Mario Puzo's The Last Don I & II Films Review

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[00:00:32] Don Cleracuzio is the most powerful crime family in America. Now Don Cleracuzio must stop a family secret from destroying the empire it took him a lifetime to build.

[00:01:00] This special uncensored home video edition comes complete with sexually explicit footage and scenes of graphic violence that were deemed unsuitable for television audiences. Three generations of honor and respect. Three generations of money and power. Three generations of murder and revenge.

[00:01:29] The wicked world it is that drives a man to sin. Mario Puzo's The Last Don. Mario Puzo's epic legend, The Last Don, continues. From generation to generation. From the old world to the new. This great family survives. He wanted you to take his place. On the strength of its leaders.

[00:01:57] Everyone's gonna be trying to take over pieces of the Cleracuzio territory. Other gangs, other families. We have to show that we're still in control. Hit him where it counts. Hard choices they must make. There's a defector in our family. Open your eyes and ears to the slightest hint of betrayal. They must choose between power and corruption. Who's in your office? Is that how you deal with everything? You just knock people off?

[00:02:27] That's what it takes. You can't trust nobody. Not even me. Do you have any idea what they do to people here? Desire and salvation. You're the one that said life was magic. Don't have a house. God, I don't love you. And the ultimate choice. Life or death. Mario Puzo's The Last Don 2.

[00:02:55] You can get out of it. There's no way out. It was too late for the day I was born. From Trimark Home Video. Rated R. Best. Reloaded. Re-edited. Sometimes we get so deep into conversation that we have separate segments worthy of their own place in the sun.

[00:03:22] Here is a reshuffled mini-episode. I took courage, Sylvia, to come here against Papa's will. I'll do anything I can to help you. You know that. What I want to say is that I really love your sister. I love her more than anything in this world. She's the only one who can convince Papa. He'll listen to you.

[00:03:50] My father doesn't trust us, Santadio. He says he's tried many times to make peace with your family. Silvio! Bro, let me say this. He's offered many proposals that would divide up the power. Come on, man. Your father, my father. They're old men. Everything to them's a war. It's the Sicilian thing. Ancient corals. We can work this out. We're young, man. We see things differently. Look, I own half of the Xanadu Hotel in Las Vegas.

[00:04:19] Now I can give Rosemarie anything she wants. A beautiful home, clothing. Babies? Many babies. We're gonna have a good life. Plenty for everybody. What about your brothers? My brothers? They understand. They've met Rosemarie. They love her almost as much as I do. He's just my father. Nothing is gonna keep us apart, Silvio.

[00:04:50] I hear ya. Jimmy, I'm glad we met. Me too, man. Now our fathers will stop fighting once they get their hands on their first grandson, huh? Alrighty. We're getting into another Godfather-themed week.

[00:05:16] We're going into another Mario Puzo production, which is the Last Dawn miniseries, which was later followed by a follow-up miniseries that aired on CBS. And like many of these, you know, it was safe to air late at night on TV and released with an R-rated cut on DVD and VHS. Produced by Lions Gay, you know, just aired on Paramount Networks.

[00:05:44] I thought it was for Showtime originally, but I was mistaken. So it follows again. A very cut-throat family based on, again, Mario Puzo's 1996 novel The Last Dawn. Aging Mafia Dawn and his family trying to retain their power. I swear, my mother's alive. Kronvelt has the tapes and your buddy's already fessed up. Just give back the money and maybe I can square things for you.

[00:06:13] No, no, no. I know those boys. They're tough. They won't talk. Well, it's the Claticuzio who were asking for birth to... I didn't know they had the hotel. Now you do. Where am I sitting here for? Hey, hey, hey, hey. Shut up. This big king duck is terrific. Hey, it's no big deal. Just get the money back.

[00:06:42] You give back a hundred grand and we'll take your market for the rest. I can get you fifty. That's good. That's very good. You can pay back the rest by not taking your fee for running the junkets. Don't worry. Enjoy the food. Oh, this was terrific, Danny. Pete. Then we'll do business. Danny. Don't be stupid.

