The Godfather: Part II [1974] [d. Francis Ford Coppola] [s. Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall]

I loved the first Godfather film and would say it is one of my favorite films of all-time.  So of course I had great expectations for this sequel.  My expectations were far exceeded for this film.  Al Pacino is amazing here again and is Michael Corleone.  One of the best roles of all-time played with perfection.  Pacino amazes me more with each film I see of him and this only adds to that.  The first film is all about the rise of the Corleone family and played perfectly into this film that dealt with the troubles that come with being the Corleone’s as well as the story of Vito Corleone.  Every single person in this film is so important and Robert De Niro is fantastic as the young Vito.  I have never seen a sequel that does so much justice to the first film and is such an amazing continuation of an absolute masterpiece.  Francis Ford Coppola does a tremendous job here with the look of the film and so many great scenes that you will not soon forget.  I do not want to ruin your enjoyment of this film in the least bit so I will not say anything that happens in it.  I will just say it is one of the best fim’s of all-time and needs to be seen to be believed.  Another cinematic masterpiece and a great gift to those of us who love cinema and film.  Thank you Francis Ford Coppola.  5/5

De Niro gained 60 pounds (after this poster, obviously) for his role in Raging Bull. Uploaded by deniro.narod.ru.

“You talkin’ to me?” No, Bobby, I was just doing today’s… “You talkin’ to me?” …today’s post, that’s all. Put the gun down, okay? “You talkin’ to me?” Uh, not really… “Well then, who the hell else are you talking to?” Okay, it was a great scene, but… “You talkin’ to me? I’m the only one here.”

I love Robert De Niro. I’ve seen many of his movies, and like Robert Duvall (Great American Thing No. 135) I think he’s incapable of giving a bad performance. Two of his lesser-known roles are my favorites – as Sam in Ronin (1998), probably the best car-chase movie ever, and as bounty hunter Jack Walsh opposite Charles Grodin in Midnight Run (1988).

Uploaded by smh.com.au.

De Niro’s made something of a specialty in playing mobster parts. Let’s see. There’s The Gang Who Couldn’t Shoot Straight, The Godfather: Part II, Once Upon a Time in America, The Untouchables, Goodfellas, Casino, and Analyze This and That. Dese. Dem. Dose. You know if there’s a movie in development about mobsters, the producers will be saying, “I wonder if we can get De Niro.”

He’s been nominated for six Oscars and won two (Raging Bull and The Godfather: Part II). Oh, and De Niro has a new picture coming out next year called Frankie Machine. Guess what part he plays? Yep, he’s a retired mob hit man who’s lured back to the job. What were the chances?

Robert De Niro

 

 

 

 

Robert Mario De Niro, Jr. (born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and producer.

De Niro is well known for his method acting and portrayals of conflicted, troubled characters and for his enduring collaboration with director Martin Scorsese. He gained critical acclaim in the early 1970s, culminating in his first Academy Award as best Supporting Actor for The Godfather Part II (1974), followed by a Best Actor Academy Award win for Raging Bull (1980). His film roles include the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, cabbie Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull, mobster Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas and Jack Byrnes in Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers.

Trivia:

Growing up in the Little Italy section of New York City, his nickname was “Bobby Milk” because he was so thin and as pale as milk.

Turned down the role of Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Was considered for the role of Josh Bakin in Big (1988). Was offered but turned down the role of Sal the pizza shop owner in Do the Right Thing (1989).

Son of painter Virginia Admiral and abstract expressionist Robert De Niro Sr. Despite being raised Presbyterian, Virginia was an atheist for most of Robert’s childhood. Robert Sr was raised Catholic but was not religious in any way. After De Niro was born, his father Robert Sr came out as a homosexual male and eventually divorced Robert’s mother.

He formed his production company, TriBeCa Productions, in 1989.

Raging Bull

In his 1980 Oscar acceptance speech he thanked Joey LaMotta (brother of Jake LaMotta), who was at the time suing United Artists for the portrayal of him in Raging Bull (1980).

After being caught up in a Paris prostitution ring investigation, he, denying any involvement, vowed never to return to France again (1998).

Although he is commonly referred to as an Italian-American actor, De Niro is actually one-quarter Italian in ancestry. His father was half-Irish and half- Italian. His mother was of French, Dutch and German ancestry. He was, however, quite close to his Italian paternal grandfather, whom Robert visited frequently in Syracuse, NY when he was young. De Niro has stated that he identifies “more with [his] Italian side”. Inducted into the Italian-American Hall of Fame in 2002.

He is the second actor to win an Oscar for portraying Vito Corleone. He and Marlon Brando are the only two actors to win an Oscar for playing the same character.

He first discovered his love for acting at age 10 when he portrayed The Cowardly Lion in a local production of “The Wizard of Oz.” He dropped out of high school to join a gang.

Formerly held the World Record for Most Weight Gained for a Movie, in gaining over 60 pounds for his role in Raging Bull (1980). But seven years later, Vincent D’Onofrio eclipsed him in gaining 70 pounds for his role in Full Metal Jacket (1987).

Three movies (at least) that De Niro has appeared in have the song “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones noticeably featured in the soundtrack – - The Fan (1996), Casino (1995) and Goodfellas (1990).

Ranked #78 in Premiere’s 2002 annual Power 100 List.

In 1993 he was tapped to star as Enzo Ferrari in the film “Ferrari”, which was budgeted at $65 million (U.S.) and had Michael Mann attached as director. The project fell through.

He organised the first Tribeca Film Festival in May 2002. He intended to revitalise the Lower Manhattan area after September 11th attacks.

Has said that Meryl Streep is his favorite actress to work with.

He was voted as the best actor of all time at FilmFour.com (2002).

British pop group Bananarama had a hit song dedicated to him called “Robert De Niro’s Waiting.” De Niro heard about it and arranged to meet the three girls, but they got so nervous, while waiting for him, that they got drunk before he even arrived.

Diagnosed with prostate cancer, and expected to make a full recovery (October 2003).

Spent four months learning to speak the Sicilian dialect in order to play Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II (1974). Nearly all the dialogue that his character spoke in the movie was in Sicilian.

When he was a child, he was an avid reader of playwrights.

