You know the problem with Hollywood?

They make shit. Unbelievable, unremarkable shit.

I'm not some wannabe filmmaker...

...searching for existentialism through a haze of bong smoke.

No, it's easy to pick apart bad acting, shortsighted directing...

...and a moronic stringing together of words the studios term as prose.

No, I'm talking about the lack of realism. Realism.

Not a pervasive element in modern American cinematic vision.

Take Dog Day Afternoon, for example. Arguably Pacino's best work.

Short of Scarface and Godfather Part I, of course.

Masterpiece of directing, easily Lumet's best.

The cinematography, the acting, the screenplay, all topnotch. But...

...they didn't push the envelope.

What if, in Dog Day Sonny wanted to get away with it? Really wanted that.

Now this is the tricky part. What if he started killing hostages right away?

No mercy, no quarter.

"Meet our demands or the pretty blond gets it in the head." Bam, splat.

What, still no bus? Come on.

How many innocent victims would it take for the city...

...to reverse its policy on hostages?