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Post by pacinoyes on May 6, 2020 14:32:10 GMT
This is a cool little video - the person who says "we have a lot of male anti-heroes but not many female ones" is exactly why this is a landmark performance.
In that first clip opposite Ullman she does that great trick where she nods affirmatively to the negative statement she's saying on the "will not".
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2020 14:37:24 GMT
The latest episode, "Jill", has been the most devastating for me personally. To see the feminist, pro-choice wing of the Republican party dissolve right before your eyes is just... heartbreaking.
The mirroring effect between Schlafly and Ruckelshaus (the two Republican women, one moderate, the other militantly conservative) was a brilliant writing device and superbly acted by both Blanchett and Elizabeth Banks.
First were the starting and closing shots. At the beginning we see Jill work the politicians and looking dismissively at Phyllis who stands outside the White House. In the end, Jill is on her knees at home while Phyllis is among the Republican politicians enduring the very behavior that Jill had complained to her about.
Second was when Phyllis told Jill that the women being harassed had invited it upon themselves, yet at the end sits around feeling each of those unwanted touches, listening uneasily to the crude jokes, and just doing what the men tell her. All this despite her conviction that she was one of the "special ones" they would look at as an equal.
Third was the convention itself. During their drink, Phyllis mocked Jill about being out drinking instead of being a mother for her children. Yet Jill is shown caring for her children while fighting for the ERA while Phyllis does not give a second thought to those left at home while leading the women for her fight. Jill (who supports the ERA) stays home when her husband asks her to - Phyllis (who opposes it) continuously refuses to do so. The "Mrs." in the title is pretty deceptive, isn't it?
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Post by pacinoyes on May 8, 2020 20:30:50 GMT
Something to look forward to next Wednesday:
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Post by pacinoyes on May 13, 2020 17:56:05 GMT
Performance ........of...........the.........year. Also doing that other thing where she smiles when talking as a way to "sell" - if you've ever had to sell anybody anything you always are told to do that. There's some astonishing acting happening in the most mundane scenes twist and pivot often involving things like that "smiling while talking" and hesitation where you think along with her, so when she gets an idea - at the end of this scene - you feel her inspiration. She's getting........(gasp) better....
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Post by pacinoyes on May 15, 2020 21:42:45 GMT
Episode 8 trailer is up. 2 episodes left to go - this looks like the comic episode and episode 9 will obviously be the grand finale one where Blanchett stabs them all through the heart with a quilting needle.
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Post by Mattsby on May 17, 2020 1:46:19 GMT
Oooo I thought it was only 8 eps, another whole ep? Lucky we!
E7 was a very good one , got a huge laugh outta me with eyepatch Blanchett "Doesn't hurt a bit!" - right near another great line reading "I am not a pirate." But other moments especially are some series-best from Blanchett - the xmas photo with the daughter confronting a molten Blanchett, the last phone call scene, and the best - the scene with Tripplehorn and a disturbed Blanchett who dangles a Thanksgiving invitation with utter venom. Margo was very good this ep too with her "working girls" mic-drop.
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Post by pacinoyes on May 17, 2020 5:03:42 GMT
Oooo I thought it was only 8 eps, another whole ep? Lucky we! E7 was a very good one , got a huge laugh outta me with eyepatch Blanchett "Doesn't hurt a bit!" - right near another great line reading "I am not a pirate." But other moments especially are some series-best from Blanchett - the xmas photo with the daughter confronting a molten Blanchett, the last phone call scene, and the best - the scene with Tripplehorn and a disturbed Blanchett who dangles a Thanksgiving invitation with utter venom. Margo was very good this ep too with her "working girls" mic-drop. Yeah MM was really strong in Ep 7 - possible Emmy nod for this episode alone for her. Ep 7 has several things in it that are exceedingly clever and under the radar - Vulture.com had a great show analysis that basically stole my entire POV and pissed me off - grrrrrr - when did Vulture start writing anything good? The Runaways "Cherry Bomb" and its significance (Brilliantly chosen "luckily it wasn't a cherry pie"!) and how Phyllis continues to change and deepen and confuse everyone - her last line "Let's blow it up!" is said as a young mischievous punk teenage girl.......this episode works on many subconscious ways and this time not just Blanchett alone deepening the effect. The way she reads that last line though all giddy and ebullient is one of my fave little things of hers - it's her throwing a pie back in THEIR faces. www.vulture.com/2020/05/mrs-america-recap-episode-7-bella.html
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Post by pacinoyes on May 20, 2020 18:41:27 GMT
Haven't watched E8 yet but I'm expecting it to be minor ........here's the e9 finale trailer which I'm expecting to be major....the way she elongates "diiiiiiiiiies" .........
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2020 0:46:00 GMT
While the series is flawless from technical and acting standpoints, it has been very emotionally taxing for me - I will not miss it once the final episode has aired.
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Post by pacinoyes on May 21, 2020 9:49:38 GMT
The great Cate with a fairly marvelous op/ed in today's NY Times that talks about acting, Art, Covid, Mrs. America, the state of the world, the state of ourselves. Name me one other actor - male or female - who could have written this eloquently about Art and her place within it? Art allows us to investigate, illuminate and hopefully understand the apparent gap between us. www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/opinion/cate-blanchett-art-mrs-america.html
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Post by Mattsby on May 21, 2020 21:10:50 GMT
I always liked how Ebert called the movies the "empathy machine" and Blanchett presses that idea to the now.... concisely, meaningfully written, thought provoking article!
