Having just seen “An Affair to Remember” I am, once again, tempted to alter my list! Today I get to discuss two of my favorite Al Pacino movies. Pacino is another one of those actors (like the aforementioned Jimmy Stewart and Humphrey Bogart) who can’t help but keep a lot of himself in all of his characters. Whether playing the cop, the youngest son of the Godfather, a news researcher (The Insider), or any number of other roles … he is always Pacino.

9. HEAT – The first time I saw this film was in 1995 in Delaware when I traveled to visit a friend of mine. Without knowing too much about the movie, my friends and I went to see the film. At this point in my life I was not a huge movie fan and I only had a surface knowledge of many of the actors/actresses in this film. I feel that this gave me a more objective view of the film rather than basing its merits (or lack thereof) on the list of actors. This movie has, in my opinion, the greatest cast assembled in (at least) the past twenty years. Al Pacino, Robert Deniro, Jon Voight, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Amy Brenneman, Natalie Portman, Hank Azaria, Jeremy Piven, Henry Rollins, Tone Loc (don’t laugh … he was really, really good!) and many, many more. Deniro, Sizemore and co. play expert thieves, and Pacino is the detective in charge of trying to nail them. Rumor has it that the few scenes that Pacino and Deniro shared had to be done without much (if any rehearsing). Also, the diner scene (supposedly) was filmed without the two in the same room. Maybe it’s rumor … maybe it’s an ego thing … but either way it’s interesting. Throughout this drama we peak into each character’s personal life. Al Pacino’s relationship woes (caused in part by his obsessiveness with his job); Deniro’s loneliness and isolation; Val Kilmer and Ashley Judd’s relationship destructiveness; Natalie Portman’s emotional problems, etc.

This was also my first introduction to the movies of Michael Mann. Mann seems to always infuse a great story with an ambient surrounding and atmosphere. The soundtrack has wonderful music by Passengers (U2 spin-off group) and the Kronos Quartet (amongst others). If you’re interested in other Mann films you should check out:

The Insider (Pacino/Crowe … awesome)

Manhunter (The original version of “Red Dragon”)

Ali (not my cup of tea … but still interesting)

10. THE GODFATHER – So many legends and wonderful stories surround this film. I almost feel that I don’t have to describe anything because almost every adult I’ve ever met has seen this film … but in case you haven’t, here we go. The story of the Corleone family stars Marlon Brando as the Godfather, James Caan, John Cazale, and Al Pacino as his sons, and a whole cast of amazing actors to fill out the story. This movie probably perpetuated almost every stereotype the world has about the Mafia. From Brando’s voice (he stuffed cotton balls in his cheeks to get that look and sound), to all the killings, the family woes … it all started here. This movie made Pacino a star and created so many memorable scenes:

The horse-head in the bed (which is rumored to have been based on a story about how Sinatra landed his role in “From Here to Eternity”)

“Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes”

The scene with Pacino and the gun in the bathroom

Brando with his favors on his daughter’s wedding day

James Caan at the tollbooth

… and many, many, many, many, many, many (get the picture), many, many more!

I tried not to list everything here because I don’t want to spoil the surprises as they happen.

In Robert Evans’ autobiography (The Kid Stays in the Picture) he talks about the evolution of the Godfather. A discussion occurred where somebody brought up the idea to do a film about a Mafia family. Evans and his crew weren’t sure because there had never been a Mafia film that really connected with audiences or told a good story. The actors had always been off in some way. Evans thought about and finally came up with (his reasoning) why this was the case. Evans figured that all of the previous Mafia movies didn’t have actual Italians at the helm of the project (what he actually said was that all of the Mafia movies had a lot of Jewish guys trying to play the Mafia). Whether this was the reason for the lack of previous success (in this genre) or the stars simply lined up for “The Godfather” it is truly a miraculous film. See it soon!

Next week I’ll discuss the sequel and “From Here To Eternity”! See you later!!!!!

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