cult film freak: francis ford coppola

Showing posts with label francis ford coppola. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 3/11/2025 / No comments / allen garfield , cindy williams , francis ford coppola , frederic forrest , gene hackman , harrison ford , john cazale , mark wheeler , michael higgins , neo noir , ramon bieri , robert duvall , seventies , thriller

GENE HACKMAN IN FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA'S 'THE CONVERSATION'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6iVlS7sQbigBayBqiGYRnVaDU7BnfUzK9B4mqcoMmXdBTIXIQ4h9hgvK1MM1AH5Hn8zeBdxxVJi0MDnn4zA3o3riJLJPZDu52EwppJkJbcOSSEIzlqa6d0hkJyweg63C8ObVY7F3b6v-tKnUz5CNfKuzUsvKNVrDXTOBs_vecSNcvoZe7kqD64M5Z74To/s1496/0-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="1496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6iVlS7sQbigBayBqiGYRnVaDU7BnfUzK9B4mqcoMmXdBTIXIQ4h9hgvK1MM1AH5Hn8zeBdxxVJi0MDnn4zA3o3riJLJPZDu52EwppJkJbcOSSEIzlqa6d0hkJyweg63C8ObVY7F3b6v-tKnUz5CNfKuzUsvKNVrDXTOBs_vecSNcvoZe7kqD64M5Z74To/s16000/0-1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gene Hackman in THE CONVERSATION Year: 1974 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the time Gene Hackman's <span class="sc-42125d72-1 igbBrx" data-testid="plot-l" role="presentation">surveillance expert Harry Caul attends a convention of lesser experts who consider him an icon, we've already learned about how surreptitious his methods are: turning this comparably fast-moving second-act of Francis Ford Coppola's otherwise slow-burn THE CONVERSATION into more of a climatic peak than what eventually becomes a paranoid Hitchcockian thriller involving the murder of the powerful man who had initially hired him...</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span class="sc-42125d72-1 igbBrx" data-testid="plot-l" role="presentation">In one of Gene Hackman's greatest performances mainly for what he holds back, having already proven what he can explosively unleash in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/03/hackmanconnection.html">THE FRENCH CONNECTION</a> while THE GODFATHER auteur Coppola provides the same kind of subtlety: intentionally hiding more than revealing... <br></span></p><p><span class="sc-42125d72-1 igbBrx" data-testid="plot-l" role="presentation"><span></span></span></p>

allen garfield, cindy williams, francis ford coppola, frederic forrest, gene hackman, harrison ford, john cazale, mark wheeler, michael higgins, neo noir, ramon bieri, robert duvall, seventies, thriller

GENE HACKMAN IN FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA'S 'THE CONVERSATION'

Gene Hackman in THE CONVERSATION Year: 1974 Rating: ****1/2 By the time Gene Hackman's surveillance expert Harry Caul attends a conventi...

BELATED REVEIW OF FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA'S 'MEGALOPOLIS'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZ8q1Mj5PLZ2Jt-JuoO5u4jqZLviofcQxOYzOC8-RG5sdumUM440AcfZJJOmFmASpPpNpxbD1QuUz0cwx3-T1DnDDhRnR1-TIghhKtBRnNUYLK6t5-OR5Z44v9IUhP6tMqOcKnwwXGrPIGy4Vwm_AYaE5XXv09zVRVFFIH6NQPXaOg4PBqSfIgf3kPiK7/s2102/Screen%20Shot%202026-06-19%20at%2011.42.19%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="2102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZ8q1Mj5PLZ2Jt-JuoO5u4jqZLviofcQxOYzOC8-RG5sdumUM440AcfZJJOmFmASpPpNpxbD1QuUz0cwx3-T1DnDDhRnR1-TIghhKtBRnNUYLK6t5-OR5Z44v9IUhP6tMqOcKnwwXGrPIGy4Vwm_AYaE5XXv09zVRVFFIH6NQPXaOg4PBqSfIgf3kPiK7/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-06-19%20at%2011.42.19%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nathalie Emmanuel and Laurence Fishburne in MEGAOLPOLIS Year: 2024 Rating: *1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With
 theatrical trailer/promotions promising the Francis Ford Coppola who 
made THE GODFATHER and APOCALYPSE NOW, the infamous MEGALOPOLIS is 
actually a reworking of Coppola's SE Hinton adaptation RUMBLE FISH: as a
 giant clock beneath rolling clouds shadow an urban city skyline with a 
massive metronome-like clock ticking; an overall theme about time; and 
Laurence Fishburne as a narrating tagalong/bodyguard to a misunderstood 
dark-haired male lead... </p><p>And the only two characters that 
actually seem to matter are Adam Driver, the utopian creator of a 
gelatin-like substance to build cities, with his rival mayor's beautiful
 daughter Nathalie Emmanuel, who loves him — particularly since a 
superpower to literally stop time only occurs if she's around... </p><p><span></span></p>

