I had a cocktail with a friend this week and at one point asked his plans for that evening. He said he was going home to watch "The Godfather", a movie he'd never seen.
Given the reputation of the film and iconic position it holds in the culture, not to mention how often it has come around on television for the last few years, this caught me completely by surprise. And it got me wondering how many others I know just haven't had the time or inclination to catch one of the great movies of all time.
The thought made me long for the days of those old movie houses that used to get taken over by cinephiles for the sole purpose of giving modern audiences the unique experience of seeing films from the past on the big screen they were designed for.
No matter how often you can now see a film on a television, laptop or even your phone, you only really get the entire picture when it envelopes your complete audio and visual attention.
Other art forms like opera, dance, live theatre and music hang onto their power by continuing to be available in buildings originally built for their performances alone. Movies deserve no less.
Film lovers in New York were given such an opportunity last night courtesy the Tribeca Film Festival which is headed by "Godfather" alumni Robert De Niro.
Following a screening of Parts I & II at Radio City Music Hall, De Niro was joined onstage by virtually all the surviving members of the cast for a riveting discussion of just how close the film and many of the careers it launched came to never getting made.
I'm sure those are stories my friend and far too many Gen Xers, Millenials and beyond have never encountered. And they offer a clear window into how Hollywood really works. You can find some of that here, but hearing it directly from the people involved makes the tale all that more astonishing.
The Tribeca evening streamed online and is well worth 90 minutes of your time.
Great movies are made from great stories, both onscreen and off.
Enjoy Your Sunday...
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