Movie #2: The Godfather

Summary from IMDb: The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.

Before- Oh, I knew some of the references. "Make him an offer he can't refuse." Some things are so well seeped into our culture that you just can't NOT know where they come from and some of the back story on it. I remember thinking that I probably wouldn't think the movie was as awesome as it's been built up to be, but that it would be nice to be able to make the connections and have a more complete understanding of what they mean.

After- Wow. That is an amazing movie. I would watch it again. Repeatedly. I was totally wrong, and I apologize to the masses. The ending itself had me shouting at characters for their behavior. It's like a chick flick for boys; one that guys are allowed to cry at because there's shooting involved. It's amazing.

It makes me wonder how many subsequent mob movies are trying to capture the emotional movement of this movie and settling for random gun fights and poorly played politics.

I can't even begin to describe all the times I've seen this movie referenced or quoted. simpsons, Family Guy, Goodfeathers (Animaniacs), Men in Tights, Shrek and Shrek 2... I could go on. The line "I hope your child is a masculine child" I've heard a couple times and never thought it was connected to Godfather until I saw it. Hell, I've been reading the Taltos series by Steven Brust since I was 10, and the way things are run... the use of words... It's like all Mafia references after Godfather must pull something out of it.

IMDb links-
The Godfather quotes.
The Godfather movie connections.