Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton – Week of December 7, 2020

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of December 7, 2020

The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone
Rated R for violence and language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93% at time of writing
Available on Disc and Streaming

When the Godfather Parts I and II came out in 1972 and 1974, respectively, they each slew at the Oscars and to this day are considered two of the finest movies ever made. But upon its release in 1990, Part III was met with a golf clap and a lot of people wishing for a vastly different film. At close to three hours in length, it seemed like it had decent bones, but it sorely needed a big edit as the pacing wasn’t great, with some scenes famously dragging on for what seemed like forever. Thirty years later, director Francis Ford Coppola and Paramount are re-releasing the film with a brand new edit and the original title that Coppola and writer Mario Puzo intended in the first place. Many of the scenes are there, but rearranged, with a different feel that, while at roughly the same length, is fresh and more appropriate for the franchise. Where the original feels rough, this one feels right. Could it have beat Dances with Wolves to give the franchise the Oscar trifecta? Probably not. But at least now there is a more fitting end to this legendary saga. A

Popeye
Rated PG
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 60%
Available on Disc and Streaming

Forty years ago, Robin Williams, fresh off his mega success on his new series Mork and Mindy, made his theatrical debut as the infamous Popeye the Sailor in Robert Altman’s strange little musical about an odd seaman who happens upon a weird little town only to steal the eccentric Olive Oyl (Shelley Duvall) from her fiancé and town bully, Bluto. I remember seeing this when I was 8 and I instantly fell in love with not only Williams, but the style of the movie and its eclectic but fitting musical numbers. Because it was built to look out of place and time, the movie still holds up quite well. And in his squinty little eyes, you can see the legend to come as Williams looks ready to take on the world as a budding young comic in his late twenties. Having not seen in it in decades, I was worried that I had outgrown it, but happy to know that I could still really enjoy both its unique vision and the trip down memory lane that it gave me. A-