Francis Ford Coppola disses ‘big razzle-dazzle’ of modern Oscars ceremonies

The first character seen in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” is neither the title character, Don Vito Corleone (played to Oscar-winning perfection by Marlon Brando), his son and eventual successor Michael (Al Pacino, in his breakthrough role), nor, indeed, anyone from the brood at the story’s center. Instead, it is a decidedly secondary character, the undertaker Bonasera (Salvatore Corsitto), who also speaks the first line of dialogue, one of the most definitive opening thesis statements in the history of American cinema: “I believe in America.” This is not where the story of “The Godfather” – first told by Mario Puzo in his novel, then adapted to the screen by Puzo and Coppola – begins.

Al Pacino is opening up about his breakthrough role in "The Godfather" 50 years since its release. Pacino, now 81, rocketed to stardom after his Oscar-nominated performance in the 1972 mafia film, a role he landed after having participated in just one movie prior, 1971's "The Panic in Needle Park." He was, however, a rising star in New York theater at the time and a recipient of a Tony award. Although he will always be known as the legend who played Michael Corleone, Pacino said when director Francis Ford Coppola approached him about taking on for the role, he didn't take it seriously.

wine-ing about the 94th Academy Awards.The trio of funny ladies are hosting the 2022 Oscars on March 27 and the Academy released the first promo for the show on Wednesday.Schumer, Sykes, and Hall jokingly rip on past ceremony hosts over glasses of red wine and cheese boards in the 30-second spot.“We just have to do better than last year’s host,” Sykes, 56, notes. Schumer, 40, then agrees, adding: “That is the thing, totally.

Jon Burlingame editorSome of Hollywood’s most high-profile filmmakers, including director James Cameron, producers Kathleen Kennedy and Lili Fini Zanuck and composer John Williams have joined the growing chorus of voices asking the Academy to reverse course and present all 23 Oscars on the live March 27 telecast.In a letter obtained by Variety and sent today to Academy President David Rubin, more than six dozen film professionals including multiple Academy Award winners, contend that the plan to present eight awards during the pre-telecast hour will “demean” these crafts and “relegate [them] to the status of second-class citizens.”The eight are original score, film editing, production design, makeup and hairstyling, sound, documentary short, live-action short and animated short. The Academy continues to insist that the nominees in those categories will be announced, and the winner’s acceptance speech aired, in edited form and aired as part of the three-hour ABC show.

MGM’s Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy will receive the ICG Publicists’ Motion Picture Showpersons Award at the group’s 59th annual awards luncheon on March 25. The news was announced today by awards chairs Tim Menke and Sheryl Main.

Clayton Davis The Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon was a happy occasion full of hugs between stars, but also a sense of trepidation as the first Academy luncheon since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020. With a live, in-person event held at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, with remarks from Oscars producer Will Packer and Academy president David Rubin, over 200 guests gathered to celebrate the achievements of this year’s nominees for the 94th Oscars, set to take place on March 27.Rubin’s opening remarks acknowledged the war in Ukraine and the Academy’s global support for a peaceful resolution.Some key takeaways from the event1. The Academy wants the show to be fun.Packer emceed the top of the event, praising the year’s crop of nominees.

COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent health and safety protocols.  With invitations having just started to go out this week for the always glamorous March 27 bash, Page Six is reporting that it will again take place at the Wallis Annenberg Center For The Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, only this time the venue will be reimagined as an 'open air space.

2022 Oscar nominee Guillermo del Toro has a bone to pick with the Film Academy, which recently made the decision to pre-tape eight categories for the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Production Design, Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Original Score, Sound, Documentary Short, Animated short and Live-Action Short.

Naman Ramachandran Sony release “Uncharted” continued its reign atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the third weekend in a row collecting £3.08 million ($4.1 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.

It’s almost comical how many older Hollywood types end up saying the most out-of-touch things nowadays. Recently, we had some strong words from Francis Ford Coppola about filmmaking and blockbusters.

