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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 5, 2020 11:39:26 GMT
Helen Mirren - The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (re-watch)There's a kind of sexism that comes from a good intent - the effort to show how females can often be pushed to an extreme psychological state by men. That's of course simplistic and yet true and there is no denying that many of the greatest female performances - ever - fit into it: Huppert (The Piano Teacher), Adjani (Story of Adele H.) etc. But Mirren here is in an extremely tough spot because she has to be representative - not only must she be sexual, tragic, vengeful, deeply felt yet she must center the film and its ensemble. No one takes the events as "realistic" yet the formal style of the film assumes you can apply realism to it and her character especially. This is a painstakingly precise and yet layered work that could appear quite ridiculous - she makes the Shakespeare-like qualities crackle and haunt - and like all her best work you can't think of more than very few actresses - ever - who could play it .........or understand how to play it .......or understand why they need to play it that way to fit this material/style.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2020 2:33:30 GMT
Erland Josephson & Liv Ullmann in Scenes from a Marriage
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 7, 2020 10:43:18 GMT
Samantha Morton - Sweet and Lowdown (1999) - rewatchAn amazingly complex performance - opposite a great one by Sean Penn too - that is not only emotional but because the character is a mute has to be evocative and geared to the camera. Like Giulietta Masina or some of the acting of that type she raises not merely her character but their relationship and the films themes too.
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 7, 2020 16:30:50 GMT
Al Pacino - ".......And Justice For All" (1979)
Re-watched this to get ready for his upcoming and perhaps questionable (!?!) Hunters TV series role in a couple weeks.
A Best Actor nominated performance that maybe can't even crack his peerless top 25 - as an American Jewish lawyer who is simultaneously strident, caring, principled and ethically manipulated.
He is utterly believable as an intellectual - Pacino, a high school dropout in only his 7th real film role here (!) - passes so much character information to us in scenes likes this, even just by his reactions alone:
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Post by Mattsby on Feb 8, 2020 2:58:45 GMT
Ida Lupino in Road House (1948) As one guy says while looking at her, "She reminds me of the first woman who ever slapped my face." Loved this earlier on, before the melodrama, when it's just Lupino and her sleepy no-bullshit sarcasm. There's a confidence to her and a been-around toughness. She's charming too like when she flirt-asks Richard Widmark, "Say, what do you do around here between songs?" Or when she's bowling and says, "I have a knack of going halfway down the alley."
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 8, 2020 17:11:29 GMT
John Cassavetes - Crime In The Streets (1956)
Superior, star making performance by the single most underrated American actor I've ever seen - a better actor than he was a director even. Cassavetes here playing the Brando/Dean role proves himself nearly their equal in terms of star power and charisma - he owns the screen. He handles the long flowery dialog like a guy who is smart enough to know he could die any minute but not smart enough to change that. The man in the middle:
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Post by Mattsby on Feb 8, 2020 18:15:26 GMT
Geraldine Page in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) “Operator, I ought to know who I am.” Page in a miraculous performance as a famous actress, drug-addled, memory-fogged, deeply insecure and deeply vain. She captivates and enlivens every one of her scenes. She’s so hilarious - “Easter Sunday? How fitting. I feel absolutely reborn!” - to the point where some of her timing and pronunciations (“publicityyy”) reminded me of Catherine O’Hara in Schitts Creek, not kidding! She’s also always adding to our understanding of her, like in later scenes there’s great desperation behind her as she says to Newman, “They’ll cut the life out of you!” with such hurt and fear, you might guess she feels that way about herself. Also - barred to one room for most of the movie, her physical movements and use of props are impressive, lounging sprawled, spinning, falling over, etc. This time last year I woulda said she maybe makes my Top 50 actresses; now after catching up wit her work she's probably inside my Top 15.
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Post by isabelaolive on Feb 10, 2020 15:42:29 GMT
Julie Andrews - Victor/Victoria and The sound of musicToday I watched TSOM and Victor/Victoria, two films that along with Mary Poppins are considered essential to Andrews' career and I think I finally understand why she is so beloved. I remember that a time ago I watched Mary Poppins and although I liked it, I wondered what was so good about Andrews performance for her deserving to win an Oscar. Her performance was an ok performance, no big deal. But in VV and TSOM Andrews exudes a suffocating charm and naturalness when she appears on the screen. She has those typical characteristics of "hollywood actress", white, blonde, short hair, but at the same time she looks so ... unique. I think that among the comedy/musical actresses I know so far, Andrews is the only one who goes head to head with Garland. Charm, beauty, naturalness. Her voice, what a voice! The way she plays an effeminate man who performs as a woman without appearing totally caricatured or affected! Do you know that feeling when you watch a movie and then you want to watch the actor/actress/director entire filmography?
