The Rewatchables - ‘The Godfather Part II’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan, and Brian Koppelman

Episode Date: January 4, 2022

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan are joined by writer and filmmaker Brian Koppelman to keep their friends close but their enemies closer as they honor the greatest movie ever made, ‘The Godfather Part II,’ starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Robert Duvall, directed by Francis Ford Coppola Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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before playing your universal Orlando vacation now at universalorlando.com. And now it is time. The rewatchables. If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone. The Godfather Part 2 coming up next. is the final chapter in the violent history of the Corleone crime family. It is the motion picture masterpiece of the year. Merry Christmas, America. It's the most important podcast of the year. Chris Ryan, Sean Fantasy, special guest, Brian Coppillman,

our friend, co-creator Billions. He's been in our lives for a long time. I told him we were doing this after we did The Godfather at the beginning of this year. and he said, I'm flying out. You're not doing this without me. I'm not allowing this podcast to happen. I was like, what we're doing in LA? He's like, I'm coming.

Just tell me when. Give me a month's heads up. I will be there. And you flew out here for this podcast. I did. I did and I'm beyond move to be here with all. So my theory is that Godfather is the most rewatchable movie ever. And you can make a case, Godfather, Part 2 is the best movie ever.

What do you think, Chris Ryan? I'm not going to argue with you. I'm not going to argue with you. I think Godfather 2 is more complex. It's riskier. It's also a little bit more adult, I think, in different ways. So I think it pushes what the Godfather did into a whole new realm in a way that no sequels really do. Sean, you called Godfather the original one, the greatest piece of culture. Popular entertainment. Yeah. Yeah. In the last 50 years. They put that on the poster. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you to Francis for doing that for me. Where does part two stand? Well, part one is like a pop song, and you can just put it on and just by the time you realize it's over, you haven't even, it's encapsulated so much of your feelings. And two is, like Chris said, it's much different. It's more like an opera. It's much more, it's deeper and longer and weirder and a bit more confusing and more emotionally complicated.

And it's kind of, it is, it's risky like Chris says, you know, like a movie like this shouldn't necessarily work. sequels didn't work back then. They weren't a big thing. They weren't prestigious, that's for sure. And certainly not sequels like this that aspire to such greatness. So, you know, it's one of the most amazing, not just pieces of popular entertainment, but works of art in movie history. Compliment?

Yeah, I think it's the best movie ever made. It's, we're the best movie I've seen because it, Godfather One, which is, you know, the second or third best movie ever made is a fable in many ways. I mean, it's King Lear, but it's also a fable. The whole story's King Lear, right, over the course of the thing. but it's fable. Don Corleone, as vicious as he can be, basically never does a bad thing by the rules of the movie. And so you're allowed to love him. Godfather I taps into your sense of empathy and sympathy. Godfather, too, asks much more difficult questions. Godfather too also

forces you to put yourself in Michael Corleone's position to see if you can think the way that he does. Godfather, too, is for me, the deepest, it unfolds and unfolds and unfolds. Yes, it's like an opera, but it's also like the best jazz album ever, where these themes are introduced and you have to try to find them. And as an artistic achievement, I think it's pretty much unmatched. And as a piece of literature that you can watch, I think it's unmatched. I think every time I watch the movie, I can find, and anyone can not because I'm special. Like, if you watch the movie closely, you can find yourself taking different people's sides, understanding their journeys, hating them, loving them. You learn something about yourself. I do. I learn something about myself every time I watch Godfather

too. I think it unfolds like the very, very best of any art. It reminds you why we care about art. The learning thing is huge because I think that Godfather 2 is actually like an incredible text to teach and to like help understand like what storytelling means. And I don't mean this in like kind of a point X story like really like, you know, it's like I'm not, I'm not talking about this in kind of like a professorial way. I mean like how stories affect us because I was I was really. watching it over these last couple of weeks, getting ready for the pod, rewatching it and rewatching it, you start to realize, like, how the themes are making you feel and how, like, the differences into about how they've kind of stripped this family of their ethnicity and their heritage, and, you know, the first movie opens, and it's this beautiful Italian celebration of love

and marriage. And then the second one's in Tahoe and Pat Gehry's there. And he's, like, Americanized their names. He's like, Mike and Kay. And he's like, Mike and Kay. thanks for the check. And it's all American and it's all money. It's all about money. Isn't Pat the wife? Pat's,

Pat's Gary's wife. His wife is Pat. Oh, yeah, right. He's like, because he says Pat. K. Pat. Yeah.

That's right. It makes them all sound like a bunch of loss. Yeah. And he's like, thank you for your check. And, you know, they don't know how to play

Italian music. The band when Pentangeli's like, oh, come on da da da da da. And they play pop goes the week. Yeah. And they play Pop Goes the Weasel. And it's like,

no red wine, just champagne. It strips them of this. And then you're watching it and you're like, why do I feel bad? Why do I feel bad for Michael? Why do I feel bad about America? And you realize it's because of what Copp is doing, building these kinds of arguments within a story about like,

this is what happens and we strip people away of their identity. Well, when you talk about family, I mean, this promise of family of Vito Corleone, as his family just got stripped and all he wanted was to have family, right, the sense of family community, even the way. that Michael talks to his sister in the scene. You referenced a second ago, Sean. You know, the fact that Vito, you know, recreated family with the, I think Abandanda,

I didn't look this up, but in Italian, does it mean plenty abundance? Because Janko Abondonda, right? So here he was in this place, those names Puzzo came up with, they're not accidental. Yeah, right. Right, America Bonacera.

None of those names are not accidental, right? So here he is in abundance for one more second. He finally has this veto again, a family recreated with his best friend and his best friend's father is like his surrogate father. And that gets stripped away. And so you're watching these people put to these choices over and over again. And yet it stands in for the choices that Americans were put to, immigrants were put to. We just did this podcast that's running in January about King of New York. And in the researching, Abel Ferrar, he had this quote in 1990,

my films explore the dark side of people. I'm fascinated by the conflict between good and evil. That's what every great story ultimately comes down to. I think Godfather 2 is the best example of that. It is the all-time good and evil movie. And Michael, it's like, well, he's definitely gone to the dark side, but he won't kill Fredo. He's not going to do that.

He'll do everything else, but he won't cross that line. That'll be the one line he doesn't cross. and then when he's hugging Frato, when he quote unquote forgives him at the funeral and he kind of looks at Al Neri and he just has that look. Oh, he's gonna fucking kill him, is he?

And I've seen this movie 300 times. You still want to be like, not that, right? You went out and go like, no, no, no, no, we're cutting the Freedo thing. We're not going to do that anymore. It would be great if Al was just like, Connie, do you need a drink? No, no, Frito, is Deanna here? And even the canoe scene as, as he's taking down

his last people and that fucking music's playing and we're in the canoe and I know Fredo's gonna die and now with the widescreen and the way we have stuff now you can see the widescreen the way we couldn't

for 20 years when we watched this movie and you can see the gun pop out on the right side which you couldn't see for years because they had to square it out every time I just get I'm devastated to me it's my personal

most devastating movie death of all time yes I just I can't fucking handle I love Fredo I get so upset every time But I'm thinking so much now about what Brian just said about how when you watch the movie, you start thinking about everybody else's perspective more deeply. Like the first five times you watch it, it's not just Michael's movie and this legacy story about what Vito gives to Michael and how that that has fucked Michael over in a lot of ways.

It's driven him kind of insane. And you can only see it from his perspective. And, you know, he's a tortured figure and he does terrible things. But then the more times you watch it, you don't, your heart doesn't just break for Fredo. You're like, I understand why Frado did this. Yeah. I understand why these people that are, why, why have. Hyman Roth did it. I understand why...

See, smart? Well, the, when you watch the scene... I mean, we'll talk about this obviously later, but... When you watch the scene in the cafe in Cuba, for me, I had this thing two years ago where I watched The Godfather 2. I was tweeting about it. I watched The Godfather 2. I don't know, like every week for about 12 weeks because I was trying to figure stuff out about the show that I was working on. And that scene, I would watch that scene over and over again to understand... Banana Zachary.

Yeah. Just to understand everything about both of their motivations, about what Michael, because if you watch that scene, Michael is staring at Fredo. And it's the moment. He's like poker. He's measuring all of his tips.

Right. It's when he yells, because when he yells at Frankie Five Angels, he's making a decision. When he pulls the chair up close to Roth, he's making a decision. And then he comes to the decision. He comes to the decision when he's with Fredo in the cafe.

Right. That's when he comes to the decision. And when you look at that, or to me, I'm interested if you guys think that's when he comes to the decision, because it's one of the great questions of the Godfather. But for me, the way he's staring at Fredo and when Fredo says, why couldn't we had done this? And Michael just, I mean, he knows in that moment. He sets the rest of it up. I think he knows, but he's hoping it's not true.

That's the great thing about that scene. I never thought that. He's playing poker with him the whole time. I always thought, what a brilliant choice to have this moment between these brothers, because throughout these two movies, you never really get moments like that. And it's great that Frato is like, why couldn't we have? have done this. Watch Michael next time you watch the scene.

Watch Michael's face during the scene. Yeah. Michael is just the whole, he's, this I'm sure of, that he's working Fredo in that moment. Because he's kind of like when he knows that moment at the nightclub, it's going to happen. He's just staring. I mean, he's just looking at Fredo. That's why he left.

I believe that's why he left the two million. I believe he left the two million so that he could get Fredo to Cuba. He wanted Fredo there. wanted to give Fredo the sense of importance. He wanted to pretend, as he did to Frankie Five Angels and Roth, that he trusted Fredo. And so he brings Fredo to Cuba to put him to the test. The only person he's honest with is Tom Hagan. And he tells Tom Hagan the truth. You're the only one I can trust because I kept you out. And then he has to test these other close people. And Fredo fails the test. It's a poker scene. Yeah. He's staring at him. It's like Rounders where he's watching him to see what he's doing with the Oreos. Also, you're right. It is Pat Geary. You're right. It is sent him. or Pat Geary, I just looked it up. But I think the wife is also Pat, because when he comes out, it's a pat, he says,

Kay, Pat, we had, might have been an actor, there are a couple of the active fuckups. You know, the Danny Iello thing, which is my favorite, what if. That he had lived there, right? I mean, I think I taught, that he reveals this on a podcast.

Yeah. Are you serious? Oh, it's the greatest mystery of the movie, right? Why did he say that? Why is that line in the movie? That's like my huge debt. I know the answer to this. Yeah, he had the,

I've gotten deep on this. No, but I found that, yeah, I've got deep on that question. God. He, and I think he said it because he didn't have a line in the movie. And if you got a line, you get paid. So he had lived it. He had lived it in rehearsal. He goes, I'm sitting there. I don't know what to do. And so one of the greatest podcast episodes in the history of the world, if I had to go to Desert Island, I could take 10. It's Danny ILO on Gilbert Godfrey's podcast. Really? Because Danny Ielo is the incredible he checked by you. The most obnoxious, he's one of the great actors. And on that podcast, he basically says that he was

going to punt. He calls Martin's crazy like a sought-off little prick and he says he's going to beat the shit out of him and De Niro. He claims he put De Niro in raging bull instead of him. It's the craziest thing. And in the middle of it, he reveals the secret to the godfather too. Wow. Which is that ad lib. All right. So we should talk about the history of this movie because there's so much to get into in the categories. It's going to take three hours. And I really want to talk about the drapes for half of the podcast. I feel like I need a lot more time on the conversation between Michael and Fredo, too. Will we circle back? Yeah, we're coming back. I have that. Michael and We have to do that.

Yes, we can do a long time on that. So the story of the original Godfather was, oh my God, this is going to be one of the biggest disasters of all time, and then it wasn't. The story of Godfather 2 is this is going to be great. And then near the release, oh, my God, this is a disaster. And then it's circled back.

But Paramount's developing a sequel. Coppola only wants to produce. Who does he suggest to direct? Scorsese. Paramount rejects it. Talk about it. What if? Can you imagine? Scorsese's Godfather, too.

I don't even know what the fuck that would have been. Different interesting movie. Copa says, I'll direct it. I think the answer to that question is the Irishman. I don't want to litigate that here. Oh, yeah, you and I have to do that separately. Let's do that separately. In 20 years, people will be talking about the Irishman as an all-time great movie.

We'll be doing an all-time great movie. And you and I'll do this another time. We could do a mini-pot on the Irishman because... I'm going to give it another. chance over the break. I don't believe you watched it shutting the world out and just putting it on a thing

and you were just like, I'm going to watch this movie. And my stepmother wandering in and out of the room. No, no, no, no. It's not, I get it. Desgratia. Coppola agrees to make two

as long as it could be a prequel sequel about the rise of Vito and the fall of Michael. He also demands no Robert Evans. Ali McGraw had legs that wouldn't quit. He's out.

And I'm a hot-blooded woman, Evans. He also demands to write and direct the conversation, to direct a San Francisco opera production, and to write the screenplay for the Great Gatsby. And Paramount's like, great, let's go. Just only one opera? You sure? Kind of a heat check from Coppola, right?

He's just throwing in shit. And I also want free chicken every day for a month. You got to take me to an L.A. King's game. You got to sit right behind the net. It's one of the best things about him, though, is he's this incredibly highbrowest feat, right? He's a really sophisticated guy who's fascinated by literary history and traditional

history, but he's also making these things that are consumed by millions and millions of people. And after making, well, in addition of making The Godfather and the Godfather, too, he's like, it's very important that I make the conversation, which is a popular and well-known film now, but it's such a weird and. dark and kind of disturbing movie. Yeah. And that being the thing that he's negotiating for is so strange.

You'd think for most people, they would get the kind of success of the Godfather, and they would lean into that. And they'd say, like, I'm a pop entertainer. I want to do Jaws or whatever. Yeah, yeah. And he's not that kind of artist. He also demanded to use part two in the title,

which was a big deal. It was like only the second movie ever that had part two in it. It became $13 million budget, made $88 million bucks, seventh highest grossing film of 74. The first and only movie to have two actors win the Oscar with the same character. That's crazy. Here's the crazy thing, though.

Really bad buzz heading into the movie's release, do you know the reason why? No. Because he's doing these screenings and it's jumping back and forth too much. And if you see the final version of Part 2, it's like big chunk, back this way, big chunk, back this way. back this way. But he was doing these early screenings, and it's just flying back and forth, and the audience is confused.

They don't know what's going on. And Paramount's freaking out. He fixes it. What's crazy, though, is even when it came out, it wasn't considered, like, an all-time classic. Like Vincent Canby, who was the New York Times biggest guy back then, he was like stitched together from leftover parts.

It talks, it moves and fits and starts, but it has no mind of its own. Tough one for Vincent. It's a legendary pants. Vince wants that one back. Yeah, tough one. Ebert only... He's got a ton of reviews like that.

Yeah. His archives are tough. No, we just did Happy Gilmore, which he just destroyed. And now Godfather, three out of four stars. Praised Pacino's performance. Yeah, it's a three star. It's pretty good. Let's give it three. He said Coppola was a master of mood, atmosphere, and period.

It's a little bit better than Poseidon, you know? It's like a Simmons-Irishman review, guy. You know what I mean? We look back on much to say. Billy, you are the Vincent Camby. I'm going to be doing this. You're the Roger. I'm going to be doing in my second review of it will be four stars.

He's a master of mood, but the story, I don't know. So he said the flashbacks give Coppola the greatest difficulty of maintaining his pace and narrative force. A structural weakness from which the film never recovers. So then he amended this. Ibert did this a lot. I love the re-review. The re-review of a actually, that was a four-star movie. It's like, can you imagine?

What is his re-review set? Did you read the re-review? No, I didn't. I'm out of re-review. So he's done a lot of these. He's done hundreds of re-reviews. Great movies is one of his best books where he's just writing about all of his favorite films of all time. And in very few of them, does he note the fact that he originally said he didn't like the movie?

He almost never says that. Because, you know, it's hard to admit that you got it wrong. This is a weird one, though. Like, there are a lot of negative reviews of this movie when it came out, which is so hard to fathom when you watch the movie, even the first time. Can you have a side club? We've lived through this, though. Like, we're looking at like, oh, 74 must have been weird. Great works of art are very often missed in their time.

It's true. They're often missed in their time. And I think that there was a degree. It's... For what it's worth, it was a different job back then. Like, being a film critic was a different job. It was a different kind of job. There was a lot you were, like, responsible.