J. Kim Murphy The Set Decorators Society of America has penned an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expressing its “extreme disappointment” regarding the decision to not broadcast certain categories — best production design, particularly — live during this year’s Oscars ceremony.The letter, addressed to Academy president David Rubin, CEO Dawn Hudson, the AMPAS board executive committee and the AMPAS awards committee, expresses solidarity with other branches that the “Academy has elected to demote from equal recognition” during its upcoming ceremony.“The diminution of these specific awards, which you declare to be ‘the fat in need of trimming’ from the broadcast in order to make it more entertaining, is punitive not only to the individual artists singled out for this treatment, but to entire industries represented by each one, who take enormous pride in their part in the creation of each nominated and winning film in the Academy competition,” the letter reads.

Wilson Chapman editorThe Alliance for Women Film Composers (AWFC) has released a statement condemning the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ decision to not broadcast the best original score category live during this year’s Oscar ceremony.The Academy first confirmed its decision to present several Oscar categories outside of the live March 27 telecast on Tuesday, via a letter from president David Rubin that was sent to Academy membership. The letter explained that these awards will instead be given out an hour prior to the on-camera ceremony, with clips from the speeches being incorporated into the telecast.

The infamous boss who ran the Gambino crime family in the late 20th century was a profound fan of “The Godfather” and expressed his generosity to the cast, actor John Martino, 84, who portrayed Paulie Gatto in the film, told The Post. “He loved ‘The Godfather,’ ” Martino, known for his death in the “leave the gun, take the cannolis” scene, recalled how he became close to Gotti years after the 1972 release of the award-winning film.“He mentioned to somebody in my family, and they said to me, ‘Johnny, [Gotti] wants to meet you so bad,’ ” Martino, a nephew of early 20th-century mob icon Charles “Lucky” Luciano, said.Happy to oblige, Martino met up with Gotti at a club in Manhattan in the 1980s, he said.“When I saw him for the first time he had just become the boss . .

she had been in her brother Francis Ford Coppola‘s shoes, she wouldn’t have hired herself for the role of Connie Corleone in “The Godfather.”Alluding to the fact that Paramount Pictures execs were mulling whether to fire director Coppola from the production she revealed, “it was really tough for Francis.”Shire, 75, added, “And I think the last thing he needed was his sister at that time … It added one more tension for him … I wouldn’t have had me on the set.”But the actress also noted that she “had to audition” for the role — and she and her big bro, now 82, eventually “enjoyed a collaborative professional relationship on that movie.”Shire, who played the challenging role of the only daughter of Don Corleone — married to ne’er do well Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo) — said that the harrowing scene where a clearly pregnant Connie is throwing dishes while dodging blows from her onscreen husband was difficult to shoot.“It’s a rough thing to see a pregnant woman being knocked around,” she acknowledged before explaining that legendary cinematographer Gordon Willis was “in the center of the action.”“And I had to move from place to place and I was honestly terrified because you didn’t want to do another take. Another take meant everything had to be reset and I just wanted to keep going and sometimes things wouldn’t break.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorJust a couple of hours before Francis Ford Coppola arrived for a 50th anniversary celebration of “The Godfather” on the Paramount lot, the Academy announced that it had nixed the live presentation of Oscars for eight categories at this year’s Academy Awards.The legendary director hadn’t heard the news until he was on the red carpet. “All those [categories] are important,” he told me.

94th Academy Awards “more entertaining and more thrilling,” the telecast will be presenting eight awards before the live show begins.The major change to the 2022 Oscars was described in a letter obtained by The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday, sent to members of the Academy by President David Rubin.The off-air ceremony will start an hour earlier to present the awards for Documentary Short, Film Editing, Make-up and Hairstyling, Original Score, Production Design, Animated Short, Live Action Short and Sound.These will then be edited and shown briefly in the final broadcast. The telecast will take place at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theater on Sunday, March 27.The letter also revealed that the Best Picture category will be presented last, at the three-hour mark.

When the 94th annual Academy Awards are broadcast next month, not all of the awards presented will be aired live.