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

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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.

Perhaps I was wrong about Daniel Radcliffe all along

I don't know about the rest of you, but in general I've always found Radcliffe to be a tad bit underwhelming as an actor. He fits the role of Harry Potter, but I've always thought that in the films at least, the character's written to be a bit thin, all too reactionary and a bit passive in some regards. In addition, some of the scenes which demanded a bit more emotional power from him, particularly in Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix I thought he fell a bit short - though I do think some of his crucial reactions in Goblet of Fire are good. He noticeably improved from The Half-Blood Prince onwards, but I still thought he could've brought a bit more to his performance impact. Then in his post-Potter career, I've liked some of the things he's done, like The Woman in Black and Horns, but though he's technically okay in them, there's always a sense he's slightly miscast for the role, a bit of an awkward fit. Then in Kill Your Darlings I didn't believe him for a second as Allen Ginsberg despite the best efforts of the film, and in Victor Frankenstein I just didn't take to the film nor his portrayal of Igor for one second.

I may sound overtly harsh, but that's my opinion. But having seen Swiss Army Man today I feel that I may have to...retract my statements previously about him being only being able to kind of play Harry Potter and never feeling quite right for anything else. In Swiss Army Man he shows exactly why I might have misjudged him all this time; he takes on an utterly zany, bizzare performance in an utterly zany, bizzarre film that I thought I'd only be midly entertained by, but ended up loving quite a bit. The best quality to the film is of course, Mr Radcliffe as Manny, a corpse on a deserted island who's found by Paul Dano's stranded shipwreck survivor Hank. I'll not get into this performance into too much detail, as I may well be covering it in my future personal Oscar choices post...but just to my UK readers, if you're going to pop over to the cinema this weekend, please check out Swiss Army Man. I've found that publicity surrounding it has been surprisingly muted, and the presence of constant fart jokes and gross-out humour in the trailers might not appeal to some, but trust me: it's not just that. It's an intimately made, rather personal and absolutely hilarious/heartbreaking in equal measures film, that really hits you hard in both the heart and funny bone. And Radcliffe, to not give anything away, is a shining ray of physical dexterity in his performance worthy of mention to another famous Daniel (and I should mention that Dano's no slouch either). 

Top 10 - Sports Movies

Hon. Mention - Rush

I have to leave this off the top 10 because though I really, really like the film, quite frankly I find the James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) side of it a bit generic and predictable, though certainly entertaining enough. The film works best however as an exploration of Hunt's rivalry with Nikki Lauda (a terrific Daniel Brühl), and the examination of Lauda's very specific mentality towards racing.

Another film I really love that's a sports film is 'Brian's Song' which I left off the list because it's a television movie; I also hate to leave the likes of 'White Men Can't Jump' off the list.

10. Shaolin Soccer

Just an extremely entertaining, daft ride through the world of exactly what the title suggest: kung fu masters using their kung fu powers to kick off some extremely invigorating, entertaining action sequences. The humour is a bit hit-and-miss as is commonplace for Stephen Chow, but when it's hilarious it is very hilarious, and there's a nice heart to its core I felt was missing from the likes of Kung Fu Hustler.

9. Dodgeball

Also another extremely funny comedy, though I think I prefer this one slightly because it takes the sport of dodgeball and not only milks the sport for laughs, but basically every aspect of organized sport, from the pair of bizzare commentators to the ridiculous uniforms of the competition's contestants, and the comedic subversion of the brazen, ball-busting coach played by Rip Torn. It's all a bit discordant and as always some of the laughs are followed by groans, but I quite love it.

Also, in retrospect that Lance Armstrong scene not only still works, it's even more darkly funny in hindsight.

8. The Fighter

The boxing itself in the film is well handled but hardly memorable, and some of its dramatic beats, especially anything involving a particularly underwhelming romantic subplot with Amy Adams, don't work. The film works marvellously, however, as an exploration of the behind-the-scenes drama of a boxer, Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), trying to earn redemption from an ugly loss. The relationship between Micky and his mother (a terrific Melissa Leo) is very interestingly drawn, and even more so his relationship with his half brother Dicky Ecklund, played by Christian Bale in a mesmerizing, physical portrayal of a recovering heroin addict with delusions of grandeur from a past he can never get over. In many ways it's a standard boxing film, but elements within it verge on greatness.