[00:07:10] Who is on this? He'll be out on bail in a few hours. I sent Vincent to pick him up. Look, Pop. Doesn't look good. There are eyewitnesses. Spread some money around. You have their names? Memories fail. Juries can be bought. Soji and the Claticuzio family does not have to shoot his way out of trouble like some mad dog.

[00:07:39] Another thing. His wife and children must attend the trial. Pippi says she won't come. I don't care what you have to do. Get her here. Alternating between the film industry and the Las Vegas strip casinos. And how the mafia is linked to both of them. Wavin moves himself together. He could go all the way. First Senator, then the President. If that happens, we got a good shot at getting legalized sports gambling all over the country. Could be worth billions to declare Cusio.

[00:08:09] That's right. I'm glad you flew out, Giorgio. I think it's time Crust made his bones. Don wouldn't approve. He wants all of his grandchildren to stay out of it. You know that was always his goal. No, it's not his grandchild. As his father, I think he knows what's best for my son. He's had all the gravy. Now it's time for him to earn his living. It's a big step. You think he'll do it? I'll talk to him. No good. You're generating a lot of heat. You want the Governor to escape any innuendos from his enemies in the press and that damn TV. Maybe this is too tricky for Crust to make his bones on.

[00:08:39] No, it's perfect for him. It's not a good time. Rosemary, she's back at the clinic. And her boy Dante's been giving us a lot of trouble. Hey, it's gonna be my ass on the line. I'll talk to the Don. Yeah, no, these aired in 97 and 98, respectively. It's a very bizarre cast, including country singer Katie Lang in a minor role. Yeah, I mean, the cast was pretty cool.

[00:09:08] Burt Young, you know, of Rocky fame. You know, by this time he was being typecast as criminals and he had a brief key role. Michael Massey, who you might, the late great guy you might know from villain roles in The Crow and amazing Spider-Man films. He was pretty awesome. He can do all those accents, so that's why he was good. He plotted against the family with a Los Angeles detective who was already on our payroll. Listen, I got a really important proposition to put to you, okay?

[00:09:38] Rewards and risks. Rewards? 200 grand cash up front. A year later, Jobs had a security Xanadu Hotel. Five times the salary of what you make now. Plus room, car, expense account, all of it. Sounds too good. Somebody's gotta get shot, that's the risk, right? For me, I'm the shooter. Why not me? I have the badge to make it legal. Because you wouldn't live six months after. And what do I do, tickle your ass with a feather?

[00:10:07] The risk for you is that this isn't one of your regular jobs for the Clara Cusio. This is my deal. Hell. There's added bonuses. Remember that bar scanning tool sign? Of course I remember. Except there was no suicide. That actress bitch said I'm up. Cross made that hit with a guy named Leavazzi. He's a small, wiry guy from the old country, hawk-like face. Where can I find him?

[00:10:31] Mike Starr, who you'll know from Dumb and Dumber and Goodfellas, was again doing his usual thing. Seymour Castle was here. Christopher Maloney, that's right. E. Maloney from Fear and Loathing. And Wet Hot American Summer, Harold and Kumar, and Oz in Law & Order at SVU. Got to play Hustler. The Don's Men were not okay with that. You know, leave him for dead.

[00:10:56] I've been here for 10 years and I thought it was surprising. Well that surprise landed you in jail last night, was it worth it? Eh, for my lawyer it was. You think your wife's gonna press charges? But look, it was a joke, alright, just water. Maybe she didn't think it was so funny. Could be, but I'll tell you one thing, Athena never pressed charges. There's no way, no matter what I do, Athena, Aquitaine, or whatever the hell she calls herself nowadays,

[00:11:25] she will never press charges against me. That sounds rather off. Take it any way you want. Claudia, I'm quitting the picture. You're my attorney, you're gonna have to get me out of it. You can't do that, Athena. I am, I'm sorry, but I have to, I have no other choice. Miss Alina's one of the most costly pictures ever made. I mean, you'd never work again. My God, Athena, you just won an Academy Award, are you gonna throw it away? Claudia, please, listen. Just tell the studio that I'm not coming back, okay?