Taxi Driver

According to a profile in Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood issue, is the first actor to do a method interpretation of a cartoon character as Fearless Leader in The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000).

He started the whole “awards show ribbon” tradition by wearing a green ribbon on his lapel at the 1981 Academy Awards. The ribbon was in rememberance of several African-American children who were victims of a serial killer in Atlanta, Georgia in 1980-1981. The ribbon was given to him by a fan in the bleachers as he arrived; the victims’ families had been wearing them for months.

Was in Ossining, New York (home of the infamous Sing Sing penitentiary) to shoot three different movies: Analyze This (1999), Analyze That (2002) and Hide and Seek (2005).

Was voted the Number 2 greatest movie star of all time in a Channel 4 (UK) poll, narrowly being beaten by Al Pacino.

Frankenstein

It was tricky to make him look huge as Frankenstein’s monster in Frankenstein (1994) , considering that Kenneth Branagh, who played Dr. Frankenstein, is of similar height. Many of the tricks used to make humans, wizards and elves dwarf the hobbits later on for “Lord of the Rings” trilogy were also employed to make De Niro appear much bigger than his co-stars, including using very large men as body doubles for shots where only the hands and feet are seen.

He was voted the 34th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Was unable to accept his first Oscar in 1975 due to filming commitments to Bernardo Bertolucci’s Novecento (1976).

Was good friends with comedian John Belushi, who died of a drug overdose on March 5, 1982. In fact, De Niro and Robin Williams were the last stars to see Belushi alive, albeit on separate visits to Bungalow #3 of L.A.’s Chateau Marmont hotel that fateful day. De Niro visited Belushi at 3:00 am on the morning of his death, but, according to eyewitnesses, left minutes later after seeing that Belushi was ill. Less than an hour earlier, Belushi had been visited by Robin Williams, who also left straight away.

Ranked #1 in Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Greatest Living Actor (Gods Among Us)” list (October 2004).

At the age of 17, after leaving the movies with a friend, he unexpectedly stated that he was going to be a film actor. No one believed him until he dropped out of his senior year of high school and joined Stella Adler’s acting school.

His boyhood idols among actors included Montgomery Clift, Robert Mitchum and Marlon Brando. He preferred the darker, more character-driven work of these men to the older stars of Hollywood, for whom their public persona as a star was more important than their immersion into the character.

Rarely does interviews and is known as one of the most ultra-private celebrities. He was the subject of a late 90s interview (and cover photo) for Esquire magazine. Most of the article focused on how guarded he is with his personal life, what few details are known about him, what rumors are speculated while only a minority of the article dealt with the actual interview itself. The writer noted that while the interview was ultimately agreed upon, he was given a substantial list of off-limit subjects NOT to ask De Niro about. They included: politics, religion, his family, his reported interest in fine wines, and so on.

Cape Fear

When they met shortly before making Mean Streets (1973) De Niro and Harvey Keitel became fast friends. De Niro was from Greenwich Village in Manhattan and was taught by Stella Adler and Keitel was from the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn and was mainly mentored by Lee Strasberg. But the two guarded actors bonded and remain close to this day.

He and Martin Scorsese were brought up blocks apart in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, but never formally met when they were young. When introduced at a party in 1972, the two came to realize that they had seen each other many times but had never spoken.

Very good friends with fellow actor and frequent co-star Joe Pesci. In fact, De Niro was considered for the role of Harry in Home Alone (1990) that went Pesci.

In October 1997 he ranked #5 in Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” list. In 2005 Premiere Magazine ranked him as #38 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature.

Both of his Oscar-winning performances involved Marlon Brando. His first Oscar, for Best Supporting Actor, had him playing the younger version of Brando’s character Vito Corleone. His second, for Best Actor in Raging Bull (1980), he recited Brando’s famous lines from On the Waterfront (1954).

Underwent surgery for prostate cancer at New York’s Sloan-Kettering Hospital in December 2003. The cancer has now gone into remission.

Is left handed. However, he wrote with his right hand in Taxi Driver(1976).

Co-owns the Rubicon restaurant in San Francisco with Bay area residents Francis Ford Coppola and Robin Williams. Much of his father’s art work adorns the walls of the business. He also owns a restaurant in West Hollywood, Ago, and co-owns several restaurants in New York, including Nobu and Layla.

Shares a birthday with friend and sometime-co-star Sean Penn.

First performer to win an Oscar (for The Godfather: Part II (1974)) for a performance in a sequel.

His performance as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980) is ranked #10 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

His performance as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976) is ranked #42 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

His performance as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976) is ranked #22 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Early on, before Tim Burton was commissioned as director, was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).

Was offered the part of Dick Tracy in Dick Tracy (1990).

Turned down the role of Tony D’Amato in Any Given Sunday (1999).

Passed up the opportunity to play Frank Costello in The Departed (2006) to work on his second directorial feature The Good Shepherd (2006).

He won an Oscar for playing Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980), making him one of 11 actors to win the Award for playing a real person who was still ‘alive at the evening of the Award ceremony (as of 2007). The other ten actors and their respective performances are: Spencer Tracy for playing Father Edward Flanagan’ in Boys Town (1938), Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C. York in Sergeant York (1941), Patty Duke for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962), Jason Robards for playing Benjamin C. Bradlee in All the President’s Men (1976), Sissy Spacek for playing Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980), Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995), Geoffrey Rush for playing ‘David Helfgott’ in Shine (1996), Julia Roberts for playing Erin Brockovich-Ellis in Erin Brockovich (2000), Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001/I) and most recently Helen Mirren for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006).

After Once Upon a Time in America (1984), director Sergio Leone planning to cast De Niro in a film he was working on about the siege of Leningrad in World War II, but that project never came about due to Leone’s death in 1989.

For the role of Max Cady in Cape Fear (1991), he paid a dentist $5,000 to make his teeth look suitably bad. After filming, he paid $20,000 to have them fixed. For this film, he was tattooed with vegetable dyes, which faded after a few months.

Accidentally broke a rib of Joe Pesci in a sparring scene in Raging Bull (1980). This shot appears in the film: De Niro hits Pesci in the side, Pesci groans, and there is a quick cut to another angle.