2024, adam driver, aubrey plaza, dustin hoffman, francis ford coppola, jon voight, laurence fishburne, neo noir, new, science-fiction, shia labeouf

BELATED REVEIW OF FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA'S 'MEGALOPOLIS'

Nathalie Emmanuel and Laurence Fishburne in MEGAOLPOLIS Year: 2024 Rating: *1/2 With theatrical trailer/promotions promising the Francis Fo...

JAMES CAAN & SHIRLEY KNIGHT IN COPPOLA'S 'THE RAIN PEOPLE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqteCI_vAFl7jCD-pL2OkJn_d4WWRSC3dK02TD4XHZnQVtqx9efoe5NfEC4pWDK5nWvWyLDJDuhNV_DBDEIUShp0rBgE80H3JkUYesJkF57tPxCNWtR8R_4xo8e0HAh7kprJLwe4Oij1gAJt2Ir4w-RJbAWWgwGqHIskikGEV5t7_SVFlqmwuGTf_tkaQx/s1600/25.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqteCI_vAFl7jCD-pL2OkJn_d4WWRSC3dK02TD4XHZnQVtqx9efoe5NfEC4pWDK5nWvWyLDJDuhNV_DBDEIUShp0rBgE80H3JkUYesJkF57tPxCNWtR8R_4xo8e0HAh7kprJLwe4Oij1gAJt2Ir4w-RJbAWWgwGqHIskikGEV5t7_SVFlqmwuGTf_tkaQx/s16000/25.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE RAIN PEOPLE Year: 1969 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While his PATTON Oscar-winning screenplay gave Francis Ford Coppola the power and clout to direct two of the greatest (or perhaps <i>the greatest</i>) motion pictures ever made... both GODFATHER films... it was THE RAIN PEOPLE that proved he could invest worthy meantime depicting flawed human beings in an independent state-hopping road movie starring Shirley Knight as a married, newly-pregnant woman haunted with frantic memories...<br>
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And hitchhiking James Caan as a man-child who, once a star college football player having suffered a severe head injury, passively relies on Knight as a kind of mother figure — protecting him from various small town residents (from a college girlfriend's family to a shady roadside wild animal exploiter) when she can hardly take care of herself.<br>
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drama, francis ford coppola, independent, james caan, road movie, robert duvall, shirley knight, sixties

JAMES CAAN & SHIRLEY KNIGHT IN COPPOLA'S 'THE RAIN PEOPLE'

Title: THE RAIN PEOPLE Year: 1969 Rating: **** While his PATTON Oscar-winning screenplay gave Francis Ford Coppola the power and clout to d...