[00:11:55] I can't. He'll kill me. I know he will. Calm down, Dita. Can't you shoot around her today? I mean, she's sick. Aquitaine doesn't throw up. Dita, she's a real person. Dire- Stop!

[00:12:24] Okay, whatever. It's very suspenseful and very well paced. Obviously, it looks like much of what you were seeing on NBC or ABC at that time, but it's, it's very prompt. The highlights, you know, Joe Mantegna. I, um, won't live forever, you know. You have to be in solid with the Cleticucio family. I understand. That guy that killed the governor's daughter. Great piece of crap. He's gonna get away with it.

[00:12:55] It's not right. And the governor is our friend. Russ, remember now, you can always say no. But I need you to help me out on a job I have to do. You mean I have to make my bones? I'll do all the planning, I'll be with you all the way. There's no danger. But you have to be the shooter.

[00:13:29] So what do you say? Well, Jeffiso liked his easy life, but there was a price. A man must earn his daily bread. Still he ate for a more innocent world, the world that was lost to him forever. It's business. The trick is never to get caught. To have a big industry, throws out 50,000 employees. It's just business. Cigarettes killed thousands of people. What are you gonna do? People are gonna smoke. You can't ban an industry that's generating billions of dollars.

[00:14:00] Nah, people have to earn a living. That's the first thing. So how do we do this? Simply. Very, very simply. But when we get fancy, we can get real fancy. This will be a confirmation, which means the body will be found. The communion is when the body disappears. Now that's his car, his license plates. All right. Our surveillance reports have shown that every Monday he drives down from Oxnard,

[00:14:29] to the girlfriends, to this place. Ham and eggs. He usually gets there early, around 6am. Surveillance will report to us when he's on his way. I got a car for you in the driveway. There's gonna be a car in front of you and one in the rear. A third car will be parked at the cafe. In case of an emergency. What am I, a mirage? Bring me a steak over here! A little silencer? Homie makes a little pop. I don't like to use a silencer. He got caught with one once.

[00:14:59] I got a Glock if we need it. It's got more punch. Joe Mantegna, who you might know from The Simpsons and Criminal Minds,

[00:15:26] was really solid as one of the main guys gasping for power. Danny Aio was the Don. Yep. The late, great Danny Aio. You might know from Do the Right Thing, Jacob's Ladder, and Two Days in the Valley. He was awesome as the main patriarch of the family. The beans, so to speak. He gave evidence today in a federal court, implicating dozens of underworld figures,

[00:15:54] including macaroni baron Roberto Sant'Elisa of Louisiana. In other news, severe flooding... Not a word of clericusio. Good word, Cross. Now, the job must be finished. Pop, I don't think it's worth the heat or the publicity. The heat? The publicity is what makes it worth doing. The law of a murder. The vow of silence cannot be broken. Excuse me, Don Clericusio. But he did what you asked.

[00:16:23] He never implicated you or the family. But he talked, Croce Fiso. And what would happen if some other rooster decides the crook? That man must be punished and restrained, even if it means a sentence of death. There can be no excuse, no mitigating circumstance, no appeal to pity. What about his wife? A good woman. An excellent cook. But she's become too American. I can't allow a bereaved widow to shout her grief and secrets.

[00:16:52] Children? Grandchildren? We leave them alone. I must apologize for my son. He's young, and the younger is sentimental. He's very fond of the Balazzo family, as we all know. And me, too. I never liked a man better than Virginia or Balazzo. But he committed a great offense. My apologies, Don Quirkusio. But I can't do it. I don't want to participate in this operation. Perhaps it's time to bring Dante into the business.

[00:17:22] No, no. No Dante. Pop, you have other grandchildren. Petey's boy Thomas is gonna be an engineer. You have a granddaughter who writes for the magazines. But Dante, he's not gonna make it. He's a killer, Pop. It's in his genes. Now, if we don't use them, somebody else will. Uh, maybe Giorgio's right. Maybe it's time to bring Dante in. I promised his mother. She's living in another world, Pop. She doesn't even recognize him half the time. I have such plans for the boys. Hey, Pop, no face it. Dante's never gonna become president. Pippi, can you work with him?