Mentioned in “Wierd Al” Yankovic’s song ‘Frank’s 2000″ TV’.

Owns residences on the east and west sides of Manhattan as well as near Marbletown, New York.

Is one of five performers to win an Oscar playing a character that spoke mostly in a foreign language. The other are Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard, Roberto Benigni and Benicio Del Toro.

Played a real life CIA director in “The Good Shepherd” (2006) and another real life CIA agent in “Ronin” (1998), as well as fictional CIA agent in “Meet the Parents” (2000).

Made his directorial debut in A Bronx Tale (1993).

As of the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), De Niro is the most represented actor, by 14 films. Included are the De Niro films Mean Streets (1973), The Godfather: Part II (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Novecento (1976), The Deer Hunter (1978), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1982), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Brazil (1985), The Untouchables (1987), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), Heat (1995) and Meet the Parents (2000).

He based the movement of his character Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976) on that of a crab. He thought the character was indirect and tended to shift from side to side.

Chinatown  - Roman Polanski, Director, 1974

All you can eat buffet

HOOK: John Huston, who’s first film was the iconic Maltese Falcon plays a pivotal role in the last American film of  Roman Polanski (whose wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered in 1969) to create the ultimate film on LA, corruption and the underbelly of the American Dream. Polanski later fled the US after being convicted of statutory rape that stemmed from a party at Nicholson’s house.

LINE: “I like my nose. I like breathing through it.”  “She’s my sister. She’s my daughter. My sister. My daughter. She’s my sister and my daughter.” “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”

SINKER: Robert Towne’s script is incredibly rich, more than movie audiences today might be able to handle. He beautifully incorporates Jack Nicholson’s speech patterns and the choices of an alien-like Faye Dunaway and bullying John Huston are inspired. But it was Polanski who gave then ending an immortal spin few movies have ever achieved (one that did might be with Bogart’s last line in Maltese Falcon). 

JOHN: There’s a term in mystery-story writing called “after-shadowing.” It’s the opposite of foreshadowing in that when the piece is over, looking back, all the disparate parts of the puzzle are seen to fit. That well defines this stylish classic. The script is complex, yet coherent. The acting, top of the game. Like the music, this one haunts you. An attempted sequel twenty years later (The Two Jakes) was lame. 

GO, GO, GO, GO (4 GOs out of four) 

SPANKY: Unfortunately this film came out the same year as The Godfather, Part 2, which grabbed most of the Oscars away it (“Forget it, Roman, it’s Hollywood!”). But it does raise some questions. First, why the hell can’t we go to new movies like either of these two today? Second, in a media that is devoted to escapism why do we honor what seems realistic rather than one that directly addresses, while embracing, the escapist genre? It might seem that what we want is the illusion of truth rather than truth (for truth we just need to look out the window, not hole up in a dark theater). So a movie that questions that, Chinatown, no matter how great, will be penalized. Though later, I wonder which remains embedded most firmly within us. And isn’t that the real prize? At one point the actress impersonating Evelyn Mulwray asks Nicholson’s J.J. Gittes on the phone if he’s alone (he isn’t). Jake responds, “Isn’t everyone?” Like that viewer in a darkened theater, Jake is an alienated man searching for some connection in a cruel world. 

“TWO PAWs Up” (4 BARKs out of four) 

INSIDE TRACK: Jack Nicholson was known to his high school friends as “Nick”, and was voted “class clown” by the Class of 1954 at Manasquan High School. In 2004, Nicholson attended his 50 year high school reunion, much to the surprise of his fellow classmates. When he first came to Hollywood, Nicholson worked as a go-fer for animation legends, Hanna-Barbera. Seeing his talent as an artist, they offered Nicholson a starting level position as an animation artist. However, citing his desire to become an actor, he declined.

PS Click here, August 08, to see our first review of Chinatown.

Public Enemies, Michael Mann, Director, 2009   

Have hat will travel!

HOOK: The film for the new depression.

LINE:  “My name is John Dillinger. I rob banks.” 

SINKER: “Where are you going?” “Anywhere I want.”

SPANKY: I know John grew up in Chicago and as a kid went to movies at the Biograph where Dillinger was shot (and even traced the filled bullet holes in the cement), but this film doesn’t add anything to the genre as far as I’m concerned—in fact it skirts over opportunities to do this that Bonnie and Clyde and the Godfather, Part 2, didn’t. On the positive side, it is very tactile: men’s wool pants, the glint of old cars on city streets in the rain at night, fur collars on women’s cloth coats. And the surreal detail of the HD camerawork with the severe close ups create an intensity we don’t get in real life, much less in history. I didn’t buy Dillinger falling for the girl, nor feel I got any new insight into his character. I loved the opening (prison break) sequence and the final collage seen by a brazen Dillinger on the bulletin board of the Chicago Police’s special John Dillinger squad room, is brilliant. Unfortunately, much of the rest of the film is not.

“ONE PAW Up” (2 BARKs out of four)

JOHN: I think this is a terrific film, though I admit a lot depends upon what you bring to it. If you feel, as I do, somewhat disenfranchised and overwhelmed (by trillion dollar health reform, for example) shooting a Tommy gun off in the woods is appealing. (PS I don’t like guns, and never have, but was raised listening to “Gangbusters” on the radio in bed at night with the lights out.) Psychological depth was never at the heart of gangster movies— that’s a later addition from the sixties and seventies—but that glint in Depp’s eye as he watches Clark Gable in Manhattan Melodrama on the screen is the same one we share watching Depp as Dillinger today. Who gives a fuck, we just want to be in the movies. The politicking of J. Edgar Hoover, the ambivalence of straight-guy Christian Bale are enough of a hint why we’re in such a mess today. When the fetching Marion Cotillard tears over the departed gangster at the end, we do to. Not only for him but for ourselves. No, this movie is perfect as it is. If you don’t like it, you’re not bringing your true self to the experience.  

GO GO GO GO (4 GOs out of four)

It’s time to take another trip with the Corleone family!

