Birth Date: April 7, 1939
Birth Place: Detroit, Michigan
Features: 22
Features I've Seen: 12 (55%)
Along with Martin Scorsese and Brian DePalma, Francis Ford Coppola helped to garner a new way of making movies in the late 1960's and early 1970's. They were gritty, hard-hitting, violent, filled with more swearing than you'd hear on a Navy boat, and made the way they wanted to make them. Coppola got his first break when he worked with Roger Corman in the early 1960's. While working as an assistant to Corman in Ireland during the filming of The Young Racers (1963), Corman told Coppola to go off for a few days to make an ultra low budget horror film. He did just that, named it Dementia 13 which was released in 1963, and a career as a director had begun. He made You're A Big Boy Now in 1966 for his UCLA thesis project, which was picked up by Warner Bros. and distributed into theatres. Next was a musical (!!!?) called Finian's Rainbow with Petula Clark and Fred Astaire. It did not do well. He wrote and directed his next film, The Rain People, which was produced through his new studio American Zoetrope. He created this studio so he could make movies without the interference of the major Hollywood studios. Turned out to be a great idea! After receiving an Oscar for his screenplay for 1970's Patton, Coppola was free to do pretty much whatever he wanted. He chose to co-write, produce and direct what some call the greatest movie of all-time, 1972's The Godather. Coppola re-invented the gangster drama, something Hollywood had been pumping out since the 1930's, and received just about every award and accolade around at the time. Two sequels followed, one great, one not so much, but Coppola had become a legend and continued to write, produce and direct movies that interested him. All in all, the movies he has made have garnered 80 Academy Award nominations, winning 23 of them, and 56 Golden Globe nominations, winning 17. His personal award tallies are as follows; 14 Oscar noms (won 5), 17 Golden Globe noms (won 6), and two of three Palme d'Or Awards as best film at the Cannes Film Festival. What follows is a list of Francis Ford Coppola's movies I've seen, listed in three different categories, chronologically. (imdb.com score in brackets):
MUST SEE
The Godfather - 1972 (9.2): Love every second! I have seen this film dozens of times. Can't be missed!
The Conversation - 1974 (7.8): Easily Gene Hackman's best performance. Fabulous sound editing.
The Godfather, Part II - 1974 (9.0): Just as good, sometimes better, than the first.
Apocalypse Now - 1979 (8.4): A little long, but extremely interesting throughout. Incredible how great it turned out after being plagued with so many problems.
Peggy Sue Got Married - 1986 (6.4): Dated now, but a brilliant performance by Kathleen Turner is a must see.
NICE TO SEE
The Outsiders - 1983 (7.1): Kind of melodramatic, but the young stars are certainly worth a look.
Gardens Of Stone - 1987 (6.4): Fairly predictable war story, but really well acted.
Bram Stoker's Dracula - 1992 (7.4): Actually laughable at times, but Gary Oldman needs to be seen.
The Rainmaker - 1997 (7.2): A good "lawyer" film with a good performance from Matt Damon.
NO NEED TO SEE
Rumble Fish - 1983 (7.2): Not sure if I ever made it through this film without falling asleep. Mickey Rourke is better than Ambient!
The Cotton Club - 1984 (6.6): Some great dance sequences...but thats it. Richard Gere is awful!
The Godfather, Part III - 1990 (7.6): Not as bad as some will have you believe, but can't hold a candle to the first two. And Sofia Coppola!!!!! Yikes!
HAVE NOT SEEN...YET
Dementia 13 - 1963 (5.7): No idea where to find this.
You're A Big Boy Now - 1966 (6.1): Looks like a sex-romp with Rip Torn.
Finian's Rainbow - 1968 (6.2): I feel no need to watch this musical.
The Rain People - 1969 (6.9): Early James Caan and Robert Duvall who'd appear in his next film, too.
One From The Heart - 1981 (6.5): More musical drama??? No thanks.
Tucker: The Man And His Dream - 1988 (6.9): No idea why I haven't seen this. Looks good.
Jack - 1996 (5.8): Robin Williams as a old-looking boy. Got horrible reviews.
Youth Without Youth - 2007 (6.2): WWII mystery with Tim Roth.
Tetro - 2009 (6.8): A drama with Vincent Gallo, who I like. Should watch this one soon.
Twixt - 2011 (4.8): A Horror/Comedy with Val Kilmer and Bruce Dern. Bad reviews.
Well, thats Francis. Next will be....um....not sure yet. Maybe Christopher Nolan?? I guess we'll see soon.
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