I watched the “The Godfather” (1973) a couple of nights ago. It’s a film I’d amazingly managed to side step in the past given that I like mob films such as Goodfellas, Casino, etc. and of course the HBO TV series Sopranos. Anyways, I thought it was shit and nearly turned it off half way through.
I regularly annoy my film buff mate Alan by telling him that all films made before 1975 are crap and the golden age of movies was the 1980’s. Surprisingly, I don’t just say this to irk him but genuinely believe it.
As a general rule of thumb, the older the film the more I hate it. It turns my stomach when I look at BBC2’s weekday, early afternoon schedule full of duff 1940 and 50s black and white films. They’re always full of characters with plumby English accents over acting their way through cheesy, overly contrived scripts, with crap cinematography and a grating God awful orchestral soundtrack. The only anomaly to the rule I can think of is “Ice Cold in Alex” (1958), and I think I just like this because a glass of beer stole the show as the best actor.
And yes, I unerstand the argument that back in the olden days they were restricted by technology and we should all be impressed with the films that they made. Meh! Why waste your time watching practice runs?
Too Many Ribs To Kiss Kojak 
March 8, 2007 at 5:58 pm |
Duncan, meh!
March 8, 2007 at 6:19 pm |
You know I’m right Campbell.
March 8, 2007 at 10:46 pm |
Oh dear, final dregs of respect have gone Dunc. You like Casino but think the Godfather is shit? Oh dear oh dear.
Besides, 22 of the top 50 films on IMDB were made before 1975. And those voters know everything.
March 8, 2007 at 10:52 pm |
Owen – I bet most of your top 20 films were made after 1975.
March 9, 2007 at 9:14 am |
i love a man who isnt afraid to generalise.
March 9, 2007 at 2:51 pm |
Boz: “i love a man. Who isnt afraid to genitalise?”
March 9, 2007 at 2:52 pm |
i watched the godfather trilogy just before murve came over here and i have to say it was disappointing – i suppose because all the other films that followed and shows like the sopronos have been so influenced by them that they seem a bit too familiar. oh, and godfather three is just shit.
September 19, 2007 at 1:46 am |
Apparently I can get on your blog now, as Ferris Bueller would say “Go figure”.
Anyway I’m going to have to sit down to type this, because I’m in total and utter agreement with you. There’s only Citizen Kane and Charlie & Chocolate Factory that are any good from them days.
It’s probably like Hag says though, all of the best bits have been improved by what came after t’Godfather. If you watch “The Sting” now, the twist at the end is dead obvious, but back then when people were stupid, the whole cinema probably exploded with shock.