The Godfather Part II (1974)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Cast: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro

Stars: 5

People often argue that the "Godfather Part II" exceeds the original film. Some rank it as one of the best sequels ever made. However, it is not just one of the better sequels but one of the best films of all time. Francis Ford Coppola's continuation of the Godfather saga lives up to its reputation, and is able to rival the original.

The original leaves us with Michael Corleone consolidating power by assassinating the heads of the five other families and Michael becoming the new Godfather replacing his own father. In “Part II” the film picks up three years later and follows the tribulations of Michael as he begins on his tenure as Godfather of the Corleone family. While showing the life of Michael after becoming Godfather, it also tells the story of the Corleone families rise in the early 20^th century, as Vito (Robert De Niro) goes from “rags to riches.”

The juxtaposition of the young Vito’s rise and Michael’s downfall is a brilliant comparison. On one hand, there is Vito. Young, smart, and trying to make a good living for his family so they can survive, he meets up with Tessio and Clemenza; the most important thing for Vito is his family. On the other hand, 30 or more years later there is Vito’s son, Michael. Attempting to keep together the enterprise his father built. What seems to be most important for Michael is not family but power and respect and in the process he alienates his entire family, and eventually himself so that he does not lose those coveted attributes. Vito, at least in his mind, did only what he had to do to provide for his family and make a better life for them. He did so with a virtuous quality to fight what for what is right and protect the people of the neighborhood justly. Michael does whatever he has to maintain his power, and in the process loses his family.

One of Coppola’s true gifts as a filmmaker is capturing that feeling of raw emotion for his audience. Through the two movies we see the dynamic character Michael, the prodigal son, go from reluctance in joining the family business, to a power hungry mob boss who only cares about his own self-survival, and is willing to keep himself intact at any cost. Coppola is able to capture the pure emotion of the rise and fall of Michael Corleone, and the concluding scenes of the movie rival those of the first film. In the end, we realize the once mighty Corleone empire, which always takes care of its family, has been reduced to a lonely Michael.

Coppola has pulled off a second masterpiece in just a short time. The “Godfather Part II” is an excellent film that rivals the epic and dramatic levels of the first.

Traffic (2000)

Cast: Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Stars: 4

This is a movie that I have seen once before but could hardly remember. Therefore, I decided to watch it again tonight and was not disappointed. It won four Academy Awards including Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing and was nominated for a number of other awards including Best Picture and definitely lived up to its reputation.

Steven Sorderbergh takes on the world of illegal drug trafficking between the United States and Mexico through three loosely connected stories. The first follows Mexican police officer Javier Rodriguez (Del Toro) and his partner Manolo, who in the beginning of the movie stop a drug transport and arrest the drivers. However, General Salazar a high-ranking Mexican official soon interrupts them. Salazar decides to employs Rodriguez to help him rid Tijuana of the Obregon Cartel. Rodriguez agrees but soon learns more about the situation he got himself into and his superiors and realizes not everything is as it seems.

The second story line follows Robert Wakefield (Douglass) when he is appointed as the new Drug Czar of the United States. He tries to learn more about the drug situation in the country while many high profile politicians tell him the drug war is unwinnable. Soon, Wakefield learns that his 16-year-old daughter Caroline, who is also an honors student, is using drugs. Soon Caroline goes on a downward spiral to being a full-fledged heroin addict, and her father is now torn between his new position and his deteriorating family life.

The third storyline involves undercover DEA Agents Montel Gordon (Cheadle) and Ray Castro who arrest Eduardo Ruiz in a sting. They soon convince him to become an informant and testify against his boss, drug lord Carlos Ayala. When Ayala is arrested his family is completely in shock who are unaware that he has made his fortune by smuggling drugs into the country. His wife (Zeta Jones), is faced with threats against her son and her husband facing life imprisonment must take a critical role in her husband’s business in an attempt to keep the family afloat and her husband out of jail.

All three stories are eventually loosely connected to each other showing the manner in which the drug world runs and each has their own set of surprising twists and turns in the plot. It shows how drugs not only effect a 16 year old girl who begins by partying on the weekends, but the issues that arise within the higher ups in the American government, as well as how a low level police officer in Mexico is thrown into the forefront of the Mexican drug war. The cinematography throughout the movie was excellent, which is shot similarly to a documentary style and the acting was even better. Both Cheadle and Zeta Jones give excellent portrayals. While at times the plot line may be a bit over the top, it is still fascinating and excellent.

Sorderbergh does an excellent job of capturing the issues surrounding the drug trade in the United States on every level. You may not be inclined to agree with the points the movie attempts to make, but it is still an excellent movie the delivers an inside look of the drug world.

