#10. 'The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone'
Listen to this episode ↗on Substack, where the show lives now
The main film is The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, Coppola's re-edit of The Godfather Part III, and the trio agrees the new cut genuinely improves the film without fixing its core flaw. Sonny argues Part III has swung from overrated to underrated — never great, but good — and that leading with the Vatican/International Immobiliare plot clarifies the stakes immediately; he loves Al Pacino (playing late-career Michael honestly, not just shouting), Andy Garcia's Vincent, and Talia Shire's black-widow Connie, and calls the flaw undeniable: Sofia Coppola, dropped in at the last minute after Winona Ryder bailed, simply isn't an actress, and her valley-girl line readings gut the impact of her character's death. JVL comes to it fresh — he'd never seen Part III, having been introduced to Godfather I and II years earlier at one of Vic's apartment screening parties — and enjoys it, singling out Michael's confession scene with Cardinal Lamberto and the operatic finale, but concludes it's ultimately "unnecessary": merely good, forever eclipsed by the two masterpieces nobody will ever pass over to reach for it. Vic lands around a B-minus and burrows into the weeds (the immobiliare intrigue, the poison-cannoli and eyeglass-stabbing hits, the maligned helicopter assault); JVL floats that the real acting problem is actually Diane Keaton, not Sofia. They also rank the series' villains. The hangout covers the TeePublic store (the "I'm sure it's fine" shirt is the runaway bestseller; nobody can define a "headache shirt") and Vic's triumphantly recovered health — a best-ever 105/61 blood pressure after his near-stroke 140/110 days and once-off-the-charts 854 triglycerides.
From the show notes
On this week's episode, the dudes skip chatting (for the most part!) and get right to business. Does the new edit of The Godfather Part III substantially improve the film? Is Sofia Coppola Good, Actually? How many times will Vic say "International Immobiliare"? Does Gene show up for a vintage review? All this and more on a very special episode of The Sub-Beacon! (And make sure to check out our store at TeePublic , where everything's on sale. Deals as far as the eye can see!)
Full transcript
Guest00:00:00We've sold the casinos. We have no interests in anything illegitimate. The Church owns the large corporation worth six billion dollars. Dr. Corleone, this deal can make you one of the richest men in the world. Friends, our business together is done.
JVL00:00:34Hello and welcome to another edition of the Sub-Beacon. I'm your host JVL along with Sonny Bunch and Victorino Matus. Just a reminder, the Sub-Beacon is available exclusively on Patreon at subbeacon.com. We also have a store where you can buy Sub-Beacon merchandise ranging from masks to onesies to headache shirts. Just visit tpublic.com. And search for Sub-Beacon. You'll easily find us, buy our shirts, tell your friends to subscribe, leave us reviews, suggestions, and bad ideas at subbeacon.com. Sonny Bunch, how are you?
Sonny00:01:10I'm good. I have two things about the store that I would like to say. Just as somebody, as the person who's kind of been spearheading the store portion of this. The first is, what is a headache shirt exactly?
JVL00:01:22I've never asked. Don't worry about it. I have no idea.
Sonny00:01:26I don't understand. I don't understand that phrase.
JVL00:01:30I thought it was just me. The people know.
Sonny00:01:33I don't think they do. I don't think people know. The second thing I just wanted to say is there's a sale going on right now at the store. There's like a site-wide sale at TeePublic. I think the standard classic t-shirts are $13 each and the other shirts are all varying percentages off. I don't know. Like I haven't. I don't run the sales. I just tell you about the sales.
Vic00:01:59The sales are just like the ones I used to see in Georgetown and Wisconsin Avenue. These European suit stores where everything must go 50% off. And you know how much is this? It's $2,000 now.
Sonny00:02:13Well, it's $13 for a shirt. It's not a $2,000. I am the yeah. So just go to go to go to the site. Check it out. And if you if people have suggestions on shirts. I have suggestions on slogans and stuff for sure. Here's the here's the main thing I've learned about our shirt store. People love the I'm sure it's fine shirt and everything else can go to hell. Everything. Everything else can get the get the fuck out. More or less the the the I'm sure it's fine shirt.
JVL00:02:42Great looking shirt.
Sonny00:02:43Great looking shirt. Really?
JVL00:02:45I wear I am wearing one right now.
Sonny00:02:47I wear it about the house all the time because I really like the soft cotton of the tribal end. But the but yeah, that one. That one is extremely popular. So if you guys if you guys have like sayings from the show that you think would be good for T-shirts, let us know and I'll get to work on another another, you know. Model, I guess. I don't know. What do you call them? Style.
JVL00:03:11Another style. But eventually what we're going to do is we're going to ask people to come up with their own designs. No, I don't have it. Oh, yeah.
Sonny00:03:20What I have. Again, what I've what I've learned is that it's not the images. Don't people don't like people just want words. People just want sayings on their shirts. That's all they want.
JVL00:03:29That's that's my takeaway from the we had had a so we're going to have a Bulwark merch store soon. And last night on the Bulwark live stream, Tim Miller was wearing a T-shirt that just said in very large block letters, Josh Hawley sucks. If we had had that in a Bulwark store, we would have sold 3000 of those last night. Yeah.
Sonny00:03:53Right. So we need we need we need things like that. We need words. We need words that people will wear on their chests and proclaim their love for the words and also our show. Gout Watch. Gout Watch. Well, we tried Gout Watch, but then we put that big foot on it.
JVL00:04:08It should have just been text. Should have just been text.
Sonny00:04:11We learn.
JVL00:04:12This is a learning experience. You learn.
Sonny00:04:14You learn and you move on. Maybe we'll retire that one. We'll retire. We'll retire the big foot. Question.
Vic00:04:20No.
JVL00:04:21I'll become a collector's edition then.
Sonny00:04:22It will be. Yeah.
Vic00:04:24You better buy it now because we're going to like the like the like the like the band shirt from Almost Famous. Remember that one? Yes.
JVL00:04:31Oh, did they do have? Did they do a shirt? They did.
Vic00:04:34What? And it didn't come out well. And then the report of the kid takes one for a souvenir.
JVL00:04:41So, Sonny, how are you? Everything OK? Things are going good.
Sonny00:04:44Things are good. Things are good.
JVL00:04:46Victorino, how about you? Because we had a lot to talk about, so we're not going to.
Vic00:04:52We do. I am. I am. I'm doing surprisingly great. I, you know, despite the fact that thank you, that despite the fact that I now run like old person when there are commercials where sometimes you see this old Asian man running and he's like this because he's like 80. That's me now. But nevertheless, do you have your hands?
Sonny00:05:13Do you do you run with your hands up like this, like your next thing?
Vic00:05:17No, it depends. If no one's looking, sometimes I do the Tom Cruise thing and sometimes it's this. I change it up a little bit. But I took my blood pressure a couple of days ago and it was the lowest ever recorded by me, by human, by human, by me. And it was 105 over 61. Keep in mind. So 120 over 80. You want to be below 120 over 80 of 105 over 61. But please remember, during my heyday, it was 140 over 110, which is a verge of stroke.
JVL00:05:51I think I probably almost died. Do you take any medication of your blood pressure?
Vic00:05:55I am. I'm on a little bit of a high of 45. Okay.
JVL00:05:58So this is a chemically assisted blood pressure? Oh, no, no.
