The dinner was pizza.
The film was Godfather 2.
Nominated for 9 Oscars. The 1975 winner for Best Picture, also took home the wards for Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Dramatic Score.
Bethany says: As a complete film, I think the first Godfather film was better. That being said, the flashback sequences in Godfather 2 are just as good, if not better than the first film. Michael Corleone was a much more likable and sympathetic character in the first film. He becomes EXTREMELY unlikable in the Second. However…I’d still like to be able to look at someone the way Michael looks at his sister’s fiancé. That scene is a beautiful example of acting and directing. RIP Fredo. 6/10
Eric Says: Well, the good parts of this are very good, and the other parts are really unimpressive to me. In some way I feel like that juxtaposition is perhaps the intent of the film maker and author…to illustrate how gross things got. As Michael becomes the next Don, the family moves to Nevada, and the sense of place and community is further dispersed and disrupted. Maybe that’s part of what is at the core of Michael’s problems. One interesting point that Bethany noticed as we watched…Vito was rarely seen alone. Michael is alone often.
I love the thing with oranges in this film. I heard ages ago that oranges represent death, and now when I see these films I’m always on the lookout for characters who are eating oranges, or refusing oranges (as Michael does at one point).
The subtext of what happens in Cuba is quite interesting here as well. Michael sees something that the others can’t, or refuse to, in terms of what the rebels are willing to do. I found that fascinating.
I also think the spiraling out of Fredo is a noteworthy, interesting part of this story. He’s dumb, even though he doesn’t think so…and Michael knows that makes him dangerous. Not offing him till Mom was dead was…I don’t know…classy? Or horrifying? Or both?
The flashback scenes in this are so excellent. They are the real movie for me. They make this film worth it. 6/10
4ThumbsUp4ThumbsDown 