MEMORIAL FOR 'APOCALYPSE NOW' LEGEND FREDERIC FORREST

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3UeBvtDfWDNUtL7i0YWsYVPe5l17pz2A-Xa2o7CO0mr249sUIzb1ZXau6CDydm8HUC-KmEnyjeGimJnNEBMLOtfmGQpWqNQBC9q9-A9s3xoKwbGHE7hoOsGlwRFZLsrOx4esoMB_-sPiEpk_0S7To5YTp7JJWLp02CZEfrK5uoo209dH9M3qc_SPxyOf/s2380/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-24%20at%202.47.36%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="2380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3UeBvtDfWDNUtL7i0YWsYVPe5l17pz2A-Xa2o7CO0mr249sUIzb1ZXau6CDydm8HUC-KmEnyjeGimJnNEBMLOtfmGQpWqNQBC9q9-A9s3xoKwbGHE7hoOsGlwRFZLsrOx4esoMB_-sPiEpk_0S7To5YTp7JJWLp02CZEfrK5uoo209dH9M3qc_SPxyOf/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-24%20at%202.47.36%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Memorial for Frederic Forrest as Chef in Apocalypse Now</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam epic APOCALYPSE NOW, by the time Martin Sheen's Captain Willard reveals to one of two surviving PBR-boat crewman about his secret mission to kill Marlon Brando's rogue American Colonel Kurtz, Coppola's THE CONVERSATION actor Frederic Forrest loudly rails against the insane irony of risking <i>and losing</i> lives to "kill one of our own guys"...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And yet this imperative dialogue is heard either off-screen or in a peripheral wide-shot as, from beginning to end, Forrest's Jay "Chef" Hicks provides a foreboding backbone to each intense scene like, earlier on, when he and Sheen are chased by a jungle tiger, leading to Chef's explosive breakdown that soon fades out with the scene...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

2023, dennis hopper, francis ford coppola, frederic forrest, martin sheen, memorial, sam bottoms, seventies, vietnam, war

MEMORIAL FOR 'APOCALYPSE NOW' LEGEND FREDERIC FORREST

Memorial for Frederic Forrest as Chef in Apocalypse Now In Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam epic APOCALYPSE NOW, by the time Martin S...

ESSAY ON FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA'S ARTSY-TOUGH 'RUMBLE FISH'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Matt Dillon and Mickey Rourke doing time in RUMBLE FISH</u></td></tr>
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Beyond the dynamic B&W cinematography by director Francis Ford Coppola, RUMBLE FISH is a different kind of art film as it's both that and a teenage angst flick: The difference is that both main characters... younger brother Rusty James played by Matt Dillon and Mickey Rourke's legendary The Motorcycle Boy... want nothing to do with one or the other... <br>
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In other words, the rumble-tough movie is fully embodied by Matt Dillon's character, who walks the walk and talks the tough guy talk while his now passive mentor, who once genuinely ruled those same streets, is dead-set against all the nostalgic street savvy shit while embodying the deep arthouse aspect which, during some of the best scenes, Dillon's character not only loathes but annoyingly doesn't understand (especially drunk dad Dennis Hopper's surreal drunken rambling), much like young audiences who initially rejected what Coppola intended as an "art film for teenagers" (a cerebral b-side to THE OUTSIDERS, both S.E. Hinton adaptations) but eventually grew to, like Rourke's wandering, pondering nomad, embrace as a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience where brothers and genres simultaneously collide onscreen. "Man, what the f--- do the Greeks have to do with anything?" The answer is... Nothing. And Everything.</p><span></span>

arthouse, dennis hopper, eighties, essay, francis ford coppola, matt dillon, mickey rourke

ESSAY ON FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA'S ARTSY-TOUGH 'RUMBLE FISH'

Matt Dillon and Mickey Rourke doing time in RUMBLE FISH Beyond the dynamic B&W cinematography by director Francis Ford Coppola, RUMB...