Vic00:06:02I was 140 over 10 with the blood pressure meds too. It's that.
JVL00:06:06Oh, God. But I'm just kidding.
Vic00:06:08I'm just kidding. It brought it down to like 136 over 90. And then, but I think it's the, I think it's, and remember my triglycerides, even with my meds were once, I can reveal it now since I'm fine now, but you remember your triglycerides are supposed to be below 149 and I was 854. That's not even on the chart. You just have gravy. It's gravy coming out.
Sonny00:06:32But now- Your midichlorian count was just off the charts.
Vic00:06:35Through the roof. Qui-Gon Jinn would have been, he would have just whisked me away.
Sonny00:06:39Let's go. Going back to, going back to Coruscant.
Vic00:06:42But now I'm a little bit worried that it's too low. I think it's a little bit too low, 156. I might have to get back on my high salt and fat and alcohol diet. What do you think, Sonny?
Sonny00:06:52Smart. Yeah. I have, I, I've told you guys that I've been, I've been drinking more gin. I've been drinking gin.
Vic00:06:58Yes.
Sonny00:06:59Quite a few. The, the blue, the, the blue cheese stuffed olives have just been really, really great for my health.
Vic00:07:06That's, but let me, let me, can I say this also, like 17th century British prostitute.
JVL00:07:13Just gin, gin, gin.
Vic00:07:15He's like, he was-
Sonny00:07:16Kills the clown. The clown.
Vic00:07:18I mean, I don't know. There are, there are Hogarth images that resemble Sonny. Um, I think the, uh, the olive thing, uh, which I love olives over a twist, but I think I don't like them when they're from the jar. I think they have to be fresh olives. Like you get them from the store, you know, the ones that are like, you can get them in plastic containers now. Yeah. In the olden days, you just shovel your own olives, you know, but, and, but they don't have that anymore. There was big, there was big, you know, the jars and you can, you know, they, they serve them and stuff. But, um, nowadays that there's slightly pre-packaged, but I still prefer it over the one. Onions that have been sitting in jars and brine for God knows how long. That's my judgment after eating many different kinds of olives. Okay. So there you go. Okay.
Sonny00:08:03I'm glad. I'm glad you're not going to die back.
Vic00:08:05I know. Remember there was, it was, it was a close run thing. Not too long ago.
Sonny00:08:08There was a lot of, there was a lot of worry.
Vic00:08:10Do you remember that one? A week in the hospital.
JVL00:08:12Okay. So, uh, I, I really do want to move us along and we are going to talk today about Godfather Coda. Godfather Coda, Godfather Coda, which is Michael Corleone recut version of Godfather three, which itself had was the subject of all sorts of trouble with paramount and was supposed to be called, or they wanted to be called Coppola and, uh, Mario Puzo wanted it to call it Godfather three, the death of Michael Corleone. But parents said this was a non-starter and I would just like to set the table here. For us before we discuss it, because I, I enter this conversation, uh, like a child because Godfather was not ever part of my life. And in fact, Victorino, it was you who introduced me to the Godfather. Do you remember the Godfather party we had the very first time I ever saw your apartment at my apartment and we baked a ton of like Italian dishes and we had a bunch of people from the standard over what I remember.
Vic00:09:25No, it wasn't even, I don't even know who there were other people that, what I remember is, uh, your lovely wife was probably one of the only, maybe the only female there. And it was all sorts of excitement for some of the crowd. Wow.
JVL00:09:39You know, uh, and anyway, I'd never seen it before. I somehow went all either any of the Godfathers.
Sonny00:09:48Wait, wait, wait. I'm sorry. I need, I need more details about the sausage party, uh, the, that you guys, Drew, to watch the, the Godfather for the first time, JBL way. Hey, did you, did, did you guys dress up in like mobster suits?
Vic00:09:59No, just me. But that was just me being normal. By the way, you just wore his stuff from, uh, from Bridget.
JVL00:10:05We know what was the, from structure. He just wore his, uh, you know, his weekend clothes from structure. It was fine. So, uh, you know, we had cannellini and ravioli and big ZD and garlic bread and all this stuff. And, uh, I had never seen any of the Godfathers. My nearest brush with the Godfather was in 1990, uh, on Christmas weekend, a bunch of friends of mine in high school, we were sophomores in high school, wanted to go out and see a movie and half the group wanted to go see Godfather three. And I said, wow, I don't want to see a movie about that. Let's go see whatever the stupidest action movie at the time was. I don't remember. Try hard to actually, maybe. Uh, so I, and, but after Victorino introduced me to it, I loved it. Was it a marathon?
Vic00:10:54Did we see one and two on the same day?
JVL00:10:55We saw one and two, but I had so many other commitments that day too. I never saw Godfather three.
Vic00:11:06Oh, right.
JVL00:11:07Because you told me not to, and you said it's, it's like Godfather, the last Jedi or the return of the Jedi.
Vic00:11:16I said, okay.
JVL00:11:18And he's like, yeah, you know, Sophia Coppola is the Ewoks. Don't do this. And so I, I was. Totally content to just have the Godfather exist in my mind as the first two Godfathers. And that was it. And so this is, this is all the table setting where, okay. I'm like you guys who have lived with the Godfather as part of your lives since, you know, your first memories, by the way, it's like this thing that I
Vic00:11:41saw when I was in my mid twenties, uh, by the way, uh, the first time Jay Nordlinger ever saw the Godfather was also at my apartment. That's so funny.
Sonny00:11:50You just invite people over to your house.
Vic00:11:53If they want to see the Godfather, if somebody says, is this, is this part
Sonny00:11:56of the Knights of Columbus code? If somebody says, I've never seen the Godfather, I bring them into your, to
Vic00:12:01your father one, two are good fellas. Anytime, 24 seven. I'm on, I'm on call.
Sonny00:12:07So you guys, you guys watched Godfather and the Godfather part two in the same, at the same party on the, at the same time. Yeah.
Vic00:12:14We took a breather during the day again, as if we had other things to do, you know, it's just, was this a weekday? No, no, no.
JVL00:12:23It's like a Saturday. And then when we say a lot of people, I think there were like five people there. It was not a, it was not a, I remember some of the people who were some of the studio apartment. Yeah. Okay. So, uh, yeah, anyway, so it was, this is all, this is what I come to. So, uh, for me, the Godfather is weirdly a part of my, it's like one of those movies from my mid twenties.
Vic00:12:48Yeah. That's what I feel about it, which is now of course, I'm like 20 something years.
JVL00:12:53Like, you know what I feel about the Godfather, the way you feel about, uh, about, uh, almost famous. This is, you know, like a movie that hit you at that just the right time. Oh, yeah.
Vic00:13:02Okay.
JVL00:13:03Almost famous to you.
Vic00:13:05What the Godfather is, you know, we were in that sort of profession per se. And the spy interesting, I guess, I think I know what you're saying. I was going to say, so, so you've, you watched it. Um, and, and of course Sonny watched Dakota also. And so I watched it. So just the three of us watched it. Nobody else, you know, obviously. I don't think Dakota, because that just is like this reboot thing, but I think I remember like, you know, didn't Jean do one from like 1990. We might have it somewhere in the archives. The Godfather part three stars Al Pacino is Michael Corleone. Andy Garcia plays his nephew, Vincent and Bridget Fonda plays a nosy reporter speaking. Speaking of nosy, Sofia Coppola takes a star turn as Mary Corleone, Daughter of the Dawn. Vincent teaches her how to make gnocchi and it gets real messy when she gets that white stuff all over her hands and face. I'm talking about flour. That's how you make gnocchi. The Godfather part three is one of the three best movies of the year. The other two are Joe versus the Volcano and Ernest Goes to Jail. I give it four stars. And now for
Sonny00:14:23the weather with Willard Scott. Willard Scott. Willard Scott. That's how you know it's a throwback. That's how you know we actually got it out of the bowl. That's right. That's right. That's right.
