The Godfather

I go away for a week and return to find that Sky have been dicking around with their movie channels again - now we've got Sky Indie, Sky Comedy, Sky Action etc. And if you're watching something thats a 12 or 15 certificate, you have to key in your PIN code; bit of a faff, all in all.

Still, on Sky Modern (wtf?), they're showing the Godfather right now, one of my all-time favourite films. Everything about this film is great - the performances (Brando, just the right side of the self-indulgent nonsense performances you get in films like Apocalypse Now; Pacino, gradually losing his humanity; James Caan never better), the storyline, the pace, the soundtrack etc.


Now I know that the purists believe that Godfather II is the better film. And yes, the denouement in Cuba, Frankie Five Angels dead in a hot bath, Kay telling Michael she aborted their baby and most of all, "I know it was you Fredo", give me absolute shivers just thinking about them.

But still, its the Godfather for me. From the wedding at the beginning, Jack Woltz and the horse's head in the bed, Michael saving his father in the hospital, killing Solozzo and Capt McCluskey in the trattoria, the sojourn in Sicily (Speak Softly Love.... Boom!), Sonny dead at the toll booth, Brando dead in his tomato plants with orange peel in his mouth, through to the Christening montage (Mo Green, never a more deserving candidate for a bullet through the eye), everything is a joy to watch.

All that said, its nearly 10 o clock now and I'm not sure how much I'm going to be able to stay awake for - its nearly time to go to the mattresses (ho ho ho).

Apropos this, it drives me nuts that I can't get a decent stills print from the Godfather to frame; they all come with the logo branding on them. The dining room has various stills prints from our favourite films on its walls, but I've got room for a couple more and the Godfather would be a prime candidate.