PROANTAGONIST: THE ECLECTIC NEO NOIR OF MATT DILLON

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Matt Dillon in the Noir remake A KISS BEFORE DYING</u></td></tr>
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<u>THE RUMBLING OUTSIDER</u>: Matt Dillon as the kind of face that seems perfectly suited for Black & White, even in color...
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rumble Fish Blues</u></td></tr>
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For example, when he looks into the hospital mirror during the riskiest of many risky heists in DRUGSTORE COWBOY, his slick black hair contrasts dramatically to pale white skin and then, with the turn of his head, the blood red along his forehead accents the fevered heat of the moment... The sudden contrast is reminiscent of the actual Chinese fighter fish i.e. RUMBLE FISH, the only colored objects (red) in an otherwise completely B&W film, steals the picture in Coppola's first of the two S.E. Hinton collaborations beginning with THE OUTSIDERS as the James Dean/Marlon Brando hybrid: A rogue rebel completely idolized by the two young central characters played by C. Thomas Howell and Ralph Macchio... But to everyone beyond the gang, being a outright criminal as well as a charmer, if anyone of the cast of future teen heartthrobs (including Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze) makes this otherwise teen gang melodrama, it's his character, Dallas Winston, who, unlike his ambitious RUMBLE FISH little brother character, Rusty James, doesn't want to be a leader <i>or</i> a follower...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>RITCHIE: "A kid who tells on another kid, is a dead kid."</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lighting up The Outsiders</u></td></tr>
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And, behind the scenes according to the Coppola commentary track of THE OUTSIDERS; while it took days, even weeks, for some of the other actors to be cast, Dillon walked in and got the job right away (both RUMBLE FISH and OUTSIDERS will be reviewed on their own territory with an upcoming "Coppola Does Hinton, Twice"). The former OVER THE EDGE "post child actor" was fourteen in his first role in 1979 where his bike riding, chain smoking Ritchie White is the Dallas Winston of the suburban outskirts, again leading the underdogs (whether he's present or not) to victory. But it was MY BODYGUARD the following year that proved Dillon could really act, and it took the second Coppola/Hinton flick to underline that fact...<br>

andrew mccarthy, bruce dern, charles bukowski, diane lane, eighties, francis ford coppola, harry northup, matt dillon, neo noir, nineties, remake, retrospective, seventies, suspense, tens, thriller, zeroes

PROANTAGONIST: THE ECLECTIC NEO NOIR OF MATT DILLON

Matt Dillon in the Noir remake A KISS BEFORE DYING THE RUMBLING OUTSIDER : Matt Dillon as the kind of face that seems perfectly suited...

THE MOTION PICTURE OF JACK KEROUAC'S ON THE ROAD

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 rating: **</td></tr>
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To all newcomers of Beat Literature, beware when reading Jack Kerouac’s groundbreaking 1957 novel ON THE ROAD...<br />
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You won’t find any actual plot and the only purpose is a chaotically wonderful cross-country adventure had by Jack Kerouac aka Sal Paradise and his instigating, womanizing muse Neal Cassady aka Dean Moriarty…<br />
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Meanwhile, Jack (most likely) wrote the book to not only glorify his best friend but to also describe the landscape of America. Much of the literary content are cerebral observations, not an easy transformation onto the big screen. <br />
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And so, when watching this much-anticipated film, don’t except two otherwise capable actors… Sam Riley as Paradise and Garrett Hedlund as Moriarty… to stretch beyond an edgy countenance and do anything but talk, drive and, with a little help from their friends, take part in random sexcapades. <br />
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These freespirited fellas, along with Kristen Stewart’s highway moll, Marylou, one of Dean’s two disenchanted love interests, wield a desperate edge that should be followed by bank robberies… That is, if ON THE ROAD were a pulpy thriller, this rowdy trio would work just fine… But they, along with several miscast beatniks –  who seem more 1990’s than 1940’s –  are part of another journey altogether, having little to do with the "generation defining" source material.   <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Real Neal & Jack</td></tr>
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However, the film does follow the book in a skeletal frame, including stopovers in New York, New Jersey and Denver; Sal’s brief romance with a working girl; a visit at Old Bull Lee aka William Burrough's New Orleans pad; and a climactic illness in Mexico. What’s left out could have made the author more optimistic, like Kerouac himself, who, despite being a pivotal founder of the Beat movement, didn’t write dreary, somber prose to be whined about in darkened, bongo-thumping coffeehouses: But it's obvious director Walter Salles wanted to turn an upper pill into a downer. <br />
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A personal favorite novel selection has Sal and his fair-weather friend, Remi, working as night watchmen for a merchant sailor boarding camp, and then stealing a boat for kicks… The chapter is offbeat and humorous, setting our grungy heroes apart from the status quo during that "uptight" post-war era, something the cinematic ON THE ROAD fails to do since <i>just about everyone </i>acts as proudly progressed, wildly perverted, wickedly pontificating and downright smug as these central characters...<br />
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Begging the questions: If everybody's crazy, why bother centering on these particular "mad ones" – and what makes them so special, anyhow?

