Thursday, October 6, 2011

Top Ranked Films of Francis Ford Coppola



Francis Ford Coppola
[10th in points with 32,229 with only 4 titles, which is tied for 53rd]

Coppola is the 10th ranked director for overall points for films in the top 1000, and he did it with only four films, all ranked 113 or higher. I’ve included the others of his that made polls. It’s hard to believe there are so few – I would also add Peggy Sue Got Married (a comic fantasy), and Youth Without Youth, an interesting science fiction (or fantasy) starring Tim Roth as a man who seems to defy time.

These are all the films of Coppola’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls.

1. The Godfather (1972) #1
2. The Godfather Part II (1974) #15
3. Apocalypse Now! (1979) #22
4. The Conversation (1974) #113

Other Coppola films just out of the top 1000:
5. Bram Stoker’s Dracula #1702
6. Tetro #2085 (I haven't seen this yet)
7. Rumble Fish #2227

They are obviously neglecting the wonderful fantasy Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), and the science fiction (time warp) film Youth Without Youth (2007), these are both very good and unique stories worth seeing. Peggy Sue is also another rarity, a very funny fantasy, it also works as a comedy as well, as Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) faints at her high school reunion and wakes up back in her high school days, 20 years earlier. Though this sounds similar to Back To the Future, it’s quite different, as an older, wiser Peggy Sue gets a chance to experience high school again with the knowledge of two decades of experience with her deadbeat husband, a hilarious Nicholas Cage.

Another very good overlooked one is Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) , a true story about the man who took on Detroit by building an advanced automobile just after WW2. This is one of Jeff Bridges' best roles, and a Capra-esque story. All of his best films are very each to re-watch, especially Godfather Part II - it's mesmerizing to me, far more magnetic than the first.

Also overlooked are The Cotton Club and The Rainmaker.

..and if you’re going to include Rumble Fish on a poll, why not The Outsiders? Wasn’t that the better film of the pair?

Tough to pick my favorites, but here they are:
1. The Godfather Part II (1974)
2. Apocalypse Now! (1979)
3. The Conversation (1974) - the Gold Palm winner at Cannes had the bad luck to be released the same year as Godfather II; Gene Hackman's best performance to me
4. The Godfather (1972)
5. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
6. Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
7. Youth Without Youth (2007)
8. The Rainmaker (1997)
9. The Outsiders (1983)
10. The Cotton Club (1984)

Nicholas Coppola (aka Cage), nephew,
daughter Sofia (w her Golden Globe for
Lost inTranslation, for which she also won
a screenplay Oscar), and Francis Ford. 
All three are Oscar winners, as well
as Francis Ford's father, Carmine
who wrote the Godfather music,
that has to be a record for one family.

See the full list of top ranked 100 directors here: Top Ranked 100 Directors, 2011 Edition

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