|
Post by TerryMontana on Aug 15, 2019 18:02:37 GMT
If you're talking comedy and Michael Caine, then I have a soft spot for his take on the controlling director in Peter Bogdanovich's sadly sheldomly talked about Noises Off, which is a rather sly, clever, look at the Broadway industry through the lenses of hysteria. Caine really proves his comedy chops throughout the film. He's over the top, but only when necessary. Two fantastic comedies!! They're both hillarious. For Steve Martin is not unusual to be great in a comic role but for Caine and Reeve, I was surprised how good they were. And yes, Noises Off is greatly underrated imo.
|
|
|
Post by therealcomicman117 on Aug 15, 2019 18:21:59 GMT
If you're talking comedy and Michael Caine, then I have a soft spot for his take on the controlling director in Peter Bogdanovich's sadly sheldomly talked about Noises Off, which is a rather sly, clever, look at the Broadway industry through the lenses of hysteria. Caine really proves his comedy chops throughout the film. He's over the top, but only when necessary. Two fantastic comedies!! They're both hillarious. For Steve Martin is not unusual to be great in a comic role but for Caine and Reeve, I was surprised how good they were. And yes, Noises Off is greatly underrated imo. Agreed. It's such a fun-little "crazy behind the scenes" type of a flick. Wonderful stacked cast too. Caine & Reeve were actually in a movie together prior called Deathtrap directed by Sidney Lumet, that's a fun "twisty Hitchcockian style comedy" of sorts, that I highly recommend.
|
|
cherry68
Based
Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that.
Posts: 3,726
Likes: 2,136
|
Post by cherry68 on Aug 15, 2019 19:20:08 GMT
One of my favorite moments from Batman Begins is in the final scene after Gordon says "I never said thank you" to Batman, who replies "And you'll never have to." As Batman leaps off the roof, the last shot of Oldman shows him giving this small smile that's just perfect in how unaffected and internally generated it feels. It's a smile that says "I wasn't sure about you at first, but now this feels right to me." That scene in particular perfectly encapsulates the Batman/Gordon relationship, and Oldman completely understood his character... his warmth, his unshakeable trust, his stubbornness and resolve. Can't imagine anyone playing that part better. Another one of my favorite Gordon moments is when we first see Oldman near the beginning when he's comforting Bruce Wayne as a child. After he puts the coat over his shoulders and says "it's okay" several times, you seem him look away uncomfortably because he doesn't know what else to say... he realizes that there isn't anything else to say... His interaction with the young Bruce Wayne reminds me of the scene where he says goodbye to Harry in Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban.
|
|
|
Post by TerryMontana on Aug 15, 2019 19:22:45 GMT
Two fantastic comedies!! They're both hillarious. For Steve Martin is not unusual to be great in a comic role but for Caine and Reeve, I was surprised how good they were. And yes, Noises Off is greatly underrated imo. Agreed. It's such a fun-little "crazy behind the scenes" type of a flick. Wonderful stacked cast too. Caine & Reeve were actually in a movie together prior called Deathtrap directed by Sidney Lumet, that's a fun "twisty Hitchcockian style comedy" of sorts, that I highly recommend. I've seen it and I liked it.
|
|
cherry68
Based
Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that.