Citizen Kane (1941)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Director: Orson Welles

Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloane

Stars: 4

The directorial debut of Orson Welles is considered by many as the best movie in cinematic history. AFI has ranked Citizen Kane number 1 on its 100 greatest movies list, it made New York Times 1000 greatest movies list, and is still studied in film schools all over the country. Given the movies reputation there is much to live up to. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion it does not live up to its colossal reputation.

The movie begins by introducing us to newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane in his last moments. Kane is shown in his elaborate and extravagant estate, Xanadu, located in Florida as he clutches a snow globe in his hands, and utters his last word, "rosebud" just before he dies. His death quickly became sensational news around the country and the newsreel editor decides that until they know who or what Rosebud is they will not have the entire story on Kane. So, he assigns a reporter, Jerry Thompson, to uncover the identity of Rosebud.

Thompson begins researching the life of Kane discovering much background of the newspaper tycoon, but is unable to find any mention of this Rosebud. The reporter attempts to talk with Susan Alexander Kane, Charles Foster Kane's ex wife, however she is inebriated and will not talk with the reporter. Thompson next finds the unpublished memoirs of Mr. Thatcher, Kane's first financial advisor and childhood guardian. After, learning much about Kane's early life from the unpublished memoirs, Thompson was then able to interview Mr. Bernstein, the general manager of Kane's newspaper empire, who then leads him to Jedediah Leland, Kane's college friend. Finally, Thompson is able to find more about the Kane saga through his butler at Xanadu, Raymond. Unfortunately, Thompson is never able to find out the identity of the now infamous Rosebud, however, it is revealed to the audience. The background information found out by Thompson is revealed to the audience through flashbacks, a new technique in cinema at the time.

Despite this movies engaging and fascinating story line, which documents the rise and fall of a newspaper tycoon through flashbacks, it fails to live up to the hype. Quite simply, this movie gets the "greatest movie in cinematic history" title because of its introduction of many new techniques to film, not for the story or artistic value being that much further ahead than all other movies. The film broke ground in cinematography by using the "deep focus," a technique which is when the background and/or foreground is in sharp focus. Also introduced are low angle shots to show ceilings and upward angles throughout the movie. The film also broke from the traditional linear storytelling and told almost the entire story of Kane through flashbacks, as well as multiple narrators, and new special effects. Despite my earlier critiques the film, it is absolutely a landmark in cinematic history.

However, even though it is a landmark in cinematic history, why do we always rank it as the best? Does first always equal better? I would have to say, especially in this case, the answer is no. Was the first prefect game to be thrown the best ever thrown? Is Knute Rockne the best coach in the history of football because he invented the forward pass? I would have to say the answer again is no. Can you think of any movies after Citizen Kane that used these techniques? They may have even done it better. While Citizen Kane is a wonderful movie with a great storyline, it is certainly not deserving of its number 1 ranking simply because of its new introduction in cinematography, sound, storytelling, and special effects. Just because it was first does not make it the best and it remains the most overrated movie in cinematic history. It is certainly a landmark in movie history, but definitely not the best movie of all time.

However, despite its overly high ranking, it is still an excellent movie with an engaging storyline that is a must see for anyone who considers themselves a lover of movies.

Well, my first year of graduate school is over. I spent a lot of time reading, writing, and doing tons of research. It is the summer time now and while I have to do more research for my thesis, I also need a summer project. So, given the fact that I love watching movies and I finished watching Oz, The Wire, and there are only 2 episodes of LOST left I have decided I am going to start making my way down "Greatest Movie Lists."

I have settled on three lists that I want to watch (although this will take much longer than just 1 summer). The first list is the New York Times "The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made." I choose this list for two reasons: 1) It will cover AFI's 100 list, and 2) It's long and will give me a nice project to work on in my spare time for a while.

The second list is Channel 4 (which is a British TV Station the conducted a 50 greatest documentary series) "50 Greatest Comedy Films." I choose this for no other reason I wanted to be more expansive than the New York Times list provided; I didn't feel enough comedy's were on there. This adds 50 more titles to my list. And last but not least is the last 20 years worth of Foreign Language Oscar Winners. So from 1989-2009 I will watch each foreign language film that won the Oscar for that year. This brings a total of 1,070 movies (although there will be a number of overlaps so it won't be as much as it seems) to watch and write reviews on.

All three lists are posted to my blog in the pages section. I will watch all movies I have not seen, or movies that have been so long since I have seen them that I can barely remember them and write a review on each movie I watch but will not write a review on any I have already see. However, there is one exception since the movie Citzen Kane is considered the greatest movie of all time and I have already seen it, my first review will be on that movie. Also, I will rate every movie with your typical star system (I know very creative).

1 star = Hated It

2 stars = Did not like it

3 stars = Enjoyed it

4 stars = Really Liked it

5 stars = Loved it!

The list of movies are up under the "pages" section. Both the foreign language movies and best comedy films list are up. The ones I have seen are crossed through and rated.