Screenplay By: Francis Ford Coppola & Mario Puzo
Directed By: Francis Ford Coppola

The Godfather: Part II is held in the same pantheon as The Godfather by the great majority of the movie going public. I liked The Godfather: Part II a lot, but it falls short of belonging in that pantheon, or the pantheon of all-time great films. It’s not a bad movie by any means, so don’t think that is what I am saying. The Godfather: Part II is a great movie, but in order for it to be an all-time great the viewer needs to love its structure and I wasn’t a big fan of the structure.

The aforementioned structure of The Godfather: Part II is handled well when it comes to actual story presentation. However, my biggest problem with said structure is that the duality of the stories left me at a loss when it came to the stories resonating with me. The cutting back and forth was problematic because every time I was into one story it would all of a sudden end and move back to the other story, leaving me with a constant feeling of an unfinished story. I know that isn’t true in a narrative sense, both stories come to an actual satisfactory ending, but I never got a real sense of closure or connectivity with either story because of the structure used to convey the stories.

However, beyond the structure the biggest problem with The Godfather: Part II is the difference in appeal of the two stories. I wanted to stay with Vito, I didn’t want to leave his story. He is a much more interesting character than Michael and the era of his story is a much more interesting era than that of Michael’s. I didn’t find the story of Michael unappealing, but it simply couldn’t keep pace with the story of Vito. It’s not a good sign when I wanted the Michael segments to end just so that I could get back to Vito.

As much as the above is true, that doesn’t mean the stories told were that lacking. There was a disconnect on my part, but I am able to recognize layered quality storytelling when I see it. The way that the stories of Vito and Michael work off of each other, showing the same story idea but with different paths and ultimately different outcomes as a result was well done and interesting to take in. I may not have been as interested in Michael’s story as I was in Vito’s, but the connection between the two was strong and made both stories an essential part of the overall movie.

I’ve never made it a secret that I’m not a big fan of Al Pacino, he’s always had the habit of doing too much with his roles and overacting to the point of annoyance. However, his Michael Corelone is a great performance because he doesn’t overact or do too much, he plays Michael calmly and lets things simmer under the surface. This allows you to feel and see what Michael is going through without the need for added histrionics. Unfortunately for Pacino he was in a movie with Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, John Gazale and Michael Gazzo. It shouldn’t be viewed as a mark against Pacino, but the fact that those listed acted circles around him should be viewed as a testament to the acting prowess of the cast of The Godfather: Part II.

The cinematography is once again outstanding in The Godfather: Part II, as is the set design. I believed I was in Cuba, Miami and Las Vegas. However, and I know I’m beating a dead horse here, the look of Italy and New York in the early 1900’s looked more intriguing and textured than that of the 1950’s locations. Costume design would be the same, but that’s not to say anything was bad about any production facet of The Godfather: Part II, it is an extremely well made movie, it’s just some parts are better than others.

There you have it, I may be one of the only few people alive who didn’t absolutely love The Godfather: Part II and want to immediately declare it in a tie for the best movie of all time, although The Godfather isn’t my number one of all time anyways. The Godfather: Part II is a great movie, but I couldn’t get behind the structure, and the appeal of one story over the other hurt my viewing experience. Still, it’s not like The Godfather: Part II is a movie to avoid, it is a great movie that any movie fan should try and see. But we’re not done with Corleone’s yet, well I think Diane Keaton is, but not me.

Rating:

***1/2

Cheers,
Bill

The Gotham underworld is in ruins as it struggles to rebuild itself. Criminals stray from the shadows, and hide in the daylight, for the shadow is the Batman’s domain. Clawing desperately like rodents from flame, the mafia turns to a man they do not understand. An agent of Chaos, they call him the Joker.

The shadow of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight looms large over every Bat-film, nay, every superhero film before it. By the film’s conclusion, it struck me just how apt the title was: its darkness surpasses even Burton’s Gothic interpretation of the franchise. Nolan’s real-world Gotham makes the presence of a Joker all the more frightening. I’ve never thought about the Joker as a terrorist or even an anarchist before, but Nolan and Ledger gave me a real sense of, this is what the world would be like with the Joker in it, and this is what he’d do. It all seems so obvious now, but the truth is, there’s never been a Joker quite like this before. As Nolan has stated in various interviews, Heath Ledger’s Joker truly is a force of nature. He’s a hurricane that sweeps through each scene, stealing it and then destroying it for no other reason than that’s what he is. There is a tangible tension in the air; a siren sound builds in the background (courtesy of Zimmer and Howard), and neither the audience nor the Batman knows how to deal with him, because we honestly don’t know what he’ll do next.

Ledger's iconic Joker. There's no telling what he might do.

It’s this unpredictability that propels the entire film for two and a half hours – no mean feat if you’ve ever seen Lord of the Rings. There are plot twists a-plenty here, and each one of them is a bold move on the part of Goyer and the brothers Nolan.

Like all good comic books, The Dark Knight is first and foremost a character drama. Christian Bale plays a brooding Batman, and a conflicted Bruce Wayne once again. But it’s clear this time that Wayne has moved beyond revenge, and is far more concerned with the repercussions of Batman’s actions, not only for his loved ones, but for Gotham City as a whole. One of the film’s major themes is sacrifice, and you’ll see plenty of moments where all of Wayne’s friends and allies pay high prices for the love of their city. I could really feel Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent’s love for both Gotham and Rachel, and Jim Gordon’s love for his family as well. It is Harvey Dent’s inextricable importance to Gotham and all of its major players that makes his destiny all the more tragic. That Aaron Eckhart’s Dent won me (and Batman) over within the first few minutes only amplified the tragedy. Again, I knew what to expect, but I was continually surprised by the journey.

Gary Oldman’s Jim Gordon is a comic fan’s dream come true. His resemblance to the character in the classic Year One is uncanny, both in personality and visage. Maggie Gyllenhaal was the perfect choice to replace Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes – not only does she look similar; she plays a stronger character with more substance than a pretty face. Take this from someone whose pet hate is changing casts between sequels – that the first four Bat-films featured the same Alfred Pennyworth, yet three different Bruce Waynes irked me to no end! Speaking of Alfred, Michael Caine shines through as Bruce’s mentor and friend. I was initially wary of his casting in Begins, mostly due to his rustic speech, but he has captured the essence of a butler who oversteps his role, and cuts straight to the heart of the matter. Morgan Freeman reprises his role as Lucius Fox, Batman’s ‘Q’ and now-CEO of Wayne Enterprises.

