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The end of the year draws near, which means it’s time for the annual ritual of celebrating how far we’ve come and sharing good tidings for the future—all while battling the fear that we’re too inadequate to make a mark with our ruthlessly linear life. The...

Michael's successor as the Corleone family's don would have felt more natural if The Godfather hadn't cut a character from Mario Puzo's book. At its heart, The Godfather is the story of Michael's evolution from mild-mannered war hero to feared boss of a mafia empire. The Godfather Part III then goes further and chronicles the handover of power from Michael to his nephew, Vincent Mancini. The Godfather Part III infamously lacks the gilded reputation of Francis Ford Coppola's previous two entries, and introducing Vincent as a secondary protagonist is among the reasons why.

Played by Andy Garcia, Vincent is the illegitimate son of Michael's brother Sonny, who paid the ultimate toll for his anger issues midway through the first The Godfather movie. Vincent almost crawls out of nowhere in The Godfather Part III, and after audiences spent more than six combined hours with Michael and the Corleone family,...

When actor Colin Farrell was initially cast as The Penguin for Matt Reeves' The Batman, many fans were curious to find out how his Oswald Cobblepot (renamed Cobb for The Penguin) would look on screen. Given that the actor could easily play Bruce Wayne, many fans were surprised by how easily Farrell was lost to the look of one of Gotham's most infamous gangsters. It took the unique talents of makeup artist Mike Marino to pull it off.

Speaking with Cbr, Marino shared his history working with Farrell, and how he landed the job of designing the actor's prosthetics for his Batman role. Marino detailed how much work went into conceptualizing the look of The Penguin to fit the world of The Batman without retreading what's already been done in the past -- namely Danny DeVito's Penguin from Batman Returns.

Related Matt Reeves Names Which Iconic Gangster Movie Influenced...

Colin Farrell takes on a radical new look for an upcoming television show on HBO. The actor is almost unrecognizable in his role as Oswald Cobblepot, also known as The Penguin, in the series “The Penguin.”

The show expands on Farrell’s portrayal of the character from last year’s film “The Batman.” It was not originally planned for Farrell to change his appearance so drastically. Discussions initially focused on the character’s inspiration, like Fredo from “The Godfather.” Director Matt Reeves said they also considered giving Farrell a prosthetic “penguin nose” or altering his face.

However, prosthetics designer Mike Marino presented a sculpture that became the blueprint for Oz’s appearance. Reeves said “the sculpture was exactly the way that Oz looks right now.” This meant informing the studio their star would be unrecognizable.

Farrell’s good looks completely disappear behind scars, a receding hairline, and a prominent nose.

Matt Reeves didn’t start out wanting Colin Farrell to disappear behind a pile of prosthetics.

When his discussions with the actor began before the making of 2022’s The Batman, the primary focus was on the inspiration for Oz Cobb, not over whether Farrell should resemble comic book renderings of the classic DC villain for both the movie and the HBO series The Penguin that’s debuting Thursday.

“We talked a lot about Fredo. We talked about John Cazale in The Godfather, and the idea of maybe trying to give him a penguin nose, or doing something to kind of mess up Colin’s face to get the sense of somebody who’d been overlooked, somebody who had this ambition inside of him but who was mocked and who had been looked down upon,” recalls Reeves to Deadline. “All of a sudden one day [prosthetics designer] Mike Marino said, ‘Let me show...

The new HBO series The Penguin is the first live-action adaptation centered on the 83-year-old Batman rogue. First brought to life by Burgess Meredith and reinterpreted by Robin Lord Taylor on television, it can be difficult to find a way to take such a familiar character and make him feel fresh. While actor Colin Farrell didn't turn to any of his fellow members of the "Penguin," club he does happen to have an ongoing text chat with Danny DeVito who played Oswald Cobblepot in Batman Returns.

At a press conference in advance of The Penguin's premiere on HBO, Farrell was asked about the inspirations that motivated him to create Oz Cobb. First introduced in The Batman, the low-level criminal begins his ascent to the top of Gotham City's underworld in the show. While The Penguin is a prestige crime drama in the HBO tradition, Farrell's texts with Danny DeVito...

The first two entries of The Godfather trilogy are among the most rewatchable Best Picture winners in Hollywood history, and part of the reason why is because they're also a few of the most quotable works in all of cinema. Francis Ford Coppola's mafia franchise is so good that even The Godfather Part III, which is easily the weakest of the three, has some great lines here and there. "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse," "Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes," and "I know it was you, Fredo" are among the most famous, but there are so many more that it's difficult to choose favorites.

After John Cazale made his film acting debut in The Godfather, it kicked off an incredible hot streak in which he starred in five of the greatest movies of all time. Cazale started out as a theater actor in New York, treading the boards in everything from regional theater to off-Broadway productions before appearing in Broadway shows alongside the likes of Al Pacino and Meryl Streep. Cazale was a selfless performer who embodied the tenet that acting is reacting, playing off his co-stars and highlighting the strengths of their performances, which is likely why he never landed an Oscar nomination.

In 1962, Cazale made his on-screen debut with the role of a beatnik in Marvin Starkmans short film The American Way, and in 1968, he played his only television role as a guest star in N.Y.P.D. season 2, episode 8, The Peep Freak. Cazale made his movie debut when Francis Ford Coppola...