Would It Kill You to Watch "The Godfather" with me for the 37th Time?*

First, let me say I know one gets absolutely no cool points for expressing admiration for "The Godfather". Everybody likes it. Hell, you can't even work at ESPN if you can't quote it verbatim (judging by their magazine at least).

"Yeah Sam, it's great and "Citizen Kane" revolutionized filmmaking. Any other startlingly original opinions there Pauline Kael?"

Saying I have Brando as Vito as my wallpaper on the home computer gets you nowhere (the screensaver quote is from "Deadwood" by the way) but, after watching a chunk of "The Godfather Saga" (where I & II are edited together in strict chronological order) I must go on record as saying it's not as good. Yeah, there's some extra footage that's fun for the completist- like when Michael is vowing revenge after Appolonia is killed-but it doesn't make up for the damge done to II in this cut.

The reason some people, not me, but some people say that II is the rare case of a sequel being better than the original is due to the intercutting of time periods and story. The comparison of Michael's first years as don with Vito's first years in this country amplifies both stories. Cutting them in any other way robs the film of much of its power. That doesn't mean I won't watch it if it's on-nothing has higher repeatability than "The Godfather" except perhaps "Jaws", but for me it's just an interesting experiment with a masterwork.


*an old Dennis Miller line