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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 14, 2019 9:48:35 GMT
Diane Keaton - Baby BoomRe-watch of a totally formulaic film raised just by her work alone - she's charming, hilarious, poignant, frantic, grounded and just flat out interesting in every second of this movie. Bravo
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Post by JangoB on Sept 14, 2019 12:26:30 GMT
If being purely entertaining is enough for a performance to be considered great then this guy definitely fits the bill for me:
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Post by Viced on Sept 14, 2019 14:57:43 GMT
Isabelle Huppert in Story of WomenWhat a brilliant, enigmatic performance that only Huppert could pull off. A character that sometimes seems like a simpleton, other times a mad genius entrepreneur... vicious, cunning... loving? And all while dreaming of becoming a singer! It's almost like she gives a different performance depending on which character she's interacting with... the contempt for the husband, pure love for the daughter, weird animosity towards the son, free-spirited-ness with the lover, strictly business with the clients... I think of the scene at the cafe after she meets Lulu where she says something like "I'm not just a housewife" that kind of sets the course for the rest of the movie and performance. She didn't want to just be a housewife before, but after that she'd rather die ( ) than be stuck with a boring life.
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Post by Mattsby on Sept 14, 2019 20:44:26 GMT
Isabelle Huppert in Story of WomenWhat a brilliant, enigmatic performance that only Huppert could pull off. A character that sometimes seems like a simpleton, other times a mad genius entrepreneur... vicious, cunning... loving? And all while dreaming of becoming a singer! It's almost like she gives a different performance depending on which character she's interacting with... the contempt for the husband, pure love for the daughter, weird animosity towards the son, free-spirited-ness with the lover, strictly business with the clients... I think of the scene at the cafe after she meets Lulu where she says something like "I'm not just a housewife" that kind of sets the course for the rest of the movie and performance. She didn't want to just be a housewife before, but after that she'd rather die ( ) than be stuck with a boring life. Such a full and interesting performance/character, without a single instant looking for viewer sympathy, it's those differences you mention, how Huppert adjusts herself and lights on her dreams, that make it so interesting, convincing, and in turn tragic. Francois Cluzet, the husband, gives a great performance too - he's practically shell-shocked at how candid and self-sufficient she's become, though it's more gutting to him, to lose her love and made privy to her blurring of social-moral norms. Cluzet, like in Les Apprentis and other stuff, can play 'stunned depression' with the best of 'em.
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Post by Mattsby on Sept 14, 2019 21:20:27 GMT
James Woods in Best Seller (1987) - Close enough to a great perf and makes the iffy movie, that should be a lot better than it is and a lot funnier too, worthwhile. I think the trick of the character that Woods brings out is that he has to convince himself just as much as the Brian Dennehy character. He's insecure, practically sociopathic, feels misunderstood, yet proud of his 'work' smugly so, as a tactical thinker and 'professional' success, he's defensive, very violent, but also very slick especially at the beginning which Woods breaks down, and then brings back during the big climax, where we see his complete ability and Woods adds winks and touches of humor there too... before the sad bloody-mess of a goodbye. He believes he's a hero bc he has to believe that, otherwise he's just a cold-blooded killer. When Dennehy sarcastically calls him "thoughtful" Woods face straightens and he earnestly corrects him, "I am." The character excuses his past behavior by negotiating accountability, he's fighting for his legacy, and Woods goes about that trail of proof and blame with a complicated mix of ease and desperation. Just about every scene he's entertaining to watch here....
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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 15, 2019 10:11:03 GMT
Peter Lorre - The Beast With Five Fingers (1946)Mattsby - you've seen this or commented on it (?) because, I'd like to rave Lorre here I've actually re-watched this twice in the last 3 days - I've seen it like a dozen times maybe more on late night TV - and I could watch it literally every day for as long as my TV works - I would watch it right now over The Best Years Of Our Lives AND It's A Wonderful Life actually AND eat all the f'n popcorn. I like junk and this film is well.......this film is in a very much junk in a 1946 way - just bonkers, about a guy who is bonkers that starts to drive you bonkers if you think about it too much.........and the ending is completely awful. But Lorre is marvelously OTT here and gloriously so, his posture, sullen looks into the distance are funny, quirky, memorable and kind of heartbreaking too - there is no escape - the hand spends time in the library ok - it's reading AND likes music - if it drank alcohol and was more pretentious it could be a grad student for Godsakes. I love Peter Lorre here and that Michael Caine's version (The Hand) tries to take it more seriously and is LESS successful ......and I love how Lorre himself is like a shadow on the wall hovering under some expressionistic sets or weird off-kilter closeups and those damned books in the library that capture the essence of how overwhelmed and sad and small he is.
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Post by Mattsby on Sept 15, 2019 19:09:44 GMT
Peter Lorre - The Beast With Five Fingers (1946)Mattsby - you've seen this or commented on it (?) because, I'd like to rave Lorre here Haven't seen but it sounds great! Lorre has a good foothold in the "Hand-horror" genre (Mad Love too), he really sticks his neck out for those (body) parts! also this costars Robert Alda who is Alan Alda's dad!