Posts: 3,726
Likes: 2,136
|
Post by cherry68 on Aug 15, 2019 19:27:04 GMT
Gary OldmanGenre: CrimeA great actor, Oldman's contribution to the Crime genre feels a bit underrated. For me arguably his best film performance (top 3 at least) came in a crime/gangster movie about Irish-American mobsters, State Of Grace. In a dynamic and incendiary performance as loose cannon Jackie Flannery, Oidman gave a masterclass in how to obliterate everybody else on screen, including seasoned pros like Ed Harris and would-be generational rivals like Sean Penn. It was brutal, but that cast ( also including Robin Wright and John C Reilly) were basically helpless spectators to the Gary Oldman show. State Of Grace kinda bombed at the box office (It had the misfortune to come out the same year as Goodfellas , which soaked up most of the gangster movie love) but Oidman's perform ance has helped give it a sort of lasting cult classic status. Another great crime film Oldman was involved in was Leon (also known as The Professional). Oldman played a supporting role to the main story about a contract killer taking a little girl under his wing. As a seemingly permanently coked-up corrupt cop, Oldman gave the sort of larger than life lunatic performance that began to define him in antagonist/villain roles in the 90''s. He also gave a very memorable turn as a white Rastafarian in True Romance.Arguably his biggest and most lasting impression in the Crime genre is Chris Nolan' s The Dark Knight trilogy. Obviously these can be primarily seen as Superhero/Action movies, but Nolan's conceit was to treat Batman as if he might exist in the real world, and essentially make a series of mostly grounded crime movies with a guy dressed as a Bat at it's centre. In a wonderfully restrained and humane performance as good cop Jim Gordon , Oldman is arguably the heart and soul of the trilogy. Below, Oldman acting Sean Penn off the screen in State Of Grace
He played a lot of criminals in minor movies (Lawless and The book of Eli for instance), but I think you forgot to name his turn in Air Force one and his iconic Jean Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg in The fifth element, that deserved a mention.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Aug 15, 2019 23:00:15 GMT
Gary OldmanGenre: CrimeA great actor, Oldman's contribution to the Crime genre feels a bit underrated. For me arguably his best film performance (top 3 at least) came in a crime/gangster movie about Irish-American mobsters, State Of Grace. In a dynamic and incendiary performance as loose cannon Jackie Flannery, Oidman gave a masterclass in how to obliterate everybody else on screen, including seasoned pros like Ed Harris and would-be generational rivals like Sean Penn. It was brutal, but that cast ( also including Robin Wright and John C Reilly) were basically helpless spectators to the Gary Oldman show. State Of Grace kinda bombed at the box office (It had the misfortune to come out the same year as Goodfellas , which soaked up most of the gangster movie love) but Oidman's perform ance has helped give it a sort of lasting cult classic status. Another great crime film Oldman was involved in was Leon (also known as The Professional). Oldman played a supporting role to the main story about a contract killer taking a little girl under his wing. As a seemingly permanently coked-up corrupt cop, Oldman gave the sort of larger than life lunatic performance that began to define him in antagonist/villain roles in the 90''s. He also gave a very memorable turn as a white Rastafarian in True Romance.Arguably his biggest and most lasting impression in the Crime genre is Chris Nolan' s The Dark Knight trilogy. Obviously these can be primarily seen as Superhero/Action movies, but Nolan's conceit was to treat Batman as if he might exist in the real world, and essentially make a series of mostly grounded crime movies with a guy dressed as a Bat at it's centre. In a wonderfully restrained and humane performance as good cop Jim Gordon , Oldman is arguably the heart and soul of the trilogy. Below, Oldman acting Sean Penn off the screen in State Of Grace
He played a lot of criminals in minor movies (Lawless and The book of Eli for instance), but I think you forgot to name his turn in Air Force one and his iconic Jean Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg in The fifth element, that deserved a mention. Hmm...I guess it's more important whether you can easily define the movie as being part of the crime genre, than whether he played a criminal in a specific film. I'd define Air Force One as a straight up action film and The Fifth Element as Sci-Fi/Fantasy or Action before I ever would consider them crime films. Actors on this thread can be profiled multiple times for different genres ( Crime is Oldman's 2nd profile on this thread. He's already been done for biopics/biography. You might want to consider doing a Sci-Fi/Fantasy profile yourself for Oldman at some point, because I believe his contributions to those genres are strong enough to merit it ) A big crime movie Oldman was in that I didn't mention would be something like Hannibal, where he played Mason Verger.
|
|
cherry68
Based
Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that.
