Final Playlist: Righteous Kill

In the old days we got 1974...a fade in and fade out...two film images of Deniro as Vito and Pacino as Micheal, from The Godfather II...years went by with speculation...will these two titans of the screen ever do a movie together...of course we eventually got it, in the right amount but it was still a tease in HEAT...they had 2 scenes together...a dinner and the last shot of the film where Al guns down Bobby...what a great film that was...years go by...and now unfortunately Al is 70 years old and Bobby is closing in on 68...so a few years ago they make Righteous Kill...it's terrible, of course, as I have made it clear in way too many posts...the end is...spoiler...but I don't care...the reverse of HEAT...I mean how weak is that..it literally has lights like the end of heat and they hold hands...Bobby shoots Al...

What else...why couldn't we get some more films out of these guys...I always respected Al a little more because he was in films less then Bobby...Bobby's best roles may be better...but Bobby has a lot of stinkers...the next rumor is a possible Bobby and Al team-up for Scorsese in a Frank Sinatra Bio-pic...Al would play Frank and Bobby would play Dean...as old men I guess...I am all for it...I just see Righteous Kill as a film based on the fact that we have Bobby and Al...and not 2 great actors...I mean why not have them as just actors acting...and not "Look, its Al and Bobby"

I will never watch this film again probably...I will watch HEAT many more times. Don't watch this film...maybe watch Taxi Driver and Scarface at the same time.

Here: I almost distilled these two for you...I'd like to distill the director and screenwriter of Righteous Kill in a BLENDER

Almost Done Playlist3: Righteous Kill

OK...so we could see the twist coming from the opening scene...this movie is like (spoiler, I think)...like if Kevin Spacey was Brad Pitt's partner in Se7en...I mean I really think that 1 statement was how the idea for this movie was started and how it was pitched.

1. The end scene with DeNiro and Pacino is actually pretty good...not at good as Heat...but worth fast forwarding to.

2. DeNiro actually is a character and not sleepwalking through it...he acts well in it...better then I thought.

3. Pacino, is ok...but both together are not great or even good till the end

4. I have 14 minutes left of the film.

Kinda Playlist: Righteous Kill

This is excruciating...I know...I have known who the killer in this film is...all the clues are laid out...and it's killing me to watch two of my favorite actors go through this film...Who the heck is Jon Avent and why does he think he is David Fincher?...The killer says he is the killer...why O why lord have you forsaken Bobby and Al to this?...I continue to watch...the good thing is that Carla Gugino is in this and she is hot...she played Bobby D's daughter in some film a few years back (This Boys Life)...and now in this film he is ploughing her fields from behind...if you get my drift.

Lifetime Movies: 1992

Some years it seems are real easy to pick, and others are either some great films or a lot of mediocre stuff. This year for me marks the beginning of independent cinema...sure there were small films before, with low budgets and young directors, but this is the year of Quinten Tarantino...save your Slacker and Soderbergs, and Francois Truffaut references for someone else...this is the year of RESERVOIR DOGS


I saw this early, early 1993 or 1994...it played on my colleges dorm cable...we had someone real hip programing those films in those days...I had just a few friends at the time and a lot of time to kill...so I gave this film a shot...the opening sequence of talk and guys wearing the same outfits, the talk of Madonna and familiar faces like Harvey Keitel just drew me in and I held on the whole time mesmerized.

I had an English writing class where I dissected this films color scene, the names of the men in the gang and what they metaphorically mean to their character...the color orange which in Francis Ford Coppola's world of the Godfather means death...the layers in an orange, the differences in each characters suit, that at first appears identical but in reality all are different, the homage Tarantino gives to other films that at the time were unknown to Americans...has Tarantino changes that much?...no he hasn't...even Death Proof has its moments.

Watching this film now is like walking into a time machine...it is not dated...it could have been filmed in the 1950s, 1970s, etc...but you see where Tarantino will go...he uses names here that have their soul in Pulp Fiction, True Romance, Jackie Brown, etc...these are characters in a play, and the play is totally in the hands of Tarantino...you feel that with all his films. I wish I could go back in time and rewatch this film and rediscover the magic of it...since the film I have 3 different DVDs of it...toys, posters, etc...the characters are like Greek heroes...the lines are poetry...1992 belongs to Reservoir Dogs.