I mean, like, I think going to see Godfather and being, like, three out of four is hard to unimagin. But I do think it was different than the way in which, like, I think that people are getting a lot. like a lot much longer lead screenings and being able to think about it. Also, movies that make you feel bad. Sure. They were rare then in that way in a mainstream movie that made you feel bad.

Oh, yeah. And so I remember the first time, like, I'm the oldest one here, but when I saw Goodfellas in the theater when it came out and the first night it came out, and it's, you know, top 10 movie for me, top five now, it left me feeling so shitty, so wounded that if you asked me the next day, should I go see Goodfellas? I've been like, fuck, don't go see that movie. Like, the first hour is great.

And then it's just misery. I mean, here, you loved Michael, if you're going into this and you loved Michael Corleone coming out of the godfather. And then he's revealed to be the worst person in the world. Right.

You can see why it would leave a critic who had to write on deadline for the next day. Just, I understand why someone would have seen it and had a reservation. I told you this happened to me with Rounders. I saw Rounders in the theater. I thought the poker stuff was confusing.

And it wasn't until it was on cable that I was like, then I got it. And I think Godfather 2. Thank you for comparing my movie to the Godfather. I know. I figured like that. I can leave now. I'm done.

But Godfather is not a bummer though. Like Rounders, when it ends, you're like, fuck you. Yeah, let's go to Vegas. No, but there's stuff that you, on repeated viewings, it falls into place. And I think Godfather 2, it's three hours and 20, minutes long. It's jumping back and forth. And if you're seen that in movie theater,

you have to see it five times, which is probably why I need to go watch the Irishman four more times because it opens up the family funeral in a time we were not familiar with and a place that we're not familiar with, you know, even from the opening and people are just, it's at, it disorients throughout the film. And there's things that, you know, maybe the hundredth time I watched this. It was like, oh my God, De Niro. Which was the reaction the first night in time? but after seeing Godfather won enough times and then piecing together how hard it was to be young Brando

as Vito Corleone and all the mechanics that have to go into that performance. Also, the mystery, the other piece is if you don't have the opportunity to, like now, there are a million ways to watch something again right away, right? You go to the theater, even on the most restricted movie if you're, you guys know, because you get these links, you can go back and watch again.

Imagine seeing The Godfather 2 in a theater once, and you have to piece that plot together. And you have to piece together. Wait, who really went to kill... Who tried to kill Panangelo? I've seen the movie 100 times. I'm still putting it together. I now know, I understand it all because I put so much thought into it

in my life to understand how that plot works. But I can't imagine seeing it once. And you're left with this feeling. I could see somebody being left with the feeling of, I don't understand what I just watched. It's a really good point, and maybe a little respect due to Ebert

and Vincent Canby because of that. But so my perspective is the almost an inversion of that which is I am Chris and I think are both are young enough certainly to have not lived through the movie but also that when you see the two films for the first time there's so much weight on these movies you've been told

your whole life these are the most important movies ever made and what Brian is saying is like these are the best movie ever made and number two or three and so when you sit down you're like fuck this better be good and then it is that good and it is that influential and emotional to you

Yeah. They're kind of that. That is like the true testament for me that I still can watch it every day and love it, even though, because you know what it's like. You hate when someone's like, you got to see this movie. It's fucking incredible. You're like, all right. Well, I'll decide for myself, you know?

Irishman, all right. I got to watch it. Yeah, I got it. Three hours, 30 minutes. It's fine. But for movies like this to almost like demand repeat viewings and now we can have repeat viewings right away, that's so powerful. Well, so the case that this is the best movie ever, which I actually think it is. number one, the degree of difficulty of jumping back and forth.

It just should never have worked. I don't even, I can't even compare it to anything. Highlander. Bill and Ted. Can you imagine him like explaining this to people in 1973, like his vision, he's at dinner? You know what though? I got to say. And people must have been like, what the fuck are you talking about?

The thing is everyone did leave. So, but the two of us have read the book, too, haven't. And we should talk about that because the book is essentially. But it's a huge miss by you. You'll love it and you both. You'll love it and you both please send us the facts. You're just trying to make up for the Irishman hate. So now you're going to try to make me and Sean feel bad about not reading the godfather. Because remember, like what you guys point out, I just re-listen to the godfather rewatchables, which is awesome. And when you talk about the fact that the book was so popular, half the book makes up the whole Vito Corleone section

of two. And so that point, part, Coppola had to find a way in Puzzo to tell that story. It's why it was worth telling the second story, right? Being able to do the parallel of the two men rising. So I think that for, in a way, it forced a structure on him or he found it because he had to find a way, he didn't want to be a board artist because as you say, Sean, he's a true artist. So he didn't want to just tell you this another linear story. Straight ahead story. Because he also had to jump. It couldn't be linear because you had to tell you Vito's Young Story and then Michael's from 30 on story, right? And so in trying to solve that puzzle, they came up with this folding it all together.

I think there's a practical reason for it too, which is that it's really hard to root for Michael during the movie, but it's not hard to root for Vito. Correct. And you need somebody. That's a brilliant point. That you want to get behind. And even though Vito's doing terrible things, and you said, Brian, like, Vito doesn't do anything terrible in the first film. And in the rules of the first film. But in the second film, he, you know, he's, he's, he's, he's becoming a criminal. But he's, but he's, but he's, he's murdering people. He's murdering, yeah, he's murdering worse reasons. It's the more, listen, that's the old trick of movie justice, though, is if you have a bad, a creepy guy slap an innocent woman, then your hero's justified him murdering that person.

Right. Yeah. And so they set that up beautifully for Vito Corleone. Everybody that Vito deals with. It's like John Wick. They killed his dog. So everything. that is justified. The thing that's great about the flashbacks of the dual structure is that you can read them in the movie Godfather 2 is talking to one another so you can look at the two timelines and say, what thematically am I supposed to take from this? What, like, what has this making me feel? How does this make me feel about Michael? How does this make me feel about Vito? And then you can also look at Godfather 2 and watch Godfather 1 and see how it's changed and see the fact that in one, they cut up a, caught off a horse's head and put it in the guy's bed. And in two, it's an actual

person and they put it in Geary's bed. And you're like, this is sliding down the mountain. This is getting away from him. And you know what? It actually puts the mirror back on you because you're like in the first one, you're like, this is so fucking cool. They chopped off the horse's head. I can't be like the mafia.

And then you're like, oh, these guys are disgusting. They probably always were disgusting. But these guys have lost it. They've lost their moral compass, you know? But the dead sex worker is, I think that we read that differently now than even in the 70s. Sure. It was read and reading it now. It's, I mean, not to jump the categories,

but it is the thing that holds up the least. It's the worst for me. Yeah, but it makes you, Michael, and we, everyone always talks like, even you, Bill, you at this beginning of this talked about how you're like, well, he would never kill his brother. But right there early in the movie, he kills an innocent,

he has an innocent woman murdered just so we can get ownership of a casino. And you know what's even more important? He has it in, a woman who's completely had done nothing wrong, murdered just to gain leverage. And it's the power of Coppola's story telling and Pacino as an actor

that in that moment we don't just escape the movie. Right? We keep watching. All that's our friendship. Right. That's the smartest thing. So for the best movie of all time case, you made the point before about that opening scene

and how different it is for one and how all the Italian is stripped. Oh, and the comedian. and all that stuff. And, you know, when they go back and forth, and it's like the most Italian thing, right? We start in Sicily. He comes over on the boat.

He's in this little, like this little part of New York that's so nostalgic now. And he's just making his way. And then you're going back to the 1950s where it's like, it doesn't even matter if he's Italian anymore. There's a bad guy. Yeah, right. And there's a woman on the dance floor yelling,

never marry a wop. They treat their wives like shit. Yeah. But I think, like, In contrast to like... I don't know if Coppola fully knew how great that would be or whether that was an unintended awesome consequence or both. I think it's all purposeful.

The Godfather opens with a wedding and it closes with a christening. Godfather 2 opens with a funeral and then moves into a communion and closes with a murder, a death, or three deaths, really. And he's doing the whole life cycle. He's doing faith power. It's all intended because Frank, and I know we're all going to talk about Castellano and Frankie Five Angels, but the pop goes the weasel moment is, it's fully intending to show you the sort of how the world has changed. Right.

Right. Fully intended, I think. The third reason I think this is the best movie ever, this is actually, I'm stepping on Sean's territory. I think it's in the discussion for best performance ever by an actor. It's my personal favorite. I would hear other candidates, but I think him and Godfather 2 is the greatest performance I've ever seen in a movie. What about Merle, though?

Merle is second. What about Willie Chichi? Chi Chi is like 17. Yeah. And what pushes it over the top to me, and I want to step on the rewatchful. He wins Rocky 2. He wins Rocky 2. I want to step on the rewatchable scenes because we're going to get to it.

But the last scene of Godfather 2 when we flash back and we're at the table, and Pacino becomes Michael from the beginning of Godfather One again, even though he's morphed into this fucking killer through most of the movie. And then all of a sudden, he's got the same mannerisms. He's kind of sitting like this, he's talking through the side of it. Sonny's yelling at him. And he's

not anything yet. And the fact that he could dial that character back, I think is the best part of his performance. But even in that flashback scene, still the menacing confidence. You know, I'm doing what I want to do, what I think is right. That's why he should be the Don. And unfortunately, he becomes the Don

and terrible things happen, but it's all there. It's also, you could read that scene and think, this guy's always been alone. Right, right. And that this guy is maybe never really felt love and never really felt connected to his family and always had something missing. And that's why that goes back to the Fredo scene in Cuba

where he's like, why couldn't we have done this before? It's like, Michael doesn't respect Fredo. He never respected Fredo and they couldn't have it. But in that last scene, Frato is the only one. It's like, that's great, Mike. So glad you joined the Marines. You know, he does the first thing he says about Frato and two is Fredo has a good heart.

Yeah. Right? Just the first thing he says about Freedo and too is Fredo is a good heart. He says it to Tommy's like, I know he's out there. He's scared. Yeah. Tell him I know Roth and Ms. Lotto. I mean, I know he's probably lying, but it's like you can tell that he gets it.

You know what I mean? Well, so the Pacino thing leads us to the 1975 Oscars, which we have to dive into a little bit. Yeah, I didn't do research on this. It's remind us all. Our hosts were Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, and Shirley Maclean. Frank Sinatra, heard of him. Heard of him, Bill.

It's quite a great. I could do five days on Sammy Davis, Jr. So let's just move through it. Godfather 2. Maybe the greatest entertainer who ever lived. Wow. 11 Oscar nominations. Think about it.

Six Oscar wins. What we could do. Best Picture wins. First sequel ever to win. One best director for Coppola. Best supporting actor for De Niro. One screenplay score art direction. Three nominations and best supporting actor, De Niro.

Gazo. Love Gazo. Strasberg. No, Cazzo, which we'll get to. Your Best Picture Nominees that year. Godfather, Chinatown, Lenny, the Conversation, and the Towering Inferno. So Coppola had two. Your best actors, Jack Nicholson for Chinatown, one of the five best performances of that decade.

Just amazing. Pacino. Godfather, too, may be the best performance ever. Dustin Hoffman and Lenny, really good. Albert Finney and Art Carney for Harry and Tonto, who wins? Art Carney. Art Carney wins. It's not what you want.

It is not what you want. This is literally the problem with the Oscars, which I love and I'm obsessed with. But this fucking award... He's going to full mad dog right now. It makes me so mad because you said Pacino's giving maybe the greatest screen performance

in the history of screens. On a movie that everyone saw him was really popular. But he didn't say hoo-a in that one. So they couldn't... You know what I'm saying? He got to wait until he said... It wasn't his time. He gets his revenge.

but like, you know, God bless our Carnie, wonderful actor, Hollywood legend. The only time Harry Antoine ever comes up is when somebody is doing this game. Well, if... Who did Al Pacino lose to? If Nicholson had won for Chinatown, I would still be upset, but it wouldn't be, you wouldn't be, like, kicking chairs over. Even Albert Finney and Murder on the Orient Express would have been better. Even that would have been better.

I can't even understand how this happened unless there was like resentment with the old Oscar lovers for new... Wasn't it? Like, Cardi just like old Hollywood, everybody loved Art Carney. The Academy is full of old people. People loved Art Carney. Yeah. I mean, think about what he had, everything he'd ever done.

Pacino will have his day. I mean, Arcarnie basically invented television. So, right? And then had done those movies with math. He was, he mattered to people. He was a legend. And so they were awarded, like you say, it's always filled with older people. And they voted sentimentally.

And it has to do with the Godfather, too, um, making people feel bad. The thing that's so funny about it, though, is all of, this isn't usually all of the awards. There's not, there's no synchronicity. So we're in the high times of the new Hollywood And Godfather 2 wins best picture Coppola wins best director Ellen Burstyn wins for Alice Doesn't live here anymore a Scorsese movie Ingrid Bergman wins for Murder on the Oregon Express

A Lumet movie and De Niro wins supporting actor For Godfather 2 this is the only sentimental choice And it's the one that is like Maybe the biggest sin other than best picture Well in the next year Rocky beats all the president's men right But that's and that is when Hollywood flips too That is when Jaws comes and that is when everything starts to change a little bit. So it's like this is the last

moment and they get it wrong. Old Hollywood. Best director, Coppola, Polansky, Truffaut, Fosse, and Casavittes. Insane. Not bad. We got to talk about Cazale not getting nominated. There's two really... Should have been... Too really... De Niro versus Cazale for Best Supporting Actor. We could litigate that all day. I don't know

if there's a right answer. I think it's two of the great performances. I mean, De Niro did it in two languages. Strasbourg gets nominated. That's it. Gazzle gets nominated. Cazel to me has to be number two. You made the case when we were talking about it last week that it just should have had five nominees.

I think they should have had the category. Duval should have been the Atlanta Hawks Bud team. All of them go to the All-Star game. Two other nominees in the category are Fred Astaire in the Tower Inferno, which, again, also a Hollywood legend, an even bigger Hollywood legend than on Carnie, but that's a fucking joke. That's a fucking joke. That's not a good movie. That's a joke. No.

And Jeff Bridges and Thunderbolt and Lifefoot, which is a cool movie. That's a really fun movie. Yeah. And he's good in that movie. But that's weird that they're like Jeff Brits. You gotta get Jeff Bridges in here. But over Cazale and Duval.

And also Duval is like the most underrated part of this movie now. He's so good as Hagan and all the stuff that he has to do to kind of like hold himself in and stay tight. Why do you hurt me, Brian? Oh, that's an incredible moment. Do you think OJ should have been nominated in Towering Inferno over Fred Astaire or no? Is that the only way this would have been worse? So anyway, the only thing that would have been worse? would have been if OJ murdered John Cazale.

That's the only thing that could have been worse. It could have happened. So Cazale doesn't get nominated, which is, it's in the, I think the biggest Oscar, Travis Day of all time is Puccino not winning for this movie.

Puccino or Nicholson, either one. Yeah. But Cazale not getting nominated as top five. I just don't understand. Every scene, the scene when,

when he tells Mike what happened. I'm going to start, I really want to start doing meetings with you like that. Just like just, like just. Bill! I didn't.

I don't have much to say, Bill. I don't have much to say, Chris Ryan. I just, I can't. I have time to watch the Celtics. Well, yeah, and also in the deer, I mean, those five movies, there's a documentary. It's not a great documentary, but it's worth watching because the five movies that John Cazal made are all great movies, and he's great in everyone. So it's Godfather, Godfather, two, conversation, Deer Hunter, what's the fifth? Dog Day afternoon.

It's pretty good. It's a stunning run. And his girlfriend is Maril Streep. Yeah. And it's amazing and different in each one is totally different. Yeah. It's also this beautiful story of him and Pacino being these lifelong creative partners or, you know, like the Indian wants the Bronx and doing that show together and then doing Godfather, doing Dog Day. Also, there are things that just from being on the inside of having, of making stuff all the time that I, there are parts of this that just because I've seen it and been around it, like there were discussions.

and I've heard, you always wonder about this all of us, but there are discussions that are long discussions about wardrobe and facial hair. And like when you think about the mustache that Frato decides to have, and the way it's... In two. In two.

Yeah. And the way that it's cut... And that scene. You got to think about, like, there's a production designer. And these are things that if you're, like, the amount of time a designer would have taken to find the house that stands in for Reno.

Like, so you find the house. then that room, then deciding to set that scene in that room, then that chair. Somebody picked that chair for him. That's not just there. That chair is chosen for him to have that posture. Then the actor sits in that chair during rehearsal and decides, all right, I want to be there in that posture. And that morning, they've sat, or at the beginning of the show, they've sat and talked about, they've looked at reference photos for that period.