Posts: 3,726
Likes: 2,136
|
Post by cherry68 on Aug 16, 2019 6:23:10 GMT
He played a lot of criminals in minor movies (Lawless and The book of Eli for instance), but I think you forgot to name his turn in Air Force one and his iconic Jean Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg in The fifth element, that deserved a mention. Hmm...I guess it's more important whether you can easily define the movie as being part of the crime genre, than whether he played a criminal in a specific film. I'd define Air Force One as a straight up action film and The Fifth Element as Sci-Fi/Fantasy or Action before I ever would consider them crime films. Actors on this thread can be profiled multiple times for different genres ( Crime is Oldman's 2nd profile on this thread. He's already been done for biopics/biography. You might want to consider doing a Sci-Fi/Fantasy profile yourself for Oldman at some point, because I believe his contributions to those genres are strong enough to merit it ) A big crime movie Oldman was in that I didn't mention would be something like Hannibal, where he played Mason Verger.I was carried away by batman trilogy I guess, that you admitted it can defined as a different genre too. More than the few scenes in Hannibal, I'd name Criminal law (where he plays a lawyer and it's basically the same plot as The Lincoln lawyer, which is clearly a remake), and Murder in the first. We can call crime movies his Nobody's baby / Sin / Dead fish / Rain fall / Guns girls and gambling / Child 44 and so on (even if Nobody's baby belongs more to comedy).
|
|
|
Post by pacinoyes on Aug 16, 2019 9:01:12 GMT
As I've mentioned before many times Oldman's best performance to me is The Firm and that fits here as well even though it's a film that's BBC made for TV. There his criminality is interconnected and yet not to his non-criminal life - it provides him with the sense of fraternity, community, purpose that his job, wife, family do not - yet he treats it separately. He can't even see the differences in himself and his behavior or in the criminality he's involved with even when he is killed by it, he's incredulous that he's actually been shot The way he played that character as if it's "not really him" was really inspired stuff and gets into ways as an actor that he shaped and defined crime roles in general but never more than he did here.
|
|
cherry68
Based
Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that.
Posts: 3,726
Likes: 2,136
|
Post by cherry68 on Aug 16, 2019 14:28:11 GMT
As I've mentioned before many times Oldman's best performance to me is The Firm and that fits here as well even though it's a film that's BBC made for TV. There his criminality is interconnected and yet not to his non-criminal life - it provides him with the sense of fraternity, community, purpose that his job, wife, family do not - yet he treats it separately. He can't even see the differences in himself and his behavior or in the criminality he's involved with even when he is killed by it, he's incredulous that he's actually been shot The way he played that character as if it's "not really him" was really inspired stuff and gets into ways as an actor that he shaped and defined crime roles in general but never more than he did here. I could never see that role played by an American for instance - the hooligans world is something you can understand if you are a football fan and it's part of your environment. This movie was like a punch in the stomach to me. I witnessed the Heysel mass murder (the firm is set few years later) but I fully understood what happened when I heard one of Oldman's lines in the movie - the truth is we like beating people.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Aug 17, 2019 16:43:28 GMT
Paul Newman
Genre: Psychological Drama
Paul Newman was an incredible actor with a highly specific skill-set. He didn't have a classical range which (among other limitations) always prevented him from being put in serious contention with the likes of Marlon Brando and George C. Scott for being the greatest American living actor at the peak of his powers in the 1960's and 70's.
But Newman could match anybody on the planet in psychological drama on film, particularly in a contemporary American setting. Brando and Scott had the range to do much more and in different settings , but Newman dominated contemporary American psychological drama with an iron fist after Brando's first career peak in the 1950's. Ironically in this genre, Newman started out as little more than a Brando clone, imitatating his technique and mannerisms to an irritating degree.
