Everyone has some piece of iconic pop culture they somehow missed along the way.

It’s the kind of thing you are almost ashamed to admit to your friends, and when you do they respond with something like, “WHAT?!?!?!?!”

Until today, the biggest thing on my list was the movie “The Godfather.” I’ll wait while you complete your “WHAT?!?!!?!?!”

Good? OK.

I can’t fully explain how I missed out on this movie until the year 2011, but it’s probably mainly because it’s part of a trilogy. Once you watch the first movie, you are pretty much committed to watching the entire series, and locking myself into 9-10 hours of “Godfather” material seemed like a huge commitment.

Of course, that didn’t stop me from watching hundreds of other movies that most people would not consider remotely worth their time. Whatever. “Happy Gilmore” is awesome.

Having now seen the movie, I wish I had seen it long ago, preferably around the age of 6. That’s because just about every part of the movie has been parodied to death by every possible form of media I have seen since then. When I see a guy in a bed, I know instantly there’s a horse head in there with him. When they mention the “five families” all I can picture is Kevin and Andy from “The Office” arranging a meeting with the companies in their office park.

Oh and Marlon Brando. I may have seen some versions of his character before today.

One problem with movies “you have to see” is the expectation created by others. In recent days my friend AV has been advocating for “The Godfather.” While her high regard for the movie did set up a lofty standard, I would blame any shortcomings on all those elements I felt like I had already experienced. On a four-star scale, I’d give it 3.5.

The experience reminded me of my introduction to “Almost Famous.” I say “introduction” because I have never actually seen the movie.

I tried.

In college I spent some quality time with a girl who LOVED that movie. She insisted I watch it. Then insisted some more. Eventually I agreed to watch it, and made it a solid 20 minutes into the film before falling asleep.

I don’t think she was very pleased with that, but in my defense I was worthless after like 11 p.m. back then. A few weeks later my roommate Jason and his ladyfriend (or a ladyfriend, I don’t remember) joined us for a second chance viewing.

I woke up at some point during the credits to Jason’s ladyfriend laughing at the fact that I had been snoring…for a while. Whoops.

I learned a lot from that movie without even watching it. Mainly, if someone says it is one of their favorite movies of all time, you should probably do whatever is necessary to at least keep your eyelids open.

Even after working an overnight shift, I made it through “The Godfather” with no problems.

The Godfather 1.
Almost Famous 0.