But then the guy's like, that's the mustache I want. Francis, what do you think of that mustache? And they're like, maybe can we take a quarter inch off the top of that? I mean, that is what happens. And we sometimes, as a fan, we take that stuff for granted. And the craziest thing is... The craziest thing is, then Gordon Willis is like, I'm not going to turn a single light on.

Right. Well, I'm going to top... The lights, I'm going to put on our top, from the top. But the to topplet. But each decision in a master... That's why a masterpiece is something, which is what we're talking about here, rather it's the single best of all time. But to make a masterpiece,

every one of those decisions has to be right. And they're all thought about, planned, debated, and then occasionally lucked into and all that stuff. And it's amazing. You talk about Frater there. I'm just picturing the jacket. I'm picturing every part of what he's got going. And you know, someone, so you get to set,

and the actor's wardrobe is hung in their trailer. So like, John Cazel showed up that day, and that's hung in his trailer, and he's tried it on once before. And you picture him putting that on in his trailer and becoming this guy. And it is. It's just amazing to all the things that led to that moment,

whereas posture is the way you're talking about it. It's like 100 decisions had to be made to set the stage for that thing to happen. Want to do 90 seconds on Gordon? Oh, I mean, it's the, if you want to know how cinematography affects how you feel about story, you just watch this movie because you don't see people's eyes. You know, you don't see Talley Shire's eyes. You don't see Michael's eyes. You're being lit, you're backlit and everything is in shadow.

So shadow becomes light. I mean, it is so profound. And topplet. Yeah. Backlid. Yeah. And then all the Tahoe stuff, that's like his masterpiece. But it's a tomb.

You know what I mean? Like, it's perfect for the story. It's not just like, hey, I have this hot shot who's going to just only toplight stuff or go so dark. It's Michael is living in a mausoleum to his own family. It's unbelievable. Let's do the categories. Can I just say one thing before we start? Just off of what you said.

Yeah. It's really worth noting because we did a lot in the first. pod about how all the chaos around the first movie and he was almost fired and he was suspicious of different department heads because he thought they were plotting against him. By all accounts, this one was smooth. They gave him what he wanted. He got to run the production. And you do wonder whether or not, you know, what other coppola could we have gotten if he had had like more experiences like this. You know, this is his best film, I think. There's a lot of apocalypse now. Well, I was in course, yeah. I mean, Chris McCorrie on my

podcast talks about what you have to do to make Apocalypse Now. And I don't know if you guys saw the, have you done Apocalypse Now on this? We have not. It's going to happen. Oh, yeah, that's just, man, that's a hell of a film. You flying back? I think I am. Sadly, I think I am. But that, you should get Macquarie. I'll try to get Macquarie to come. He's the most interesting guy and obviously the best. And he'd be brilliant for that. I'll ask him to do it for you. He'd be incredible. But yeah, I think when you give co-op, I mean, it's a question about when when you take away anything pushing against you, what happens? I don't know.

You know, Apocalypse Now is another masterpiece, but that came together an entirely different way, right? When he had everything. When he had, he's still rewriting the whole thing, like, as he's doing it. He works really well inside of a structure, you know. He had the book. He had the book, and the book helps him. He's made a lot of great films, but I feel like having that roadmap with Puzzo.

And working on it with Puzzo. Yeah, and collaborating. And, you know, that's part of the challenges of three, which we're not really talking about. But no Puzzo makes three a challenge. Like, are we treating, no, okay. I can't. You guys can. There's stuff in it I love.

Me too. I actually think Pacino is excellent in it. But it's got a lot of problems. Let's take a break. Hey, Google. Set a timer for one minute. Sure. One minute.

Starting now. Okay. Fantasy. Let's talk about the second greatest sequel of all time because I think Godfather. Part 2 is the greatest sequel of all time. Give me your pick. First candidate, definitely aliens. Okay.

James Cameron comes through after Ridley Scott makes alien four, five, six years later. And he's like, I'm going to take this terrifying horror sci-fi. And there's only one way to improve it. Make it a fucking war movie. Yeah. I am going Terminator 2 for pure satisfaction when I was in the theater. I love the first Terminator. It's six, seven years later.

It's still pre-internet, but there's a lot of buzz. A lot of buzz. Schwarzenegger's at, like, the peak of his power. Cameron and just everybody's like, this movie's amazing. This movie's going to do things we haven't seen a movie before, special effects, all that stuff. Still my favorite sequel of all time. Does James Cameron have number two and number three sequels of all time? Pretty incredible.

Master of the sequel. Low key before sunset, I think also has to be on the list. Favorite personal. Personal thing. There you go. All right. Now back to the rewatchables. Twice in my life, I changed an entire travel.

schedule to see to see something first time was backpacking with my friends after college we changed everything around to see tyson spinks we like went hundreds and hundreds of miles out of our way to find a place that you could see it yeah horrible disappointment yeah 91 seconds literally like we'd i'm telling we spent we spent three days getting to how we could see that by train getting to see that fight and it was 91 seconds that's true that just happened had to see the fight party in the basement with all my and my mom hadn't even brought the food down yet. The fight was over. So, I literally spent three days on trains to go watch that fight

and on a television and a hotel in Zermott, Switzerland. Like literally from high youth hostels. Holy shit. That's true. And the other time is I was on a vacation and I flew back. They did where I was. It was on like an island on a vacation Christmas. And I flew back to see Godfather 3 in the theater when it came back, when it came out.

And it's like this single most disappointing moviegoing experience in my life. If the daughter had been. Any other actress, it might have been passable. That Noki scene is unsavable, Bill. The Noki scene's unsavable. If it had been Winona, it's a different movie. And it was supposed to be Winona. And listen, she's a genius, Sophia Coppola.

An absolute genius. She's not an actress. Originally, it was supposed to be... It was supposed to be... Deval and the George Hamels in all, right? Like, isn't that... Yeah, and I think the movie would have been different. Can I just say one thing about three?

Three is very similar to two insofar as he's trying to take real-life events and morph them to make a great story. I'm not defending it. I'm just trying to explain what I think happened. He's got all this information. The shit is similar to pizza too. Is this you both sort of... Are you doing your freedom?

Generally, made of similar things, John. Let it be known that I am not the one criticizing Francis Ford Coppola on this podcast. I am not. Three is bad. Three is not good. Three is just awful. He got intoxicated by this Vatican story.

I think we could do it rewatchables on it just so we could do it in the voice of the guy who's like, immobility. International immobility. I can't even laugh at the gags because I've only seen it one time. Pacino's great in it.

Everybody else is bad. It was not what I wanted. It's like one of his great line readings. I like it. Pull me back in as the famous one. All right, we're going to do the categories because we have a lot to get through. Hey, as CEO of the network, I use my morning commute to catch up

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with three times points on travel, including transit like taxis, ride chairs, subway swipes, and even ferry rides. For those of you get to enjoy a nice breeze on your way to work, learn more at Americanexpress.com slash green From AMAX, terms apply. Most rewatchable scene. Let's start with Senator Geary negotiating with Michael.

I don't like your kind of people. I don't like to see you come out to this clean country and oily hair. Dressed up in those silk suits. You're trying to pass yourselves off as decent Americans. I'll do business with you, but the fact is that I despise your men. The dishonest way you oppose yourself, yourself and your whole fucking family. We're both part of the same hypocrisy. And that leads to, Senator?

You can have my answer now if you'd like. My offer is this. Nothing. Not even the fee for the gaming license, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally. That's when we're like, oh, Michael's gone to another level. Is that the number one movie that you've quoted to me and all the time that I've known you? My offer is nothing?

Yeah, probably. Every time I'm like, hey, Bill, what if we did this? He's like, I'll give you my answer right now if you want. That is true. I do it. Tell them to throw in the gaming license. Senator Gary, who will get to, is really good. And there's a whole backstory with him in the 70s.

But file that away. Second scene, Hyman Roth, brings up Mo Green to Michael Corleone. Later on, he had an idea to build a city out of a desert stopover for GIs on the way to the West Coast. That kid's name was Mo Green, and the city he invented was Las Vegas. This was a great man, man of vision and guts, and there isn't even a plaque or a signpost or a statue of him in that time. Someone put a bullet through his eye. No one knows who gave the order. When I heard it, wasn't angry.

I knew Mo, I knew he was hat-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go. Hyman Roth, who starts out slow? It's like, eh, not really sure a minute on Hyman Roth yet. And then he has this scene. When he's watching Notre Dame USC, he don't like that? No,

and they used the real Notre Dame USC. I know, yeah. Notre Dame one. I enjoyed it. He's like, I heard you had some trouble. I love that scene. And we're not sure what the dynamic is.

Yeah. And then he does this Mo Green speech about how he had an idea to build a city out of a desert stop over for G. Also, that's scene the Mo Green scene when Michael pulls the chair up to him. I mean, not Mo Green,

the first scene with, when he comes in close. When he pulls in him. When he pulls in it, I think so much happens in that. Well, it's like a detective in that scene. Yeah, I think so much happens.

I'm saying from Hyman-Ross standpoint, not a lot's going on yet. But in terms of rewatchability, I would say, or like the lessons of the movie, because like one of the things is all of us, you and I were young during that. Yeah. You know,

a lot of the way we learned flawed or not had a code of what it meant to be like a man back in the 70s and 80s was by these two movies. Yeah. And the way that Michael pulled that chair up to have that conversation. Like, I've done that once or twice

in my whole life. Like, honestly, wanting to get the truth from somebody, I've pulled a chair uncomfortably close to them. Yeah. And it's very effective, by the way. Very effective at getting a reaction. So Hyman Roth in this scene, it's when it's like, oh, so he can throw 100 miles in that. And he does that kid's name was Mo Green and the city invented was Las Vegas.

This was a great man, a man of vision and guts. And it's like, oh shit, this is why he tried to kill Michael. I didn't. And the whole thing, it's like a blah-law moment. Who gave the order? I did ask. And then he ends with, I'm going in to take a nap when I wake if the money's on the table. I'll know I have a partner if it isn't.

I'll know I don't. Explain the Lee Strasberg part of this whole thing. He's one of the most legendary acting teachers in the history of the art form. Head of the actor studio. Probably. Probably. Is there a more legendary actor teacher? Stanislavski.

That's the only one, the two and I'm in my. I mean, the three. And Stella Adler, I guess. Stella Adler and Meisner, those four would be the... But was not really a professional actor. He had acted before, but this is his first film performance. And he influenced this whole generation of people that had been dominating Hollywood at the time. Much like Brando was the influence in the first movie.

Exactly. They have like an acting father figure around. But he's also this, you know, diminutive guy from the Ukraine, you know? And he's just like a... He's so perfectly cast as this Meyer Lansky stand in who is one. one part accountant and one part vicious killer. And it's such a genius idea to integrate all of this movie history. And he does it in both of the movies.

Gazo is a playwright, Roger Corman in the Senate, choosing all of these people who have influenced Hollywood over the last 15 years to be these avatars of power in the story. It's fucking brilliant. It's just such an incredible character because he is the stand-in for Vito. He's the guy that Michael is now sort of aspiring to be. But he's a fucking, basically alone in a small house in Miami watching college football getting like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches served to him.

Like, he doesn't have that rich, tuna fish. He doesn't have that rich life. Thank you. That Vito has. What's age of the worst? Chris is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches like. I know. I know.

Seriously, I just got owned on a Hyman Roth's fucking lunch order. What about him going? The stupid thing is I went and looked up all. this stuff about the USC Notre Dame game when I got the tuna fish wrong. But that's the thing is like a lot of these guys, these guys, it's not even about the money. At this point with Meyer Lanski at this point,

it's not even about the money. It's about the power. It's about being in charge. It's about being the guy who's like, I am, I'm bigger than Vito. I'm bigger than all of these guys. I'm bigger than this whole Italian, American mafia and I'm bigger than US Steel.

Yeah, well, that's the thing about the way the movie unfolds, right? You watch that scene, which is why I think it's very rewatchable scene, that first scene with the tuna fish sandwich and the college football. Cap it at it. No, but also you watch it. And when he says to Michael, you know, you're a very wise and considerate young man.

What he's really saying is you're a fool. Yep. You are a moron. I just missed killing you by this much. And you're here pledging your fealty to me, and you've fallen for my gag. And he's playing the same version of poker. He believes he's playing a version of poker with Michael,

that Michael's playing with Brado and everybody else. And it's incredible on rew. That's why you have to watch it a second time. If you don't know the end, you watch that scene credulously. You believe that Lansky thinks, that Roth thinks that Michael is a wise and considerate young man. Yeah.

And later you realize, well, he just knows he's sucking him in to kill him. So the dynamics in that scene are just incredible to me. How do you feel about shirtless, Hyman Roth? It's the best thing. I love it. I want you to start doing that look. What a fucking flex by Leastrow. You know the story, right?

No. No. We don't know. I was going to do later, but do now. Okay. So Copeland meets with Elia Kazan after Godfather won. They have this big conversation about... Kazan, to be Hyman Roth. Kazan, who's one of the great directors who... Yeah, Streetcar Name Desire on the Waterfront, Million Movies. And he wrote an incredible book about directing that if you're ever interested in making stuff, you should read.

He wants him to play Hyman Roth for the same reason that he's like trying to pluck these people from movie history. Kazan won't do it. but in their meeting, Kazan's not wearing a shirt. And he's like, this is the weirdest thing ever that this guy's not wearing a shirt. Hyman Roth shouldn't be wearing a shirt in this scene in the movie. So that's why he puts it in the movie.

Next, we watch both the three-part Havana sequence. I am combining all of this. Oh, no, I forgot one. I'm sorry. The Banana Dacri, Banana Dacri is. It's not easy to be his son, Freda. Not easy. Now, Mama used to tease me. She'd say, you don't believe.

long to me, you were left on the doorstep by gypsies. Sometimes I think it's true. You know a gypsy, Claire. Mikey, I was mad at you. Why didn't we spend time like this before? Want a drink, break? Waiter! The reason that they never had a moment like that is because Michael doesn't

see Fredo as an equal. He doesn't see him as somebody that he can commune with that he can bond with. Yeah, the only thing I'll say is, I don't know if it's the most rewatchable. So I think that's fair. It's, um, that we should, but it's talk about it though. It's the most important. Yeah, but I think it's like the most important scene in the movie. So what the thing about the Godfather 2, unlike the Godfather 1 is each scene is so painful in the Godfather 2. As the movie gets going, these scenes are painful. Like a rewatchable scene, Geary scene is totally the most rewatchable because what an entertaining thing. Michael gets to still be the Michael we love that the sort of the long tale of the first movie is still there, where he got vengeance for his whole family, and now he's being put upon by a hypocrite.

He gets to tell the guy, we're all hypocrites, leave my family out of it. He's still holding on to this idea of family. By the middle of the movie, Michael Solace, we understand. And so it's not as much fun to rewatch the individual scenes. It's a different kind of a cascading effect of darkness and evil. Yeah. To that point, I think some of the more rewatchable scenes are the ones that don't give you that feeling like when the first time that Pentangeli, when they're at the communion, and he has to sit down with him and he's drunk and he starts talking. You know, it's just so fun to watch Gazo do all that and he's kind of blending the Italian and the English.

One favorite throwaway line in the whole movie is in that scene when he goes, Cheech, Aport. Which is Cheech get the door? Cheech apart. Those are the scenes that I love to rewatch. That is amazing. And he's in that scene, he's trying to bring back the old ways. when he says, I want him dead. And he goes, no, he's like, mortal.

You know, it's like, oh, he's trying to bring the Italian heritage back into this room that's been stripped of it. It's like, it's so interesting. The three part of the end of sequence, Michael realizes Freedo betrayed him. At the donkey sex club, yeah. Mike smokes a lot of Sigs in this movie. See, he definitely stepped up the nicotine.

And those weren't like the fucking soap cigarettes either. No. That's Pacino just killing himself. But when he does this, cutting to Hyman Ross assassination going sideways. Chris has some thoughts on the guy. On Bessetta? Yeah.

Basada. Is that his name? Yeah, that's your guy. I don't think he ever gets his name set out loud in the movie. You have to look it up. One outfit, Bessetta? There's peanut butter.

Yeah. Mr. Peanut Butter. There's peanut butter. A couple of things. One outfit, the entire movie. You're talking about making choices. The weather doesn't matter. He's wearing that outfit.