[00:17:52] He's immature, unpredictable. It's true. But he's a natural. He's ambitious, Pop. As a killer, he's better than Cross will ever be. Coach Fiso. Coach Fiso. Rory Cochrane from Dazed and Confused and Empire Records and CSI Miami was here.

[00:18:22] There's no excuse for this. Did you see what he did to her? What does it matter? She's a whore. Oh, you want to kill whores? You want to do drive-bys, walk-ups? You want to waste somebody just for the fun of it? Go to L.A., join a gang. Bunch of kids? Join a terrorist group. You'll fit right in. Life means nothing to those people. What does a life mean to you? Look, I don't enjoy killing, but I think you do. And that's dangerous. So let's get something straight. We've got a job to do. We're supposed to meet Big Tim in L.A. on Thursday. This is family business.

[00:18:51] And that comes first before anything else. Anything! And that means getting laid, love your mother got in country. You got that? Penelope Ann Miller was here. She was passable. But Daryl Hannah was actually pretty solid. I suppose I should thank you for keeping me in the movie business. Claudia told me the studio reneged on the deal once my husband killed himself. You had to give back the picture take a percentage? I'm not a very good businessman.

[00:19:22] Don't give me that. I know better. I also knew Boz. I don't care if he left a hundred suicide notes, he would never kill himself. Well, what can I say? That is dead. I knew you could help me from the beginning. It's the only evil thing I've ever done. Getting someone to commit murder.

[00:19:51] Athena, let's get something straight. But what I'd really like to know, why you were so afraid of him. Christy Alley was applied here and she was basically being very skanky. She has a passable performance. This is basically at the time where she kind of just played variations of the same, you know, sexy chick.

[00:20:20] David Marciano, you might know as Billings from The Shield, was also in a brief role here. Robert Wall, another character actor. Mainly Jason Jedrick was probably the biggest highlight. You might know him from TV shows like Murder One, as well as the Iron Eagle franchise and Backdraft. Since then he's kind of become a go to for playing big ass bad guys on shows like The Closer and Bosch. It's a civilized business thing.

[00:20:50] We should buy the studio. You know what kind of money we're talking about? Money is like whipped cream. Take a small amount and then you whip it into a froth with bonds, loans, stock shares. Banks controls the studio, he'll never sell. He wouldn't sell for 10 billion. Maybe I go out and give him a kiss. So who gets the studio? Frost? Dante, neither of us could run a studio. We're not ruthless enough. I drink today. Yeah, no, he was a standout.

[00:21:18] He really is a way more talented actor than given credit for. Because his name's not Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts, he's not the first name that comes up. But that's okay. He did pretty solid and I was impressed because it just wasn't subtle. You really got a sense for a guy just torn between right and wrong and while gasping for power, he added a Shakespearean element. Now, part two of this, once again, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

[00:21:45] And the second series felt like a retread. It just felt like, okay, they're just... It's really... Apparently book fans I saw talked about it and didn't think were too impressed by the acting or adaptations. I can't speak for that. I did not read those books. I did read the original book version of the first Godfather book. But that is about it. That is where my Mario Puso ties end. So I'll have to just take their word for it for now.

[00:22:13] Overall, you can find most of these I'm sure on YouTube. And I'm sure if you want to buy the physical media, it's out there somewhere easy to find in Region 1 or Region 2. Obviously, it's not going to be on par with anything Francis Ford Coppola or even Michael Cimino, the Sicilian, did. It's not that large scale. But that's okay. Not everything has to be. So it is what it is. Altogether, it knew exactly what it had to do and it did it very well.

