Tag: Al Pacino

An American, a Mexican and an Irishman…

I’ve started watching films again.

Robert DeNiro as The Irishman
Clint Eastwood as The Man with no name

The Irishman

Firstly, I started with Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.

Loved it.

The main cast have been great in everything I’ve seen them in. And this film was no different.

A masterclass.

For me it had those Jackie Brown vibes, in that a lot of it felt like I was just chilling out with these characters for most of it. Characters I quickly became fond of, despite their dubious business dealings.

And until I saw the conversation between Martin Scorsese and Pacino, De Niro and Pesci afterwards, I had no idea it was all based on a true story.

It took me three sittings to watch it as it was done between sleeps (raising a 2 month old)

Despite it being such a long film, I actually wished it was longer.

A Fistfull of Dollars

The first spaghetti western, and the film that launched Clint Eastwood’s film career.

A Fistfull of Dollars is cool as hell.

The man with no name wanders into a western town where two families are at war with each other.

So he decides to cleverly pit them against one another for his own gains.

I had seen this many years ago, but for some reason westerns didn’t do much for me. That was until I experienced the Red Dead Redemption games, especially the story of Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2

Since then I have been eager to explore more of the genre.

To be honest I think I’m trying to re-experience what I got with Red Dead Redemption 2, but with other stories.

But Arthur Morgan is always there at the back of my mind.

Sobs.

I loved this film.

Trivia: this features the scene featured in Back to the Future part 2, and the emulation that Marty performs in Back to the Future part 3.

At the time of writing I am 30 minutes into “For a Few Dollars More”.

Only taking breaks as I only get chance to see them at night when I have baby duties and of course at that point I’m knackered.

But I’ll get there eventually.

And at least my little girl is getting a good film education early.

Heat

Finally watched this film for the first time and I absolutely loved it to bits.

As I sat there sweating through the UK heatwave — my apartment being three or four degrees higher — I became lost in this world of LA.

It goes without saying that Al Pacino and Robert Deniro are at the top of their games in this film, but i’m gonna say it anyway…

…they are both so fucking great. As are all the other performances throughout.

It’s one of those films that has been on my radar for so long but just never got round to watching it. Everyone I’d heard mention it had always said it was awesome — they were all right.

Deniro’s character brought a certain intensity throughout for me — his straight line, get the job done attitude is infectious.

And Pacino does what he does best. His seemingly-random outbursts of animation were such a joy to see. I found myself laughing — but out of shear enjoyment of his performance. He has a way about him that just captures my attention with ease.

Mark and Jezz in Peep Show pretend to watch Heat whilst at a theatre show

Deniro’s and Pacino’s characters are two sides to the same coin. Both representing the opposing forces of law and criminal. I found myself rooting for both of them right till the end. Neither is completely “good” and neither is at all “evil”.

Besides hearing Heat mentioned in one of my favourite TV shows, Peep show (see image above), what actually tipped me into actually sitting for the 2 hour 50 minute runtime was a clip of Tom Hiddleston on the Graham Norton show.

The clip featured Tom appearing with 3 other actors, all there for different reasons, but was sharing the guest sofa with no other than Robert Deniro. Tom was talking with admiration about Deniro in Heat — and in one scene in particular.

The scene was the infamous coffee shop scene in which Deniro and Pacino enjoy their first ever on-screen appearance.

When I finally got to the scene myself I saw where that admiration was coming from.

One of the most conflicting moments for me came right near the end.

There is a chance for Deniro to get away and begin a fresh life, and I was really praying he would. However, I equally wanted him to finish off one piece of unfinished business — with a particularly nasty character.

There’s a moment where he’s driving and you can feel the conflict within him. Deciding desperately which path he should take. And I think he already knows the outcome of both paths before he chooses.

I wont spoil that moment for you here, but I do urge you strongly to watch this. It’s an incredible film.