Vic00:14:34And Jane Pauley, probably, maybe. Sonny, do you want to do a big boy review?
JVL00:14:42Or should Victorino do the big boy review? Victorino is the expert.
Sonny00:14:48Go ahead, Sonny. All right. So the Godfather coda, the death of Michael Corleone is, as JVL has mentioned, a recut of the original Godfather Part Three, a movie that has gone from being overrated when it was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars to being weirdly, weirdly kind of underrated, actually. I have never thought that this movie is quite the abortion everybody makes it out to be. And that's the word people use for that. Yeah. I mean, that's the word. I use that word on purpose. It's an infomnia. Is that right? Is that right now? But it's it is it is a it's a movie that that, again, has gone from being overrated to being underrated. And, you know, the Godfather Part Three is not is was not a great movie, but it was not a terrible movie. And I will say what I will say about the Godfather Coda, the death of Michael Corleone, is that the re edits improve the flow of the story and the understanding of the story. I remember always being slightly confused by the whole Vatican intrigue, international immobiliary side of things. And this movie just starts with international immobiliary. It's like, boom, here are the stakes. Here's what the Vatican wants from Michael Corleone. Here's here's what's happening. And then from there, it moves into the family intrigue and the family drama. And that's a massive improvement over what what what was there originally. The ending is slightly different, but not that different. And mostly it's just little nips and tucks and trims and cuts and here here and there. I mean, the whole how much shorter is this, Vic?
Vic00:16:26It was what the coda was like. Still, it was like two hours and fifty four minutes, I think.
Sonny00:16:31It's no, no, no. It's closer to two and a half hours. It's closer to two and a half hours. But the the I don't know, it's like 20 or 20, 20 some minutes shorter. It's some amount shorter. I don't know. I should have looked this up before I started. I'll effort that once we're done.
JVL00:16:47But it's just over two hours, 30 minutes. It's really quite manageable. But the so anyway,
Sonny00:16:53so the story itself, the Michael Corleone wants to get out of the gangster business once and for all. He wants his family name to be cleansed. He wants to be known for doing good works amongst amongst the the the smart set. And to do this, he is laundering his reputation through the Catholic Church. That's the long and the short of it. He getting out is harder than he than he wants it to be. He has to go to war with Joey Zaza. Joey Zaza, the great Joe Mantegna in this film. But he is he is the he is as always in the the Godfather movies. He is just the front man for the the power behind the scenes. Look, here's here's I like things about this movie. And I've always liked things about this movie. I am I am the I think Al Pacino is fantastic in it despite his terrible haircut. I think that what's the who's the actor? I'm forgetting here. Andy Garcia. I think Andy Garcia is fantastic. I've always loved Andy Garcia as the bastard child of Santino Corleone. And I love I love Talia Shire as the kind of black widow behind the scenes pulling the strings. I love all of this stuff. And one thing this movie does, I think I didn't I didn't watch the original cut of the Godfather part three before watching Dakota is that it trims and and and takes out some of the stuff involving Michael trying to get back with Diane Keaton, which is the the part of the movie I always found least, least successful and least interesting. And if they didn't cut anything out of it, it just works better here because everything else works better here. The problem with this film is that due to Wynoda Ryder pulling out at the last minute, Sofia Coppola has to fill in and play Michael Corleone's daughter. The problem with Sofia Coppola, who is a fine director, great director, and totally unfairly thrust into this position is that she's a bad actress, just not a good actress. She's she she does this. It's hard to describe without a picture of something coming across as as as terribly unfair and sexist. But she does this kind of valley girl lip curl thing where she's like, cousin. I love you cousin. And it's the worst. It's the worst creepy. It's the well, the whole incest subplot is obviously creepy and gross. But the the her her performance in it is just no good. And here's what I've never understood. I've never understood this. You have Bridget Fonda, who is at the time one of the rising starlets well respected actress people like Bridget Fonda already in the movie in a role. Why not just dye her hair brown and make her the daughter? I've always thought that this is like the quick instant fix because she is a nothing
Vic00:19:56role in this movie. I mean, not your breath. It's so short. She plays she plays that she
Sonny00:20:01plays a journalist who is trying to get information out of Santino's son. And like she's in and out of the movie, she's barely in it. Why not move her into the actual meaty role? Because the problem with this film and this is still the problem in this film is that the the. I hate this. I hate to sound cold about it, but like the the death of the daughter of Michael Corleone at the end of the film does not have the impact that it should have because she she just doesn't have the screen presence and no amount of reedits and no amount of rejiggering can solve that problem. So this is a movie that if you don't, if you if if you've never liked Godfather Part three, this is not going to convince you to like it. But if you've always been, you know, if you've always accepted it for what it is, which is the 20 best films of all time, which is Godfather one and Godfather two would probably fall into. But it is a fine film with good performances and interesting stuff there. I think it is
JVL00:21:04a better, tighter version of that movie. Victorino, I have a question for you. Yes, JVL. Does Bridget Fonda look like any of the girls you went to high school with? No. Is there any universe in which she could pass as an eye tie? Oh, no, no.
Vic00:21:22No, she doesn't. This is why Bridget Fonda could not have been cast.
JVL00:21:27No, you just dye her hair brown. It's fine, it's fine.
Vic00:21:31It's supposed to be late 1970s. Maybe if they dyed her hair. You know what the funny thing is? Dye her hair brown. It's all that matters. That year, I think she also did La Femme Nikita. So she was a known, you know.
Sonny00:21:42No, she's a talented actress. I don't understand what happened. And I think there was a lot
Vic00:21:47that was left on the cutting room floor because, you know, you jump from the party scene to the bedroom scene. In his little rinky dink apartment. And she's like, Oh, tell me you love me, Vincent. Say you love me. What? This was supposed to be like a reporter who one night one night stand and also very cynical. And she's, you know, using him for and all of a sudden it's like almost a different character. It's very weird.
Sonny00:22:10And that scene is great, too. That scene is fantastic with again, with Andy Garcia being
Vic00:22:14the same guy who gets killed in the movie Ghost. I, I gotta say I when I
JVL00:22:22read a little bit about this, I thought even Winona Ryder doesn't make sense because this movie is filled with such great faces right now. She is she's white. She don't have time. This movie is filled with such great faces and such great ethnic faces at the expense of movie stardom, right? You know, Andy Garcia is Andy Garcia is a leading man in many ways, but he is not classic leading man handsome. He does. He's just, you know, very ethnic. And I don't think that either Winona Ryder or either Winona Ryder or Bridget Fonda would have stuck out like a sore thumb on screen. They would have just been like, what? In fact, I'm sorry, she doesn't belong there. She's not part of this family. She's not. Right.