The movie’s other major theme is Chaos. Chaos is the Joker’s modus operandi, and he sees himself as the necessary Yin to Batman’s Yang. Bale underscores this notion in playing the thinking-man’s Batman. While there is little emphasis on Batman as the World’s Greatest Detective, he is certainly portrayed as an inventive and rational force. Joker, on the other hand, is all kinds of insane. He simply doesn’t care what happens, as long as something happens; his life an amoral dance of cause and effect. It’s almost refreshing to see the Joker’s sheer abandonment and wanton destruction, as it represents a way of life so different from our own.

Nolan and company cottoned on to the character’s greatest strength: his mysterious origin. Nolan makes no attempt to explain the Joker’s origins definitively; a wise choice that not only saves valuable screen-time, but enriches the character as well. A wry smile crept across my face every time Ledger licked his lips to recount a different origin story to his victims. Indeed, there is a certain black comedy that permeates his dialogue and the film at large. Heath Ledger’s mannerisms are clever and understated, simultaneously manic and aloof. His performance chilled me to the bone, and yet I couldn’t wait to see him return for the next scene. It represents a fitting swan song to his career, and I would love nothing more than to see him win that posthumous Oscar.

The Dark Knight definitely comes off as a self-contained film, and no expense was spared to give it all the dramatic weight possible, with almost complete disregard for sequel potential. As lofty as they are, comparisons with the likes of The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather: Part II are apt. With such a take-no-prisoners approach, where do we go from here? Disheartening, though it may be, it’s a beautiful problem to have.

There are so many more things I could say about The Dark Knight, but nothing that hasn’t already been said more eloquently by someone else. To give you a detailed account of every happening would only diminish its profound impact. Needless to say, it distills some of the greatest elements in Batman’s rich history and combines them to create a thrilling, multi-layered narrative. With Iron Man and now The Dark Knight, its refreshing to see the medium of the comic book movie treated with such maturity and respect for the source material. More than that, The Dark Knight actually transcends the genre of the superhero movie. It’s not for the faint of heart (or for children), but anyone can and probably will enjoy this movie on its own merits. Run, don’t walk, to your nearest video store and catch The Dark Knight.

The new trailer for upcoming film X-Men Origins: Wolverine contains a few new clips of footage not yet seen – unless you were one of the people who caught the whole film when it was leaked online recently – which reveals a few visuals of the main mans claws pre his adamantium fix-up.

I have to admit, whilst I didn’t take to the first three X-Men films as heavily as I had hoped I am really excited about seeing this one – Wolverine looks BADDASS!

 With the release of Star Trek which, having seen this film already (click here) is a great bonus to the strong sci-fi franchise it appears that now is the time of the prequel. In the past there has always been some level of disdain for these films, usually against the sequel and remake with the odd exceptions like The Godfather: Part II  but in these instances both Wolverine and ST appear to be receiving good previews from the media and fans.

Going back to the organic routes of already established films and creating new ideas to entertain the audience is difficult. The prequel is almost always pre-written for the original to give the characters a back-story and is now quickly becoming the template and best way to capitalise on ‘old-dog’ storylines. Directors and producers can opt for a younger, lesser-know and essentially cheaper cast members although not the case completely for X-Men Origins with Hugh Jackman’s ageless character Wolverine.

Whilst some would highlight their disagreement with this method, seen as squeezing the last penny of a franchise it is evident that with a strong idea it is almost necessary to complete and offer a sense of closure to a story – kind of makes you think that sense would suggest starting at this stage first…

It will be interesting to see whether Wolverine and Star Trek open to the acclaim and expected box-office success, I am sure that if they do, sequels will be spawned which essentially would be another prequel to the sequels, hmmmm confused now…

This is the end . . . beautiful friend . . .

The National Evil commented long ago on the eternal mystery that is Madonna’s enduring relevance, as well as the infuriating awfulness of Guy Ritchie’s first shot at a “return” to form, Revolver.

Yes, he imagined he was done with all things Guy Ritchie, because RockNRolla arrived in its lil’ red sleeve . . . and RockNRolla, in case you didn’t know, is supposed to be Ritchie’s “for real this time” return to form. Kooky cast of criminal characters careening in and out of each other’s lives, a McGuffin of sorts (a painting instead of Snatch’s diamond), witty dialogue . . . ya know, Guy Ritchie shit.

Er, nope. RockNRolla, while not Revolver-bad, is still pretty awful. Inside of an hour, Evil wanted to see a piano fall on the head of each and every actor and be done with it. Never has he seen a less charismatic or interesting lot of characters hurled onscreen. The notion that anyone would care what happened to any of them, frankly, offends the intellect.

One cannot number this movie’s sins. But we’re going to try anyway.

1. Complete waste of Idris Elba, the brilliant actor who played Evil’s favorite character (Stringer Bell) on his favorite show (The Wire).

2. Ludicrously convoluted plot revolving around . . . wait for it . . . REAL ESTATE SCAMMING! Why not, say, an emerald?

3. The main heavy is essentially the same character—spouting essentially the same lines—as Brick Top in Snatch. He just has better teeth.

4. And most of all—worst of all—we have the ending: our “RockNRolla,” a crackhead lead singer named Johnny for whom we are supposed to feel some sort of sympathy—proclaims his intention to quit the music biz and become a gangsta . . . “A real RockNRolla.” And then—then!—we see this message: “Johnny and the Wild Bunch will return in The Real RockNRolla.”

Holy shit! It’s true (Wikipedia says so): Ritchie intends this to be the first movie in a fucking trilogy! Starring the crackhead rocker, the most irritating character in the flick! (And that’s saying something.)

Imagine finishing The Godfather and reading this message: “Fredo will return in The Godfather, Part II.”

FREDO—what the—? you’d blurt. As did the Evil regarding RockNRolla. Apparently Guy thinks anyone would want to follow the further misadventures of this gang. Oy.

Appearances to the contrary, Evil doesn’t enjoy slagging Ritchie. Snatch is one of Evil’s all-time favorite flicks. (See? See?) But that’s what impels the Evil to slag the man. What happened to him?

