Month: March 2022

A Bit Surprised, Concerned

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I didn’t stream it — I bought the 50th anniversary 4K Godfather disc late Tuesday afternoon and watched it soon after. I can’t help but approve of the novelty aspect — it may not be anyone’s idea of a classic-looking Godfather but it certainly looks spiffier — smoother, less grainy and more vivid than ever before.

Francis Coppola’s 1972 gangster classic has been tastefully de–grained (or DNR’ed), and it certainly looks wonderful during the sunny Sicily section. Love the red neon lights of the Radio City Music Hall, Jack Dempsey’s restaurant and Louis’s restaurant in the Bronx. Diane Keaton’s red overcoat and those taxicab yellows are great also, but — here’s the downside — overall flesh tones are pale and fair and even brownish at times, thus constituting a definite argument with the 2008 Robert Harris-Gordon Willis restoration, which everyone has always approved of. And closeups of the faces look a bit waxy, which is what happens with DNR-ing.

Yes, it’s an upgrade in the sense that many scenes seem sharper, crisper and more detailed than in the 2008 version, and overall this will seem quite alluring to Average Joes and even industry guys like Larry Karaszewski but it’s NOT the film that Mr. Willis, the film’s cinematographer, shot in ‘72 and approved the restoration of 14 years ago.

I didn’t care for the opening close-up and slow zoom-out of Bonasera the undertaker— his bald head seems too brightly lighted. (It looks better on the ‘08.). And yes, the bleachy, almost pinkish color scheme used for the outdoor wedding scene has been modified, which is not a change that the late Mr.Willis would have approved of.

On the other hand I was delighted with certain details and distinctions. The textures and fabrics of various suits, ties and overcoats, for example. The soothing VistaVision clarity of those 1950s marquee signs on the Las Vegas strip. But overall the ‘22 looks a little too neutralized and pale-faced. It’s fascinating in many ways, but it’s not historically authentic.

Coppola knows the truth of this situation. He knows that the newbie is an odd gleaming bird but NOT representative of the original — not really. It is, as noted, quite the dazzler and head-turner in many respects. I kept noticing little details in the 4K that I’d never noticed before. Reducing the grain really made a difference. But if I had to choose a desert-island Godfather, I’d definitely stick with the ‘08.

If GW was with us today, he’d be vagueiy amused by the determination of the Paramount video team to create fresh Godfather revenues, but he’d also say “they can do whatever the fuck they want but this is not my Godfather…it’s a DNR’ed version that’s been slightly desaturated in some ways but made to look a lot bolder in other ways, certainly in terms of neon reds. And the faces are waxy looking. Don’t get me started. It’s a version that will delight a lot of people who don’t know any better, but it’s not the real thing…sorry.”

Last night I posted a version of this review on Facebook, and in so doing provoked the afore-mentioned Mr. Karaszewski, who called me (or more precisely my views) “insufferable”.

HE reply: Gordon Willis was a tough nut & didn’t suffer fools. Did you ever chat with him? Do you know people who knew him? I spoke with him once for a thing I was writing about an All The President’s Men Bluray. Any way you slice it the man was an ARTIST, and he gave his stamp of approval to the 2008 restoration. And the newbie, while fascinating and upgraded in certain ways, is definitely a different bird. I guess you’d better call Willis “insufferable” while you’re at it.

An “Uh-Oh” Development?

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Last night Showbiz 411 reported that Oscar Isaac, the long-rumored lead in Francis Coppola‘s still-in-the-works Megalopolis, has “passed” on the role.

No one (myself included) is allowed to speculate negatively on this long-gestating project. We all want Coppola to hit Megalopolis out of the park, but we’re also speculating right now about what might have prompted Isaac’s departure.

I’ll tell you this much — Coppola needs to come up with a logline that won’t scare the shit out of prospective viewers. Because “a love story that’s also a philosophical investigation of the nature of man”…I intend to see Megalopolis no matter what, but that description does kinda scare me a bit. It would scare anyone.

Posted on 2.23.22: “I think Francis Coppola (whom I had the pleasure of doing a two-hour phone interview with 41 years ago) was one guy when he made The Godfather, The Conversation and The Godfather, Part II. He was a slightly different guy when he made Apocalypse Now, and a faintly altered version of the Apocalypse Now guy when he made One From The Heart. He was a whole different dude when he made Jack — that’s for damn sure. And a much different guy when he made Tetro and Twixt.”