7. Hoosiers

A sweet little film about an Indiana basketball underdog team led by the tough, no-nonsense Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) that's about as feel-good as it gets. The film works wonderfully as just a very low-key sort of tale about a small town and its inhabitants, focusing on how their love for basketball brings them together in such different ways, Bonus points for giving Dennis Hopper a rather moving role as the local drunkard who redeems himself as Dale's assistant coach, and has one breathtaking scene where he takes control of the team.

6. Raging Bull

One of those films I don't love, and think is a tad bit overrated...but I still admire it greatly. It's a fantasitcally directed biopic of Jake DeLamotta (Robert De Niro), with Scorsese eschweing any of the usual conventions of the boxing film to create an almost anti-inspirational film of a man who's a beast in the ring, and a beast outside of it too, in a rather unappealing fashion. Both Scorcese and De Niro were every bit as deserving of the acclaim and accolades (at least for the latter) they got, though I still insist that the true deserving winners of that year were The Elephant Man, David Lynch and John Hurt.

5. The Hustler

An extremely iconic film that sprung an unfortunate, workmanlike sequel directed by Scorsese, and a rather bad choice of a career Oscar win for Paul Newman. It's terrible when you think about how they could've awarded him more than 20 years before for his scintillating turn as the same character, 'Fast Eddie' Felsen, in this fantastic drama that takes you into the depths of underwoold pool tables. Newman is brilliant, as are all his co-stars, and every pool game is a masterful example of building tension.

4. Chariots of Fire

This is sort of the film I felt Rush could have been, but never properly realized. It has an iconic theme song for the ages, but that's not all there is to the film; it's also a very well-made exploration of two British cross-country runners in the 1924 Olympics, Jewish Oxford student Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) with a chip on his shoulder and the religiously devout future missioanry Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson). The film is lovely because it breezes along with such an enjoyable pace, and is suitably lighthearted and endearing for the most part, yet there's always a serious conviction to the material and the runner's stakes that makes the finale so nail-bitingly intense. The script is amazing, one of the best examples of the British prestige picture done right.

3. Field of Dreams

One of the last true 1980s sweet spot movies, this one hits you right in the heart and never lets go. Kevin Costner is the ultimate American Dad Ray, a farmer who hears a voice in his cornfield telling him: 'if you build it, he will come' - and in true American fashion, starts to work on constructing a baseball field on it. It's a love it or hate it film in terms of its schmaltzy feel good nature, and I must confess that it entirely works for me. I love every moment of the film's gradual transcendence into fantasy as the ghosts of the past come out, strongholded by a great supporting cast featuring the greatest voice of all-time James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta in an early atypical role as a former baseball player making amends, and best of all Burt Lancaster as a player-turned-doctor who finds one last chance to play ball. It's a whimsical, hilarious, heartfelt film with a great, emotionally resonant ending, and one you can love even if, like me, you don't quite understand baseball.

2. Creed

1. Rocky

I've written a lot about Creed recently, and I'll be writing about Rocky in the future. As it stands, I'll give the original film the win first, though I'd say Creed reaches some even higher peaks in its depiction of the relationship between Rocky and his rival-turned-friend Apollo Creed's (Carl Weathers) son, Adonis (Michael B. Jordan). The Rocky series is one I absolutely love through and through, well maybe besides V, and that's because of the character of Rocky being such a deservedly iconic one. Stallone's original film and screenplay is so underrated in how it establishes not only Rocky as a character, but the whole world surrounding him and his underdog status in relation to others, especially his trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith) and Apollo. The boxing/training scenes are great, and build up to a great finale in which I can never get over how inspired the last few shots are, the announcer reading out the victory of Apollo Creed in the background as Rocky embraces the love of his life Adrian (Talia SHire). Creed technically resurrects many similar beats to Rocky, but in an extremely effective fashion that never feels derivative. I love boxing films done well, and both these films are great examples of it done to perfection.

Top 5 Performances - Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie

Lest the onslaught of paparazzi nonsense envelop their careers completely, let's remember that both these actors are very, very capable talents in their own right...

Pitt

5. Fight Club

One of the most effective utilization of star power onscreen, Pitt blazes the screen with his overwhelming presence and makes an indelible impression as the one and only Tyler Durden. He plays off Edward Norton's more understated performance particularly well, and while it's one of his simpler roles in term of where the character exactly stands, it's certainly one of (arguably the) most memorable of them.

4. Burn After Reading

It's fantastic how such a naturally 'cool' actor, as Pitt showed in the likes of Fight Club, Snatch, Inglorious Basterds etc. can often step outside of his comfort zone and play complete loser, doofus characters. His early career featured one of them in True Romance as a very, very lazy stoner, and here in the Coen Brother's screwball comedy he's a hoot every minute as Chad, a gym instructor with very little stored up there and a great deal of laughs to spread. I love every moment of his performance here from his interactions with John Malkovich's abrasive FBI agent, and his final exit which could not be more perfect.