Vic00:23:07Am I wrong Victorino? Well, I mean, from a looks perspective, but from an acting perspective,
Sonny00:23:14I think people would have she would have some of us don't have this lens where we just people by their
JVL00:23:22I'm going to say this right now. So I had stated maybe of my expectations for Sofia Colopola's acting presence were set so low that she could not help but see I know where you're going. Yeah, she was fine. Yeah. And in fact, there were there were some scenes when she was better than fine. There's zero. No, I don't think when she comes on to comes on to Vincent at the grass party. So it is a little gross. Oh, horny for her cousin. It's very, it reminded me of it very well. It's, it's very convincing. It reminded me she was throw down with Andy Garcia there. She was into the sausage. But you know what it reminded me of? It reminded me of that
Vic00:24:07great line and mean girls where what the matter is Lacey Chabert's character, isn't it? Or is it the other girl who is in love with her cousin? Yeah, that's right. It's a it's a man. Right? Well, no, it's my first cousin, she said. No, it's not really my cousin. It's just my first cousin. So I thought Sofie Coppola
JVL00:24:27was fine. No. And again, maybe maybe this is just Victorino's fault for setting my expectations
Sonny00:24:32so low ice base level. I'm glad that we could help you. I'm glad that we could JVL. What
JVL00:24:39did you think? Having not seen it before? I liked it. Wow. Okay. So look, it is not nobody cares what I think I want to talk about what you think Victorino but but I would say my childlike view of it as somebody who never saw the third one and never thought I would see it was that it is in a weird way unnecessary because if two of the movies are two of the 20 best movies ever, and this is simply only a good movie, then whenever anybody ever wants to reach for a Godfather, they will never reach for this one. I can confirm having owned the trilogy
Sonny00:25:17on DVD and then Blu Ray that I have literally never put in Godfather part three. Because Beth, I like to sit down and watch a three hour movie. I would have to watch it with my wife, my lovely wife, Beth. And she was just like, no, I hate that one. Never, never again.
JVL00:25:32However, at a two and a half hour running time, the story was reasonably streamlined. And I thought that the entire Michael Corleone really losing his nerve and losing it because he isn't that he just wants respect. He generally wants to get clean. And so the whole movie turns on his confession. So maybe you don't understand what that is, Sonny. It's a thing you do with a priest and you tell him your sins. The priest stands in persona Christi and absolves you.
Sonny00:26:09Is that where you shoot the wine?
Vic00:26:11Yeah, that's what that is. JVL, I'll get to my part of my thoughts on the movie in a little bit. But I was just going to say, since you're talking about it now, I would say that is the most powerful scene, I thought, in the movie when he's with Cardinal Lamberto. Cardinal Luciani, we all know what's going on here. And it was also, I thought it was very convincing from both actors, both actors. And I think that as a priest or cardinal in this case, hearing his confession, I thought that that was the perfect reaction to it. I just thought it was all the whole scene. And then you hear the bell chiming in the distance. I thought it was perfect.
JVL00:26:52And so after following his confession, he loses his nerve and really can no longer function as the Don anymore. And the reason he can't function as the Don is because he believes all the Catholic stuff. It's not vanity. It's not because he wants to. He has been absolved. And his sister, well, sister-in-law realizes what has happened. Sister, right? Sister. To take over. He can't be the Don anymore. And that great scene where Vincent is asking to take over the family, but, but isn't saying, let me take over. He's he just says, look, these are the things that need to be done. All you have to do is give me the order and I'll do it. So he is placing the, he's placing the authority with Michael, even as he's asking to, to take over. It's so respectful and so beautiful. And yeah, Michael makes the decision to do it. It's the right choice for every. Anyway. And then when you get to the, the, the opera, that whole thing, my God, shooting an opera like that in the middle with the, in the final 35 or 45 minutes of the movie.
Vic00:28:03Which is a better opera scene than the one from Mission Impossible.
JVL00:28:06You know, I thought actually a lot about the Mission Impossible opera scene, you know, but, uh, but part of the genius is not using, the one from fifth element, but not, not using something like Turandot, which everybody knows, you know, using an obscure one act opera, uh, and ever, I, I don't know.
Vic00:28:26I thought I, I've, I actually saw that opera, uh, when I was in Vienna, as you know, it's a, it's a, it's a one, it's a one act, uh, an opera. So they usually pair it with, uh, Pagliacci. So it's like a double header.
JVL00:28:43Yeah. So that's always the opener, right? That's right.
Vic00:28:46Haven Pag or they call it ham and eggs and, uh, uh, and it's great. And the music is terrific and there's the famous intermezzo, which is of course, the opening of raging ball is the same song and for innumerable pasta commercials.
JVL00:28:57Yeah. So anyway, I, I really liked it and I, I thought it was a beautiful, I can see Sonny, how anybody who isn't Catholic would not understand like the second half of it.
Vic00:29:08Um, and why the second half is the more, that's why I said, see, the last half is what I said, I think to you is because that's the more interesting part, I think. So Victorino, what did you tell me about it? What do you, what'd you think? I don't know.
Sonny00:29:19Working my way first, first, first, give us your impression. Of Godfather part three, when it came out.
JVL00:29:24Oh, I'm sorry. Can I also say one other thing?
Sonny00:29:26Yep.
JVL00:29:28Sophia Coppola kind of hot, right? Right. No, you can get around the nose hot in the sense that she looks like somebody you went to monsignor Donovan with.
Sonny00:29:40Yeah. Here's the problem again, right? She has great. I love her hair.
Vic00:29:46Somehow the hair, if somehow the hair can cover her nose. Yes. Okay. Now I went to. High school with her.
Sonny00:29:53Just because you went to high school with terrible people. Oh, again, it's, it's like just watching her talk makes me, annoys me. It annoys me. Like watching her talk with that kind of like. Yes, it does. But also makes you want to.
JVL00:30:08But like, I just, oh God. Victorino and I are having an entirely sub. I know. I'm just going to turn my mic off here.
Vic00:30:19No, it starts off like, oh, oh, you're so annoying. That noise, that noise, the noise, the nasally voice is just driving me. Just get the knocky out of the way.
Sonny00:30:28Before I turn my microphone off, Vic, could you, could you describe to us your reaction to the film initially when it was released or the first time you saw it? And then, and then compare that to, to this recut.