Hey, I need you to come to Havana with me. It's like, great. I have a perfect turtle neck for that. I'm going to put it on this cool turtleneck It's very inconspicuous So that when I'm lurking around fucking hospitals No one will notice me I'm gonna blend

I know It's 99 degrees Also Michael like bring some backup You know what I mean So now he's like The Cuban military is gonna try and have me Assassinated on New Year's Eve But I got the turtleneck guy

Who I already am sending on another task But he's gonna get me out of Favito And have black sheep Fredo You know what I realized Bill, so here's why, not just to go back, the reason the two of you guys need to really read the book is like, Rocco Lampone and Al Neri and how Michael got those two people to be in his world, those stories are incredible in the book.

Rock is like a war veteran, right? Each one has a phenomenal story of Michael pulling them to get them in and why they're loyal to him. And so you can assume the same about peanut butter guy. Yeah. That he too has a story. That's not in, he's obviously not in the book, but like the way in which Michael gets these. Yeah, I think it's the assumption is that, if I read correctly,

it was that he's like, Sicilian, he doesn't speak English, but he is like an absolute executioner and that he just got him with him. He's like Furio before Furio. And that leads to I know it was you, Frato, you broke my heart. I know it was you, Frato. You broke my heart. You broke my heart. Amazing.

Nobody stages a big, loud, noisy scene with a lot of people better than Coppola. The wedding in one, the big party in Havana in two. The Loryside tenement stuff. Yeah. The San Ginoleone assassination in one and then all the... Duval. How about the Duval in an apocalypse now? Yeah, exactly.

Nothing's ever been that. Helicopter's landing. I mean, he is like the big set piece master. Tom Waits eating flies. Dracula. I know it was you, Fredo, the number one you betrayed me

movie thing you can go to in any sort of context? With the kiss? Throw the kiss in? Yeah. It's the number one betrayal on a movie.

Yeah. Or like the acknowledgement of a betrayal. Next scene, Vito killing Don Finucci. Hey Vito. Matu's a good who he's going to die.

I'm making all for you don't refuse. Amazing. The best. The festa. The absolute symphony. De Niro just jumping on the roof, watching him. Don Finucci by the oranges, so you know he's going to die.

As soon as he gets like an orange. And the details of like Finucci wearing the white so you can track him when he's walking. It's just like. Even the light bulb when he's like, why is this light bulb? Like every little touch of that is so good. For me, even though it's moments and it's in this era and it ties into Finucci, Amy, my wife, who's also a novelist and a filmmaker too,

we always talk about, I mean, always talk about the scene after he gets fired when he just puts the pair down. When Vito puts the pair down on their, on his wife's table, you know, and sits down

and they just silently eat the thing and he gives her a kiss. This little, is this little moment where you just get everything about who this man is and what matters to him. And the filmmaking,

so, because I think as much as Copel is great, at these huge scenes. He's so incredible. That is a wordless scene. He comes in. He's been fired. He turns down the gift of all that fruit, all that abundance.

He turns it down. And he just has this pair. And it's their innocent simplicity that's all been put to question their love. And it's wordless. And it's small. And for me, that moment, every time when you say you watch it and cry,

every time I see it, I'm like brought to tears. Oh, yeah. She's like, what a nice little thing. pair. Yeah, just this little moment. Also these great themes of like kind of what comes out of the earth and then what you make of it is a whole part of the movie. Like the oranges like you're saying and then the pear and then the olive oil and that being the kind of the mask for their business and all the wine and like all of that stuff is so purposeful. It's all like it's a bunch of farmers who who built up this huge business. That's the story. So purposeful. And then back to Gordon Willis like where he put the camera. Everyone talks about the lighting with Gordon Willis but also where he puts the camera. It's like, capture that pair and to capture that home as on set. And his whole thing was he was being driven crazy because Coppola wanted them to be able to move around in the frame. So he didn't, Copeland care about the blocking as much. And Willis was like

tape the goddamn marking down. I want them to stand still when I'm shooting them. And they had fights about it. They really, he almost quit one because of it. That's what's good about the assassination too, the Finucci killing because it's, it's more contained and in a very enclosed space. So you're just like, you're back to Funucci in the doorway. And then you're back to De Niro, then you're back, and then you're back, he taps the light. It's amazing. Towel gun. Taul gun.

Amazing. And then... Breaking the gun and the difference. And the towel is on fire passing the torch from, you know, black hand to him. That's right. Oh, I like when you get all English major. Next scene, Frater versus Michael. We already talked about it.

I didn't know it was going to be a hit, Mike. Frato getting mad. Take care of me! Take care of me? I'm your big brother, Mike! does that whole thing. And I was passed over. Do you think there's anything Fredo could have done?

I want to ask, this is something I've always wondered about. It's a what if, but I realize, is there anything Fredo could have done or said in that scene? If he comported himself entirely differently, no. And is there anything that could have saved his life? Not now. I think that when you watch it there, you wonder whether, like, oh, if he had just come to a hat and hand or if he had just been like, I was stupid and they got me.

But instead, he's being obstinate. He's saying, like, I, I, but now when you watch it, you realize, even when Michael, says to Tom scenes before that, like, I know he's scared. Roth manipulated him, tell him just to come home. It's just to kill him. It's always going to be to go. Chris, then the night of the assassination, the curtains, if the night of the assassination, Fredo had said, Mike, you know, Dominic Cheney's call me and I didn't know he wanted some information. I didn't think it was, could he have saved himself that if he would have gone right to his brother? I think maybe, but not in that moment that you're talking about when they're

talking in Tahoe. By Tawha, it's over. By that. By that. And it's done. He's just, he's biding his time until he's going to kill him. It ain't the way I wanted it. I can handle things. I'm smart. I'm your older brother, Mike, and I was stepped over. That's the way pop wanted it.

It ain't the way I want. Not like everybody says. Like dumb. And then, not like everyone says, not like dumb. I'm smart. That won't my respect. Fredo, you're nothing to me now. You're not a brother.

You're not a friend. I don't want to know you or what you do. I don't want to see you at the hotels. I don't want you near my house. When you see our mother, I want to know a day in advance so I won't be there. You understand? He might as well have just killed him. He did.

But just like kill him. But he does right there. Just shoot him there. It's almost worse to do what he did versus just like being like. It goes back to what Chris and Brian are saying about who you're rooting for and who you're behind. And like in that moment, you're like, oh, I feel so bad for Fredo. But Frato fucking betrayed the family. If Chris betrayed you like this, you got to put a bullet in the back of Chris's head.

I never felt bad for Frato in that scene. Because by that scene, by that scene, Johnny Ola has called him at home, woken him up, and you know for sure Frato's the betrayer. Right. As the viewer. And so by the justice, by the movie justice of that thing, Frato did sell out his brother. Yeah. But he's so dim.

But he's just like, he doesn't realize, like his, he doesn't have. awareness of his own insecurity and his own vulnerability. You can't kill your brother. It's the worst thing. It's the worst thing, you know, that I think it's the second worst thing Michael does. That killing the innocent woman, I think, is worse. But it is as bad a thing as you can possibly do. And, but Frato did betray him.

Yeah, he didn't. Well, speaking of betrayal, the abortion scene. I didn't want your son, Michael. Into this world. And Michael. It was a son. kill because this. I know now that it's over.

I knew it then. That's rewatchable to you? Oh, yeah. Just every, every couple days I just fire up the abortion scene. It's Pacino's greatest scene. How is that not one of the most rewatchable scenes? So, really?

In my house this week, as I've been rewatching the movie almost every day, my wife will be doing something in our bedroom and I'll be like, this must all end. It's on home. Holy! She'll come out and make sure I'm okay.

This is not a rewatchable for you? Brian. It's because Pacino is so incredible. Brian, at this moment, I feel no love for you at all. Yeah. It's incredible. I can't, but I... The face he makes after she says,

oh, Michael, you are blind. It wasn't a miscarriage. It was an abortion. It was an abortion. It was an abortion. Something that's unholy and evil. And they cut to him and he's like... And it's like the greatest,

five seconds anyone's ever had at a movie. Well, Hagan, Hagen had to know. You know that, right? Because he had to take her that, right? Hagen had to know. When Hagan says it was an abortion, Hagen, when Hagen says it was a miscarriage, Hagen has to know,

which contributes to why Michael's pissed at Hagen. Hagen allowed, think about this, Hagen allowed her to leave the compound. And if you think about the way Tom Hagan has all this information, right? He knows everything about everybody. It's his job. He's not careless.

He knows. There's no way that he doesn't know the doctor that... If we just play it out, she knows the doctor Kay went to. He knows. You couldn't just get an abortion then. How would Kay have been connected with that person? Basically, Tom Hagan knew. Tom Hagan kept Kay's secret.

And that's part of what... You know why he kept his secret? Because it was Kay's only good scene in either movie. Damn. Jesus, Bill. That's crazy. That's what? Yeah, you heard me.

Best actress of the 70s, probably. Bad character. What do you mean bad character? Who do you want to be? My hottest godfather take. Are you going to cut this part out? She's the weakling. She's the markeravaroni of the godfather.

I think we should cut out peanut butter and sandwich. Just say she's the Joe. It's a bad character. Why does she like Michael? We've talked about this godfather woman. She disappears. They marries a 16-year-old Italian who blows up, then comes back and it's like, it's time for us to get married. She's like, great, I'll leave these school kids behind.

She's the worst character in this movie. All of these people line up behind Michael, even though he is. is Satan. The same reason that Al Neri and Rocco and Tom and all these people stick with him, he is a malevolent but seductive force. He also says, like, it's going to change. He's constantly saying, I'm going to change,

this family's going to change. She's dumber than Fredo in this movie. Just run from him. Well, she shouldn't have told him about the... He says to her, you have to know who I am and that I would never let you leave me. He says that to her. But this is why she tells him about the abortion

because she knows it's the only thing that will... That's true. Turn him on her. Which is why it's her only great seed. I think the, but the opening scene at the wedding in one is incredible. The scene in the hotel room and he's going to leave her is amazing. She's incredible in these movies. I think she's wonderful.

Amanda Dobbins agrees with me. No, that's not. Man of Dobbins agrees with me. It's because you see her as Annie Hall and you think that she should be lighter, but I think she's a great serious actress. She's a great dramatic actress. It's like, agreed. I think she has of the 10 worst scenes in the two movies,

she's involved in like eight of them. Like the scene in Godfather One when she, goes to go see him and Duval's going. No, no, he's not here. Hold on. I'll call you a cat. That's one of my favorite scenes. It's so awkward. That's one of my favorite scenes. Why? Okay. Okay. Okay. Because if when he says if I, in the first movie, he says, if I accept that in a court of law, it could be the way that they have to shut it down, that scene is brutal. You can watch the abortion scene over and over again, but you can't watch that scene because she's awkward. I think she's so good in that scene with. To me, it's a K.

Corleone thing. It's the worst constructive character in the movie. Two more scenes with her that I love really quickly. In one, when he comes back from Italy, and he pulls over on the side of the road when she's with all of her students. And they have that moment. Yeah. Oh, that's an incredible moment. That's an incredible scene. And then the other scene is in the movie when everything... Wait,

why is it an incredible scene? It's ridiculous. She's like, all right, I'll get in the car. Hey, you 16, 10 year olds. You're going to have to find your way back to the school. I got to hop in with this mobster that I haven't seen in five years. That seems ridiculous. That's the power of Oh, stop. And then the other one is just at the end

when, after they've split up, when Connie's like, you gotta get out of the house. That seems good. And then there's, it's wordless between them. Except she closes the door on her. She lets out that little yelp and then she runs away.

Yeah. And the look on her face when the door's closing. Bad character. She's obviously a call back to the end of one. Weak spot. Oh my God. Don't. Weak character.

Okay. I believe what I want to believe. The pod father has spoken. She'd mention on the abortion scene. It was Talia Shire's idea to have the abortion. because originally it was a miscarriage and she said it would hurt Michael Moore

if it's an abortion and Copo's like, that's right, that's awesome. To thank her, he added the scene in which she tearfully asked Michael to forgive Fredo. Can't you forgive him? He's so sweet and innocent. So that was his thank you. She's at the center of a lot of amazing stuff.

Next we watch the sister, right? Just for people, does everyone know who's listening that they're brother? I'm saying, does the audience all know that their brother and sister? I would also say, about back-to-back Academy Award nominations for her. Quite good in three, too.

Just like why. She's quite good. Also, smoking hot in Rocky 3. Okay. No? Also, her son is... Looks great in Rockies. I think you took the handbrake off.

Yeah. Like, so we're talking about it. I just think... Yeah. One and two, she's wearing like stupid dresses and she's working in a... She's wearing stupid dresses. And she's working in an animal store.

Most of her scenes are in funerals. Rocky 3, bringing it. Just, I can praise Talley Shire for bringing in a movie. She's an attractive woman. Thank you. The scene when she, at the funeral, when she goes to see Michael. She's a really smart. She's really smart actress.

Woke culture is just ruined obvious. I can't say she looks good in Rocky 3. It's not even really like the Talia Shire appeal. It's like it's a flex by you. You're like out on Diane Keaton. Right. I'm out on Kay Coralien. I'm not out on Diane Keaton.

Pro any hall. Pro looking for Mrs. Goodbar. Okay. What else? All the Nancy Myers movies. Vito kills Don Chitio. Amazing. Only for this.

the 18 inch 18 inch knife thing I don't even know can a knife do that you have to be really strong I think right you have to be really fat

right you have to go to all that fat and muscle it's probably just a really good knife so I thought that he just slashed him and then stuck in it at the end

is it that he cut him all the way through he goes in and then he cuts all the way through he goes up and all the moment he goes down he goes into the gut

and up and then he just like wipes it on his jacket you ever done that before The day is young. Vee keeps coming with a couple more of these Diane Keaton takes. They're not takes. Why are they takes?

Keep going. Take Corleone. Not a great character. Other people agree with me, including a man to diamond. By the way, that's one person. You just self-determined earlier. This is so Trump. You're like many people are saying Cape Corleone is fat.

The Trumpian thing is he goes, he goes, this is my hottest take. And then you go, you're throwing takes. And he goes, what takes? That's no takes. Hey, what's that about? I love it. Literally. Come on.

In like one second. Kate Corleone is terrible. Three exclamation points. That's my tweet. Sad. It's sad. Dumb performance. Bad.

Many people are saying bad. Oh, yeah. Next one. We did Connie, ask Michael to give Fredo, which ends with the hug. And then the menacing look at Al, which is fucking brutal. Tom and Frankie's last scene. And the family's, a family will take. care of them.

That was a good break. Nice to you. Yeah. They went home and sat in the hot bath, opened up their names and

bled to death. And sometimes they had a little party before they did it. That's for me, that's just unbelievable. Might be the best acting in the two movies. Just those two guys. Also, that's the writing that's as good as the writing.

in the Robert Town scene in the first movie. I mean, that Roman Emperor's story, I'd say as a writer, like, I've tried and failed to do that for 25 years of my career. Like, that's the best, the most, that scene where they don't say it and they say it without saying it. Having a cigarette.

Acting, writing, every single part of that scene is just magic. It's shot through the chain link fence in the prison. And it's like a minute, they're in the fence together and all the way through the conversation Frankie Five Angels and Hagan are in it together. They're still in the

business together and the minute Hagan walks off screen, the camera stays on Gazo behind the fence and he's alone and then that's it. That's his fate. He is alone. He's dead. He's out of, out of this thing of theirs and he's dead. Also, he's such genius movie meaning. Yeah. You get the

Harry Dean Stanton. Very, very young but not even that young. Harry didn't say. He's never young. By the way, born at 50. Like cornbread Maxwell, never young. And they do the same thing when you're talking about the... Cornbread never looked young. The thing with him pulling the chair up to Roth,

it's the same thing when Hagen pulls Frankie kind of to the left to be like, here's the thing, is like these guys used to be given a chance to redeem themselves, you know? They went home, sat in a hot bath, open their veins, they bled to death. And of course it ties in, Bill, too, what you guys were talking about in the Godfather podcast, about Clemenza talking about history.

It's this idea that these people are aware of what it meant to be a fighting person, to be a person engaged in this kind of life of a certain kind of combat, and that they were steeped in it, that they were part of a heritage. And really, you know, it ties to Coppola and Patton. Because, you know, Coppola wrote Patton, and Patton is constantly talking about that stuff, right? He's constantly talking about the great battles of these people. And so, you know, this is Francis Ford Coppola believes this stuff, I think, or the artist that he is. You can find it through all of his work leading up for me to this, which is the apex.

