. Oh, boy. I cringed.

I wanted to shout endlessly praises to the movie, but I felt that the hype of the movie made it slightly overrated to me.

Rating: 7/10 

Sling Blade - The Director's Cut

Sling Blade (1996)

Directed by Billy Bob Thornton

Screenplay by  Billy Bob Thornton

Based on his play of the same name

Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, John Ritter, Natalie Canerday, Dwight Yoakum, James Hampton and Robert Duvall

This movie has singlehandedly solidified Billy Bob Thornton's career as it introduced audiences to an undeniable character of Karl with his simple nature and his sniff upper lip. Awesome. BBT won the Oscar for adapting his play -- which I didn't know -- to the big screen. The movie has the making of a great film, but it has flaws.

Karl Childers (Thornton) is a mentally challenged man that is being released from the mental institution that he spent the last twenty years in for killing his mother and her lover. After he is released, Karl feels lost in the town that he grew up. The director of the institution Jerry Woolridge (Hampton) sets Karl up with a job at an auto repair shop. Karl becomes friends with a boy, Frank Wheatley (Black). Frank wants Karl to live with him, his mother Linda (Canerday) and her abusive boyfriend, Doyle (Yoakum).

I am not gonna bash this movie. I am not going to do that. That being said, the movie felt disconnected to me. BBT was fantastic in the movie. He was unrecognizable in the role. The biggest problem I had with this movie was the pacing. It was a huge problem, because I was engaged with that monologues that Karl was retelling about his past. There are some instances that the momentum grind to a halt and my attention waned. It seriously did.

I wanted to love this movie, but the pacing was its biggest downfall.

My Rating