Vic00:30:43I saw it not long after that, but I did not see it in the theater. In fact, I might. I might've seen it on laser disc. Yeah, I think that's what, how I saw it in my mind. I saw it a long time ago, but I, but I don't, I was probably, it was probably a blockbuster VHS cassette now that I think about it. And I'm probably got it on laser disc a couple of years later. So I'll tell you, you want so badly to love the movie because you love the one and two, right? You couldn't get enough of one and two. And I'm, I'm, I'm one of the, I'm, I'm. One of those guys who actually likes two more than one because it's sweeping and it's all this grandeur and it takes over Cuba and the whole thing. I think it's exciting and it's great, but, um, you force yourself to say, oh, this was great at the time. But I remember already reading at the time, the disappointing reviews, you know, I used to, we used to get time magazine and I remember reading an article where, you know, there was a mobster, uh, who was like on witness protection talking about the movie and he was talking about the helicopter scene. He's like, what is that? Like that would never happen. And so I think that kind of tainted it for me as well, knowing that it wasn't supposed to be Sofia Coppola. That probably had an impact on me as well. Uh, and yet, and yet, I mean, I, I liked it enough that I bought the Godfather part three soundtrack, the soundtrack on CD, which includes the Al Martino song to each his own. So, you know, uh, Johnny Fontaine, he, Al Martino reprises his role as Johnny Fontaine and does, and he does that song. And then there's. Selections from cavalry rusticana on it as well. So, um, you know, it paled in comparison. So, I mean, ultimately in the end, I remember being disappointed by it, you know, because, well, you just wanted more out of it. And, and the ending was, I mean, it was fine. The interesting thing JVL is if I recall, I thought that the original Godfather part three opera scene was more fluid, um, and, uh, more, uh, connected. Then, then the reboot, I think it was a little bit more choppier. There's a weird scene where it jumps from the opera to where the action's going and the hits are about to take place. And suddenly it's no longer music from the opera, but from the Godfather theme. And I just didn't think it mixed. Well, the problem with me talking about this movie is it's like with you in certain movies where I'm too deep in to, you know, I have a million questions, but it's, uh, yeah, by the way, again, see, I'm going to be all over the place here. They took that scene out. Of the reboot, which is, you know, I, every time, you know, um, yeah, it's not in there, right? The most famous, the most famous line of that movie, which is, you know, every time I, you know, try, no, it's, it's absolutely back in. I don't remember that I was watching it 100% in there.
Sonny00:33:38It's when he's having his diabetic attack or before it, I was waiting for it and I didn't see it, but, uh, I'm, I'm like 99% sure it's still in there.
Vic00:33:51Maybe I missed it.
Sonny00:33:51Cause I was talking. About it with Beth, like, of course, it's a famous, they riff on it a lot in the soprano.
Vic00:33:56Of course, that one in our true enemy is yet to reveal himself. That's the other one. Um, okay. I did, uh, you know, on the quadrants, of course, it's, uh, uh, the duration it's, it's about a B B minus, uh, the plot is B, but I like the idea of the plot. So the execution of the plot is one thing, but the actual plot I think is admirable. It's a, the, the quest for redemption. And of course it's very timely with the Vatican.
Sonny00:34:22Did you, did you think that the recut did a better job of setting up the whole plot?
Vic00:34:26Oh yeah. Because of the opening.
Sonny00:34:28Yeah.
Vic00:34:29Even though they show you St. Patrick's cathedral, and then there's an office that looks like it's an office in the Vatican, not in St. Patrick's cathedral. So that's a little bit confusing.
Sonny00:34:38Um, I, I was just like, oh yeah, that's the inside of a church.
Vic00:34:42I was totally, that was like, that's a people office. Uh, so I, that was, I agree with you, Sonny, because I remember when I watched it, immobiliary was like, I remember there was something going on at the time, uh, at that time, the BCCI bank scan. I remember it was as confusing as that. I'm like, I have no idea what's going on here. And this one is a lot more clear because they need somebody to take up its, you know, take up the debt and then he will then own this bank. Uh, and anyway, I think it's very timely because the, you know, the, the, the actual, um, name, the Vatican bank is not called the Vatican bank. Right. It's called like the Institute for religious works or something like that. And it's like, but it's like 10 to 15. Billion dollars. And, you know, there's a lot of money going on there. So I thought that was great. Uh, violence. I give that an eight plus, um, and, uh, cause there's always, there's like a festival scene, you know, there's the, in part two was like the feast of San Gennaro. And this one is a similar thing. And then, but sex nudity gets a D so it's about a B minus, I think, uh, overall.
JVL00:35:42It's not like Apollonia without the nipples. Oh, that one is one of the great, one of the great mysteries. That she was nippling is right. From getting an R was that whatever was the R anyway, it had to have been an R, you know? Yeah, I guess that's probably right. Okay.
Vic00:35:58I have a, you know, what else drove me crazy is, uh, so, you know, one of the things that haunts Michael is of course, that he killed his fratricide, right. He killed his brother, you know, and, and Connie mentions it like, you know, how the boating, the boating accident, but she, so she says that to him, she knows it wasn't an accident.
JVL00:36:21Right. She's playing a part with him and he wants to believe her. He wants to believe that she doesn't know it.
Vic00:36:30And, and Kay, uh, talks about, oh, you know, the kids know what happened to Frey, this whole thing. And I remember at the time, you know, when she's like, you know, about what happened to Fredo when it was a big deal and he, you know, he tried to downplay it at never, I never understood why he just didn't say, well, Kay, he tried to kill us, you know, he, he allowed the the blinds and the windows to be open and you almost, he almost killed you. And that's why I killed him because he was a threat. I don't understand. That would have been a problem solved.
JVL00:37:00Can I say the only acting problem I think in the whole movie is Diane Keaton, not Sophia Coppola. I, I, Diane Keaton to me was nails on a chalkboard every time she walked on screen in this film. It's like, she's in a different picture.
Vic00:37:15That's my, that was, I was going to ask you, JVL, because I still think Sophia Coppola was the worst, but I felt like Diane Keaton wasn't playing. She was playing, she was playing something maybe from Woody Allen film or something.
Sonny00:37:26She, she, she was playing a much, a much more confident version of Kay than has ever been in, in the Godfather movies before that. Now, maybe that's a function of being away from Michael for so long and blah, blah, blah. She did.
Vic00:37:38She went to New York and she was dating this guy who was very neurotic and it was crazy. And the thing with lobsters. Go ahead. You were saying something.
Sonny00:37:49No, no, I just, I agree. I think that she is, she, she. She's, she's just wrong in the, the performance. It doesn't like what she is doing does not work.
Vic00:37:57And I like, what do you think about Al Pacino? Is he playing Michael Corleone or is he playing like Colonel Frank Slade?
Sonny00:38:04Of course he's playing late, late Al Pacino.
Vic00:38:06Right, right, right.
Sonny00:38:06I know. I think I look, I've always been, I've always been of the opinion that people, people who suggest that Al Pacino's post, you know, 1989 career is just nothing but shouting or basing that on like heat. And set of a woman. And that's it. You know, like he, he, he, he has more depth than that. And I think in this movie, he is very even keeled for the most part. I like, I don't, I don't think it's actually, I think it's, I think it is pretty close to what Michael Corleone would be like if he was, if he was, you know, an older man trying, trying to go, trying to go straight.
JVL00:38:42I, I agree completely, Sonny. And I was looking for that while I was watching the movie. I was looking to see which, which version of Pacino is an actor we're getting. And I think. I think it is, his performance is entirely in keeping with Michael from the minute we see him in the first Godfather. Like you can see the straight line in the character as it, not straight line, but the arcing line of the character, right? As he goes from being this straight arrow, who's a smart guy who, you know, but who is very strong internally and has, has an iron will. And because of that gets pulled into this stuff. And then as he. He has a real crisis of conscience in it because he believes this stuff, right? You know, he believes in all the Jesus stuff. He believes the Catholic stuff, you know, he's not just doing it for show. Uh, Victor, how many times did you watch Godfather three? Was it something you would come back to from time to time? I should be a grand, counting the coda, probably three times. Okay.