Yeah, that's impendangely says. He says, it worked. We did it and it worked. Like, that is, that is the whole. And then this is like the end of it working, really. The movie ending, the way that it does, where Michael has turned so darkly is like the end of something that they had spent the last 70 years building. Well, because what you know about the end of, let's take it further, the end of the stories about the Roman emperors is that the empire ended. That these things work for a time, but what ends up happening is the empire falls apart and it's messy and it's horrible. And so this presages, yes, we're going to solve this problem now. It's like the Patriots right now. Sure. I go cornbread Maxwell, a little Boston basketball reference.

and you got to come over the Patriots. So who opens up their veins? God willing, it's Belichick. God willing. Belichick comes in the room and Brady's like... Actually, knowing Belichick... The handjob is a very Fredo Correleone moment. If we're looking at it, if you think about it.

The hand job in the Bentley or whatever. It's got to be Josh McDaniels is opening up the veins. Josh McDaniels is Kay Corleone. I'm not sure why he's here. He's into many scenes. It was an abortion, Tom. And this must all end. Two more

We Watchable scenes. The final big three death where you have the incredible high degree of difficulty Hyman Roth murder which hold that. I don't want to talk about that

right now. Frankie dying in the bathtub just blood all over the place. And then Fredo's coming. They're not really going to do it. Are they? The ominous music. Hail Mary.

Full of grace. Calls Michael Jr. back. He's not going to go on the trip. Anthony. Anthony. Anthony. Michael's going to be in the little boathouse, wherever the fuck he was.

They go out anyway. It's like, yeah, it's just going to be Fredo and now. They're going to catch some fish. Like, oh, no. And then it's like, no, they're not really not going to do it. And then the gun comes out. It's just brutal. Too soon for a nitpick about that scene?

No, while he's saying the Hail Mary. Buzz saying to him. And then, which is set up just right early. I mean, just set up so beautiful. Tells that great story to Anthony. It tells the story to the kid. Yeah. It's just unbelievable.

And then the flashback ending is the last one. have. That's pop talking. You're goddamn right. That's pop talking. It risked their lives for that country. Your country ain't your blood.

You remember that. I don't feel that way. I don't feel that way. Well, if you don't feel like that, why don't you just quit college and go to join the army? I did. I enlisted in the Marines.

James Kahn agreed to come back as Sunny, but only if they paid him the exact same amount as the first movie, which they agreed to. And then Marlon Brando was supposed to be in it. For some reason, just didn't show up the day of the shooting and they had to rewrite it on the fly

and make believe he was in another room. Kind of works better. Apparently he felt mistreated by the board of Paramount. Who knows? I'm glad he's not in it. I think it would have been distracting. Yeah.

I think he overpowers it, right? I think he is the specter that hovers over the movie. So if he comes into that room and it's like surprise veto or something, it's just kind of like, and also like if you bring Brando in the movie, I'm like, I want a Brando scene.

I don't want him to walk in and be surprised. I mean, I don't know what the scene would have been, obviously, as written, but... They pulled James Conn off the set of rollerball. What could he... James, put the sideburns back on. What could he say to Michael in that moment that would have been more powerful than the Robert Town scene? No. Nothing.

I'm glad he didn't come back. All right, so did I miss anything? Yes. Merle. You missed Merle for sure. Well, I had Merle on what stage is the best. We'll hold Merle. We'll hold Murl.

Any other rewatchable scenes? Yeah, I kind of have, I have a couple here. I really love the Clemenza and Vito stealing the rug scene. Just because of the shot of Clemenza with the gun. But also, just like that whole, like, Vito being brought into the underworld for the first time. So you missed the number one most rewatchable scene you missed. For me. I found, unless you said it and somehow I missed it, it's the Don Roberto scene.

Oh, I had that in what stage is the best? I mean, the Don Roberto scene, though, is like the most, I mean, you can watch that. The rent stay of the same. You can just watch that. And in the door, I could watch that door business. Oh, yeah. Talk about something. You can just watch over and over and over.

You know the story with that, right? They fuck with the actor. They put a nail in the thing and he honestly couldn't open the door. He was fumbling with it. But that scene, again, because it's like the light early days of being a murderer. It's like the light funny days. But that scene for me, that's purely, it's so entertaining. And it's a guy about gaining his power.

He is the Don now. He is in charge. And the way he manages that scene and how funny the way the two of them laugh with each other. The look that De Niro is giving him. Yeah, I should have that in age the best, but you're right. I'll say, rewatcher. You have to have that in a lot. That whole sequence, though, from before he kills Finucci then, when they're having spaghetti.

And they're being brought each one at a time, a bowl of spaghetti. And then he's saying, he basically takes over for Bruno Kirby there. He takes over from Clemenza. He's like, if I can do this, this is how this is going to work now, you know? So what's the most reratchable scene? I have one more. I'm sorry. Okay, go.

The Senate hearings, when Pantanjali comes out and then his brother comes out. And do you realize what will happen as a result of your denial? Look, the FBI guys, they promised me a deal. So I made up a lot of stuff about Michael Corleone, because that's what they wanted. But it was all lies. Everything. And I kept saying, uh, Michael Corleone did this

and Michael Corleone did that. So I said, yeah, sure. Everything that Pitt that Gazel was doing in the scene, the way that he is responding to the questions, leading all the way up to... I said, Michael Corleone is. Michael Colore only this.

Michael Colore and that. I said, yeah. It's amazing. It is. And then it ends with Hagan, and I think Duval is one of the great movie yellers of all time. And he's like, this committee owes an apology. He's like such a voluble dude and Tom is so quiet throughout the whole movie. But he like, it's such a great.

And obviously like just seeing his brother and what that means and the idea of Sicily and this relationship with these two guys. I had the brother coming up later, but that's good. That scene is so watchable to me. So what do you have most? Senator Geary scene for me. I can watch thousands of times. In the beginning.

Yeah. What do you have, Chris? The beginning. Yeah, the beginning scene. I think I'm going to go with the Havana sequence. I think it's, I think specifically the Michael Fredo scene at the cafe, but just that entire recreation of pre-revolution and Revolution Havana is just unbelievable. So I love that whole stretch, but specifically the Michael Freo stuff there.

I have Fredo and Michael. Me too. In Tahoe? At the end? At the end? No, the, uh, Cuba? See me a day in advance. Yeah, yeah.

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What's age the best? Have an incredible amount here. Let's do it. We'll fly through it. Young Pacino and Young De Niro being in the same movie. Perfect. Amazing. De Niro spent four months studying Brando and learning Sicilian.

De Niro, as we covered in the last rewatchables, was Almost Polly in the original Godfather, which I think would have fucked us up. How could you then be in Godfather, too? Thank God that didn't happen. He read for Michael, too. De Niro? Did he know his, De Niro read for,

were you saying De Niro was almost Polly? Oh, no, he read for Sunny. He read for Sunny, which is an, as you seen that, but incredible. He was cast as Polly, and then he had to bow out to do another movie. He only speaks eight words of English in the movie. Yeah, sure.

Those are two of them. Yeah, sure. 47 minutes on screen, 122 sentences spoken. Next was stage the best. Merle asking for a cocktail in Michael's office. You remember Merle. What a heat check?

You remember Merle. Yeah, where can I get a drink? Can I get a drink? I'll get him a drink. Because then, right? She said, I'll get him a drink. But no, that's one of my favorite little lines in the movie in that scene is when Michael says, I don't know this Merle.

I don't know what he does. I don't know this Merle. I don't know what he does. I don't know what he lives on. Why don't you tell him marriage as out of the question and you don't want to see him anymore. And he's sitting right there. He makes his buddy. What do you think Merle did?

I don't know this travel agent. But we're like. See, he strikes me as like an out-of-work adjunct professor. You know? No, he wasn't. Oh, no. I think he's like literally a playboy. I think he's literally like had a little bit of money.

Lives on credit cards. Golfer? Golf pro? Finds rich women, get some drunk. Golf pro? I don't think that guy could lift a... But how about that he talks about him in third part? He just talks about Merle.

He's right where you're... Using the third person for Merle when Murrell's in the room is aged very well. Yes. Literally. Talking about the guy. Like, he doesn't even like, I don't know this Merle. Well, because world's right there. Well, I could go, well, ask me anything, Mike.

And he doesn't say a word. His cocktail. He's looking around. And what about them in their hand hold? Yeah. Talk about Gordon Will's when they put the camera across. When they reach across and hold hands. The thing is, he's so stupid.

He doesn't know not to be obnoxious about the drink in a room full of those guys. Underrated Merle moment, too, is him kissing Mama on the cheek and the look on her face. Oh, her face? Yeah. Oh, my God. So good. The whole Merle experience. Mama, you remember Merle.

The, uh. Connie, what, does she get married after? She's supposed to have been married in between the two movies. Got a divorce and now is with Merrill. I don't know this Merle. The whole sequence of Michael wire, the drapes open, and then the gunfire. And Michael, no, I'm not ready to do the drapes it.

And Michael diving for cover and all that stuff. And then finding Rocco, Rocco, alive! That whole section is great. Can we do, just in general, I'd like to point out, Pacino gets a lot of grief for volume changes in the voice now. but this is this is where it was pure. This is where I was like, in my home,

where my children sleep. You heard what happened in my home? Mike, I almost died myself. It was all so relieved. In my home! In my bedroom where my wife sleeps. Where my children come and play with their toys.

So I pissed a theory to you that something happened to him in the 80s. That he was replaced. That he was, that there was a body snatcher's moment where he becomes a different kind of... Like it's a guy imitating Al Pacino as Al Pacino? I think he's absolutely amazing in the Irishman.

But he is closer to son of a woman. When he comes back and see a love in 89, it's like a different human being. You're talking about like Beatles, Paul is dead. Sort of a moment. Yeah. They never really gained momentum on the internet. Something happened after cruising is what you're saying. Yeah.

Or what was that movie made right after cruising? The revolution? Revolution. Yeah. Dirty revolution. He's replaced. You could see him become the guy in Scarface. he becomes the guy in Scarface

it's over the course of Scarface it happens but it happens within Scarface I did subscribe to the theory No no You have to do that right away I think maybe that the theory is Completely wrong because he's going over the top More in this movie than I originally remembered

He's going loud a lot Yeah And it is pure like you're saying Because it's really the first time I mean I guess he does it in like Panic and Needle Park My children play with their toys I just want to start like announcing basketball like that

but just be like Nicola Yolkich from Gary Harris Michael turning the family over to a nervous Tom when he says one thing I learned from pop try to think like people around

you think fucking great advice great life advice Michael were bigger than you a steel I have written down everything Fredo Fredo's outfits

Fredo's hot drunk wife I can't control it, Mikey Fredo's hair The moment, where is it, Rocco comes up to him He's like Mike says either You have to handle this or I do And he's like, you better handle it Yeah

Frado the fisherman All things Fredo Frato just gets wins left and right Unlike Kay Corleone Johnny Ola being the young Uncle Jr. Yeah, Dominic Cheney is amazing

He's so unctuous And it's so funny Because the lineage of the Sopranos Which starts with Johnny Ola as Uncle Jr. And Spider as Tony's cousin. And they're just like, we are the 2.0 version

of this whole generation of movies that everybody loves. And we're creating this TV show around it. And we're going to actually use people, Lorraine Brokow. He does it over and over again. He does it over and over again. So smart about the Sopranos.

You mentioned, in my home! That's what's age the best for me. When Senator Gary wakes up with... That's age the best? No. The dead lady. Duval's incredible in that scene. His performance in a scene that's super uncomfortable and weird.

Where he's just like, the girl has no family, nobody knows she worked here. It'll be like she never exists. He was like, oh, you're a bad guy too. I didn't totally realize. And then that one shot when Al comes out of the bathroom and you're like, Al did this. Yeah. This is fucking crazy. When you, oh, that's an amazing one.

Yeah, that's an amazing scene. I think you need that scene because you. For me, that's... You need to realize Duval's a bad guy. To me, that scenes age the worst, but that idea's age the worst. But... So not the Deval part, though. No, but what I was going to say is that we're all talking about how Pacino it might be the greatest performance ever.

But you can make the argument that Hagan in the two movies is like the greatest performance. Really, Duval might be the greatest actor. Most understated great performance. I think he might be the best of that generation of actors. If you really look at the... If you look at the entire body of work, Tender Mercies, Apocalypse Now, the Godfather, movies. I'm obsessed with him in network. Even what's the what's the movie? Santini. Crazy. What's the guitar movie with Jeff Bridges? Crazy Heart? I mean, even think about

that little moment and everything that he brings leading up to that moment in the bar and crazy art. He's great Santini around that time. Of course. Really good. To me, he's incredible in that movie. And he's different all the time, but he's got that movie star, supporting actor. He can do anything. And that scene's a great example of it where he just, you know, all this left is our friendship. unbelievable. Yeah. He's more evil. He's smirking.

It's not like the Jack Waltz meeting. In the Jack Walt's meeting, he almost, he's like, please do this so I don't have to do something terrible. If you don't do this, something bad is going to happen. But the bad thing has already happened in this scene. And he's like, he knows he has all the power in the moment.

Well, Geary insulted his family. Yeah. And my, so Geary brought this on it. In his world, I think it's a really important scene because, as Chris said, in the Godfather I want,

it's a horse. and Godfather too. It's a real person. And I have felt like in Godfather 1, he was still a good guy. And even like when Salazzo has him and you're like, oh man, this is like if a normal person was involved in Godfather 1, there's so much separation between Vito and what they do to Waltz. But like, you know, they cut to Vito after the horse gets discovered and he's just like, okay, good. I'm glad that worked out or whatever. But this is like Tom's there. Like Al is there. They are like Frato set it up. It's in Frato's place. Like, it is, it is like they did this to these guys.

More what stage is the best quickly. We mentioned the drinking Havana. How do you say, Benita Daccar, Benadacri, Vito and Signor Roberto, which I should have put in the most rewatchable. I have for what stage is the best, Michael Corleone's IBM stock. Good job by him. Yeah. He was in early.

We really stepped in. Yeah. Well, we learn about that in Godfather 3, how wealthy he became when he went legitimate. Freddie's brother with the evil eye. So good. So that's like the most Italian part of the movie to me that somebody's brother could fly in from the old country and just stare at his brother and the guy completely changes.

Frankie. Frankie, you mean? I got confused. Freddy's brother. Yes, Frankie. Oh, God. Yeah, amazing. With the little chelfare.

Frankie, not Freddy. The little chauffeur's cap or whatever you call that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. From a two-meal village. Is that what he says? A little village, yeah. A guy has no lines. Yeah.

He could have his own family. Tom tells Michael he's staying. which is Michael yet again just being mean to him. I guess some justified reasons, but it just goes into the whole, why do you hurt me, Michael? Been loyal to you this whole time, what the fuck? Vice president of Houston hotels.

That's great. In a scene set in 1960, Tom Hagan says nobody can kill the president of the United States, and Michael Corleone replies, anyone can be killed, anyone. Three years later, JFK, yeah. Rocco Lampone underrated? Kilt Tatalia and Hyman Roth?

Well, he gets a great job by him. He gets killed after killing Hyman. Yeah, but two good murders. So kind of high profile mobster murders. Not a high usage rate. Tatalia and Hyman Roth? We don't know. That's true.

Maybe he's got a lot under his belt. And the presence of oranges could be in what stage is the best and what stage is the worst because it's a little hacky, but I still love it. It's like, oh, that guy has an orange. I was ready about this. Oh, no. It's the best. If you just think about one and two, when you take it into him dropping the orange and three is

where it gets. It's a literary signature. It's an echo. whole movie is echoes. And I didn't know, I was reading about this, that orange is to, I think, to Sicilians represent memory and nostalgia, right? Which I didn't know. And any other, what's age the best for your guess? Gordon Willis's photography. We talked about that. The evocation of turn of the century, New York, the arrival at Ellis Island, the, the mash across the desk. It's like one of the signature shots in cinema history.

The recorder. Playing the recorder. Yeah. Big. What's the best for you, Copman? What's the number one thing? The bathtub. I think the scene in the bathtub, the using the history, the decline of the Roman Empire, all that shit in that one moment for me. I like that he's all out on abortion,

but bloody bathtub suicides. Like that's edge of best for me. What it portends, man. It's not rewatchable. It's different, right? It's a different category. Most rewatchable versus what's the history? Chris, what do you have?

I actually am going to go with the way it looks, with Willis. De Niro and Pacino. That's what I have. In their prime. I have young De Niro Young Pacino. It's like when we did a book of basketball pot about the 2012 Thunder and you're like, oh my God, all these guys are running the same team.

