Irrelevant But Awesome

Alexa:  “Heat” is a good movie that could have been a great movie with some tighter editing. The things the film does well, it does really well. Michael Mann’s artful direction instills the movie with an almost noirish mood, and he creates an impeccable sense of place with his careful crafting of the LA crime scene. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro give outstanding performances in their own right, but there is something magical about watching these two greats act opposite each other. During the scene when Hanna and McCauley confront each other in the coffee shop, I couldn’t look away. These are two men who are more alike than not but they’re consumed by divergent paths, and Pacino and De Niro truly mold them into complex characters. The action sequences are expertly choreographed and shot, with the climactic bank heist an exceptionally visceral experience. But between all of these compelling moments are long slogs of relationship building and character development that drag the fi...

Alexa:  Though I think “The Godfather” is the superior film, “The Godfather Part II” is still a pretty stellar continuation of the Corleone family saga. The acting is once again superb. This may be Al Pacino’s best performance in his entire career, and Robert De Niro expertly captures the Vito Corleone that Marlon Brando crafted and builds upon him even further. Francis Ford Coppola is a master of character development, scene setting and mood building. His depiction of 1920s New York and revolution-era Cuba are particularly captivating. He masterfully executes slow-burning tension, perhaps even more effectively here than in the first film. But I think combining a prequel and sequel into one movie is what keeps “The Godfather Part II” from being perfect. There are two outstanding movies contained in this one film, and I don’t think the back-and-forth narrative structure serves either story in the best way. It’s not that it doesn’t serve a purpose at all. Intertwining the contem...