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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 16, 2019 20:24:46 GMT
I watched the "Black Cadillac" episode of Ray Donovan - and wanted to shout out Jon VoightGotta be honest, I don't really like this show THAT much - sometimes it plays like a glossy porn and everything is underlined too much, but the acting gets it over - it mostly holds my interest (like Ozark actually) and Voight is really great here - a guy who sees his life slipping away - lost 20 years and he's not ready to let go - he has money, has his looks and still likes to eat good food and have sex - he's sticking around. This episode was directed by John Dahl btw.....
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Post by Mattsby on Sept 16, 2019 20:43:50 GMT
I watched the "Black Cadillac" episode of Ray Donovan - and wanted to shout out Jon VoightGotta be honest, I don't really like this show THAT much - sometimes it plays like a glossy porn and everything is underlined too much, but the acting gets it over - it mostly holds my interest (like Ozark actually) and Voight is really great here - a guy who sees his life slipping away - lost 20 years and he's not ready to let go - he has money, has his looks and still likes to eat good food and have sex - he's sticking around. This episode was directed by John Dahl btw..... Only saw S1 when it aired so it's been a while ~ I liked Voight, I remember some hilarious pep talks to his grandson, and Eddie Marsan irate and impressive physicality, and later in the season..... a very good James woods!
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Sept 20, 2019 5:33:17 GMT
Joanne Woodward in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. A brilliant high-wire turn. Reminded me of Margit Carstensen's performance in Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant.
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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 21, 2019 9:32:32 GMT
Don Cheadle - Devil in A Blue Dress - Re-watch A good film, you can't picture many not liking it but loving it? There's a great film somewhere in here but this one is all smoothed over and palatable - it should be far uglier and meaner and lose much of the narration. But the one thing to love in it is Don Cheadle's kinetic, scenery chewing performance as Mouse - and it very much is a ham turn in the best sense - showy because Mouse himself is showy, you meet him, you won't forget him .......and don't you want all your movie characters to be like that on some level?
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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 23, 2019 0:41:27 GMT
3 episodes in on "Marianne" the French Netflix horror (and it must be watched in French not the US dubbed) and Mireille Herbstmeyer who I've never heard of and has like only 10 credits (!) is proving to be quite a memorable horror character.......not sure this show will sustain, tend to doubt it, but I'll never forget her ...........and there's a lot of show left too.
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Drish
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Post by Drish on Sept 25, 2019 1:19:46 GMT
Just finished the second season of The Fall and I am absolutely in love with Gillian Anderson's subdued performance as Stella Gibson. It's a kind of performance that's so easy to go under the radar mainly because it's such a quiet, understated character with hardly any 'big' moments. But she says so much with her eyes here, the sadness and sympathy that she's able to showcase without saying a single word. Love her and love the show so far although I feel they should've ended it in the second season.
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Drish
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Post by Drish on Sept 25, 2019 1:21:38 GMT
3 episodes in on "Marianne" the French Netflix horror (and it must be watched in French not the US dubbed) and Mireille Herbstmeyer who I've never heard of and has like only 10 credits (!) is proving to be quite a memorable horror character.......not sure this show will sustain, tend to doubt it, but I'll never forget her ...........and there's a lot of show left too. One of the cons of staying alone is not able to watch anything horror I so want to watch this but I don't think I'll be able to sleep properly and I so don't wanna take the risk, haha.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Sept 26, 2019 6:22:07 GMT
I've got a whole batch today. All very different performances but brilliant in their own right. first, J-Lo in Hustlers (yes she's phenomenal and I'm probably not gonna shut up about it until next year). I've never been the biggest fan of her acting work but she's a force of nature here, with the capacity to go from supporting/loving to blindly vindictive. She dominates every frame she's in. next up, Ross Martin in Experiment in Terror (1962). This was a terrific and very menacing performance. Martin plays a rapey asthmatic psychopath who plans to force Lee Remick to rob a bank. Story lost me towards the end even if Edwards' slick direction kept things moving, but I'm not going to forget about Martin's devilish grin for a long, or those creepy bug eyes. Especially during his first full reveal where he surprises Remick in a changing room while wearing a disguise and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Don't want to spoil that scene for anyone who wants to see it, so here's a shot of his teeth instead. Marvelous performance. and last but not least, Ali MacGraw and Richard Benjamin as young lovers in Goodbye Columbus (1969). This was a special film. Reminded me of The Graduate in that it focuses on that cross-section of madly-in-love 60s youths who have no idea what they want to do with their lives. I actually like it more in some ways, so I'm disappointed it's been so overlooked/forgotten. I've seen Benjamin around but he's given such a chance to shine here and display his snarky charisma in a way I haven't seen to this before to this extent, although it's not a far cry from his bitchy effeminate officer in Catch-22. And MacGraw was truly a revelation in 1969. This is the role that broke her out in the American mainstream and more than likely nabbed her Love Story. I remember liking her a lot in that performance but I don't remember loving her as much as I do here. She's absolutely charming. Put together they light up the screen. Dazzling chemistry.