Durant Hart in Westbrook and Abaka. Jesus. It is crazy. Who's the K. Corleone of that team? I think it was Nick Allison. Oh, no. The K. Corleone on that team was Kendrick Perkins. Ooh.

Too many minutes. The smaller lineups were better without them. Stuff. I'm not crossing Kendrake. My silence is not co-signing the K. Corley. I just want to be clear. No, we're all on.

All right, let's go to what's age the worst other than Kate Corleone. Pacino was apparently a huge pain in the ass. Nearly didn't do the movie last minute. Wanted a massive salary. Complained about scriptry rights. Complained about Coppola's slow pace and apparently said, Serpico only took 19 days. So it sounds like he was really feeling himself during the shoot.

It led to the greatest performance of all time. So I think we're in a good place. Can I share a quick take? I don't think Serpico is that good. Are you seen it? It hasn't aged that well. I think it would matter when it came out. It doesn't have a Hall of Fame, but...

I think Prince of the City is better. I agree. That's a bad take. Wow. That's a terrible take. You don't... You don't... You don't wait.

That Serpico aged poorly, or that I think Prince of the City is better? I don't think Prince of the City exists. Well, I don't... Yeah, Prince the City's not as good. I love Sidney Lumet, but it's not. I don't treat Williams, too, but I just don't think Prince of the City is nearly as good as Serpico. Serpico is about a...

I don't know. Cirgo's about a time, right? So like this cop caught in this cultural moment. That's what Prince the City misses for me. Serpico's about what happened when these cultures meet. And then this old line corruption and this hippie thing. And when you have somebody who's supposed to stand on one side, but that side's actually corrupt and that side's not.

I think there's a lot going on in Serpico. I think his performance is incredible. It's not a movie I go back to all the time. I get it. I just don't like to watch it. Yeah. I think it's really crucial. It's pretty early.

It's a movie that you would. should have been made five years later. In a post-NyPD blue world, like David Milch, David Milch's version of that would have been better. Yeah, sure. But I do, I can't co-sign the prince. We could watch Princess City together, but I, I don't, the moves in Princess City are more, you know what's,

it's, it's, I just like living in that world, yeah. A plodding movie for me, Prince of the City. I don't know. Morwood's age the worst. Willie Cheechy, fuck you. Piece of shit. What a piece of garbage. scumbag, shithead, fucker.

Buffers. Yeah. There are a lot of buffers. Fuck him. He betrayed. He is the true betrayal, even more than Frato. He knows what he's doing. But he comes back and says condominiums in Rocky 2 and it's one of the greatest, right?

He's the condominium guy in Rocky 2. He's the bookie. But I love that line at the communion when he says condoms and Rocky says backderminium. He's a bad guy in so many great movies. He's a really fun out. He's a good deck. When Fredo sees Pentangeli, he's like, oh, Frankie and the Canter Pee's thing. And then Willie says, it was no heart attack.

I have that coming. I want to talk about that. Oh, that's the best. His name's Joe Spinell, by the way, Willie Chichy. He's also in a lot of amazing exploitation grind house movies. He's a star of like a lot of movies. Chris, please come back to that. To the candy. We've got it.

No heart attack. Morewood's age is the worst. Michael, after hearing about Kay's miscarriage from Tom Hayden, Tom Hagen. Tom Hagen Was it a boy? What kind of fucking motherfucker asked that question for the business character? Yes, yeah.

That's like, oh, you're evil. The segment, that's the second time. Can't you give me a straight answer anymore? Yes, it's twice, right? Was it a boy? Rocko's plan to kill Hyman Roth. Let's talk about it. I don't think there's an exit strategy on this one.

Odds of surviving 5%? One out of 20? He's pretty, I mean, they're cocky about it. I think I remember somewhere, is it in the complete thing or in some book that an idea that they had was that he was terminally ill? That Rocco was. Yeah. Oh.

I think that that's in something. I couldn't find it this week. But I think if you guys look, it exists. So on the internet. That some, I believe, I could be wrong, but I remember this from the 80s. Like reading about it, maybe in some version that was all put together in one of the box sets somewhere there was a Copeland note that the idea was he had gotten a term. terminal diagnosis. They were going to take care of his family if he did this killing.

I think that that exists on the internet. On the internet, which as you know is always true, Rocco is the head of security for Lake Tahoe. On the internet, there's a theory that he was the one who betrayed Michael and left the drapes open because Hyman Roth through Johnny Ola promised him Nevada if Michael died. So Michael knew that he was betrayed by Rocco. Rocko knew that Michael knew and the kind of agreement they came to is you go kill Hyman Roth and this impossible mission

where you're probably going to die. I like the terminal illness though. The terminal illness is get there. You always got a guy to have a guy on your team with a terminal illness because you can just, anything is possible.

I just feel like Rocco is... I mean, we used it on our show in billions with Donnie. Right. Like that's with Donnie was definitely we had that idea in our heads about... I just feel like Rocco

was such a good assassin and mobster that I don't know if he just waltzes into Miami. an airport, like, I'm going to shoot Hyman Roth, and then I have to get through these 58 people. And that's a Jack Ruby tried to do, though. True, but Jack Ruby was a patsy to cover up JFK's assassination for the mafia. Not here, Bill. Not on this podcast. This is already going to be the longest podcast. Sorry, Ron podcast.

Another would stage the worst for me is there's a deleted scene, which you mentioned earlier, where Michael gets his revenge on Fabrizio from Godfather 1. It's actually on the internet. It's a really good scene. I love that scene so much. My guess is they just didn't know where to put it, but I wish they had put it in the movie. I think it's important. Me too. At that point, you've taken care of anyone who's ever fucked with them. Any other what's aged worse for you guys?

I basically, I mean, I figured this might be a good time to talk about how not vague, but opaque, the Roth Pentangely Blame stuff is in that first third of the movie. When Michael's going to visit these guys and he's telling each one of them, like, it was Roth, it was Pentangeli that, you know, I'm going to do this. Just as a strategy? I think just in storytelling way, since he never tells anyone else what he's doing, you're basically trying to figure it out as he's doing it. But that's a straight.

I mean, for me, that's the thing the movie does that makes it so rewatchable. Literally the thing is that you have to see if you can think like Michael Corleone. It's like a first-person game or something of watching Bobby Fisher play chess. sure. You are put in a position of having to figure out because like Michael yelling at Frankie Five Angels following that scene with Roth and he's yelling at Frankie Five Angels as his, I think in the same way, to talk about this in the book, in the same way when he is talking to Carlo at the end, he needs, they call him in the book a week done, that the two guys with him think he's a weak done for not trusting his instinct and his information that Carlo

definitely did it. And so I think what he's doing when he's yelling at Frankie is just looking in his eyes. And the way Frankie responds, he doesn't plead, he doesn't beg, he doesn't say it wasn't me, convinces Michael that he's right. And I think that it just, you start unpacking this. And I think it's amazing. It's your, instead of a bad, I think a worst movie tells you everything. A worst movie, right at the Brockheimer version of this movie, the guy, Michael tells you

ahead of time, I'm going to go to Hyman Roth and I'm going to tell him this. And then I'm going to go to him and I'm going to go to him. I'm going to tell him that or someone explains it. Here, you're forced. It has to be entertaining enough to keep you along for the ride as you're figuring it out. It's definitely, it's, it's, I love that description. I think that's right on. You definitely convinced me like right now. The only thing that throws me off is ILO. But that's an ad lip. And then Coppola liked it and kept it. But when you see it, it doesn't make any sense if when he says, Michael Corleone says hello, if it's the Rosado brothers and Hyman Roth and they're going to kill him.

what difference does it make. It's the worst moment in the movie. That moment of ILO is the worst moment in a way. It's the most traditional mobster movie moment. But it doesn't make any sense. Saying Michael Corleone says hello, if you're going to kill Frankie Five Angels, you don't need to do that unless it's for other people to hear it. Well, okay, so here's one small case for it. Maybe Rosado is trying to twist the knife one last time on Pentangeli. It is final vanishing moments before death just to make him feel like he was betrayed by his own family. That was my interpretation. That's the only reason that he does it.

But it's really for the audience. It's to fuck. It's Coppola saying, so Danny, it's one of those great moments where an accident happens and it's incredible, right? So he says it. Coppola likes it, says keep saying it. Coppola decides to keep it in the movie with Richie Marks, the editor and Merch, who helped and all those people, right?

They decided to keep it in the movie. and it has the effect of further obscuring for us and making us do more work. Right, the truth. So that's sort of what's positive about it, but it does create a lot of story problems. I forgot one, one stage the best. I thought Tyler Shire was really good in this movie.

I agree. It's much better than one. There's like an arc to her. I didn't think she was good in one. But also has... And two, she's good. In the one of the movie, she's so amazing. She's incredible.

in the last scene, the flashback, it's so heartbreaking to kind of see this innocent girl get introduced to the guy that's going to essentially be the first step in the destruction of his family. They bring Carlo in, yeah. Casting what ifs. Coppola offered James Cagney a part in the film, but Cagney refused. I don't know what the part would have been.

Senator? I think it would have been Roth. Would have been Senator Geary? I never heard that. That's amazing. What that acting style would have been like in the movies? Hard for me to picture. I thought it was Roth because Roth is Lansky and Cagney is the gangster hero. villain of the 30s and 40s.

Apparently Peter Sellers was also considered for Hyman Roth. Oh my God. That's a different movie. Yeah. But he could do anything in a weird way. That guy was such a genius. Was he ever in a movie this grave, though? We talked about Kazan.

And then we did Clemenza and Godfather won. We got to do it again. Richard Costellano. Have to do it. Declined to return after demanding a, he could write Colmanza's dialogue, which is just insane. And then two, apparently he had. had lost weight and didn't want to gain it back.

And then three won a lot of money. One day before filming starts, they bring in Michael Gazo as Frankie Five Angels. He disputes this. There's a New York Post interview with him. And it's a little bit sad because he's like answering phones at his friend's garage. Like he's like, that's where he's working. And he disputed all of that.

He was like, he said that he was told by Coppola to lose weight because he was going to also play the younger version of himself. And then at the last second, Coppola was like, no, don't worry about that. Just gained the weight back. In 1917? He was good...

I never... I never bought that still. He also... But he does not deny that he was supposed to be in it and he quit the movie, right? His whole thing is that he was like Clemenza wouldn't have betrayed the family.

And it's like, he basically was like, I don't... But Frankie Frangelo doesn't betray the family. He's supposed to be the Pentangeli character. He doesn't. He doesn't betray the family. I'm just saying what he's saying. He doesn't.

He doesn't betray them. He slits his wrists. Yes. But he doesn't. I think if Five Angels was going to portray the family until his brother's show. Only because he thought Michael Corleone had had a murder.

But he said Clemenza wouldn't do that. Well, can we do this now? I was going to do it later about suit now. Is this movie better if Clemenza's in it? I love getting one more character in the story. And even though he's doing mostly what Clemenza would have done, I like getting one more guy. Of course.

Yes. Because you're going backwards with Bruno Kirby as young Clemenza and him with Vito. And that's the tide. Tessio's already dead so you can't have him. Clemenza is the one tie to his dad. And if he's the one who's betraying everybody, I just feel like it's weightier.

If he comes in now, he's not as good. He's not as versatile an actor. No. I mean, it's funny because Gazzo was not really an actor, but what Gazzo brings that all, the warmth. What you gain is this idea that you guys, Sean and Chris, were both talking about the warmth of the old Italian way, the family thing.

That's just not, Clemenza brought something different, and we saw Clemenza do those murders. With Frankie Five Angels, we hear him talk about Morton, wanting to kill people, but we don't see Frankie Five Angels do anything bad. We saw Clemenza kill people.

We saw Clemenza strangled Carlo. So Clemenza coming in has a different energy. But we saw him shoot Paul. It has a different energy than this guy who seems like your crazy uncle, who you love, the warmth that Pentangeli has. The real one is, that, hey, you know, that Duval didn't,

and it's the reason that you and I can't watch three is no Tom Hagan. They just should have paid him the $5 million. Pay for the $5 million. You got to pay the $5 million in life and life is entirely different. It's a totally different movie. It would have been a different script.

I mean, that part, the BJ, George Hamilton's in. He's just like walks in and out of hotel rooms for three hours. But this is what you should talk about no heart attack, right? Because this is Castellano. This is Clemenza. And the idea being that the Rosado brothers killed him. Michael, why don't you tell that girl you love her? That's the thing is

Clemenza too is like a mentor to a lot of the figures in the first movie and Frankie Five Angels doesn't have that same relationship but he is... But he creates his own awesome character

He does. I'm with you but I would have rather and he totally has like a thing that the rest of the movie somewhat lacks which is like that energy that like I get the peppers in the sardines

and let's like oh like that kind of thing nobody else is acting like that really in the movie. Dion Wader's the word we have J.D. Spradlin who was in one-on-one North Dallas-40 Godfather 2 in Apocalypse now in a five-year span. He's incredible in an opening scene when he gives the assignment.

He's unbelievable in one-on-one. And one-on-one he is. Coach, all the way up with a red-hot. Oh, my God. All the way with the Red Hot poker. But because he had said it earlier. I don't watch your scholarship. And he's basically the same guy in each movie, but each character feels different.

I love him. Bruno Kirby is young Clemenza. Roth's assassin in Cuba, one outfit. When they went out for this ass. And then my personal choice for the award for Dian Waders, Frankie's brother from Italy. Oh, interesting. One look on his face and he's fucking unforgettable.

I was going to put Fredo's wife in there. Deanna? I love Fredo's wife. She's amazing. Mariana Hill. Yeah. That's funny. And because I think in the book, right, she was with Johnny Fontaine

and then she goes with Fredo. But we also have to, guys, we got to talk for a few minutes here about Frank Severo. Yeah. We have to talk Frank Severeaux because somehow this guy, and I want to say if you don't watch his Instagram, have you seen his Instagram? Frank Severo is Carbone and Goodfellas. Oh, yeah, yeah.

And he's Janko in The Godfather, too. And that guy with that face, first of all, the guy did, he's an amazing part of two, and I guess he's in Wedding Crashers, too. So he's still alive? Not only is he still alive. How has he not been in billions? But not only is he still alive, well, when you watch his Instagram, the man takes himself. And as well he should, by the way, he's a wonderful actor, wonderful man.

He's accomplished something known. We can only dream of being involved in such projects. But if you watch him, you've got to go to his Instagram because he takes all this very seriously. And he puts his name in quotes all the time. Like, I'm Frank Severo. Hey, friends, is Frank a Severo? And he'll talk to you and tell you how he's going to make his veal parmesan. and for me he is, first of all,

he talks to that Italian, he's there in that scene with Don Roberto, and he's the one who explains, he does all this heavy lifting early in the movie when he's explaining about Finucci. He just does tons of heavy lifting. Oh, that's, sorry,

I got to go to one more thing that doesn't last, that one more sort of, what that? Something that age the worst. Age the worst, which is that Vito Corleone, our hero,

just lets Finucci, he put a knife up to the girl's eye and he lets his friend take him away from it. He doesn't... Can you imagine a movie hero now, not getting in the middle of that? Reminded me of Michael, though. He just walks away.

He just walks away. He just walks away. Yeah, but he gets his revenge. Maybe the eye is going to get poked out. It's a weird moment. He's not Robin Hood, though, you know? Right. No, I know.

He's angler or something else. You were upset Janko wasn't in the movie enough. Well, because he's so big in the book. Janko in the book is, I mean, you would have had to have read... I'm not, you know, I think Frank did everything he could do, Mr. Severo.

Again, I salute Frank Savarro for his work. Are you afraid of him? Yes, I am. Jesus. No, it's more I respect. You know what it is? 75-year-old guy sitting in Las Vegas. I'm not going to run him down.

He's been into my favorite movies of all time, and he's incredible. Just because his Instagram is entertaining to another generation of people. I'm five minutes away from being that guy, so I'm not going to make one of them. But I'm 53. How far is 75? You know what I mean? But, but, but, um, we got to go to apex mountain. Go.

Coppola, yes. I mean, he literally had never had more power than this. He's telling people, I get to do the San Francisco opera. Yeah. All this stuff. Like, this definition of apex mountain. Do you believe it? They're letting me do the San Francisco opera. Apex Mountain here I go.

And I'm writing the Great Gatsby script. They're like, oh, okay, dude, just make Godfather two, please. And De Niro. Pacino? I'm going to say yes. Let's take a look at the run. It's an amazing run. I just think coming out of this movie.