Vic00:39:45So, so it was the same thing, right? It was on TV, but you know, for, for example, for example, when I was in Cape, we were in Cape may. You know, it was around the time of, you know, they do this on Christmas or new year's around that time where they do Godfather on a marathon at AMC. They do it on two different channels. I think paramount, I would think was doing something similar. They just do nonstop around the clock. Um, and it was like, I remember it's the end of, you know, I K I kept on catching it at the end of part two and then like coming up part three. I'm like, no, I'm skip, you know, I'm going to skip it. Uh, so yeah, no, it's not something I would come back to. It's not like good fellows, which I'd see like 10 million. Um, I, I also, you know, in terms of the editing, there were some weird, there were still some weird cuts. I thought, uh, there was a scene in the movie again, as I get in the weeds here, uh, where they're having the argument with the bankers, uh, at the Vatican. And of course, George Hamilton is the new sort of conciliary BJ Harrison, because only because Robert Duvall didn't want to do it.
JVL00:40:45$3 million or something like that, which I wanted to be paid what Pacino was paid. Right.
Vic00:40:50In retrospect. But yeah. Duvall was right. He was, I would have given, I would have paid.
Sonny00:40:55No, but, but you couldn't do that because then Pacino would want more. Like that is not, that's not how Hollywood economics works.
Vic00:41:01Hmm. Terrible. Uh, and so, so George Hamilton's character is, is, you know, they're sitting around, they're having this formal discussion and suddenly it jumps and it's a different scene. And George Hamilton's yelling at the bankers, but also they're sitting around like these other lounge chairs. So, I mean, it's just a little bit disjointed.
Sonny00:41:20That's all right. My, my biggest problem with this, this, this cut of the film is following the murders at the end and, and keeping track of who was actually on Corleone's side and who wasn't. Yeah. So the, the new Pope who ascended was, was on Michael Corleone's side, right? He, he's the one who heard the confession, but he is murdered at the end of the, they are, they are unable to save him from being murdered at the end of the film. Is that, and that's right. Right.
JVL00:41:51And then, and the reason Michael wants to save him is not because of the business. Right. Because he's the guy who saved Michael's soul. Right. And granted him absolution. Right. Am I wrong about this, Victorino?
Vic00:42:01No, I, I, I, and, and, and Pacino says something to the, though, this guy's a real priest.
JVL00:42:05He's a real priest. No, he says he's a real priest.
Vic00:42:08As opposed to the Borgias, you know, there's reference to the Borgias. The, the weird thing about that ending, Sonny, is, uh, you know, rather than one side being on offense and the other side being on defense, both sides were on offense. Right. At the same time. Right. Look at each other. All right. Right.
Sonny00:42:22It's not like, it's not like the end of the Godfather where he kills five people. And, and this is, that's actually a good way of crystallizing why that scene has always, like, been problematic for me just to watch is like, wait, who, who is doing what now? They've got the twins. The twins. Yeah.
Vic00:42:39I like the, the, the, the, the, the, also the old man who's the, the other, the, it's a great scene where he pretends to be stabbed or he pretends to be killed. It's surprising, right?
JVL00:42:51It was very good. I was going to ask you what you thought of him. I like that character. The old man assassin. Oh, me?
Vic00:42:57Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I thought he was fantastic. And then, and then he ends up killing Don, man.
JVL00:43:05Don Piccio.
Vic00:43:07His friend, his friend in the wheelchair. I know, I know. Pod is yelling at us right now because he knows who it is. It's, it's, it's Don Al, Al, I'll forget about it. But the, you know, so, but he was very good. Don Gabagool. The thing that, the thing that bothers me, another thing that bothers me is, and it's similar to the ending in part two, during the hit scene. So in part three, his old friend, Carlo, who was in part two, he was like in Sicily, he was like his valet, not Don, not Fabrizio, but Carlo was his buddy. And he, his goal in part three is to kill. Don Lucchese and he kills him by using the, the, the glass, which you could do it with mine. You could do it with mine. It's pretty serious class.
Sonny00:43:58Are those Warby Parkers?
Vic00:44:00Warby, former Sub-Beacon sponsor. And with extra, the blades extra sharp. And the, the weird thing is like, so what does Carlo like practicing with the glass move? Cause you know, he's going to get it right in the jugular. And the other thing is suppose, suppose the Don Lucchese was like, okay, you know, don't come any further. You know, I'll just have my security guard. Right. Then what's your plan? Then what's your plan? Also, there was no exit strategy. He got, he got, he.
Sonny00:44:26Oh, well, no, that was a suicide mission.
Vic00:44:28It's the same thing at the end of part two. So Rocco Lampone kills Hyman Roth in the airport. Was he really going to, you know, difficult, but not impossible. And so it's, it's impossible.
Sonny00:44:39Uh, the, the, uh, you, do you think that the eyeglass stabbing scene is more unrealistic than the helicopter assault scene? Because the helicopter assault scene is kind of awesome at least. And I think I, like, I think that the, the eyeglass stabbing scene has always struck me as like, ah, come on.
Vic00:45:00You have to go pretty quick to grab the glasses, fold it.
Sonny00:45:03And then break it off.
Vic00:45:05I mean, think about it. Is that what he did? Did he break it? Did he snap it off? That might be the move.
Sonny00:45:10Yeah.
Vic00:45:10Or it didn't break. Right.
Sonny00:45:12Well, this is, I, I've always, I know that you've always been very down on the helicopter assault scene. Um, but I, I love that. You know, I love that whole sequence just because it's so over the top and absurd.
JVL00:45:26It's like, uh, the first lethal weapon helicopter assault. Right. Well, that was a good one.
Vic00:45:31Yeah.
JVL00:45:31That was a good one.
Vic00:45:32So, so, uh, yeah, that, that was a problem. And I'll tell you for me, one of the other ridiculous scenes in part three is the poison cannoli. Right.
JVL00:45:41And so I was going to ask you about that. Cause I kind of loved it.
Vic00:45:44She Don Altavel played by the great, the legendary Eli Wallach. Right. Um, he, uh, he, he asks, he's like, come Stanzia, you know, take a little bite and she does this fake bite of the cannoli. I'm like, I'm not, I'm not buying it. Okay. Something's wrong with the cannoli, the way she ate it. I'm not eating that. Number two, you're not allowed to eat in the opera. I'm sorry. You can get away. I've been in there. You can get away with like Skittles and M and M's. That's it. That's all I'm going to say.
JVL00:46:13So question is Connie.
Vic00:46:16So Connie has, uh, very Roman sort of like. You know, like the, the wife of a Caesar type, you know, plotting.
JVL00:46:24But she's colluded with Vincent in that hit, right? She's not doing it on her own. Totally. She appears to have almost no remorse. No, no.
Sonny00:46:33She's cold. Is she full of remorse? She is. She's killing her actual God, her Godfather.
JVL00:46:38Right. I know this is what I'm at. I'm curious about the progress of Connie here and whether or not she, she really is remorseless.
Sonny00:46:46She's got, she struck me as sad, but also he was trying to kill the family. So fuck him.
JVL00:46:51Yeah. Sounds about right. Victorino, can I get you to rank something for me? Yeah, sure. Can you rank the Godfather villains?
Vic00:47:00Oh, I didn't have, well, you're catching me on the spot because I don't have the, you know.
JVL00:47:05Is Hyman Roth number one?
Vic00:47:06I don't know. Oh, yes. Hyman Roth is definitely number. Oh, I love, uh, uh, Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth, small potatoes.
Sonny00:47:16What are we ranking them by? What are we ranking them by?
Vic00:47:18How much we love that? How much, how awesome they are. How much we love them. Yeah.
Sonny00:47:22Don, I'm just going to, how long is there?