This post was intended as a snarky shot at Madonna and the possibility that she is a talent vampire as explanation for Ritchie’s demise. Then Evil concocted a better theory. While Ritchie has been crapping the creative bed these last nine years since Snatch, his producer, Matthew Vaughn, has directed the true heir to the Lock, Stock/Snatch tradtion: the excellent Layer Cake. Is it possible Vaughn was really the brains behind the operation? Or at least the fun?

Because that’s what’s missing from both Revolver and RockNRolla. The fun. There’s the witty (or wannabe witty, at least) dialogue, the innovative camera work, the motley cast of rogues . . . but there’s no joy.

Maybe instead of waiting impatiently for Ritchie to get his mojo back, we should realize that maybe he never had it. And wait instead for the next movie by the one who did.

Did anyone, um, actually enjoy either Revolver or RockNRolla? If so, defend your moral failure!

“Seeing you reminds me of New York… the old days.”

I’ve been waiting for almost two years to have this chance to rewatch The Godfather Part II and fully articulate my numerous problems with it. I had seen it at the beginning of my college career and felt truly disappointed, but before watching it tonight, my father implored me to give this film a second chance. Sorry, Dad.

Imagine you’re Francis Ford Coppola for a second. You’ve just made your sprawling yet intimate masterpiece, and everyone wants more. You have a three-plus hour canvas on which to flesh out the brilliant tragedies of the first installment. But instead, you opt for a cumbersome, jarring sketch of a handful of tiny, trivial, maybe even pointless anecdotes in the lives of previously fascinating film characters. This Frankenstein of a film — culled from a grab bag of decent parts and stitched together awkwardly and obtusely — serves little purpose but to remind us of what an organic, warm, intelligent treat the first film is. For the entire running time of Part II, as ideas get stretched thin and the plot aggressively overstays its welcome, we can’t help but recall the tremendous pleasures of its predecessor — the funny and subtle performance of Marlon Brando, the rise (or is it fall?) of Michael Corleone and the intimate time we spend watching his descent into the crime underworld, the rich subplots in Italy and elsewhere. I could go on. The Michael segments of Part II are a bleak death march. The rich emotional tones of the first film are replaced here by one single sustained note: Michael is cruel, ruthless, vindictive, etc., and there is no way to approach this other than overdone pathos. Soul-crushingly banal plotlines, such as Michael’s various business dealings in Vegas/Cuba, the Senate hearings, the shocking revelation about Kay’s abortion, keep the Michael parts trudging along in a constant state of morose self-possession. In widening the scope of the Corleone drama, Coppola and Puzo completely lose themselves. It’s like C-SPAN and CNBC rolled into one.

There is still quite a bit of good in this film, and I should state emphatically that I don’t dislike this film the way I dislike American Pie: Band Camp or other pure trash flicks. I dislike it partially because the Michael segments are such an insult to the first film, and partially because they’re such an insult to the flawless — yes, absolutely flawless — handling of the “young Vito” narrative. I don’t have a broad enough vocabulary to express my deep admiration for the artistry in this third (or so) of the film. First of all, it may contain some of the most beautiful, iconic moments in cinematography history: the festa, the train leaving Corleone, nearly every scene on the busy and beautiful streets of tenement-era New York City. DeNiro’s performance matches Brando’s note for note, in humor, physical presence, and hypnotic fascination. Is Michael simply an uninteresting character? This film would suggest that Vito’s life arc is really the only interesting one, but we know from the first film that Michael is a brilliant character, and that the weak and joyless turns his life takes in the late 50’s are really just an embarrassing mishandling of a potentially great epic life story. Oh, and seemingly just to taunt us, the closing moments of this film offer us a heartbreaking glimpse into the world of the first film — with Sonny, Carlo, and Vito still intact. It’s a chilling sequence that serves as a proper coda to Part II, as well as a reminder of why the modest intimacy of the original works so much better than the heavy-handed gloominess of the second film.

The ultimate shame of The Godfather Part II is that in overemphasizing the unbearably bleak and tepid Vegas/Cuba Michael story, Coppola and Puzo miss out on giving young Vito his full due. This dark, haunting, gorgeous, and highly atmospheric section deserves a full, proper film of its own. Instead, it’s gracelessly glued to a lumbering 2-hour slog, full of soulless ghosts wandering around their tacky homes. It’s sort of like watching Padma Lakshmi tie the knot with Salman Rushdie, or Carla Bruni with Nicolas Sarkozy, or Marilyn Monroe with Arthur Miller. Why do beautiful things always pair up with such ugly ones?

Vito’s 1/3 of the film gets a 10. Michael’s 2/3 gets a 5. Overall, the film is a muddled mess that clearly needed some more work, some more love, and clearly some more Brando. 6/10. But TV Guide says it’s the BEST FILM OF ALL TIME. So what do I know?

I don’t get it. How can anyone possibly think that this movie is better than the Godfather? I honestly think that this movie is worse in every way. No, scratch that. Talia Shire is slightly less annoying in this movie. But Marlon Brando’s Vito is way better than Robert DeNiro’s (though all that background was definitely interesting), and I’d rather sympathize with Michael than see him as this ice king. In the first movie, you see his amazing transformation, and it’s so sad and powerful. Where is the equivalent in the Godfather Part II? Maybe it’s like the people whose genetic code makes cilantro taste like soap to them…it’s just not in me to understand what’s so great about this movie.

In addition to judging it as part of this Godfather saga, I also made sure to keep an open mind and watch it as a movie, separate from the first. As a movie, not as a sequel, it was definitely good. There was a lot of great drama–Robert Duvall’s Tom Hagen and Talia Shire’s Connie Corleone started to actually feel like substantial characters. And, of course, John Cazale’s Fredo. Fredo is really the star of this movie. He is the only character we genuinely feel for. The whole Hyman Roth and Frank Pentangeli business was a little bit hard to follow, and I think I’m gonna have to watch it again to fully grasp it all. I think my favorite scene was when Tom Hagen went to Senator Geary, who had been with a prostitute when she was murdered. It’s implied that Michael orchestrated this to get Geary on his side as an ally, and it is just so totally messed up (in a way that I love movies to be).