We didn't give it to him for the first. last movie, right? No. I think we said it was this movie for him. Best performance. But biggest ability to do whatever he wants after this movie. It's Copeland. I'm not to be,

and Gordon Willis, although actually Gordon Willis, in some of those Woody Allen movies, did work just as good. I would give it to him for this. Cazale? Yes. Sure.

I vote yes. Yeah, sure. Lake Tahoe? I've driven by... I've driven by... That house. You can drive a boat right by the Pacino House.

Most romantic time to talk about Lake Tahoe when this movie comes out or now? Lake Tahoe is kind of on a comeback, right? I don't know. I don't know the answer. Merle? Somebody's taking my bait on Stormy and Donald Trump. That's where it all went down. That's funny.

Merle what? Dionne Waiters? Apex Mountain. Apex Mountain for Troy Donahue, whatever this guy's name is? Yeah, Merle. Yeah. Yeah, my favorite fact about Troy Donahue is that his real name is Merle Johnson. He named him his real name.

But also Spradlin, right? Even though he was amazing. Apex Mountain for Spradlin. Like here he is, that's Apex Mountain. Paramount? Pugh. Yeah, they made the best movie of all time. Yeah, sure.

During the heyday of the Knicks. Not that many studios. They're in charge of most of the cool stuff. Did they own the Knicks during the championships? No. Horrific Oscar results? Paramount put out Top Gun, Bill. Yeah, Paramount also put out the Transformers movies, Bill.

It doesn't have to be the Apex Mountain. Horific Oscar results, yes. Any other Apex Mountains? Hmm. Mafia movies? Movies. All acting? Apex Zone for movies.

I love that. That's good. Let's give it to movies. Thank you. All right, movies. I mean, this is an amazing time for movies. Oh, for Mob movies, though. Apex Mountain for Mafia movies.

The Joey Pants That Guy Award. We mentioned Willie Chichi. We mentioned Merle. Rocco, I have no idea what his name is. Al Neri. And Janko. There's 25 that guys. Domenicini.

Yeah. I have to go with Merle just because I just see, if I saw him in anything else, I'd be like, Murl! He was in a lot of stuff in the 50s and 60s. Yeah, he was like a famous dude. Yeah. I just like it when Harry Dean Stanton's like, Frankie, let's play hearts. Because he gets the huge name check in Greece.

Yeah. As for you, Tridonohue. I know what you want to do. My mom claims that he was a huge heartthrobin. He was a giant. He was a super important figure. He was like a tiger beat. kind of guy. Hey, let's talk about Luminary, a podcast subscription service with some of the best

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Terms apply. The Linda Partridge, they knew overacting. I'm giving this, you're going to be mad to drunk Frankie asking for help with the brothers. With the blazer, with the blazer one arm rolled up. Finishing with the old man had too much wine, only because I do feel like he probably got slashed before that scene. And I want everybody here to know, there's not going to be no trouble for me.

Dan Giorgian, Cheech Abot. But that has... I love that. But that leads up to Cheech Report. He really, but he really dials it up. There's got to be Danny Aiello. There's got to be Danny Aiello. There's got to be Danny Aello.

There's got to be Danny Aello. And living that life. It's like they're full overall. I think I think Dina Corleone is probably the overacting. Oh, how great. That's how you know the power Coppola had. He already has a three and a half hour movie and he sticks the scene of her screaming in the woods. Yeah.

There she's screaming in the woods. Like, you don't need that. Outside my window. You totally need it. But you could see if they're sitting there with the exacts. And they're like, well, could you at least cut the scene of the wife? We've already seen her. And she's screaming.

What do we need her screaming for? And Coppola was like, we're going to leave the screaming in. I also want to Bill for overacting here. That's what we're doing here. Yeah. The bongo player at the Cuban sex show. That guy, real scene shoe. It's like, relax.

We got you. That's hilarious. None of those guys are wearing shirts. They're all playing. We've done a lot of the half-ass internet research. Just a couple things. In an early version of the script, an ongoing story was Tom Hagan having an affair with Sonny's widow. and then they left the mistress comment in.

I thought I was kind of retracting. In the first movie, yeah, she's beautiful. But she's in the second movie. And she's in three, right? Because she's Vincent's mother in three, right? G.D. Spradlin apparently wrote many of his own lines, including his anti-Italian speech to Michael. I don't buy this.

And then you mentioned the Mosulu. Mosulu. Also visible in Rocky. And in the ending of blowout, and is now a floating restaurant in Penn's Lansing, Philadelphia. There you go, Chris. Congrats, buddy. Thanks, man.

All right, so doing the recasting couch. That's where we can recast any part of the movie with an actor. Ironically, I had Jenko written down. Harvey Keitel as Jenko just kind of fits in with the era and all the actors and the points of career they're all in. But he's not Italian. Huh? He's not Italian.

Well, neither there's James Con. Yeah. But Janko has to speak a lot of Italian. Like, he speaks Italian the whole time. You don't think Harvey Keitel could have learned some Sestillion? As we find out on Apocalypse now, it doesn't sound like Harvey Kaitel and Coppola got along that well. Yes, maybe we had dodged.

It feels like somebody famous from that era could have been Janko. Because even like having Bruno Kirby as Comenza is kind of fun because I know him now is when Harry met Sally Bruno Kirby, but it's like, oh yeah, he was also young Comenza. Could Pesci have done Bruno Kirby's part? Yes. Hard yes. Or Janco?

He's not that sweet. I've never really seen Young Joe Pesci. He could have done Janko though. Yeah? That's what I thought you were saying, Janko. Anyone else? Who else would you want in this movie

instead of a part? I want to hear how you're going to fix K. Who are you going to cast for Kay? I don't blame Diane Keaton for that. Has Meryl Streep changed the game here? No. It's a poorly constructed character. They don't give her anything to do.

I disagree. She's a great actress. It's an avocation. I have no idea what she likes, Michael. In those situations is a collision of a woman in the 50s and 60s trying to become her own person, feminism. Still not a great character.

Not that interested in her. We did 15 rewatchable scene. She was in one. Well, it's a movie full of men. Well, she's not good. The character's not good, in it. She's good, knit. Where's your drapes bit?

It's coming right now. Pickin' Nits. I'm fucking waiting. I have some nitpicks. How does Vito go from being a dim-witted young boy to navigating a voyage to Ellis Island to surviving in New York for 10 years by himself to suddenly finding a wife?

He's not dimwitted in the book. He's not dimwitted. He just doesn't speak. He's presented as dimwitted. No, just as mute. Yeah. He just doesn't speak.

He's smart. The mother says, he's, maybe the mother doesn't have the greatest handle on it. The mother's lying to the mob guy to, the mother knows that the kid

will go get revenge. The mother's lying to the mob guy to save the kid's life. There it is. I don't think that's a knit. I can't give knit. I think it's poor casting then. I can't give knit.

I want a little more from the nine-year-old. I want a little more from the nine-year-old. I want to feel like, should we put Jacob Tremblay in a time machine and then back to go do Yumbito? Do some Haley-Joe Lodgement,

DAZ, de-aging? Okay, how to Clemenza die? And then they go, that was no heart attack. It's just kind of thrown out. It's like, what? How did Comenza die? But that's the beef.

I think that's the beef. They're like, the heart of the beef of the Rosado brothers, though. The Rosado brothers killed Clemenza. That's why. But can't you give me 30 seconds about that?

And Godfather, too, commences an essential character. You just said that only a day before they started. So this is one of those things. So if the truth is only like a week out or a day out, Castellano said, fuck you, I'm not coming. Yeah. Now you've written the script. You have to change over Frankie Panthansily and you have to deal with it.

And just on the day, you're probably like, what the fuck are we going to do? I know. Say, that was no heart attack. And we'd do away with it and we'd just move forward. But yes, I could have used the scene about it. I would have loved it. 30 seconds.

I would have loved it. Going from Comedza to Frankie Five Fingers, I think it's not the flaw of this movie because I did this is his greatest movie of all time, but if you were going to pick it apart, you'd be like, where did this, where did Frankie come from? He wasn't in the first movie.

How is he suddenly this important? I agree. Especially because he takes over the house and you know how important that house is. So you know that he must have been important to the family, but not hearing it. We don't know Pentangeli means Five Angels, right? Also, just the...

When Michael is in the office and he's like, my father had a desk right here. Oh, it's a great moment. We used to have to be quiet outside. It's such a great story. Any other nitpicks before I get to my biggest nitpick? No, I got my turtleneck guy out of the way. All right.

It's drapes time. I've been waiting for this for months. What time is it? Okay. I want to make sure I don't go 40 minutes on this. It goes as long as you want. Michael gets back to the bedroom after the big ceremony that day.

Kay's in bed. What's she? Like reading a book? It's getting undressed. And she goes, Michael, why are the drapes open? Michael, why have the drapes open? First of all, she's been in the fucking bedroom for an hour. Like, when she noticed the drapes are open,

usually, like, somebody goes to bed. They're like, all right, I'm going to either leave the drapes open or clothes. I'm going to put this light on that line. Misses the drapes completely. Then he's like, yeah, that is weird. Why are the drapes open? It's like, is it weird that the drapes are open?

When I'm in my bedroom, am I like, oh, the drapes are open? What the fuck? That's weird. Like, who even notices the drapes? No, you're not a, I mean, you're not a wise guy. That is true. To the best of my knowledge, you're not a wise guy.

You don't have guys patrolling your compound with machine guns. With a high school that I went to, there was some people whose families were not just reputed. They were in the mafia. And, Levine? Levine? What's funny?

Levine went to school 10 minutes away. And, no, this girl that I was friends with in ninth grade told me she went over to this other girl's house and we'll say their names and the other girls.

Father eventually did get killed, but they said you can't stand near the wind. Basically, my friend was like, I'm so freaked out. What do I do? The girl I was friends with, I said, why? She had because this girl told me

when I was at their house, I can't stand near the windows. And I was like, why? And there was some business problem with her father. And I remember saying it my friend, like, don't go to that house again. Yeah, right.

I think that's legit. I think that the- Okay, so Kay's condition for the drapes to be closed. I do. Why doesn't she know the drapes? Starting there. That you're correct.

There you're correct. It's a fly you notice after 300 viewings. You have a much bigger, more important question, though. So now it leads to who opened the drapes. Right.

Yes. And how did they get in the bedroom? Right. How did they get in the bedroom? How many people are even in that? They have Rocco is the head of security for Lake Tahoe. Who's even coming in out of the house? Who would be seen?

Why would the drapes be, the plan is like... What information did Fredo get? So we have to back up. Yes. Right. So the plan is so-and-so will open the drapes and then after the thing will kill Michael. So did Fredo give the plans of the house? Or did Fredo open?

Because Fredo did one of two things. So that this is the big, big question. The Fredo gave the plans of the house to them. or he opened the drapes. It's one of those two things because... Because Frato's one of the only people that could conceivably be wandering around to different rooms in the house. Well, Fredo, the phone, because what other information...

The information he gave, because he said, you guys lied to me. So we know he didn't think it was a hit. But we know that he gave them information that allowed them to take the shot at Michael. So what did he give him? So... He either gave him the plans or he opened the drapes. There's three scenarios.

Or... Or it was just a huge fucking mistake that they made in the movie. That there's, that it doesn't, but what did Fredo do that? But what did Fredo do? If she doesn't say Michael Wire the drapes open and there's just a hit. It's just a cinematic moment

where we need the camera to move to the window before the gunshots start coming in. That is, you know, it's not like mistakes don't happen. Here's where I landed. I think it's a director fuck up. Which part?

Michael, why are the drapes open? Just that line. So you think it's like, Michael Corleone says hello? You think it's like a, I think they do it as a way to build drama for him to be like, yeah, why are,

the drapes open, oh shit, dive to the ground and it's like a movie moment. They want you to know the drapes. They want you to know somebody. They want the viewer to, but there's more than that, right? They want the viewer to understand why Michael said there was a betrayal. Because without the drapes open, you don't know when Michael's in there. You don't know what the shit. But here's the problem with the drapes though.

Once you see the movie 300 times over the course of 45 years, you're like, who the fuck open the drapes? Like, if it's Freedo, then why is he, why does he say to Johnny Ola, you guys already lied to me? because he would be open in the japes them to kill Michael. There's a lot of people at this party. I think it's plausible

that someone gets in the house and that someone does it. But what does Frato give them? Is what he's saying? I don't know. Made the plans then. Yeah. They would have said we need to know

or what's left out. We know it's not that he made the introduction of Johnny Ola to Michael because Michael, he lies and says, you know, to Michael and says he doesn't know him. So Frato's involved. There's sort of no doubt Frato's involved in that. I don't understand what Frato got out.

of this. Money. Money. And a promise of... But what did he give to Johnnyola that he got paid for? Either plans or he opened the thing. That's it. Someone has something else.

But if you open the else... Tweet at me if you have something else at Brian Coppillman. If you open the drapes... I want to hear it. If you open the drapes, then Michael's justified murdering him. Because he tried to murder Michael first, so now I don't feel as bad. But he said you lied to me. Now the lied to me...

So he said, you lied to me, but it's... I still don't know what he lied about. What do he lie about? Well, he might not have known. Maybe he was like, we just want to scare him. him? I don't know. Yes. If Fredos, that's exactly right. If Fredo's dumb enough that he's like, open the drapes so that we can, oh, open the drapes like in, like in the Irishman when Joe Pesci, if you haven't seen the Irishman, I'm going to do a mini spoiler. But when Joe Pesci says to

De Niro, you know, don't kill that guy, just scare him. And he shoots up the car. So that's the theory on the internet. So what he could have been, what it is is they said to him, open the, open the window, Fredo. We're going to, so that we know my. Michael's not in there so we can shoot it up and scare Michael to do what we want him to do. I don't buy that. I don't believe that. But that's the only plausible explanation. Otherwise, he tried to kill Michael and now he deserves to die.

The way that Frato is acting in the scene in Tahoe does not indicate that he knows that there's anything this dangerous is going to happen. I don't know. He's acting fucked up, sad, drunk, can't deal with his wife. Think about how he's acting. But it doesn't explain why he would help Johnny Ola kill Michael. What, do you think he didn't do anything for Johnny Ola? Let's give him information. What?

Let's talk about what that is. This is great. This is what I wanted. I wanted us to argue about this. Michael gets assassinated that night. Hyman Roth and Fredo then go into business together. I mean, they're going to kill Fredo. You know they're going to kill Fredo.

Sure. Yeah, but let's just say that's the promise for Fredo is that he gets to take over the family. That he gets, because he says at the end. What they said to Frito is we're going to do some, I know that that's what they said to Frato. We're going to do some things and you're going to be in a position of influence. Sure. They didn't tell Frato we're going to kill your brother.

I know that they didn't say that to Frato, those words at that time. Because when Fredo says you lied to me, so what do they lie about is the big question to me? He's so shocked when he gets the call from Johnnyola in bed. He's so upset to even be receiving that call because he's so blown away by the fact that they put a hit on his brother. And he's so guilty. Yeah, and he's so guilty.

He feels so guilty. So that's why the drapes fucks it up. Because the drapes makes it seem like it was he basically set them up. So Frato opened the drapes. Does he deserve to die? No. By the, your brother shouldn't kill you, but by the rules of the rules of the Rules of the movie.

By the movie. No, you can't kill your brother and you can't kill the innocent sex worker. You can't do those things. By the rules of the movie, he deserves to die. Yeah, but you can also forgive. A king can forgive, right? That's the thing about being a king. A king can forgive.

So Michael could have forgiven him, but that's a fairy tale. Are you Italian? Are you a Jewish? I'm half Italian and my mom is all Italian. I'm an atheist, but I'm a Jew. The drapes, if Fredo open the drapes, he deserves to die. Because of you're half Italian. Yeah.

Okay. Grudge holder. Italians hold grudges. Fantasy knows. So do the Irish in two different ways. It's more like just the grudge to be guilty, make somebody feel guilty for their soul. That's my favorite part of the Godfather pot

is you guys talking about the truth of it, if it were an Irish family or not. I love that. Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, there's a, but there's a deeper streak of a sentimentality in the Irish, I think. And that's seen between Connie and Michael

when she's like, I forgave you, can you forgive Michael? And he says, Can you figure Fredo? Fredo, excuse me. Fredo. That's the whole movie. That's why Michael is so evil.

Yeah, that's why he's so evil. But this is the flaw of the movie after 300 times watching it is I still don't understand. What did Fraydo know? Who opened the drapes? Why did he feel like he was lied to? I still have no answers. And you feel like you could ask if you ever got Francis Ford Coppoli here and you asked him, he might not have that answer.

