AKA: Jane Austen's Mafia!
The Godfather films were ripe for parody, and there was none better to come along and skewer it than Jim Abrahams (of ZAZ), in what would become his final film. Weaving The Godfather Part II and Casino into its pastiche, the plot is little more than skin deep...but it's funny, god damn it. Severely underrated and overlooked at the time of its release for seeming stale and outdated, and yet, everything is relative; after watching a string of bad spoof films, this sticks out like a diamond in shit. And yes, it's still better than The Godfather Part III.
3 wishes on a falling star out of 5
4 comments:
I re-watched the Godfather movies last week, ending with the new Cut of III instead of the regular one. The changes to III seemed very minor, at least to my memory, but it was the first time I'd seen them any of them in HD, so it was still time well-spent.
It's been about a decade or so for me. I could definitely use a refresher. I downloaded the recut 'Coda' version awhile back, but haven't really felt in the mood for revisiting that particular cul-de-sac. I'd probably rate them similar to you, except I actually liked the first one more.
I’ve probably talked to Doc about this, at some point, but I’ve got a very VERY specific…let’s call it, ‘mental deficit’ when it comes to organized crime media. I genuinely have a hard time keeping details and characters straight. I remember with the first Godfather, I was like, “Who is that?” at the end, and my dad was like, “He’s the guy from the beginning.” But, he genuinely looked completely different to my eyes. I can’t explain it.
I saw a lot of the Sopranos, but all I really remember is Joey Pants’s stuff (because DUH), Pussy’s ghost in the mirror, and the final scene (because Journey).
I can’t really say how I’d fare with Yakuza, if I actually played them instead of just watching stuff. I know it would be better, for me, if Majima was the central protagonist. I remember everything I’ve seen, and heard, of him =) I just can’t bring myself to care about Kiryu. Ichiban rules, though.
It doesn’t extend to heist/honorable/Gentlemen thief stuff. I love that shit; you know this. Very specifically organized crime. It’s weird. I’m weird. So it goes~
I’m having that same issue more and more lately. Too many characters to keep track of and it’s hard to tell them apart if you’re not familiar with any of the actors beforehand. I wonder if it’s a kind of “face blindness.” But yeah, keeping track of too many character names is what undoes a lot of those ensemble films for me. Seems to be an issue that keeps getting worse as I get older, so it must be tied to some kind of cognitive capabilities.
I keep hearing great things about the Yakuza series, but it’s another one of those that has grown so large and I would ideally like to start at the beginning. Similar to Shenmue, which has been on my list for 25 years, but I’m starting to think mortality will win this round.
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