Movie Reviews from Elder Stateman John:

The Godfather III. (A) Very good film. Excellent cinematography. Al Pacino is incredibly good as the aging, beleagured gangster philanthropist. Andy Garcia is also excellent as the up-and-coming big timer. The entire cast is excellent in fact, save and except for Sophia Coppola as the daughter of Michael and Kate Corleone. Her screen time is not as large as I had remembered so it's not too distracting. That said, it's the one character in the movie that isn't believable. As Andy Garcia's quasi-love interest, it is unclear why he's so attracted to her--i.e. no real charisma/personality. It detracts from what is otherwise an excellent film. It was nominated for an Academy Award--had they cast Winona Ryder instead of Sophia (as originally planned) it could have possibly won the award. Still very much worth the watch.

The Pianist. (A) Another extremely compelling film, this one about a piano player and his family's attempts to endure and survive the Nazi invasion of Poland. Evidently based on a true story--an autobiography written by the pianist. Well-acted and never dull in spite of a couple of long periods of relatively no interaction among characters. There was less music in the movie than I anticipated. While it is relatively easy to generate emotion when contrasting the cruelties imposed by the Germans in WW II with the perserverance and hope demonstrated by those subjugated to that cruelty, I thought that the director used excellent restraint when depicting that contrast. It is worthy of an Academy Award nomination. Adrien Brody is excellent and Roman Polanski's directing is also Oscar nominee worthy.