That's what I think. So the other thing. I'm with you. I think that's what it is. He doesn't know. This goes back to your... Who had the Rocco theory? Who was talking about Rocco is involved?

So... Head of security in Lake Tahoe goes to find the two killers and they're just dead immediately. And he says... And he says... Yeah, and get their throat slit, right? Yeah. And what does he say?

He says, these guys, I don't recognize them. They're out of New York. Which is, I think, immediately supposed to associate them with the Rosados or Pentangeles. It's one of the two. I assume, like, they look in their wallets or something like that,

But that was a weird line too, where it's like, I don't recognize these guys, but they're from New York. None of it, none of it adds up. And I still don't understand. So Michael does he, I know it was you, Fredo. What does he know? It was Fredo, who, it was you, Frato, who gave them the, by the codes of the world. Gave them one information, though, what bedroom he sleeps in? Yes.

You gave them. You either open the, I know you, Frato, let the evil. You let the killers have the leverage to get the jump on me. in some way. But how, Fredo is dumb. And Fredo did do that. But Fredo's a moron. But how dumb can you be to be like,

hey, Frato, just open the drapes. We're going to scare your brother. Well, it's even worse than that, though, because we learn how dumb Fredo is when they're at the sex show in Cuba. He's talking out loud. Cuba Libraise. About how Johnnyola brought him to this party.

And Michael is standing six feet away. The head drops. Yeah. All Johnny. Oh, Johnny. Yeah. We'll never have an answer. All of these places.

Yeah. Um, best quotes. We've already listed a few. Just a couple that we didn't do. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. My father taught me many things here. He taught me in this room. He taught me keep your friends close, but your enemy's closer. Have more douchebags in the world said this is the business we have chosen than any other. I mean, literally, people in every business have said just after doing something horribly douchy to somebody else. have said, this is the business we've chosen. And I said to myself, this is the business we've chosen.

I didn't ask, who gave the order? Because it had nothing to do with business. I don't feel like I have to wipe everybody out, Tom, just my enemies. I mean, you've won. You want to wipe everybody out? I don't feel I have to wipe everybody out, Tom. just my enemies

that's all Sean's actually said that to me before I subscribe to that theory he's been dying from the same heart attack for the last 20 years loves that line great he says it twice his medical condition is reported as terminal

he's only to live another six months anyway he's been dying of the same heart attack for 20 years I mean this movie has 10 of the most famous movie lines One of my favorites is even though it's an Italian is let me wet my beak I love my big Who don't want to say?

Tanda my book. Uh-huh. I love my. Don Finucci? Yeah. I used that in a podcast recently, actually. You did? Yeah.

And I also really love I don't want anything to happen to him while my mother's alive. It is the fucking most savage thing ever to say. Like when he just goes up, he goes to Al and says that. I don't want anything to happen to him while my mother's alive.

It's pretty good. We've already mentioned a bunch of of the best ones. Yeah, yeah, we're good. You know, I despise your master of it. We'll keep me the dishonest way you pose yourself, you and your whole fucking family. Yeah.

That's great stuff. Could this be re-made as a 10-episode Netflix show? Fuck you. Probably unanswerable questions. Wow. What the fuck is wrong? It's your question. I'm fuck you in my own question.

Wow. Copman's going to get uncomfortable. Did Pacino actually hit Diane Keaton in the abortion scene? No. Do you watch that scene? Actors are really careful about that stuff. They really talk it out. It seemed like he accidentally hits her at it.

Watch it from the 298th time. I don't think. Otherwise, it's like... Why didn't you ask him when you had him on the pod? This is like... Why didn't you ask him when you had him on the podcast? Why don't you have Diane Keaton on the pod? And you can tell her what a shitty job she does in the godfather.

Can't believe you fucked up our relationship with Diane Keaton forever. I know at the ringer. It's tough. I don't blame her. I don't blame her just like... So you blame Coppola? I don't blame her just like I don't blame Ben Simmons for being on the run. team with the six.

And by the way, do I think he's a good player? Yes. It's how we can't blame Gretchen Miles for Joe. Oh, wow. It's all on me. It's all on us.

It's all on Dave and me. But that's true. I think it's all on Dave and me. Yep. That's true. You've admitted it at that. It's on Coppola. Poorly constricted character.

I love Kay. I love Kay. I think Coppola did a great job. I thought he did a great job as well. Whatever happens. Diane Keaton, come on the watch. Come on the moment with Brian Cawple. whatever happens, that is the most realistic punch of the 70s,

especially when you think this is a movie franchise that when Sunny punches Carlo misses him by seven feet in the first one. And this one, this is like... The worst curb stopping... This is like Bruno San Martino against superstar Billy Graham level, like how they did it. We were like, oh my God, this is going awful. There's some good ones in Rollerball, too, the original.

Roller Bowler. amazing. Rollerball is. The original rollerball is, by the way, the first great sports movie. That is, I know you can't do, no one's going to care to do it. No, I'm doing it. You and I are doing. I'll fly to New York. We'll do it next time you're in New York. Jonathan. And the pills, dude, nobody will

I mean, no one will listen to us. James Conn, five other people. I'm so doing it with you. I love that. It foreshadows, everything that happens to football over the next 45 years. If you fucking guys did Godfather 2 in December, and then the next one was fucking rollerball.

The statistics of this The downloads of the show Would be like Black Friday on Wall Street It would just be seen Rollerbaugh? He doesn't even know He's never heard of Rollerball Bill has been polishing this precious jewel The rewatchables for years

It's gonna end up to roll it Only to smash it into a million pieces on the ground I'm gonna ask an honest question Have you Sean Fennacy? Have you seen Rollerball? Yes, I have seen Rollerball. Let me look at you for a second. Yeah, I don't think you have.

I do not think you have. No. I got it, too. He's not seeing that whole movie. You've not seen that whole movie. It foreshadows... I honestly have not seen Rollerball. It foreshadows every awful thing that happens with the NFL over the next 45 years.

With all team sports. The foreshadows all of it. Don't step on your own pod here, man. I'm just going to save you from yourself. I mean, to save this for the most... You listen to rewatchables ever, roller ball. Anyway, good punches and roller balls. We can launch like Dark Ringer, where it's like all the shit that we know we shouldn't do

when we put it all in Dark Ringer. That's where we put cruising. That's the version of Yocho from the old days. That's the Ocho? No joke. Dark Ringer is the O'Nears. More unanswerable was Michael justified of murdering Fredo.

We'll never know. My unanswerable is, would, I want to ask the three of you guys. Scott, I asked this. I have to know. I've thought about this forever. Let's say Michael let's Frato live. Would Frado have betrayed the family again?

No. Because that's the predicate reason why he has to kill him. It's not the revenge. What he really thinks about this kind of thing is that he would, you can't let this. You can't let this. guy. You got to cut the cancer out. Would Fredo have... Don in Sicily needs to kill Don Bean? That's correct. Would he have

eventually had to betray the family again? Because it's in his nature. To be stepped, having been stepped over. Good question. The interesting thing is that based like just the what I was the research is it sounded like Puzzo was not, Puzzo was like you have to, he would never do it. He was the one who put in the mother, wait till the mother dies thing. And was resistant to Michael killing Fredo. So he thought Freedo wouldn't betray the family again. I guess not. Or he just thought that that was an unfri-

But it's a good unanswerable question. It's a good unanswerable question. Yeah. I don't think he would have because he seems so relieved to just be back in the mix. Just fishing. Yeah, just fishing. I was kind of, I also, so there are a couple other things

that I was wondering around the Fredo stuff is, and obviously I'm not like, I can't speak to like what it must be like in one of these families, but. Tell us about the history of Italian Americans. No, but I was wondering, like, nobody in the house is like, I don't know if we should do this. like no other guys like they just I guess not but like where's Tom and all that like I know Tom is sort of being phased out at the again at the end of two when he gets caught like going for different jobs. Well but the whole point of the mob then I have to say like when you read the real books about it and you know this that order was given that wasn't a disgust order.

Sure. That's an order that was given from Michael to Al Neri quietly with hardly a word spoken. There wasn't a there wasn't a board meeting. it's not like you guys deciding if you're gonna do a Kung Fu Panda episode of this. Just look at Chris and he'll know. Right. But then what if I'm missing,

what if you're just like staring off in the middle distance? I'm like, it's now time? It's time now? Well, that's that great moment in the Irishman when he says it was a bad hit. That's one of the great moments of that movies

when he goes, it turned out was bad hit. Yeah. This is a flaw of Godfather 3-2 is the fact that Connie is still hanging out in Michael's life. We're not. She's basically,

We're not discussing Godfather's thing. She's basically the Tom Hagan. Honestly, I can justify talking about Rollerball way more than G3 on this pod. So I have, this is what was on the internet, and I don't know if it's true or not. I should have mentioned it when we were talking about the drapes. In the original script, allegedly,

Hagan says Frato thought it was going to be a kidnapping, not a hit. So Michael says, I want you to reach Frato, I know he's scared, have one of our people reach him, I'm sure him there'll be no place. Kidnapping a K? Or Michael? Hagan says to, Michael, my information is that Fredo thought I was a kidnapping,

Roth assured him nothing would happen to you. I mean, that is also completely unforgivable. That is just completely unforgivable. It's almost worse than leaving the drapes. And also, you don't have to leave the drapes open for a kidnapping. That would also have been cool. That's why I didn't believe that. That would have been cool because it would have paralleled the Saloza stuff with Michael.

You know, that would have been pretty neat mirror image. More and answer, well, are we sure? Are we sure? What do you mean as young? They need each other. Just in general. They need each other. Did this movie create the hell?

Hail Mary in football. I'm going to make the case. That's awesome. 1974. Godfather, too. 1975, Drew Pearson. Pirson. Vikings Cowboys. Starback to Pearson.

They call it the Hail Mary. Yes. Did Frado create the Hail Mary? Did you invent this? I did. You came up with this? I did. Bill, you still got it.

This is why you still got it. This is why you still have it. This is like your cotton club. Thank you. People had been saying that. Well, I'm going to say no. I don't tell you why. Had they said in a football game before 1916.

you why. Did Tom Landry call it the Hail Mary? I don't know. Because that the play was the play called the Halmerry by Tom Landry who coached that team. I'll tell you why. Because Tom Landry, as you know from those commercials, had a personal relationship with God. So he was someone who knew about Hail Marys because he did commercials all about his personal relationship with God. Now, that wasn't a Catholic relationship with God, right? Because of the prostitizing. But he did have a relationship with God, which makes me think if he called it a Hail Mary, he knew ahead of time. Was it a broadcaster who used the phrase first,

or did it come from the mythology of a play? I think came to the locker room after the game. Okay. They said it was a Hail Mary after the game. In this piece on Douse Cowboys.com. Not to be trusted. One of your favorite websites. They did not call it the Hill Mary.

Oh, Drew Pearson said it after. In the locker room. Yeah, in the locker room after I caught the Hill Mary. And he's like... I think Fredo's responsible. And then Drew Pearson was like, why do you open the drapes? And Preston Pearson was like,

that doesn't matter. Last, last unanswerable. Is the saga actually the best way to watch this movie? The chronological order? Yeah. I was telling Brian before we started, I don't think so. I don't like to watch it that way. I think the going back and forth, especially in two, is essential.

I love the complete epic. Of the two movies, not the third. The complete epic of the first two movies, amazing. So starting with... It's not better than the Godfather, too, but it is a great thing. It's pretty great.

If you've done this so many, if you've done this, like, as the four of us have watched this movie 300 times, it's really fun to watch the other way to. Also, when, like, AMC or somebody has it on for, like, 24 hours and they're just running it in a loop. It's like, go in your favorite restaurant where you order the chicken parm every time,

but one time we're like, I'm going to get the fish. If there was a channel that was only the Godfather and the Godfather, too, I would like sometimes watch that. I would watch that channel. Honestly, like, if we have a Golf Channel, why don't we have a Godfather channel? I would watch that channel with, like, interviews, interstitials. By the way, then we could have my guy who played Carbone and...

He could do his cooking show. He could be making his thing. It just seems like on T&T, it should be on every day from 12 to 4. Isn't it also a testament to the singular brilliance and greatness of these movies that we can even have this conversation, that you could have a conversation about, you know what? If you just play them chronologically of all the scenes, it's fucking amazing. And then if you do it the way Copeland made it, it's fucking amazing.

Like, there's no other movie you could do that with. There's no other two movies you could do that with. So the reason I don't like to watch it in that chronological succession is this is me showing my ass as much as I can about two. The De Niro stuff is my least favorite part of all of the first two films. Now, I understand. You made it. That's a hotter take than the... No, because when we did the most rewatchable scenes, they were almost all Michael Corleones sense.

It's essential to two. Most of it is brilliant. But to open the movie there, it's not that shotgun burst that I need with the, the wedding in one, where I need to be thrust into this universe in that way. That's sort of like the patient way that he goes through. Well, because it's sad because this woman lost a husband. It starts with this woman losing a husband and a son. And then herself.

And then she gets killed. She looked great. She gets murdered really. Somebody else in the village was taking a crack. She gets married, killed very quickly. She gets blown away by these. Didn't seem like there were a lot of marrying age men in Sicily at that time for some reason, you know? What uses Italy better one or two?

What movie makes you want to go to Italy more when you watch it? It just seems like it's like, yeah. Because it's full of underage brides. No, because it's just you get to see more of the countryside. No. Hell of a one. No. At the end, who won the movie?

For me, it's the same as one, which is Copla, which is just like confirmation of one of the ten most important filmmakers in the history of the medium. Yes, Coppola won the only. other answer is, I think two other answers are De Niro, because De Niro announced himself as the next major movie star. Like there was no question from that moment on Robert De Niro was a movie star. And he did it all in Italian. But Lee Strasberg, because there's always this question about whether a teacher can really do it. Oh yeah. And Lee Strasberg, who was really hadn't done a performance,

that was not what he did. And then Lee Strasberg just lays it down in a way where he just lays that performance down. And like, you never doubt. It's like Brad Stevens just climbing up. on the court with the Celtics. Right. It would be like that. It's just like... Is that your dream? That'd be amazing. But it is like, then this guy comes in and he's just like every bit as good.

As like, you're saying Al Pacino with the top of his game. You never feel like Strasberg's overmatched. There he is shirtless, whole man. And he's killing it. So I'd argue for him and then heero. Not Mama Corleone or Mama in Andalini. Mama Andalini. No, Mama Andalini.

I vote for Pacino. I'm going to go... I think it's the greatest performance. I've ever seen. Do you think, though? He's the first thing I think of when I think of this movie is Pacino. This is a related,

unanswerable question, and it's relevant because of the Irishman. Was there any part of Pacino that was mad after this movie because Brando officially gets to be, or excuse me, De Niro gets officially to be the heir to Brando because he plays young Brando

and then he wins the Oscar. And then Pacino has an amazing career after that, but the movies that he makes after this movie are not as good as the movies that De Niro makes. They're not as iconic. He does not have the same.

Scarface is only a few years later. Which is a great movie, but he does not have the Scorsese run. He does not get to have Raging Bull. He does not get to have taxi driver. De Niro is one of the three. I think that the major, I think as much as that, though, is the, I think, the way in which DeNiro is able to manipulate his body in a way that Pacino, I don't think ever really does that.

He tries. He makes Bobby Deerfield and he makes Injustice for All. And he tries to change stuff up. He does cruising and revolution. Justice for all is incredible. But it's, his. career, this is not a judgment on No, he wrote that.

Barry Levinson and his writing partner at the time who was a woman whose name I have to remember right now. Chris and I are in on cruising too. I love cruising. That'll be the 200th episode. You're out of order. It's a tough sit. It's a great movie. Wait, I want to say, what for one, the movie.

I want to go a little bit of a zag and say, Cazal and and Deval. Like the soul of the movie, I think. Oh, I like it. Yeah. All right. That was it.

You think it's Puccino? Yeah. Well, we did that, and I think that's the new longest rewatchables of all time. But it should have been. Brian Koppelman, it was a pleasure. I'm so glad to have done this with you guys. Valerie Curtin was the person who wrote And Justice for All with Perry Levinson.

I don't want to leave her out. Great. There you go. A writer till the bitter end, Sean, Tennessee. Thank you. Thanks, Ryan. Thank you. Thanks for listening to the rewatchables.

We're back one more this year, talented Mr. Ripley. And then we have a very special trilogy for you guys coming up after that. so stiff.