3. Se7en

Some hate the performance for purely the final scene. I see no problem with it; people react to grief in different ways, and while Pitt's David Mills might react in a bit of a peculiar way, it doesn't take away from the power of the moment, and anyway even if it did, the rest of his portrayal of a hotshot detective pulsates with such charisma, energy, enthusiasm and conviction, finding some great chemistry with Morgan Freeman and slowly depicting a rather fascinating arc for his character.

2. The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Overshadowed by Casey Affleck's towering (though that's probably the wrong way to describe Robert Ford) performance, Pitt's performance as the legendary outlaw Jesse James is nevertheless an excellent utilization of his strengths as a dramatic performer and status as a superstar. He's good at being the harsh and ruthless criminal figure and fits in with Andrew Dominik's vision of James as a legend, but what impresses me most about the performance is the more sensitively played side of James' weaknesses and more fallible side which leads Robert Ford to become disillusioned by him.

1. The Tree of Life

I re-watched this recently, and while it's still far from the standards of The Thin Red Line and Badlands, it's grown on me a great deal. One aspect of it I've always loved is Pitt's performance as Mr O'Brien. I've always been perplexed at how bad his performance in Twelve Years a Slave was as he's so good at bringing out the sensitive moments of poignancy and fatherly love here when the film requires him to bring it. What's great however is that Pitt never plays Mr O'Brien simply one way or the other. He's a harsh and strict father figure, a hypocrite to an extent, but one thing that's never in question is his love for his family. It takes what could've just been a prop to Malick's vision and makes it into a fully fledged, heartfelt and heartbreaking character. His 'apology' scene to his son is perhaps the highlight of his career.

Jolie

5. Mr and Mrs Smith

A film that may prove to be unwatchable for some in the future? Um, perhaps, but personally I never liked it all that much, as well as feeling that it contained one of the more dull Pitt performances in recent memory. Jolie, on the other hand, I enjoyed quite a bit throughout this spy comedy as a seductive and deadly assassin, which Jolie plays with the appropriate amount of sass and gravitas, but with a slight comedic edge that works quite well too.

4. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Again, don't really care for the film. Jolie though is pitch-perfect as Lara Croft, from the prim and proper accent to the physical portrayal of the character in each of the action scenes, and even manages to make the ridiculous central plot and emotional backdrop work despite the film being rather paper-thin in those regards.

3. Maleficent

Another film I didn't really care for, despite having a very intriguing concept and a solid creative team behind it. Sharlto Copley is one of the worst villains in anything in recent memory, the visual style is decidedly unimaginative, and it completely sells out it's 'subversive' intents with a finale that's oh-so-generic Disney. Jolie, though, is fantastic initially as the EEEVIILLL Maleficent, completely eating up everyone else in the cast with her brilliant villainous portrayal. The 'cutesy' touch the film gives her character as the film progresses doesn't quite work, but she manages to mend it into her performance well enough and succesfully manages to make us care for one of the House of Mouse's most notorious sorceresses.

2. Changeling

An intriguing sort-of procedural merged with domestic drama, Jolie stars as a real-life single mother Christine Collins who's lost her son, and is reunited with a boy - who isn't her son. The resulting film isn't flawless and is sometimes undermined by a somewhat workmanlike direction by Clint Eastwood, but Jolie carries the film admirably with her rousing and defiant portrayal of a woman who won't back down from finding her son, whatever the cost. There's a few 'Oscar-y' scenes in the mix, but I think they work through Jolie's sterling work.

1. Girl, Interrupted

The film which was her true breakout, won her her first Oscar, and is to this date her career peak for a good reason. Girl, Interrupted is not a flawless film but it's endlessly intriguing. The script and storyline is actually extremely derivative over films with similar topic matters like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but what enlivens it are its characters. Aside from Winona Ryder (who should never be given a bland role), the whole cast is stellar, with the late Brittany Murphy particularly worthy of mention as Daisy. Jolie's turn as Lisa, the Randle McMurphy-esque rebel, who's equal parts charming and manipulative. Jolie is fantastic every moment onscreen in never shying away from the unsavoury qualities of the character, instead reveling them to create a supremely hateful but also somewhat sympathetic character, and makes the ending of the film more poignant than it probably deserves.