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 14, 2020 11:37:14 GMT
Michael Caine - Get Carter (1971)Brutal, precise and gloriously violent - Caine here sets in motion the idea of the very British modern thug - you can't imagine Hoskins in The Long Good Friday or several other actors without this role and definition. The film holds up spectacularly well still and Caine seems completely right yet slightly out of his mind here - you see all kinds of hints of steely resolve that would come later in his career in Dressed To Kill and Mona Lisa. He has a goal to achieve and his singularity of purpose is conveyed by the actor in a way that seems utterly logical even though it really is not. Fishing, the hard way:
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marly
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Post by marly on Feb 14, 2020 21:08:14 GMT
Martin Landau in Ed Wood
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Post by Mattsby on Feb 17, 2020 18:07:48 GMT
Brando in The Young Lions (1958) Saw this so long ago I'd forgotten it; Brando is by far the stand out in a phenomenal perf. He gets across so much feeling, questioning, and depth, often without any dialogue, like in the last few scenes how he becomes a perturbed knot of shame. There's a terrific, very affecting little scene where Brando gives a monologue while covering his eyes - "I was always afraid that.... I had just invented you." It's clear this is a perf no other actor would or could give, in his way, with such surprising, compelling, quiet notes.
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 18, 2020 10:35:33 GMT
Lothaire Bluteau - Jesus of MontrealA guy who never quite lived up to this although he's done some fine work - very memorable in an episode of my beloved Law & Order Criminal Intent for one - he is open and warm and gently humorous in this movie. He's playing an actor playing Jesus and he gets all of the intricacies and contradictions of that just right and eventually very moving too. Oh my God:
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Post by TerryMontana on Feb 18, 2020 16:11:34 GMT
I liked all the four main performances in Bombshell but imo Robbie stood out. She played her character exactly as she should: Weak and afraid, confused but decisive. Spot on.
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Post by Sharbs on Feb 18, 2020 18:29:47 GMT
Mifune in I Live in Fear A very Oscar worthy performance! from head to toe you don't see the usual brutish cute Mifune like you see in Drunken Angel or in Stray Dog you see an ugly old man on the verge of mental breakdown, salute tomake-up artist too, totally convincing young man-turned-old man performance! took me three time to read this and realize what was meant. because you're talking about a Japanese movie i thought this was a name. yikes
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Post by Mattsby on Feb 19, 2020 1:13:59 GMT
Cassavetes in Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981) - two minute clip above of one of his great scenes. Not a big fan of the movie itself. I always assumed Dreyfuss was nominated for this, I guess not? though it feels like something is missing from that perf he's pretty good..... but I was just more struck by Cassavetes, who's only in a few scenes really. It's his presence, the fire behind what he says, what he means, the busyness and experience he suggests...
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avnermoriarti
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Post by avnermoriarti on Feb 19, 2020 5:03:15 GMT
Gary Oldman, Dracula One of the most inspiring depictions of the famous count, it's done with so much panache, for example that armour Oldman wears a the beginning, he owns it, it's so big and ridiculous, lol yet he makes it his own, is a sinister presence, that is felt even when he's not on screen and is captivating at every moment, and part of that is Coppola's take on the material, with edges that have never before been attempted, some of the most celebrated versions could be define by one especific genre, yet Coppola manages to conjure the tragedy, romanticism and desire, in the end, Oldman's execution is deeply felt. I'm going through a 1992 mini marathon, catching up with some celebrated male lead performances, and probably Oldman is right at the top for me, in what it looks like a very strong year for the category
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 19, 2020 19:12:20 GMT
Hugh Grant & Ben Whishaw - A Very English Scandal (2018)Marvelous together in episode 1 and Whishaw in 2 and Grant in the finale - these actors etch their comic and dramatic performances at a perfect pitch. They also set the "reasons" for their homosexuality in precise ways - for Grant's character order is everything, hence his career in politics. His reason for the affair is actively seeking disorder .........for Whishaw everything is merely functionality - he loves who he loves, he needs (funnily) his national insurance card, and sure he likes the cameras but there is no ulterior motive or guile. Grant has a myriad of scenes in the finale where order is at risk and then temporarily restored (a coaster on a desk, the breaking down of a devastating witness, the cheering of the crowd), that is then shattered by a single sentence by his mother......... and his face becomes a death mask.
