BREAKING NEWS: Coppola gets the 2001 Thalberg Award, and three more VERY surprising people land Honorary Oscars:

I'm keeping up my streak for predicting each year's Honorary Oscars, but this year, I have to admit, I'm surprised. I only got one, but it's a biggie. First off, the estimable Francis Ford Coppola is being handed another award this year, but it's NOT an Oscar statuette (he already has five of those: one for co-writing the screenplay to Patton, one for co-producing The Godfather, and three for

Film #66: The Conversation

Gene Hackman and Francis Ford Coppola were white-hot in 1974. Hackman had already delivered Jan Troell's underrated Zandy's Bride with Liv Ullmann, and Coppola was finishing up The Godfather Part II when they quietly eked out The Conversation, one of the most unexpected masterpieces of the 1970s, which landed Coppola the International Grand prize at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. The film follows