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Drish
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Post by Drish on Sept 29, 2019 18:43:45 GMT
I think I just witnessed one of the greatest performances. The ensemble is to die for and every single one of them is soo amazing but goddamn Lemmon is unbelievable. The movie itself doesn't let you breathe and stressed me out seeing this bunch of men going all crazy. That Lemmon didn't even receive a Golden Globe nom let alone the Oscar is just shame. It's one of the best portrayals of desperation I've seen. Wow!
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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 29, 2019 18:58:27 GMT
I think I just witnessed one of the greatest performances. The ensemble is to die for and every single one of them is soo amazing but goddamn Lemmon is unbelievable. The movie itself doesn't let you breathe and stressed me out seeing this bunch of men going all crazy. That Lemmon didn't even receive a Golden Globe nom let alone the Oscar is just shame. It's one of the best portrayals of desperation I've seen. Wow! He was the classic example of the early season peak and then fade - he won the first award for best actor (NBR) and then lost ground from then on ......it's a pretty shocking exclusion.
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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 30, 2019 9:55:38 GMT
Robert Shaw - The Birthday Party (1968)One of the greatest plays, by one of the greatest playwrights (Harold Pinter) that could probably never be filmed but is given a pretty good reading here by William Friedkin and a great showcase for Shaw. He captures the specific and the unsaid - the crux of Pinter's style and artistic goal too.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Sept 30, 2019 20:26:35 GMT
Robert Shaw - The Birthday Party (1968)One of the greatest plays, by one of the greatest playwrights (Harold Pinter) that could probably never be filmed but is given a pretty good reading here by William Friedkin and a great showcase for Shaw. He captures the specific and the unsaid - the crux of Pinter's style and artistic goal too. I really really want to see this.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Sept 30, 2019 20:31:36 GMT
My contribution today will be Béatrice Romand in Le Beau Mariage (1982). Women like Romand and Pascale Ogier and Marie Rivière are the reasons I tend to gravitate more towards Rohmer's female-led films of the 80s than towards his more ponderous, less joyful and celebratory and sensitive male-led Moral Tales of the 60s ( My Night at Maud's being an exception, but that's mostly because of the Françoise Fabian character). Romand is just as delightful and vivacious here as she was in Claire's Knee 12 years earlier but in the forefront she's more able to convey her full range of talent and create a rounded and lived-in woman full of complexity and contradiction. She's restless and longing, frustrated by men but desperate for their attention, a dreamer and a searcher.
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Post by pacinoyes on Oct 1, 2019 8:41:18 GMT
Un Coeur En Hiver - rewatch. Arguably 1992's finest 2 performances - you can make a case for it at least, Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Beart are a tour de force of an abstract almost un-cinematic idea. The cinema of missed connections, longing and a heartbreaking poetry.
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Post by DanQuixote on Oct 1, 2019 17:26:52 GMT
The entire ensemble of The Farewell, especially Awkwafina, Zhao Shuzhen and Diana Lin.
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Post by pacinoyes on Oct 2, 2019 18:49:23 GMT
Viola Davis - Law & Order Criminal Intent - "Badge"The only African American triple crown winner for people who think that doesn't matter - it definitely does - is a prototypical force of nature here - early on in her career. A guest starring turn as a corrupt cop and single mother, she goes head to head with Vincent D'Onofrio in some surprisingly tense and snarling confrontations.
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Post by pacinoyes on Oct 3, 2019 17:59:08 GMT
Bruce Weitz "The Murderer" Ray Bradbury TheaterLike a lot of these shows this is played mostly for laughs (unfortunately) but it's one of the best source material pieces. A Bradbury original about a man who decides his cell phone (and other convenience devices) are ruining his life and he must murder them so he can get some silence. Ingenious premise - 30 years at least ahead of its time, that Weitz plays with a wonderful, mad glee.
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Post by Mattsby on Oct 3, 2019 22:30:42 GMT
Martin Sheen ~ Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Method Actor (1985) Very fun episode, a little silly, and some fascinating elements - Burt Reynolds directed (it's perfect that an actor directed it)! Martin Sheen plays a self-serious highly regarded actor (named Paul Dano, lmao) who loses a role to a young nobody and well, y'know...... Sheen gives a tense, furious, hilarious perf, there's some charm too. Lotta inside jokes... “If a LOOK is all they wanted, why’d I spend ten years in New York at the Actor’s Studio! I should’ve just had my teeth bonded!” "I did classics with Wyler, and Lean, and Coppola! I have four Oscar nominations and a British Academy Award!”
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