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Post by Mattsby on Feb 19, 2020 23:01:55 GMT
"I told you about danger, didn't I? First it makes you sick, then when you get through it, it makes you very, very loving."William Devane in Family Plot (1976) - the way his conspiratorial chemistry with Karen Black somewhat borders on threatening, he has a bunch of great glassy line-readings, and a whole perverse enjoyment in the thrill of criminality - he's a wealthy man, he has everything, and yet! He also suggests a lot of buried aggression (about his upbringing) with the way he says of the churchgoers, "They're all so religiously polite." Some intense moments and added touches like how he picks the lint off the policeman's shirt.
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Post by Longtallsally on Feb 20, 2020 21:22:36 GMT
Max von Sydow in The Virgin Spring, 1960
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Post by fiosnasiob on Feb 21, 2020 11:39:37 GMT
I rewatched two recently, one great in Courage Under Fire (Denzel first brillant, sensitive and moving venture into the world of remorse, guilt and booze) and one of the all-time greats in Sult (Oscarsson's virtuoso portray of a man fighting for his pride while dealing with poverty and descend into "madness", haunting work).
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Post by TerryMontana on Feb 22, 2020 16:18:00 GMT
All three of them were amazing (as always) and revealed their great comedic chops in this classic. But James Stewart was the first among equals. Well deserved Oscar win. His drunk scenes are hysterical!!!
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 22, 2020 23:55:04 GMT
Gary Oldman - Prick Up Your Ears (1987)Amazing, layered performance from the remarkable early phase of Oldman's career - Sid & Nancy, The Firm, State of Grace - you can't take your eyes off of him. Insightful in many ways as playwright Joe Orton he not only nails the artistic vanity but also his wit, humor and casual cruelty as well.......and yet also his own weaknesses too.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Feb 23, 2020 7:15:19 GMT
Christina Ricci / Samuel Jackson in Black Snake MoanRicci had this tendency to thrive in controversial roles and dominate them and make them palpable and her own. This was no exception. It was another gutsy role for her and she devoured it right up, and that's because Brewer's screenplay leaves ample room for her to examine this woman and round out her hard edges, ultimately uncovering some deep and nasty wounds. For its sexploitation trappings, the story is one of redemption and hope, and the real selling point here is the onscreen odd-couple relationship (and chemistry) between Ricci and Jackson. Jackson himself plays a deeply wounded individual and he carries the weight of that in his tired yet obstinate face while still leaving room for his customary charm and good humor. This is a man that's been beaten down by the world and still keeps pressing on, and his flirty scenes with S. Epatha Merkerson are delightful too. There's a scene when he puts on a sizzling sexed-up blues concert at a local bar that's alive with electricity. He sings a few times in the movie and he's not a great vocalist but there's a real fire in his voice that comes through.
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 23, 2020 11:01:45 GMT
You'd have to look awfully hard to find a performance by an actor - particularly a major actor in any country - as devoid of vanity as Bruno Ganz in Knife in The Head (1978). Playing a victim of a traumatic brain injury, he essentially must learn to walk, talk, feed himself, dress himself and that's not the plot of the movie really because there is an entirely different part to play of the character's dramatic life too. These scenes aren't just heartbreaking they make similar scenes in other films seem movie star glamorous. One of his best performances and like Wings of Desire and In The White City one that links the actor to the role in ways that match Ganz's strengths. He can communicate with an audience like a silent film actor too - several of the most vivid scenes come from us just watching his character think or if he even can actually think completely clearly.
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Post by Viced on Feb 23, 2020 16:58:46 GMT
Paul Newman in The VerdictIt's insane that Newman, at this point in his career, could give a performance so depressingly real. Of course he's got the Newman charisma that reels you in and makes him magnetic... but at the same time... he doesn't really at all. This is easily one of the finest alcoholic performances ever... completely devoid of the usual cliches and hysterics. I always thought this was Newman's finest work, but this re-watch definitely cements it at the top. There's just something about redemptive(ish) performances that strikes a chord with me... and when it's the right actor with the right material, it's magic.
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