I think the biggest problem about this movie is that 1958-1959 Nevada is just not as pretty as 1945-early 50s in New York. The colors of the first movie are so much eerier and prettier. Everything about this movie felt very much like my least favorite part of the first movie–when Michael goes to talk to Moe Greene in Vegas. Trashy, bright t-shirts do not mesh well with elegant Sicilian mafia families. The only shots I remember loving in this movie took place in the prequel portion with Robert DeNiro. Anyway, it’s an 8/10.

Sequels focused on continuing the story of the original can be uniquely challenging. Free of the need to introduce the theme and the characters, the focus shifts to expanding the world. Providing a bigger context, a broader canvas, on which to explore the escalating consequences of the actions of the characters.

In The Godfather Part II we see Michael Corleone attempting to expand the operations of the family, while dealing with the choices made previously by himself and his father, Vito. The continuing themes of family and respect are weaved throughout along with several references both directly and metaphorical to events from the first film; the final scenes strongly echoing the ending of the original in both tone and content.

"... if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone."

The goal of such a sequel is one of expansion and escalation, the problems are larger, the stakes higher; or to put it another way everything is “Bigger, Better, More Badass”.

This can be seen in numerous sequels, players are provided with new larger locations to visit, newer more powerful tools to wield and newer tougher challenges to face. The problems are bigger and so are the solutions.

In Half-Life the initial goal is to escape the Black Mesa Research Facility, there are detours, and the eventual goal becomes something greater but the story is essentially confined to Black Mesa. Escape from the facility comes only at the conclusion. From the very first moments of Half-Life 2 it’s explicitly clear that you will no longer be restricted to the confines of Black Mesa, the world has expanded and your goals are no longer simply those of self-preservation.

The Half-Life series also serves to highlight an inherent character development problem with game sequels. By the conclusion of the original game the player character will have faced and surmounted numerous challenges, often learning new skills and acquiring tools and weapons along the way. They end the game a more competent, more powerful character than they began it. In order to retain this sense of character development and progression player will often find themselves stripped of their acquired skills and abilities at the start of the sequel. Just how many times does Gordon Freeman have to lose his weapons, just so that they can be carefully portioned back out?

What purpose is served by developing a character when they are fated to lose all progression the next time they appear? Nobody would have accepted The Godfather Part 2 if Michael Corleone was no longer the Don but had to earn that position all over again.

One way to mitigate this is to treat sequels in an episodic fashion with only the most basic of story elements carried forward into each subsequent title. The Tomb Raider use this approach, until their recent revival, each title was a self contained story with only the barest links to the previous games. Such an approach allows for recurring characters and themes to provide a sense of continuity for existing fans, while at the same time not requiring an extensive knowledge of the back story that might be off putting to new players.

Some sequels sidestep the issue by developing the story around a different protagonist. While avoiding previous problems such games do require that time is spent reestablishing the rules and underlying themes of the world. Also attempts are often made to tie the actions of the new protagonist to those of their predecesssor such as in Fallout 2. In these cases the overarching storyline is not so much that of either protagonist but the world itself.

"My ancestor could beat up your ancestor."

An interesting twist on this is the approach taken by System Shock 2, and more recently F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, that of a new protagonist but a returning antagonist. Set some forty two years after the events on Citadel Station System Shock 2 features a new blank slate player character who once again has to deal with the machinations of SHODAN. The story of System Shock is not really the story of the player character at all, it is her story. This bring us back to the initial problem however. Does SHODAN’s reappearance in System Shock 2 serve to invalidate the actions of the mysterious hacker, the player character in the original System Shock? The SHODAN found on Tau Ceti V only exists because of your actions in the original game but does her very survival call into question the value of your original success?

The beginning of Alien 3 changes the entire tenor of the final sequences of Aliens, as going back and watching it again we know that some of those characters are destine to die. Is the assumption that gamers are unlikely to revisit the original game so anything is fair even turning what was once a  success into a failure?

The structure of games based on progression from a state of powerlessness to a state of empowerment seems at odds with the desire to continue a story; any progression in the first game is immediately negated for the start of the sequel in order for the cycle to begin again.

Now, for some REAL fun.  Our inaugural post… Pacino, in the beginning.

(Well, post-The Panic in Needle Park, but pre-Godfather.)

Here’s the situation:

I am a Sopranos fan. BIG. And, would you believe, I finally got finished watching the series about 2 months ago? Yeah, I sat and watched it nearly straight through for a month or so. It’s true, I have no life; I really should look into that shit.

But, anyway. I was done with Sopranos and needed another mobfix. What was the logical choice? No, not Living Lohan. DUH! NO, NOT Casino (Ca-seen-it!). Yes, that’s right — The Godfather. I and II.

I rented it from my friendly local Blockbuster video, and, well, my li’l life changed forever. Was anyone in that movie besides Al Pacino? Iforget.

SO, that brings us to the creation of this blog, Pacino in Real Time.

I’ve always wanted to blog about something; god knows I’ve got enough to babbleonia about.

I decided I’d write my reviews, observations, and general swoonery of Pac-man’s movies (terrible pun. who writes this shit?) IN REAL TIME — Yes, that’s right. As I watch them.

Since I’ve never seen any of em before. With me? K.

Without enough ado, I gibs you:

THE FREAKING SCREENTEST THAT THEY PUT MY POOOOOR AL THROUGH, EVEN THO HE’S GOD OR SOMETHING DUH:

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro have been in three films together:

-The Godfather Part II: Considered to be one of the greatest films of all time and earned De Niro an Oscar

-Heat: Michael Mann’s stylish and influential Cops Vs. Robbers epic

-Righteous Kill: From the Dude that directed 88 minutes

Guess which one is not the best?

Yeah, Righteous Kill is no classic. On the plus side, It’s not as bad as people have said, and it’s certainly better than Director John Avnet’s previous mess 88 Minutes. Still, it’s a real shame that the most screen time the two acting icons have ever spent togeather in one motion picture had to be a mediocre thriller with a script lazier than professional athelete’s wife. 

