I have landed (in Washington D.C.)

September 9, 2024 • 8:15 am

Well, it was a grueling 15¼-hour flight from Cape Town to Dulles Airport in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.,  and that was on top of a five-hour wait for my plane at Cape Town International Airport, resulting from an 8 p.m. departure when I had to check out of the hotel a bit after noon.

I tried to sleep on the plane, but it was largely futile. So, as usual, I watched a passel of movies, which included the first film (1972) of the movie trilogy “The Godfather” directed by Francis Ford Coppola.  After watching the whole three-hour movie carefully (and for about the fifth time), my opinion is only strengthened that this is one of the best American movies ever made (my top choice, which I’ve often mentioned is “The Last Picture Show,” released a year before “The Godfather”).

I know some people don’t or can’t rank movies, but if you’re daring enough to do so, I’d be delighted to hear readers’ choices for Best American Movie. (As for best foreign films, I’d choose two Japanese ones: Kurosawa’s “Ikiru” (1952) and Ozu’s “Tokyo Story” (1953).

BTW, I had forgotten that Marlon Brando, playing Don Corleone, is not the first character to speak in the movie; rather, it’s an undertaker asking the Godfather to exact justice on the undertaker’s daughter, beaten up by a gang of sexual predators. The first sign of the Godfather is the movement of his hand at 1:30. Here are the first 6.5 minutes:

The movie won the Oscar for Best Picture, and Brando nabbed it for Best Actor, but declined the award. It won a third Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, shared by Coppola and author Mario Puzo.

I’m now cooling my heels at Dulles for two hours, waiting for the 2.5-hour flight to Chicago. After that it’ll be another 1.5-2 hours before I get home. It’s been a long, long flight, but less grueling than my canceled flight to South Africa, which I rebooked flying (after our flight to Cape Town to Dulles was canceled) from Dulles to Newark, then from Newark to Johannesburg, and then from Joburg to Cape Town.

I still have at least two photo-and-text posts left for South Africa, including a visit to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in southern Cape Town, perhaps the best such garden I’ve ever seen. I hae photos of many flowers, including the resplendent King Protea (Protea cynaroides), the national flower of South Africa. Here’s a preview (these flowers can be as much as a foot across):

48 thoughts on “I have landed (in Washington D.C.)”

  1. I think this overused word is made for this moment:

    EPIC

    😁

    (A double-meaning could be that The Godfather is epic, but of course, I refer to the South Africa trip!)

  2. Welcome home, Jerry. Thank you for sharing your African journey so completely. Much enjoyed!

    Brad Day

  5. I always feel a little sad when you return from an excursion. I enjoy following the adventures, and I look forward to the pictures. Today’s Protea is a winner, and has been added to my pile of virtual jigsaw puzzles.

    My usual response about favorite movies is To Kill a Mockingbird and Cabaret. I have seen both of them many times, and it seems like I notice some new detail each time.

    1. “Cabaret” is my favorite movie, with “The Apartment” a close second. I believe it was Pauline Kael who described “Cabaret” as hard as a diamond. Ms. Minelli and Mr. Grey are incredible in their roles.

  7. One of the very best American movies ever made is Nashville. Like the Godfather it’s a 70s movie and a 3-hour blockbuster with lots of characters.

    Every time you mention The Last Picture show, I remind myself to rewatch it. Maybe this is the time I’ll actually do it. But I recently watched a movie that I think is in the same vein (if I remember TLP correctly) – The Virgin Suicides. Great movie (and great book).

    1. As great as “The Godfather” is, “Nashville” gets my vote for The Great American Movie. It’s as timely today as it was in 1975 in its revolving themes of the cult of celebrity, politics, sex, and gun violence. And despite all that, it’s hilarious and the music is great.

  8. It’s hard to disagree with The Godfather (the book is very good, too). I also like Citizen Kane and Vertigo, both mentioned above. Of course, they are not my FAVORITE movies, since I lean toward sci-fi, action, horror, fantasy and so on for my fun, but as overall quality of film, I think almost anyone could appreciate how good The Godfather is. And for direction, I’ve been most blown away by Rear Window, another Hitchcock/James Stewart combo.

    I regret to have to say that I’ve never seen The Last Picture Show, and I suspect I never will, since I don’t really have anyone with whom to watch such a movie, and I don’t tend to watch serious movies by myself, which is how I must watch all movies nowadays.

  9. Welcome home PCC.

    I have to agree with your choice of Ikiru, but I was wondering if you’d seen the recent remake Living, starring Bill Nighy? It’s a fine movie too.

    2. Living is fantastic! Saw it at TIFF kast year. In the midst of this year’s TIFF now and saw an excellent doc of the writer Edna O’Brien last night: The Blue Road.

