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"If anything in this life is certain - if history has taught us anything - it's that you can kill anybody." --Michael Corleone in The Godfather: Part II

"The stunning text of The Godfather is replaced [here} with prologues, epilogues, footnotes, and good intentions." --Roger Ebert

One of the joys for me of writing this column is that it allows me to spill out trivia in a context where it might be seen as more than just trivial. As someone who often bemoans the fact that my brain is less of a sieve and more of a flytrap or roach motel for movie facts and figures, it's very helpful to have an outlet and a weekly deadline. In all honesty, it's conducive to my mental well being as well. In sifting through facts for this week's installment of Chapter Two, I confirmed a very interesting set of circumstances that, though they are far less shadowy than those bizarre parallels that are to be found uniting the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations, are nonetheless intriguing in their unities.

To wit: Francis Ford Coppola and Bob Fosse each made a fairly small number of films in the 1970s. Coppola directed four. These were The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather: Part II, and Apocalypse Now. They were released in 1972, 1974, 1974, and 1979, respectively. Fosse directed three. These were Cabaret, Lenny and All That Jazz, released in 1972, 1974, and 1979, respectively. All seven of these films were nominated for Best Picture. Six of these films resulted in Best Director nominations for Coppola or Fosse (Coppola was not nominated for The Conversation.) Fosse won an Oscar for Cabaret, Coppola for The Godfather: Part II, and both men lost out to Robert Benton, who won for Kramer vs. Kramer.

Again, this ties in only tangentially with this week's themes but there is a certain balance to it all. I would use the word coincidence except I am not a big fan of the word or the concept. If you pull back your sense of perspective far enough and see as much of the big picture as you can, what at first seems like chance or randomness simply reveals how everything is connected. And what I really mean to suggest with all this is that...Roy Scheider was robbed (robbed!) of a deserved win for Best Actor for All That Jazz. Having celebrated my birthday back in January by watching that (and The Sound of Music) for the first time, I was dazzled with how vibrant and electric and pulsating Scheider's performance was. I was also shocked to discover that I knew every song save one from The Sound of Music thanks to media exposure, highlight reels, and Gwen Stefani pop songs.

Back on track: The Godfather: Part II has 57 positive reviews and one negative review out on Rotten Tomatoes. On IMDb, it currently holds the #3 position in the top 250, behind The Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather. Nearly 85% of the voters rank it an 8 or better. The only demographic with a median score of less than an 8.3 is Females 18 years or under. Ebert's three-star review from which the second quote at the top is taken is as close as you might wish to find to dissent on the issue and even that was somewhat negated with his inclusion of the film on his Great Movies list last year. What do I have to add? Adolescent girls take heart; we are in alignment on at least one issue.

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