Vic00:47:24Don Barzini is great too. Don Barzini, right? Um, he's not, you know, who, uh, he's, he's not a, he's not a villain, but he had betrayed Michael is Frankie five angels, Frankie Pentangeli. And I, but I don't see him as a villain. I just love him. Yeah. And then, you know, all the way down to the bottom is probably Joe Montana is a little bit of a Zaza.
Sonny00:47:47Fat Tony, fat Tony.
JVL00:47:50What about the. The Lucchese in this one. Oh yeah. You know what I appreciate? He's a banker. He didn't even look like a dollar.
Vic00:47:56What I appreciate it also, he looked like Italian mafia versus Italian American mafia. If that makes sense.
Sonny00:48:03Number one is a Fredo.
Vic00:48:05Thanks.
Sonny00:48:06Number one is number one villain in the movie series is Fredo. He deserves, he deserves to be at the bottom of that lake.
JVL00:48:13No, I, I mean, number one. Yeah, I know what you mean. I mean, from the. I was going to say Michael, I could never gotten to him 10 years ago. Right, right. JVL who is the, who, who's the, the mob boss, mo green, green Roth and mo green.
Sonny00:48:35By the way, that's the ranking for me. Number one is hymen or number two is mo green.
Vic00:48:39The mob boss that gets Luca Brasi to come to the bar. Right. And he's making the drink. Yeah.
Sonny00:48:43And when Luca Brasi looks away and his face just goes like totally black, that, that guy's my favorite, whoever that guy, who is the, the son of Talia, who know to Talia. Yeah, that's right.
Vic00:48:55So it's, he could have never gotten to Santino. That's right. Right. Yeah, there you go. Uh, let's see what else do I have here on my notes here?
JVL00:49:03No, I need you enjoy watching the Kota. So here's my question, it's like, ah, you know, feel like you were putting on a, an old coat that you loved, right?
Vic00:49:15Did it feel, did you really enjoy it? Yeah.
JVL00:49:17Well, I mean, the funny thing is of course, because you know, as much as I love parts one and two, it's always odd somewhere, you know, you're from a channel, you know, and you're going to end up watching it and you're going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh, my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God.
Vic00:49:35I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God, I'm going to be like, Oh my God.
JVL00:50:05What it's about community because when you're watching it on TV, it's like being in a theater. You know that there are other people. It is a communal viewing experience in a way that just pulling it off of the prime box is not. And you know that it's, it's deep deep in there. Oh yeah. Your brain is watching what it is.
Sonny00:50:29We all like to be told what to watch. We all like to be told what to watch, which is why the idea of the Simpsons on Disney Plus will never be as good as the idea of turning on Fox five and watching whatever syndicated episode of the Simpsons they have decided to offer you that
JVL00:50:48day. You like to be told what to watch. So, so what Disney should do is they should have one episode of Simpsons a day on Disney Plus. That's just the episode.
Sonny00:51:04This is, this is something we can talk about at a later date, maybe, but I, my understanding is that I think that there are streaming services that are offering essentially channels where it's like you turn on the MacGyver channel and it's a random MacGyver episode. It's not, you
JVL00:51:18know, I'm so, I just want the law and order channel. I would pay for a street. I pay 10 bucks a month for a law and order streaming channel, which is when I turn it on, no matter what time of day it can be in the middle of it can be just like, you know, if I turn on at 703, they've already started something and everybody else is doing it. I'm just watching. I have to
Vic00:51:37know commercials. I have to jump in here now to prevent a bunch of, uh, emails and tweets and texts and things from our friends, including John Potthorst. I remembered it. It's Don Tomasino.
JVL00:51:49Thank you. Tomasino, right? The one he shot in, he's the one who shot, uh, on the road and they stopped to give a ride to the pre to the pre. Yeah. He's the one who hit Michael Corleone when
Sonny00:51:58he came to Sicily the first time. This is the thing. This is the thing I've never, uh, I've never truly bought about the Godfather series just as a whole is Michael Corleone's whole love of Sicily thing. I just, I like that's nothing. It does nothing for
Vic00:52:14me. I don't get it. I just don't get it. Also. I got, I also got the sense that, that again, I always get the sense that Diane Keaton, of course it was wearing a hairstyle from 1990. It was like, it was like at happy days when suddenly they're all wearing
JVL00:52:29they all had perms.
Sonny00:52:32From 1990. No, it's speaking of hairstyles. So apparently, uh, so the, the, the person who did the hair on, uh, the Godfather part three never spoke to, uh, Francis Ford Coppola again after he made, uh, uh, Al Pacino get that brush top haircut after, after he cut off his main, never spoke to him again. It was like, this is, this is a betrayal of me as the hairdresser that I have to do this
Vic00:53:02flat top hairbrush hairstyle. Yeah, no, Michael. It would have been. Yeah. That's interesting.
Sonny00:53:08Victor and I have a question for you, JBL. Did you find the concluding
JVL00:53:1730 minutes or so where the, with the, with the tonight, the Corleone family settles all accounts in Godfather three. Did you find that rewarding as an echo of the end of Godfather one or
Vic00:53:31not? As a pale imitation of it? It wasn't as clear cut. And a couple of things happen. One, you don't actually see Michael Corleone die in the, in the, in the reboot, in the coda versus in the original one where you see him kill over and fall when he's in this villa, clear that he was dead. Oh, just sitting there. Like he just sat there and I was clear that he was, he's dead. I thought it was, well, it's a lot more explicit in the original where he falls. Oh, is it? Okay. So there was one, I, I, I didn't see, I, I was expecting that. The
Sonny00:54:00other thing that's unclear is I'm sorry. Can I just, uh, my, my tech, so Vic is right in the, in the original cut of the film, it cuts to like many years in the future and he like falls out of a chair dead. It's, it's very obvious in this. I, I felt like the death of Michael Corleone was him having to live with what he had done. Like he is living in a perpetual death, like having, having yes. Of his beloved daughter has gotten his daughter murdered. Fair enough. Yeah. Yeah.
JVL00:54:27I, I thought that too. And I, and what I really appreciated about that again, well, I'm sorry, I'll, I'll stop and drop you in a minute. Victorino is that the difference between how his father dies, which is the greatest death, right? So you die chasing your grandkids around a potato patch, tomato, right? Yeah. You're in a tomato patch with your grandkids and you have a heart attack who doesn't dream of going out that way, right? You're in the middle of having a good time. That is the way. And so he gets a good death of a different good time.
Vic00:54:58Okay. Okay.
JVL00:54:59Well, very good. He gets a good death, but he gets a good death because he was a good Don, right? He was a very good Don. He, he took care of his people. He's not. And Michael who through his no fault of his own, right? What was he supposed to do with Fredo? As you say, he had to kill Fredo, but on the other hand, it is an affront to God and nature. And so he is punished
Vic00:55:22for this. The other interesting, yes, very good. The, the other interesting thing of course is, they, they kill, you know, a man of the, of, of the cloth, the Archbishop. And, and then he's he
JVL00:55:39falls, you see his body going down the staircase. And I mean, that is like the, the, in the Sistine
Vic00:55:47Chapel, right? The heaven and hell. He is, he is falling, falling down. Right, right. The, the final, the last judgment. So, and, and technically, I mean, that's, that's, it's an awful thing. But of course, he was a bad guy. And it's similar to, I think, killing talking about a crooked cop. That's exactly right. He did it again. He did it again, because that was McCluskey in the first one. You're not supposed to kill a cop or a priest, but in both cases, they were bad. We have rules, right? The thing, the thing that is that it was left unanswered for me is because there were so many killings on both sides as they're going after each other. What happened to the deal? Did it fall through because of which, which, which Puccino keeps on saying immobiliary, but it's immobiliary.