2012, amy adams, based on literature, francis ford coppola, garrett hedlund, jack kerouac, kristen stewart, road movie, sam riley, viggo mortensen

THE MOTION PICTURE OF JACK KEROUAC'S ON THE ROAD

year: 2013 rating: ** To all newcomers of Beat Literature, beware when reading Jack Kerouac’s groundbreaking 1957 novel ON THE ROAD... ...

Written by James M. Tate / 2/23/2013 / No comments / action , adaptation , deserted island , francis ford coppola , hoyt axton , mickey rooney , seventies , teri garr

THE BLACK STALLION

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1979 cast: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Hoyt Axton, Teri Garr rating: ****1/2</td></tr>
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This could have been a silent film, relying on gorgeous visuals of an Arabian horse and his boy who meet on a ship and, after a horrifying wreck, are stranded on a desert island where the titular Stallion saves young Alec Ramsey's life, though still not trusting him till they eventually connect: the camera remaining underwater on both feet and hooves... then <i>only </i>hooves return to the beach. The bonding between horse and boy takes its time, and is not an easy process for either.<br />
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The visual treasure sustains in America where, after both are rescued, Kelly Reno's Alec meets Mickey Rooney as an ex jockey who, reluctant at first, trains boy and horse to win a big, and seemingly impossible, race.<br />
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Produced by Francis Ford Coppola, this magical adaptation, exceeding Walter Farely's creative but basic novel, flows in the iconic GODFATHER maverick's unique, masterful style.

action, adaptation, deserted island, francis ford coppola, hoyt axton, mickey rooney, seventies, teri garr

THE BLACK STALLION

year: 1979 cast: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Hoyt Axton, Teri Garr rating: ****1/2 This could have been a silent film, relying on gorgeou...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/02/2012 / No comments / diane lane , eighties , francis ford coppola , gangster , james remar , nicolas cage , richard gere , robert evans , suspense

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA DIRECTS THE COTTON CLUB

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1984 cast: Richard Gere, Diane Lane, James Remar, Gregory Hines rating: *1/2</td></tr>
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If there’s one person dumber than the usually unattractive tough powerful guy who insists his beautiful girlfriend hang out with a younger, more charming guy... in this case Richard Gere’s Lucky, a talented musician... it’s that good looking guy who goes along with it and eventually, like in every film with this premise, falls deeply and hopelessly in love.<br />
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Well that’s the bottom line in this lavish depression-era timepiece directed by Francis Ford Coppola, produced by THE GODFATHER honcho Robert Evans and co-written by Mario Puzo. The scenes involving the gangsters, including a bloody fight establishing the Edward G. Robinson-looking James Remar’s Dutch Shultz as a man <i>not</i> to be reckoned with, lacks the vibe of being part of the action, or inside the situation, like the stuff Coppola used to provide us.<br />
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And with so many performers, like Gregory Hines and his brother tap dancing at the titular COTTON CLUB (a meeting place for high-rolling gangsters) and Richard Gere’s actual Cornet playing, you’d think Coppola would have made a documentary centering on gin-soaked jazz instead of mobsters. Because through the pallid romance between Gere and mob moll Diane Lane as Remar’s jealousy mounts, and Gregory Hine’s annoyingly stubborn courtship with a gorgeous singer, only the music stands out.<br />
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But even that gets tiresome without a worthy plot or interesting characters. So, like many of Coppola's movies post-APOCALYPSE NOW, this is all dressed up with nowhere to go. Yet despite the flaws, Diane Lane plays the part with gusto... and she was 18 years old!

diane lane, eighties, francis ford coppola, gangster, james remar, nicolas cage, richard gere, robert evans, suspense