But once Newman began to really find his own voice and style, he became virtually unstoppable. From Cat On A Hot Tin Roof to The Hustler (arguably his greatest performance) to Hud to Cool Hand Luke to The Verdict, Newman began to specialise in unravelling the contradictions and complexities of these very American men. And he did it masterfully. Below, Newman in The Hustler confronting George C Scott:
|
|
|
Post by therealcomicman117 on Aug 17, 2019 21:05:54 GMT
Paul NewmanGenre: Psychological DramaPaul Newman was an incredible actor with a highly specific skill-set. He didn't have a classical range which (among other limitations) always prevented him from being put in serious contention with the likes of Marlon Brando and George C. Scott for being the greatest American living actor at the peak of his powers in the 1960's and 70's. But Newman could match anybody on the planet in psychological drama on film, particularly in a contemporary American setting. Brando and Scott had the range to do much more and in different settings , but Newman dominated contemporary American psychological drama with an iron fist after Brando's first career peak in the 1950's. Ironically in this genre, Newman started out as little more than a Brando clone, imitatating his technique and mannerisms to an irritating degree. But once Newman began to really find his own voice and style, he became virtually unstoppable. From Cat On A Hot Tin Roof to The Hustler (arguably his greatest performance) to Hud to Cool Hand Luke to The Verdict, Newman began to specialise in unravelling the contradictions and complexities of these very American men. And he did it masterfully. Below, Newman in The Hustler confronting George C Scott: For me Paul Newman's career is the kind of acting career that most actors should follow by. He had amazing longevity, especially as a huge star, he didn't win his Oscar until he was 61, and while he had his few mishaps and low-points over the years (hello When Time Ran Out, which coincidentally he only did so he could get funding for Newman's Own), he became a strong respected veteran by the end. Discounting his voice-work in Cars, his major film/ role was Road to Perdition, after all. You mentioned psychological drama, and there's an interesting case to be made that perhaps Newman's good looks and "cool guy" persona, meant he was best-suited for characters that had their wits tested, and overcame those challenges, like say in Cool Hand Luke, where he gains the respected of the oddball prisoners, or in Hud where he battles his son's own alcoholism. With both roles, he came in looking weaker, and then came out stronger then before. Perhaps my favorite of these kinds of roles for Newman, is Sweet Bird of Youth, which just like Cat On a Hot Tin Roof is also based off a Tennessee Williams play, and has Newman cast as a struggling young star, who make a huge impression on fading washed-up actress Geraldine Page. It's the kind of performance that makes you appreciate just how strong actors can be, when they only have so much time to emote, or leave their mark on something.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Aug 17, 2019 22:08:07 GMT
Paul NewmanGenre: Psychological DramaPaul Newman was an incredible actor with a highly specific skill-set. He didn't have a classical range which (among other limitations) always prevented him from being put in serious contention with the likes of Marlon Brando and George C. Scott for being the greatest American living actor at the peak of his powers in the 1960's and 70's. But Newman could match anybody on the planet in psychological drama on film, particularly in a contemporary American setting. Brando and Scott had the range to do much more and in different settings , but Newman dominated contemporary American psychological drama with an iron fist after Brando's first career peak in the 1950's. Ironically in this genre, Newman started out as little more than a Brando clone, imitatating his technique and mannerisms to an irritating degree. But once Newman began to really find his own voice and style, he became virtually unstoppable. From Cat On A Hot Tin Roof to The Hustler (arguably his greatest performance) to Hud to Cool Hand Luke to The Verdict, Newman began to specialise in unravelling the contradictions and complexities of these very American men. And he did it masterfully. Below, Newman in The Hustler confronting George C Scott: For me Paul Newman's career is the kind of acting career that most actors should follow by. He had amazing longevity, especially as a huge star, he didn't win his Oscar until he was 61, and while he had his few mishaps and low-points over the years (hello When Time Ran Out, which coincidentally he only did so he could get funding for Newman's Own), he became a strong respected veteran by the end. Discounting his voice-work in Cars, his major film/ role was Road to Perdition, after all. You mentioned psychological drama, and there's an interesting case to be made that perhaps Newman's good looks and "cool guy" persona, meant he was best-suited for characters that had their wits tested, and overcame those challenges, like say in Cool Hand Luke, where he gains the respected of the oddball prisoners, or in Hud where he battles his son's own alcoholism. With both roles, he came in looking weaker, and then came out stronger then before. Perhaps my favorite of these kinds of roles for Newman, is Sweet Bird of Youth, which just like Cat On a Hot Tin Roof is also based off a Tennessee Williams play, and has Newman cast as a struggling young star, who make a huge impression on fading washed-up actress Geraldine Page. It's the kind of performance that makes you appreciate just how strong actors can be, when they only have so much time to emote, or leave their mark on something. Newman had a model career as a professional. I admire how honest he was about his limitations as well. He famously made a really terrible biblical type epic early in his career called The Silver Chalice. It was so bad and he was considered so bad in It that he took out full page ads in industry trade papers apologising for his performance. It was after that when he learned to stick to what he was best at, and not stray too far away from what was within his range. It's also interesting to realise he was probably the main beneficiary of James Dean's death. A lot of roles earmarked for Dean (such as Billy The Kid in The Left Handed Gun) went straight to Newman .His career might have been very different had Dean lived.