JVL00:56:36Yes. I, I was, I didn't, I didn't even think about that. So like what happens next? That is the question, right? I mean, what, what happens? There's a new, new Pope. There's a new, new Pope and also a new, new Don. And how is that going to go? But I guess we are, the viewer are being told the story of Michael Corleone, not the Corleone family. Yeah. This is just the story. The Godfather is the story of Michael quest for redemption. Right. Uh, and Luke Skywalker,
Vic00:57:08if you will, of, uh, I don't want to end on that. Uh, uh, you know who else I like? And then I'll
JVL00:57:14let it out. Al Neri, Al Neri, his faithful soul. Love Al. I do. You remember that? That's your
Vic00:57:19favorite button, man. Part one, it was like Alan Rocco. And then Rocco dies in part two. And then, and then, and Richard bright. Right. Plays him in, in Al Neri and he's great in this. He helps them get out of the Atlanta, the, the, the, the helicopter, uh, uh, massacre. Uh, and if you want, if you love the Sopranos, uh, Richard bright has a small cameo when, uh, they try to contract a killing to these really, really old decrepit guys out in Rhode Island. And Richard bright's one of them. And it's fantastic.
JVL00:57:56All right. Uh, I think we can close out Godfather Kota. Yes. Yeah. Spirit of the week. Gentlemen, what are you drinking? Uh, Sonny, what do you got? Uh, I'm just drinking
Sonny00:58:09old granddad, one 14. I just, just bourbon, just straight bourbon. I am not drinking anything at
Vic00:58:15the moment, but I've been drinking a lot of wine. The older I get, the more and more I like to drink wine as Vito Corleone once said. Uh, but no, I am, I'm getting a little bit wine crazy. So, uh, no, no. And, uh, what you drinking? Oh boy. I've been, I've been buying like, like, like basically almost cases, but not a lot of cases, but I've just been buying a lot and a French and some American. Okay. Let me, let me ask some attack, mostly French.
Sonny00:58:45Let me, let me ask what I find this to be a very interesting question and it's gauche, but I find it to be an interesting question. What, what is the, what is the price point of the bottle that you aim for? Do you, does it, do you, do you have a, do you have like a, I don't want to go above this much. I don't want to go above. No, no, because no, no,
JVL00:59:05that's, that's, I can't go. No, I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't do this. Why not? You are happy to talk about this when it comes to like bourbon and whiskey, right? I do not think I have
Vic00:59:22ever purchased a bottle of wine, a bottle of wine retail, not at a restaurant or at retail, uh, for like $82 and
Sonny00:59:3179 cents. I've never done that. You've never purchased for 82. So you bought something for
Vic00:59:38$82 and 78 cents. No, but I think probably forties, sometimes in the forties, but if you can get a great, very expensive wine and you can get it in the forties, that's great. Um, uh, like, uh, Polini Montrachet or some sort of white Burgundy. And every now and then they'll tell you, you know, for, if you buy one to five bottles, it's this six, you know, six to whatever, 12 bottles or more, the savings add up. I figured
JVL01:00:04out the savings. It's all the same. It's sort of discount. Are you getting on a case as
Vic01:00:09opposed to a bottle? I don't know how many bottles, maybe five or $6 less per bottle.
JVL01:00:16And how many, how many bottles of the case, but I haven't done is an extra $600. And then
Vic01:00:23you say $5 a bottle. It's really right. It seems like they're based 61. No. So no, mostly I found, like, I found a great deal on a wine. That is like the house wine at a drug row. The French restaurant, the restaurant in France that was like 1899 or something, a bottle. So that for me, that's a great bargain for where did you find it? Arrow wine in Arlington. Somebody gave me a gift card. I used it, got a little crazy.
JVL01:00:57Interesting. Corrections, additions, shout outs. I would like to start. I have two. Thank you to everybody who has been sending out pictures of themselves in their SSEU merch, especially the babies in the onesies. Those are super cute. I love them. I would like to thank my buddy at the Bulwark, Tim Miller, for going on the SSEU podcast. Because it was the most ambitious crossover event ever. Having somebody I work with at the Bulwark going and doing a guest spot on our fan tribute podcast. It was amazing. And it's a really good show. Actually, everybody who's listening to this should also be listening to the SSEU show.
Vic01:01:44Our friend Thomas Lassie. Yes. Yes, the Danish follow on Twitter. I just feel like I feel like I just want to click on likes even though I have no I don't speak Spanish at all. I just I see his tweets in Swedish. I'm like, yeah, I bet you it's a good one. I should like it.
JVL01:02:05All right. That's all the time we're giving this episode questions, comments, complaints, compliments. Tweet us at Sonny Bunch at Victorino Mattis or leave a comment at sub beacon dot com. We're there. Tell your friends until next time. 50 minutes of movie talk. I knew that we had a lot to talk about about this. So that's why I just wanted to plow right through the stuff. Yes. Sofia Coppola. You're insane.
Vic01:02:40That's gross. No, I find myself like parts like like, you know, repulsed and then drawn in, repulsed and then drawn in. And then I get sleepy. She's like Leela Matina, a girl
JVL01:02:51from a very, very Italian girl that I went to high school with. No, she looked again, Sonny, you just growing up in, I don't know, whenever you were in high school, 2001 world, he traveled the world, you know, in your British boarding school. When you were at Gordon's in Stafford County, Virginia, right? You did not go. You don't have any high ties in Stafford
Sonny01:03:11County. You did not. You know, this is this is again, I don't see I don't see race and ethnicity like you guys. I'm colorblind. I'm race blind. There is a
JVL01:03:20thing about imprinting, which I think we can all agree on where like the girls who were the hottest girls and whatever your milieu was ages like 12 to 15. Oh, just get imprinted on you as like, oh, that's the ideal of womanhood. Right. And so if you grew up in Jersey in the 1990s, then that's what that's what hot girls look like. Right.
Vic01:03:45That plus Irish German from Connecticut. Thank you.
JVL01:03:50All right. Do you guys have anything good? Any outtakes kind of something?
Vic01:03:55Oh, well, you know, as you know, gyms have been closed for I guess most gyms are some gyms here. OK, right. So the last time it is such a shame because the one in our office, it's not like it's just wait. It's just it taunts you because it's closed. Like one person can go in and use it and then clean the equipment. But you can't do that. So you just look through the window and all the equipment collection costs. It's crazy. I will pay. But so I was so I haven't gone to a gym lifted weights like that since like March. And then over the break, I found out that the hotel I was staying in had a gym, but nobody was like, you know, it's hard to find. And but I knew it existed. And it turns out it was like in a hall. You have to go through a restaurant and you needed a special key. I got the special key. I went in the gym. It was great. And the best part, I used all those weights, those dumbbells, those 30 pounders that I haven't used in a long time. And the best part about it was because it was just me. I didn't have to wipe anything down.
Sonny01:04:56Oh, gross. That's not fine.
Spot something wrong in this episode? Suggest a correction →
Comments
Loading…