Other films:
Scent of a Women: Pacino deserved an Oscar for like 5 others films before this...but sure he gets this...I would like to say that I was on board the Phillip Seymour Hoffman train starting with this film, check his filmography and see that he really never did anything before and it was years until Boogie Nights

Batman Returns: One of those films (and we have to make a list of this) that takes place during Christmas, and uses Christmas decoration, but is not about or never uses Christmas in the story...brilliant...it's dark, circus-like and I love that Catwoman suit...when you think about the time and the characters, Catwoman and Penguin were perfectly cast.

A Few Good Men: I am a sucker for a good Tom Cruise film..I thought Demi Moore was hot as F*$k..and the Jack Nicholson ending was great...one of my favorite endings.

Glengary Glen Ross: The acting is some of the best ever by an ensemble cast...each one if perfect...I could name them and say why they are great..but whatever...the Baldwin scene alone is one of the best monologues of all time...Mamet got alot of credit here for this film...I was on his bandwagon for years based on this film...I guess I was wrong...never really liked anything else he has done...I could watch this film over and over and just be in awe...I guess 1992 should be remembered by the perfect casting

1993 will be a tough one..for me there is no clear winner...even I may be surprised with what I pick...there are many good films...none that I think are GREAT...so maybe and just maybe Judgement Night has a chance.

Playlist: The Godfather Part II

Micheal Corleone is a bad Father:

On this "Fathers Day"...I got breakfast cooked for me...then my children had a pillow, blanket and a remote control on the couch. Tucked between the remote and the blanket was the Godfather DVD set...so I got to watch the Godfather Part II today.

What a great gift...in the morning, no interruptions...just this film that I have as the best film of 1974 and probably in my top 5 films of all time.

I haven't seen this full and uninterrupted in a long time. It holds up great, but a few observations.

1. "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer"...Micheal doesn't really know who tried to kill him early in the film...he tries to smoke out the rats through telling Tom Hagen, Hymen Roth, and Frankie Pantangelo all someone else "did it"...until Fredo...freaking Fredo makes the mistake of saying the wrong thing in front of Micheal...

2. Its all Pacino....sure DeNiro is in it...DuVall really has a small role as does Diane Keaton

3. Pacino never smiles and is never happy...not once

4. I miss Bruno Kirby

5. I think only 4 people die...wait maybe 5

6. Coppola tried to get Brando to reprise the role as Godfather in a flash back scene..he refused, which then gives us the picture above.

7. If it wasn't for the flash back DeNiro and Little boy coming to America scenes..this film is a downer...great...but a downer, revenge thriller...I have never seen the "Saga" version that just plays out in chronology all 3 films...but it would be interesting.

Vincent & Vincent Vs. Robert & Al

Or...D'Onofrio and Gallo vs De Niro

I have had it with Italian American actors. Pacino and DeNiro were great in the 70's into the 80's and then into the 90's...but recently are they even on our radar? I mean we put them on a pedestal and they rose to the occassion...but think how many times they let us down (Meet the Fockers, the Godsend, Showtime, Rocky and Bulwinkle, Revolution, 88 Minutes, Righteous Kill, Simone)...I mean its been dredful for Italian American Icons lately. So I now put my money not on the first tier or even the second tier Italian American actor...I put all my eggs into the 3rd tier...and its better...its safer...

It feels right to watch a film with Vincent D'Onofrio...sure he can be bombastic, and sometimes funny and sometimes scary and sometimes over the top...man, but you watch him...and are those not the same things we watch DeNiro for (ie, Taxi Driver, and Casino, and King of Comedy)...I mean the line "Great Ass" is heard over and over again in my head when I think of Pacino...or Pacino yelling at Philip Seymour Hofman in Scent of a women...man they were great...YES WERE great in caps. I just feel more of a connection to Vincent Gallo's depressive, self loathing in Brown Bunny, Hide and Seek and Buffalo 66, then I do to DeNiro's bullshit in those focking Anylze this bullshit. Its time for the new old wave (D'Onofrio and Gallo are like close to 50 years old at the time of this writting so we dont have long with them)...deep down you know I an right...deep down you love Gomer Pyle, and you love how cool D'Onofrio looked in The Cell and Men in Black...deep down you now as you watch the 10 seconds of background screen time that Gallo has in Goodfellas...you know he could have been big...he could have been huge but Pacino and Deniro kept both of these guys back in the Italian American Minor Leage Double A ball for actors...who I say do we have?...who can fill the void of new young Italian American actors?..."The Situation"?...man its bleak out there...keep looking boys and girls...keep searching for the next wave...dont forget people like D'Onofrio (whose acting in Staten Island tears apart anything DeNiro and Pacino have done collectively in 10 years)...don't forget Vincent Gallo...these are the backbone of Italian American cinema.