|
|
|
Post by therealcomicman117 on Aug 17, 2019 22:20:44 GMT
For me Paul Newman's career is the kind of acting career that most actors should follow by. He had amazing longevity, especially as a huge star, he didn't win his Oscar until he was 61, and while he had his few mishaps and low-points over the years (hello When Time Ran Out, which coincidentally he only did so he could get funding for Newman's Own), he became a strong respected veteran by the end. Discounting his voice-work in Cars, his major film/ role was Road to Perdition, after all. You mentioned psychological drama, and there's an interesting case to be made that perhaps Newman's good looks and "cool guy" persona, meant he was best-suited for characters that had their wits tested, and overcame those challenges, like say in Cool Hand Luke, where he gains the respected of the oddball prisoners, or in Hud where he battles his son's own alcoholism. With both roles, he came in looking weaker, and then came out stronger then before. Perhaps my favorite of these kinds of roles for Newman, is Sweet Bird of Youth, which just like Cat On a Hot Tin Roof is also based off a Tennessee Williams play, and has Newman cast as a struggling young star, who make a huge impression on fading washed-up actress Geraldine Page. It's the kind of performance that makes you appreciate just how strong actors can be, when they only have so much time to emote, or leave their mark on something. Newman had a model career as a professional. I admire how honest he was about his limitations as well. He famously made a really terrible biblical type epic early in his career called The Silver Chalice. It was so bad and he was considered so bad in It that he took out full page ads in industry trade papers apologising for his performance. It was after that when he learned to stick to what he was best at, and not stray too far away from what was within his range. The Silver Chalice was actually his film debut, so he probably just appreciated the work at the time. I'm sure working on something that was ostensibly a very big bad studio picture was a good learning curve for him. I think he had another similar experience on an early film with The Left Handed Gun ( Arthur Penn's film debut) , which I've heard complaints about his performance being a bit too OTT. I still haven't watched it myself. Newman to me represents the quintessential everyman. He might not be the most versatile actor who every lived, but he sure knows how to keep your attention, throughout a 90m+ film. Very few actors have that kind of talent, he was definitely one.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Aug 17, 2019 22:25:22 GMT
Newman had a model career as a professional. I admire how honest he was about his limitations as well. He famously made a really terrible biblical type epic early in his career called The Silver Chalice. It was so bad and he was considered so bad in It that he took out full page ads in industry trade papers apologising for his performance. It was after that when he learned to stick to what he was best at, and not stray too far away from what was within his range. The Silver Chalice was actually his film debut, so he probably just appreciated the work at the time. I'm sure working on something that was ostensibly a very big bad studio picture was a good learning curve for him. I think he had another similar experience on an early film with The Left Handed Gun ( Arthur Penn's film debut) , which I've heard complaints about his performance being a bit too OTT. I still haven't watched it myself. I mentioned something about Newman inheriting The Left Handed Gun from James Dean (and perhaps ultimately his career) in an edit to my previous post. Any thoughts on Newman benefiting from Dean's death? Or do you think they could have sucessfully co-existed?
