Retroactive Castings: 'The Godfather' in the 2010s, 'Inglorious Basterds' in the 1970s

The Godfather Trilogy, 2010s version directed by Quentin Tarantino

Michael Corleone (Al Pacino): Oscar Isaac

http://www.colourlessopinions.com/2015/01/most-violent-year-review-malaysia.html

What more needs to be said? Isaac in A Most Violent Year was basically 1980s Michael Corleone. They even look incredibly similar. Isaac would be very much adept at showing the gradual arc of Michael from quiet and modest young man to cold and unfeeling Godfather.

Vito Corleone (young and old, Robert de Niro and Marlon Brando): Emory Cohen and Ray Liotta

Emory Cohen would bring the quiet charm and intensity to young Vito Corleone in spades, a sort of more toned down version of his Brooklyn performance. I could've gone with just De Niro as older Vito, but instead I'll go for the nowadays criminally underrated Liotta to deliver a career-resurgence turn as the Godfather.

Sonny Corleone (James Caan): Bobby Cannavale 

Anyone who's seen Boardwalk Empire knows that Bobby's portrayal of Gyp Rossetti is absolutely a spiritual successor to Caan's work as hothead oldest brother Sonny.

Fredo Corleone (John Cazale): Macon Blair

He even looks kind of like John Cazale. Beyond that, Blair is great at playing technically reprehensible but nevertheless incredibly sympathetic characters, which would play perfectly into the role of the 'stupid' brother Fredo.

Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall): Billy Crudup

Tom's all about cool, calm collected dealings that are technically devious. Crudup's recent performance in Spotlight reminded me how good he is at being a sleazeball with style, so I'll grant him the role here.

Kay (Diane Keaton): Kelly Reilly

Kay's a bit of a thankless 'love interest' role, but Reilly's shown in the likes of Calvary and Flight that she can make something out of very little substance, so she'd be my pick here. I'd choose Carey Mulligan for the chemistry with Isaac if not for it being such a tiny role.

Connie (Talia Shire): Cristin Milioti

Milioti's a terrific blossming talent nowadays, and this would be a great role for her to shine and show of her emotional dexterity as an actress. She fits the role perfectly in terms of looks and I'd say also in terms of performance style.

Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano)/Frank Pentangeli (Michael V. Gazzo): John Polito

Preferrably the two roles would be joined together. Polito sadly passed away earlier this year, but this would've been a fantastic role for him, especially since his role in Miller's Crossing is essentially the Coen Brother's take on Pentangeli's arc in The Godfather Part II.

Jack Woltz (John Marley): Steve Buscemi

A Buscemi cameo that involves him screaming his head off to a dead horse head, what's not to like?

Captain McCulksey (Sterling Hayden): Michael Madsen

Another re-collaboration, Madsen seems to be in QT's good books again, so having him as a gruff corrupt police chief seems right up his street.

Salvatore Tessio (Abe Vigoda): Chazz Palminteri

Easy casting just in terms of fitting an actor into his usual type.

Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg): Harry Dean Stanton

It's been awhile since he's had a good role, so having him as the quietly menacing 'friend' of Michael Corleone would be a wonderful opportunity for Dean Stanton to show the world what we've been missing for quite some time.

Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia): Michael Pitt

Basically a reprise of his Boardwalk Empire turn as Jimmy Darmody, and you can't really complain about that.

Inglorious Basterds, 1970s version directed by Francis Ford Coppola

First Lieutenant Aldo 'The Apache' Raine (Brad Pitt): Bruce Dern

If Coppola were to stick with regulars, he could go with either James Caan or Robert Duvall going for comedic renditions of their turns in A Bridge Too Far and Apocalypse Now. Dern in full manic mode would be absolutely PERFECT for the role, though. He'd bring both the right amount of laughs and quirk to the role.

Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent): Jean Seberg

When watching Breathless I was supremely impressed by her ability to convey emotions wordlessly with a very particular style. A bit of Jean-Luc Godard flair wouldn't go amiss here. She might have been older than Laurent was when filming Basterds, but I do think the character could be written to be a bit older and nothing would be missing.

SS Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz): Maxmillian Schell/Max von Sydow

Depending on what sort of film Coppola would be going for, either of these choices would be splendid in the role of Landa (though of course no one would ever top Waltz). Schell would excel with a broader, more extreme film and would relish the villainy of Landa for all it's worth, while Sydow, while not Austrian or German, is of German descent, speaks German, and moreover makes a cracking villain whenever he gets an opportunity.

Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger): Romy Schneider

Schneider, from what little I've seen of her, had star power to go for miles. The role of BvH is actually deceptively complex, but hey, I never expected Kruger to give the great performance she ended up giving so I'd expect Schneider stepping up to the challenge.

Lieutenant Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender): David Warner

You'll probably know him from his villainous turns in Time Bandits, Titanic, and Tron, but it's easy to forget that Warner was also an extremely versatile actor who could just as easily bring some nice supportive charisma to his throwaway role in The Omen. I think he'd have a hoot playing probably the most fun role in the whole film, Hicox, and milk that George Sanders accent for all it's worth. Don't be fooled by the picture above, I know he'd have nailed the role.

Major Dieter Hellstrom (August Diehl): Klaus Kinski

I actually salivate at the very idea of having Kinski vs Warner. The behind-the-scenes production would probably be nuts in trying to control Klaus, but what would come out would I'm sure be absolutely beautiful.

Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth): Art Garfunkel

I like Art Garfunkel the actor (he's pretty darn good in Bad Timing), but really the main idea behind this casting is the very sight of him bashing Nazi heads in. If we were to go the more conventional route though, James Caan would be an excellent choice too.

Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl): Helmut Griem

Griem was a great sleazebag in Cabaret, here he'd be 'subverting' his usual character at first by playing Zoller as the 'nice guy' he is, before turning it on its head and revealing that really he's as reprehensible as any of them.

Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger): Jürgen Prochnow

He has the grit, the size, the presence, and overall I think he'd kill the role (no pun intended).

Sergeant Werner Rachtman (Richard Sammell): Oskar Werner

Another cool little cameo, and imagining Werner delivering 'bravery' in the face of death already sends chills down my spine.

The Other Basterds: Coppola's Favourites

Cazale, Frederic Forrest, Duvall, Harrison Ford, etc.