[00:22:40] But the second one just kind of just felt like a, you know, you could call the first one a cash grab, but at least it had some reasonable style and decent staging, art direction and camera work. And the second one just felt like it was just leftover deleted scenes and they didn't know how to pace out the time. But altogether, a mild recommendation for those looking for some more crime escapades. So good on them. They did good on the first one at least. Dante killed my father.

[00:23:08] I judged him guilty as you judge me guilty. He killed my father out of revenge and ambition. He was a saint Tadio in his heart. And I think you must have known he was guilty and did nothing. How could I come to you to redress the wrong? How could I not avenge my father? All of you must know Dante is guilty. And who knows what he planned after he killed me?

[00:23:33] Next, his uncles, Dante, and that detective are swimming at the bottom of the ocean. Why should we compound my daughter's grief? She will be told her son has fled. But justice or no, you have committed a crime against the family. There must be punishment.

[00:24:02] For you, money. For Liovazzi, his life. Let me ransom him. I own half the Xanadu. I transfer that ownership to you as payment for me and Vazzi. You must move out of our world. Liovazzi must return to Sicily, with his family or not, as he pleases. That's as far as I can go. You and Vazzi will never speak together again.

[00:24:29] I order my sons in your presence never to avenge the death of their nephew. Let me assure you, I have no knowledge of Dante's plans. Remember, I always loved your father like a son.

[00:24:47] We'll return after these messages. We've got a 90-minute weekly Shack Stop. It's growing all over the world. Find it at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Mondays,

[00:25:14] then 3 p.m. on Wednesdays, then 7 p.m. on Thursdays. You can catch it on many more radio stations, 99.9 KERV, 1 p.m. Central Time, 2 p.m. Eastern on Mondays. Then catch the Encore on Thursdays at 5 p.m. Central Time, 6 p.m. Eastern. Then catch it Wednesday mornings at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, 10 a.m. Central, 1077 K-Twins.

[00:25:42] Then hang out with us Wednesday afternoons on MXTR and House Shack Radio, 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Then Thursday, get up bright and early with us on 95.7 Web Radio at 6 a.m. Pacific Time, 9 a.m. Eastern. Of course, we've got your Friday covered as well.

[00:26:03] 12 p.m. Eastern Time on MXTR FM and 10 p.m. Eastern Time, 9 p.m. Central, 1077 K-Twins. Find everything on MSTO.com. Welcome to the Better Call Daddy Show, the number one podcast where we admit, no matter what happens, Daddy has the advice we need to fix our problems.

[00:26:30] Introducing my dad, Mr. Wayne Friedman. That was good. It would be nice if you could also sing a song. What would the song be? You love Paris in the springtime. I just made up some words to it. I love Rena in the springtime. I love Rena in the fall. That's right. That's good enough. What I do is interview people of interest, share it with my dad, and get my dad's advice. My dad is my hero. Nobody's got my daddy. Oh boy, let's go to grandpa.

[00:26:58] You like to be a little rebel. I tried to rein you in. I have a daughter named Rena that acts just like I did. She's got a son that is not only just like me, but it's just like her. I'm your host, Rena Friedman Watts. Invite your friends, subscribe, and I'm excited to take this journey with you. Let's dive in. She was teasing this guy with the sword, and she accidentally cut his dick. Oh my God, I'm dying. And then he started to enjoy it. I started going down the phone sex rabbit hole.

[00:27:26] You've got the wankers, and you jerk off in five seconds, and then they're done because A, they don't want to spend money, and B, they're quick. My stepfather had mania. If I'm yelling at one of my kids, that fear, that rigid fear. Mom even said to me, I hope you have a kid just like you. There are lots of people that are being bought and sold right now for profit. If you think you're going to kill yourself, shut up and kill yourself. If you're not going to kill yourself, then shut up, smarten up, and it's all on you. The bullshit has to end. Wow.

[00:27:53] When I was 11 years old, I was raped and molested over the course of a year. What Jeffrey Epstein had was a sickness inside of him. I am Evan Castrilli Carmichael. I can do anything that I believe that I can. I'm so excited, too. Let's go. Next on Better Call Daddy with my mom and my grandpa. Stay tuned.

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