|
|
|
Post by stephen on Aug 17, 2019 22:33:54 GMT
The Silver Chalice was actually his film debut, so he probably just appreciated the work at the time. I'm sure working on something that was ostensibly a very big bad studio picture was a good learning curve for him. I think he had another similar experience on an early film with The Left Handed Gun ( Arthur Penn's film debut) , which I've heard complaints about his performance being a bit too OTT. I still haven't watched it myself. I mentioned something about Newman inheriting The Left Handed Gun from James Dean (and perhaps ultimately his career) in an edit to my previous post. Any thoughts on Newman benefiting from Dean's death? Or do you think they could have sucessfully co-existed? I know you didn't ask me, but I've often pondered what the landscape of cinema would've been like if James Dean hadn't died. I actually think Newman would've still flourished, as I feel both men filled different niches overall (Newman was rugged, whereas Dean was cool), but where Dean would've perhaps thrived is in the wake of Montgomery Clift's accident and Brando's fallow period in the '60s.
|
|
|
Post by therealcomicman117 on Aug 17, 2019 22:36:25 GMT
The Silver Chalice was actually his film debut, so he probably just appreciated the work at the time. I'm sure working on something that was ostensibly a very big bad studio picture was a good learning curve for him. I think he had another similar experience on an early film with The Left Handed Gun ( Arthur Penn's film debut) , which I've heard complaints about his performance being a bit too OTT. I still haven't watched it myself. I mentioned something about Newman inheriting The Left Handed Gun from James Dean (and perhaps ultimately his career) in an edit to my previous post. Any thoughts on Newman benefiting from Dean's death? Or do you think they could have sucessfully co-existed. It's a very interesting question, because it's one that really hard to answer, unless we had to access to alternate world time-travel machine or something. It's entirely possible that Newman owes his much of career due to James Dean's death, and without him he might have not become as big as he did. They were of similar qualities in terms of acting style, the biggest difference being that Dean was much younger then Newman (he started out playing teenagers after all), and more directly method in his approach. I could definitely see Dean pulling off say The Hustler or Cool Hand Luke, but at the same time it's hard to imagine anymore but Paul Newman in those roles. I think they could have easily co-existed with each another, and I could have even seeing them teaming-up to do a movie together like when Newman and Steve McQueen did The Towering Inferno. At the same time though, it always seemed to me, that Newman definitely had more direct star qualities about him, and I could see him eventually "overthrowing" Dean as a major star. Dean's death is entirely full of "what if" questions, of course.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Aug 17, 2019 22:45:59 GMT
I mentioned something about Newman inheriting The Left Handed Gun from James Dean (and perhaps ultimately his career) in an edit to my previous post. Any thoughts on Newman benefiting from Dean's death? Or do you think they could have sucessfully co-existed? I know you didn't ask me, but I've often pondered what the landscape of cinema would've been like if James Dean hadn't died. I actually think Newman would've still flourished, as I feel both men filled different niches overall (Newman was rugged, whereas Dean was cool), but where Dean would've perhaps thrived is in the wake of Montgomery Clift's accident and Brando's fallow period in the '60s. Still, I don't know about this, because I don't feel the industry itself made that much of a distinction between what Dean and Newman brought to the table. I feel like they would literally have been competing for exactly the same parts for the next 10-15 years had Dean lived, and one of their careers might have suffered real collateral damage because of it. Probably Newman's because Dean had an iconic headstart in his career. Truth is, Dean would probably have been offered or approached for most of those breakthrough Newman roled ( The Tennessee Williams pictures, The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke etc). Had Dean taken these parts, might Newman have ended up a relatively unheralded B-lister? We'll never know. The main difference is that I feel Dean would have tried to compete with Brando as well on the range front. So he'd end up trying to do things like Mutiny On The Bounty or try to do a Shakespeare film as well. Whether he could have done it successfully, we'll never know. But I think he'd have made the attempt.