“Saab Story,” “Signfeld,” “Smarmageddon”

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I don’t want an Honest Trailers take on the Best Picture nominees — anyone can do that. I want an Honest Trailers take on the collapsing shit show that the Oscar brand has become over the last four or five years. Particularly the expertly-managed shrinking of the viewing audience, the mass indifference on the part of Millennials and Zoomers, the narrowing field (i.e., woke-icizing) of the nominees, the Oscars becoming the Left Coast Tony Awards, Film Twitter destroying prospective hosts like Kevin Hart, Academy members blowing off the most transportational fantasy film of 2021 as a Best Picture nominee, and the way last April’s Soderbergh show suffocated the Oscar glamour thing and did a brilliant job of channelling…never mind.

Jackson Action

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As anyone would expect, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson deflected and dodged when pressed by Sen. Ted Cruz about critical race theory. She politely allowed Sen. Lindsay Graham to make a fool of himself — no assistance required. And Sen. Josh Hawley reaffirmed his scumbag credentials. Performers, all.

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Zegler Will Attend Oscars!

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THR’s Scott Feinberg is exclusively reporting that West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler will not be watching the 94th Oscars from her couch after all, but will attend the ceremony as an Oscar presenter. This is like Cinderella attending the grand ball in her glass slipper.

A Precise Definition

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11:30 am update: I’ve just been informed from a knowledgeable source that the 4K Godfather has been tastefully de-grained and DNR’ed! Which nobody has reported so far. And that the slightly blown-out (i.e., white-ish, sun-bleached) look of the outdoor wedding celebration has been modified so it looks less blown-out. And that the rich 1940s-era celluloid colors (those wonderful reds, ambers and taxicab yellows) have been turned down a little bit. So — no one has said this anywhere — the new 4K Godfather doesn’t really look like Gordon Willis’s original version. Not really. The 2008 restoration is a faithful capturing and enhancing of the original, but the newbie is doing its own thing. That’s not a put-down — it’s just a different bird. Or, as Larry Karaszewski said last night, “stunning.”

This 2008 vs, 2022 comparison video, posted on 3.20.22 by Forgotten Tomatoes, conforms to descriptions of the 4K version. I can’t tell about the DNR-ing, but the newbie is seemingly sharper and slightly brighter but less warm. The bleachy wedding party palette has been toned down. It’s certainly different.

Earlier this morning:

The 4K digital restoration of The Godfather screened Monday night (3.21) at the Academy Museum. Larry Karaszewski attended and called the allegedly rejuvenated appearance of Francis Coppola’s 1972 classic “stunning.” Here’s my reply to Larry, posted this morning on Facebook:

“Larry — You’re a good, careful writer so I’d like to ask if you really and truly found the 4K digital Godfather restoration to be ‘stunning.’

“I often give in to hyperbole myself so I’m not finding fault or trying to give you a hard time. I haven’t yet seen the 4K Godfather but given that it’s built upon the magnificent 2008 restoration by Robert Harris, and given the general reverence for the look of the original Gordon Willis photography and the original 1972 grain structure and no one recently claiming that they’ve tastefully DNR’ed or de-grained the look of it [update — I’m hearing that tasteful DNR has been applied], I don’t see how it could possibly be honestly described as ‘stunning.’

“In this context that word would have to mean ‘whoa!’, agreeably startling, slap-in-the-face unexpected, so good it shakes you deep down. In HE parlance, you seem to be saying that this new rendering delivers an unmistakable ‘bump.’ To which I’m obliged to say ‘okay but really?’

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Sudden Switcheroo

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For six months Gold Derby’s weather-vane, damp-finger-to-the-wind reactives we’re ALL IN on The Power of the Dog winning the Best Picture Oscar, and then they all flipped around to CODA within the last 72 hours.

Friendo: “A good Oscar watcher doesn’t advocate or otherwise try to influence the race. You disagree with that, I realize. Right now awards season, writhing in the shadow of the massive awards machine that is Penske, is a hot bloated mess.”

Reminder: Cruz, Cruz, Penelope Cruz

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Today is the last day of Oscar voting. HE hereby pleads with all last-minute procrastinators to please open your hearts and cast your all-important votes for Penelope Cruz’s straight-up soul serving in Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers. Many wise and good people (LAFCA, Venice Film Festival jury, other significant critics groups) stand with you.