The category opens with the Zasa-Vincent showdown in Michael's office, with Garcia's leather-jacket wedding look and good drunk acting as Connie takes his drink.
Vincent is Sonny's son with the bridesmaid from the first film, Lucy Mancini, who is seen at the party; her description in the book is recalled.
Biting an ear to draw blood is described as a Sicilian custom meaning a fight to the death, prompting jokes about a later boxing ear bite.
"Say it to his face" and "all bastards are liars, Shakespeare wrote poems about it" are praised as stagey but great dialogue, with Mantegna doing Gotti in real time.
Mantegna's career is traced from House of Games through Bugsy and Searching for Bobby Fischer, originating Ricky Roma on stage, and Fat Tony on The Simpsons.
The penthouse commission scene is next: Michael's gifts, the helicopter attack, the oranges, Al Neri's return, and Altobello conveniently stepping out.
That scene feels like a crappy 70s exploitation movie but works, and it could be argued as the best stretch because it leads straight to the kitchen scene.
In the kitchen, Garcia's "I say we hit back" and Pacino's "just when I thought I was out" line paid off the trailers in theaters; the line is the one Silvio quotes on The Sopranos.
The feast set piece is praised: the raffle car, the Italian-Americans speech, and Garcia revealed as the mounted cop who kills Zasa.
The shaving scene, cross-cut with the Altobello and Lucchesi scenes, shows Michael warning Vincent off Mary without forbidding it; "when they come, they come at what you love" is singled out.
Michael making Vincent the new Don is abrupt but liked, including how everyone in the room reacts.
Vincent breaking it off with Mary is tagged as Sofia Coppola's only half-decent scene, though the pair's chemistry is not bought.
The extended opera murder montage is called unbelievable and gets a vote for most rewatchable.
The pushback is that the montage runs far too long with too much opera, even if it is well staged and a mother's favorite.
Asked for an alternative, another pick is the first meeting of Zasa, Vincent and Michael with the ear bite, the New York crime movie that was wanted instead of Sicily.

What’s Aged the Best?

Andy Garcia and the bastard-son concept; Pacino's 'It was not what I wanted' outburst; Al Neri; Italy; the Apollonia flashbacks

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 00:49:49Read transcript

The Archbishop Gilday actor (transcribed "Donald Donnelly") is placed in both aged best and aged worst: bizarre, singular, acting from his tonsils; Albert Finney and Marcello Mastroianni were reportedly discussed for the part.
Andy Garcia and the bastard-son concept age best, because the son has something to prove.
Pacino's "I command this family, right or wrong... it was not what I wanted" followed by "understand" shows awareness of his own temper, unlike the later overacting.
Al Neri, Fredo's killer, is still kept around 20 years later.
Italy always ages best, and the Apollonia flashbacks are welcome as Michael's true love.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Kay Corleone's hair; the incest plot; the gnocchi scene; the running time; George Hamilton; the villains, including Eli Wallach as Don Altobello

In the discussion (10)

Approx. transcript time · 00:52:58Read transcript

Kay Corleone's hair is mocked as a poodle perm and more a 1990 haircut than a 1979 one.
The pushback defends Keaton and Kay: the Italy conversation is one of the great scenes and "I don't fear you, Michael, I dread you" lands.
The gnocchi scene is said to have aged just as badly as the incest.
The incest plot is the second worst thing: why not a third cousin, with Game of Thrones and Vincent's uncertain paternity raised.
Cousin prom dates and the Wolf of Wall Street cousin line come up; the kitchen seduction scene is its own awkwardness.
The two-hour, 50-minute running time ages worst, and George Hamilton gets another "why, why, why".
The film has a bad-guy problem: Altobello is no match for the first film's villain or Hyman Roth, and once Zasa is gone Michael faces ineffectual old men.
Lucchesi is introduced too late despite the "finance is a gun, politics is knowing when to pull the trigger" line and the message that the Vatican, the deal and the mafia are all connected.
The secret-society plot stays in the background and the characters are hard to keep apart even after several viewings, unlike the first film's cleanly set-up villain.
Eli Wallach as Don Altobello is a miscast moved here from casting what-ifs; Sinatra almost took the part and would have brought the needed charisma.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

The Ghost actor as one of the apartment assassins; Don Novello as Dominic Abondondo; Mario Donatone as the Sicilian assassin

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 01:04:09Read transcript

The first pick is one of the two assassins in Vincent's apartment with Bridget Fonda, the actor who played Willie Lopez in Ghost; the scene is bad but lovable, with the most incompetent assassins ever.
Don Novello, Father Guido Sarducci, plays the PR man Dominic Abondondo, which is funny in a movie about the Pope and the Church.
John Savage is called kind of a That Guy, since The Deer Hunter was pretty big.
Mario Donatone is named as the Sicilian assassin (transcribed "Moscow").
The Archbishop Gilday actor prompts a repeated impression of "the power to absolve debt is greater than the power of forgiveness", and Pacino seems to be keeping a straight face.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Pacino's heart attack in the kitchen

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:06:04Read transcript

Nominees are every Eli Wallach scene, Pacino's kitchen heart attack shouting "Fredo!", and Pacino at the end.
Garcia is defended as great in the movie, though he hits every line with an exclamation point; Internal Affairs is praised, drawing a complaint about hyping mediocre cop movies and a Proof of Life jab.
The award goes to Pacino's heart attack, where he really goes for it for 40 seconds.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Eli Wallach

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:07:28Read transcript

After an "I don't know", the Waiters award goes to Wallach, followed by his line about being too old and growing olives and tomatoes.

Apex Mountain

Andy Garcia; the Archbishop Gilday actor; Sofia Coppola acting jokes

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:18:24Read transcript

Andy Garcia is at Apex Mountain, with a yes and agreement; Internal Affairs and its cast are recalled.
The Archbishop Gilday actor is "definitely" at Apex, which is agreed.
Sofia Coppola acting jokes are offered and met with a "Yeah".
The Vatican, George Hamilton and women's hair are raised without an answer, and the segment closes on "not a lot of Apex Mountains".

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Not this movie; a series about the grandchildren

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:23:51Read transcript

The movie should not be remade as a 10-episode show in the modern era, but a series about the grandchildren would work.
Netflix giving Coppola $200 million for a Corleone show is floated, joking that he would first have to go bankrupt again.
A life-and-times of Archbishop Gilday is also floated, noting Al Neri gets into the Vatican with little security.

Who Won the Movie?

Al Pacino

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:25:59Read transcript

Asked who won the movie, one answer is Pacino and another, asked whether he is going Garcia, also says Pacino; the point that only one of them got an Oscar nomination is waved off as not the be-all and end-all.
Garcia makes a better run than expected.

Podcast choices

Speaker not identified: Al Pacino
Speaker not identified: Al Pacino