|
|
|
Post by pacinoyes on Aug 17, 2019 22:51:44 GMT
I know you didn't ask me, but I've often pondered what the landscape of cinema would've been like if James Dean hadn't died. I actually think Newman would've still flourished, as I feel both men filled different niches overall (Newman was rugged, whereas Dean was cool), but where Dean would've perhaps thrived is in the wake of Montgomery Clift's accident and Brando's fallow period in the '60s. He's the most fortuitous actor ever imo. I am not a huge Newman fan though I do think he belongs on any list of GOAT American actors, just not at the very top of it. Brando's 60s work is at least as good as his (excluding Hud which was an out of left field where did THAT come from one) but not received that way until later - Brando has his bombs but his best 60s work I mean..........Dean has passed on......Clift took 4 years off and the accident and was never the same .........Scott is limited physically to compete with him as a star but is the better actor........at least 4 (maybe 5?) actors in the 70s are superior to him in talent. I mean his lucky breaks are kind of amazing ........he's kind of amazing too of course and like I said he belongs on any list of great American actors anyway.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Aug 17, 2019 22:57:35 GMT
I mentioned something about Newman inheriting The Left Handed Gun from James Dean (and perhaps ultimately his career) in an edit to my previous post. Any thoughts on Newman benefiting from Dean's death? Or do you think they could have sucessfully co-existed. It's a very interesting question, because it's one that really hard to answer, unless we had to access to alternate world time-travel machine or something. It's entirely possible that Newman owes his much of career due to James Dean's death, and without him he might have not become as big as he did. They were of similar qualities in terms of acting style, the biggest difference being that Dean was much younger then Newman (he started out playing teenagers after all), and more directly method in his approach. I could definitely see Dean pulling off say The Hustler or Cool Hand Luke, but at the same time it's hard to imagine anymore but Paul Newman in those roles. I think they could have easily co-existed with each another, and I could have even seeing them teaming-up to do a movie together like when Newman and Steve McQueen did The Towering Inferno. At the same time though, it always seemed to me, that Newman definitely had more direct star qualities about him, and I could see him eventually "overthrowing" Dean as a major star. Dean's death is entirely full of "what if" questions, of course. It's like a Domino Effect. Had Dean lived, the Steve McQueen/ Paul Newman rivalry might not even have been a thing. McQueen was allegedly fixated with Newman for a long time, and felt he missed out on a lot of key parts because Newman had more juice than him at one point in their careers. Imagine if McQueen had Dean to deal with as well? His career might have never gotten out of first gear. Maybe Tarantino should have done an alt-universe film where James Dean lived.
|
|
|
Post by therealcomicman117 on Aug 17, 2019 23:09:20 GMT
It's a very interesting question, because it's one that really hard to answer, unless we had to access to alternate world time-travel machine or something. It's entirely possible that Newman owes his much of career due to James Dean's death, and without him he might have not become as big as he did. They were of similar qualities in terms of acting style, the biggest difference being that Dean was much younger then Newman (he started out playing teenagers after all), and more directly method in his approach. I could definitely see Dean pulling off say The Hustler or Cool Hand Luke, but at the same time it's hard to imagine anymore but Paul Newman in those roles. I think they could have easily co-existed with each another, and I could have even seeing them teaming-up to do a movie together like when Newman and Steve McQueen did The Towering Inferno. At the same time though, it always seemed to me, that Newman definitely had more direct star qualities about him, and I could see him eventually "overthrowing" Dean as a major star. Dean's death is entirely full of "what if" questions, of course. It's like a Domino Effect. Had Dean lived, the Steve McQueen/ Paul Newman rivalry might not even have been a thing. McQueen was allegedly fixated with Newman for a long time, and felt he missed out on a lot of key parts because Newman had more juice than him at one point in their careers. Imagine if McQueen had Dean to deal with as well? His career might have never gotten out of first gear. Maybe Tarantino should have done an alt-universe film where James Dean lived. It definitely is. McQueen probably would have still been a big star, but his challenging roles would have been limited. Of course McQueen wanted to play it a bit safe by the end of his career, so taking on different roles from his public persona probably wouldn't have been in the cards. Even then though he would find that many of those potential roles were being stolen by Dean, which would have no doubt frustrated him even further as an actor.