  11. Many thanks for taking us all along on your travels, as usual. My developmentally disabled son particularly enjoyed the many pictures of African animals.

    Best American movie: “Citizen Kane” must get a nod, of course, especially for Orson Welles’ innovative directing. But the sheer brilliance in every facet—script, subtext, direction, acting— qualifies one film uniquely: “Dr. Strangelove”.

  12. I have a different standard for “best” movie; by my standard, ‘Blazing Saddles’ beats them all. It’s Hedley, darn it!

    2. A Never Trumper (can’t remember who) was recently heard to call a rant by the Great Orange One “Authentic frontier gibberish” !!!

    4. Blazing Saddles may be my most beloved movie.

      “No, no, don’t do that. If you shoot him, you’ll just make him mad.”

      I read recently that Cleavon Little was not told in advance about Gene Wilder’s classic line, “You know, morons.” His reaction was genuine.

  13. The first line, spoken over a black screen, made an impression on me when I first watched the film. I think it was particularly powerful. A comparable first moment from a film does not come to mind right now. I liked the opening scene from Stalker.

  14. The cat was a stray that Coppola found on the set

    “The cat in Marlon’s hands was not planned for,” Coppola said according to Time Magazine. “I saw the cat running around the studio, and took it and put it in his hands without a word.”

  15. A list of this sort would be incomplete without a mention of Casablanca, but not as a romance but for its allegorical foreshadowing of America’s entering into WWII. The movie is from 1941, but audiences should have known when Rick sacrificed Elsa and left his life in Casablanca the Americans would join the war.

    In any case, whatever is the “Best” American film it is almost certain to have not been made in the last 30 years.

    2. Before my college-age son went to spend 7 months in Europe, I made him watch Casablanca, just for a sense of Europe during WWII. Oddly, it paid off because, when he went to the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco, he made a point of placing his bet on Black 22. And won!!

  16. Welcome back to the USA Jerry. What a trip you had! I thoroughly enjoyed following it through your postings.

    That is a powerful piece of film-making. Time to re-watch those.

  17. Despite its far-fetched finale, Shawshank Redemption really does stand out above any other for me: a powerful and moving film with Morgan Freeman’s wonderful voice-over.

  18. Cool Hand Luke
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
    The Usual Suspects (probably the best ending ever)

  19. I don’t have offerings that would be in the running for Greatest Movies, but here are a bunch that I thought were good. Easily found on the usual streaming services.
    Maestro
    Downsizing
    All Quiet on the Western Front
    Emily the Criminal
    Daliland
    Hotel Mumbai
    Triangle of Sadness
    The Outfit
    Poor Things
    Theater Camp    .

  20. OK for nice middlebrow films but none come near Ace in the Hole, In the Bedroom, First Reformed, 2001: A Space Odyssey,The Savages, Salvador, Wind River, Annie Hall, A Serious Man, Fargo. More than entertainment….on a par with the greatest foreign films. Oh yes, who can forget Animal House?

    1. Some highbrow films leave me puzzled. I tried to be impressed with Tokyo Story, but I just wasn’t.

      1. I dont know what “highbrow means” unless it refers to serious topics, great scripts, important/interestng topics and events. Europeans have no problem with their wonderful films (we call them “art films” as if only artists and intellectuals can appreciate them).All the above films are not only great for these reasons but are INTERESTING, comprehensible, about actual human experiences and lives, real human interactions, artistic insights, etc. And entertaining too. by our best directors and writers. Nothing wrong with entertainment or blockbusters for fun but why avoid films that go beyond
        Sat. night entertainment? Great films are great AND entertaining. I cant imagine not seeing these historic greats which contribute as much to our
        lives as books and art.

  21. You must have really taken me with you on your journey because I’m feeling the same sort of ‘let-down’ that I feel when returning from a wonderful trip myself. I’m glad to hear that you’ll be sharing some more beautiful pictures to ease the transition a bit.
    I’ve never bothered to separate movies as American or not. I like movies based probably 75% on beautiful, vast, natural scenery and animals. So, in no particular order:
    The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Out of Africa, Born Free, The Bear, Dances With Wolves, Walkabout.

  22. I’m surprised no one else mentioned another Francis Ford Coppola film from the 70s, Apocalypse Now. Adapting Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness to the setting of the Vietnam War was a brilliant move.
    I would also add Raging Bull from 1980, which I regard as Robert DeNiro’s and Martin Scorsese’s high-water mark.
    Finally, Oppenheimer. I walked out the theater mesmerized, which I have never done before. I went back to see it again 3 times over the next month.

  25. Two US Movies I can never get enough of:

    Johnny Guitar by Nicholas Ray
    The General by Buster Keaton

    (Splendour in the Grass by Elia Kazan is incredible, but just too intense for me to see it again!)

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