E8 is the Aronofsky's Mother! ep of this show. Halfway kidding but didn't expect the surreal tilt. Okay ep but def a filler...
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Post by notacrook on May 24, 2020 22:11:58 GMT
Episode 8 was just fantastic. Love a good bit of psychedelic-inspired self-exploration and discovery (Mad Men was great at this), and Paulson's trip through the Houston convention, complete with screaming, singing and a newly liberated world view, was glorious.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2020 15:21:16 GMT
That final scene with Blanchett was just delicious. I legitimately reveled in it. That evil woman got exactly what she deserved.
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Post by pacinoyes on May 27, 2020 15:49:45 GMT
That final scene with Blanchett was just delicious. I legitimately reveled in it. That evil woman got exactly what she deserved. Haven't seen it yet buy you got me slightly terrified........I'm expecting big things from Blanchett you know
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2020 16:04:00 GMT
That final scene with Blanchett was just delicious. I legitimately reveled in it. That evil woman got exactly what she deserved. Haven't seen it yet buy you got me slightly terrified........I'm expecting big things from Blanchett you know You'll see what I mean. Let me know what you think! And while I think Blanchett is great here, I don't necessarily think she's a "clear" standout - the entire ensemble is incredible IMO.
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Post by pacinoyes on May 27, 2020 17:51:03 GMT
That was a great series finale - this is a genuine almost Michael Corleone/Daniel Plainview villain turn (not THAT overt, but still). Key movie reference in episode 9 at the climax.......all those little tricks I mentioned in this thread going into that totality of that terrific performance. Blanchett is the equal of Michelle Williams last year in this piece and I don't toss that kind of actor praise around lightly. Smiling again, but when she's not.......you really feel it....
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2020 18:07:38 GMT
pacinoyes - Oh, Corleone and Plainview only wish they could be as bad as Schlafly - at least they do feel some human remorse for their actions, lol. I was worried you might think the final, final bit was too reminiscent of BlacKkKlansman... But it didn't have that same effect for you?
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Post by pacinoyes on May 27, 2020 18:32:14 GMT
pacinoyes - Oh, Corleone and Plainview only wish they could be as bad as Schlafly - at least they do feel some human remorse for their actions, lol. I was worried you might think the final, final bit was too reminiscent of BlacKkKlansman... But it didn't have that same effect for you? My problem with Blackklansman's ending (still haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate it, but hey you know, I saw Martin Scorsese praise it, um - ) is it comes entirely out of left field to leave you feeling a certain way that the film has not earned. No character from the movie is in his CNN clip appropriation bullsh it - it's an entirely artificial effect (not an artificial scene but effect) and............it's a (very) cheap ploy imo, to get you to feel a certain way for his film based on how you feel irl ...........but one that he couldn't actually write himself (or with his many co-screenwriters) to get you to that feeling. One person's "powerful!" is another's "gross heavy-handedness" I guess. Mrs. America may be a little eye-brow raising sure - but by comparison Blackklansman's scene was a whole different, cheaper level imo ......
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Post by Allenism on May 27, 2020 19:11:12 GMT
I'm only on episode 3 but I'm finding myself most intrigued by Byrne's portrayal of Steinem.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2020 19:27:33 GMT
I'm only on episode 3 but I'm finding myself most intrigued by Byrne's portrayal of Steinem. Ari Graynor probably gave my single favorite performance - I think you'll love her as Brenda Feigen-Fasteau.
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Post by MsMovieStar on May 28, 2020 13:33:46 GMT
Oh honeys, I need to start watching this.
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Post by notacrook on May 28, 2020 22:36:08 GMT
This went out on such a perfect note with that final Schlafly scene, with Blanchett capping off another legendary performance. This whole damn cast is staggeringly good. What a fantastic miniseries.
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Post by MsMovieStar on May 28, 2020 23:02:58 GMT
Oh honey, Blannie's really knocking it out the park here. Very assured performance... reminds me of Fran in Olive Kitteridge. Great acting that brings the character totally to life and off the screen.
Tracey Ullman is also a stand out for me... but I am only on the second episode.
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Post by Mattsby on Jun 3, 2020 1:00:27 GMT
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Post by pacinoyes on Jun 3, 2020 1:25:29 GMT
Haven't read the article but Tyler hinted at it and I made an allusion to it a couple posts back. It very much does - both in scene set-up and of course thematically and cops a specific construct from Dielman. This actual scene is devastating to me and reminded me of something I once heard De Palma say about Hitchcock in how he shoots "descending" camera shots earlier to illustrate later shots in Vertigo (I think he was talking about the scene where Stewart follows her in the car as an example - a "spiral") - like that's how much thought Hitch put into those scenes to achieve a desired effect. Well Blanchett is doing that as an actor level.........all those smiles and nods in earlier episodes and "negatives turned to positives" we discussed and "pointing forward when she say "back" etc. all those infinite visual clues are now turned to strictly negatives overtly........before, where she used her face, her face now reveals to us in ways it didn't/couldn't before when she "won" a battle when now she's lost another. In our Best Performances of the 2010s I talked about how in Blue Jasmine she seemed to be "directing herself".........well here she seems to be both directing AND writing her character through performance. I called it a "portraiture" in one post and I think that fits the descriptive level of the portrayal. It's incredibly sophisticated acting work by Blanchett imo......
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