The plot is very familiar; a killer is targeting criminals that, for one reason or another, never got caught or went to jail. De Niro and Pacino play veteran Detectives risking their reputations and pensions (not really sure why) to find the killer. A bunch of manufactured twists and turns follow until we eventually reach a “shocking”  climax that I saw coming about 56 miles away. 

“Watchable” is about the nicest thing I can say about this flick. I love Pacino, so I can sit through anything he’s in. I of course dig De Niro as well and It was cool to see these two acting legends doing their method thang side by side. I just wish they’d been joined by a competent director and better script.

Legendary but difficult-to-work-with actor Robert De Niro (Stardust) has quit the film Edge Of Darkness mere days after starting to work on it. A spokesperson explains:

Sometimes things don’t work out; it’s called creative differences

Edge Of Darkness is currently shooting in Massachusetts under the direction of Martin Campbell (Casino Royale), and tells the story of a detective investigating his own daughter’s murder, unveiling truckloads of conspiracies along the way. The film is a remake of the celebrated eponymous BBC mini-series from 1985, which Campbell also directed, and was adpated by William Monahan (The Departed) and Andrew Bovell (Stricly Ballroom).

No word on who will replace De Niro in the movie, which will mark Mel Gibson’s return to acting, six years after The Singing Detective. Robert De Niro will next be seen in the cop movie Righteous Kill starting next week, which is notable for being the first time the actor will really act alongside Al Pacino (they had no common scenes in The Godfather: Part II and Heat).

Source

Six decades ago in December, the Japanese bombed the United States’ key naval facility in the Pacific, yet left all of our shipbuilding capacity intact. Germany and Italy declared war on the United States days later. We responded in kind, defeated Italy and Germany, and dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Bad Idea? Yes.

Fidel Castro announced his commitment to Marxist-Leninist Communism in December 1961; bad idea?  Not for Castro, but Communism has not worked out too well for the Cubans (especially bloggers there who dare to write about neat ways to make Cuba even better).  Bad Idea.

And while Nirvana’s Nevermind debuted in December (which, arguably did not work out so well for Kurt Cobain, in the long run), record companies also use this time of year to dump horrific Christmas albums on us every year; are YOU the consumer who buys the  .38 Special Wild Eyed Christmas Night singles and keeps this tripe coming at us year after year? Yet another bad idea.

December 2008 is shaping up to be typical, with politicians, movie and recording studios, and the web sloughing off their worst ideas before the promising start of a new year. Here are a few bad ideas I have seen so far, although surely there are others.

1. Valkyrie.

The Feel-Good Christmas Nazi Flick!

Tom Cruise. Nazis. Christmas.  If I owned a movie studio, I would have jumped out of my window before I gave the green light for this movie (with Tom Cruise?? ); and now this nazi film is going to open on Christmas? Who wants to see a nazi film about a plot to kill Hitler on Christmas? Even the neo-nazis will probably stay away from it (because of the plot to kill Hitler part), what a loser movie! Is MGM/UA trying to go bankrupt and get some bailout money or something? This is definitely a bad idea.

2. No Buffers. “The Family had a lot of Buffers.” Am I the only one who watched Godfather II and remembers crap like this? If you are a Governor and are going to be insanely corrupt and try to enrich yourself through graft, you need to have a bunch of cutouts between you and the act. That is gangster 101. If the Governor of some po-dunk little state like Nebraska or Wyoming was as stupid as Blagojevich appears to be,  it would almost be understandable. But this is freakin’ Illinois, Chicago is in that state,  Al Capone worked there, for God’s sake.  People expect the pols who hail from Chicago to be corrupt, but horrendously incompetent as well? No Buffers = a bad idea. Bonus: Did Jesse Jackson Jr. have any buffers? We’ll see.      .       .

3. Open for Questions. Why is having a website that allows people to pose questions to the incoming administration (with a Digg style popularity rater) such a bad idea? Because internet-savvy sycophantic followers will censor the site (is that Orwellian by proxy?) and allow questions like “Have you decided what kind of puppy you are going to get for the girls yet?” in, but block any question regarding contact the Obama team has had with the Illinois Governor recently. Even though the latter is well, news, and people want to know. And once something gets censored, people in the media start talking about it, and the censorship story becomes news. And then defenders of the censorship offer a cult-like defense of the President-elect and write comments  on websites like:

I’m one of the people that has [effectively censored] many of those questions. Why is it even necessary to ask [the] Obama these questions? He has done nothing wrong and he should be left alone as there are far more pressing issues than worrying about a man with a bad haircut.

And, instead of having a structure that provides more transparency and a chance for the President-Elect team to truly interact with voters (instead of just, for lack of a better term, followers) , you end up with system that filters out like 40-60% of what is truly on the country’s mind. And the people who like you a little too much come out and defend you a little too forcefully, and it creeps a bunch of other people out. Open for Government is a bad idea. NOTE: I cannot access Open for Government? Is it down or being re-tooled this fine morning?

The Last Gun Standing

   4.  Chinese Democracy. Axl Rose is the last original member of GnR; why not kick him out too, hire a decent singer, change the band’s name, the album’s name, record different songs that don’t blow.    .    . How can anyone even listen to this crap? Does it sound better if you’re totally wasted or something? I cannot imagine it does, even comatose people would be offended by this album. Democracy in China is a good idea, but GNR without Slash, Duff, and Izzy, and in 2008, is a very bad idea.

Don't Screw Around With This Guy!

5. Killing Bruce Wayne. There are reports that Bruce Wayne, Batman, is going to die this month. Come on, that is a bad idea. Sure it is a comic book, so DC can have some kind of convoluted  Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline involving other dimensions and alternate realities to un-screw things later on, but why freakin’ bother? The time spent before that happens will find some other vigilante taking on the Batman cowl for awhile (probably Dick Grayson),  until Wayne ultimately returns, which is a foregone conclusion. This is a bad idea, stop it now. DC, if you want to sell comics, why not generate some controversy by issuing that scary Holy Terror, Batman, storyline, you cowards?

There are plenty of other bad ideas out there this month,  these are just a few samples to whet the appetite. Let’s hope some better albums, movies, politicians, comics and ideas await us in the coming year.   .    .