|
|
|
Post by pacinoyes on Aug 17, 2019 23:24:12 GMT
In almost all of Newman's later roles he played American men - uniquely American - who are unraveling some sort of psychological mystery/drama within themselves and within the culture they exist in - Road To Perdition (American crime), Nobody's Fool (American self-identity), Twilight (American Crime from the opposite side), Empire Falls (American family and the passing of legacy).
It's amazing how much his last few roles play off the persona of his earlier roles - Hud, Harper, The Hustler, etc. all have parallels to his final roles. He was very specific in what he picked ......
|
|
|
Post by pacinoyes on Aug 18, 2019 11:24:37 GMT
Robert DuvallGenre: Western stephen who is a big fan - more so than me tbh actually but Duvall and my personal feelings aside is still a man who inspires much respect and its hard to argue with his body of work. Earlier I mentioned that their were "4 or 5 (or more) actors that emerged after Paul Newman who were better actors than him in just the 70s" and one of those I meant was Robert Duvall. But Robert Duvall really isn't someone who emerged after him - he's much more a contemporary of Newman and he's much more tied to genre than you might first think. In this genre only Clint Eastwood (Duvall's co-star in Joe Kidd) is more associated with it, and not in the same way given the differences in their stardom. In Westerns that span 6 decades - 60s-10s - he has been in at least one Western film per decade (!?!) and he has done it in deceptive ways too - sometimes the hero, sometimes the villain but always immediately identifiable and appropriate in the genre - he LOOKS like he fits in ways no other actor quite does. True Grit, Joe Kidd, Open Range, Wild Horses, Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, Geronimo etc. - plus he has several films that are not overtly Westerns that play with the Western codes and templates loosely and where he portrays characters who are like characters who were in previous Robert Duvall films even (ie what is Tender Mercies but a Western with songs and pain instead of guns and horses?). All of that doesn't cover his single greatest achievement in the genre - TV's Lonesome Dove - as cinematic as any Western film from its era....one of the greatest American stage/film/TV actors (though he gave up on stage in the mid 70s) but no Emmy for this role......which seems so shockingly wrong. Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones from TV's Lonesome Dove -
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Aug 18, 2019 19:15:32 GMT
Charlize Theron
Genre: Action
Theron is a very, very good screen actress. She is after all an Oscar winner for Monster.
But particularly since Mad Max: Fury Road where she stole the show from Tom Hardy's near mute Max, as the shaven headed Furiosa, Theron has been seen as one of the go to female action leads within the industry. Which is ironic, because her first big go as an action lead in 2005's Aeon Flux proved to be both a critical and commercial disaster.
Theron is a conventional Hollywood beauty, whose looks belie an inner hardness that make her well suited to the action genre or playing cynical, ruthless characters in general.
Theron would dabble in other people's action films after the failure of Aeon Flux (like Will Smith's Superhero/Action film Hancock), but it was Fury Road which really gave her the confidence to strike out on her own in the genre again, with Atomic Blonde. The film was a pretty minor success box office wise, but it's stylish action was praised and there have been talks of a sequel being done on a streaming service. But as if to rubber stamp her newfound status as an action star, Theron joined the long running Fast And The Furious franchise in their 8th installment The Fate Of The Furious. And she'll be back for the 9th movie. Below, Theron in Fury Road.....Furiousa vs Max:
|
|
|
Post by stephen on Aug 18, 2019 19:20:25 GMT
Yeah, Charlize feels very much the heir apparent to the likes of Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton, and I am absolutely on board with that. I loved her Furiosa (my win that year), I dug the shit out of Atomic Blonde, and she's a lot of fun in the The Fate of the Furious.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Aug 18, 2019 19:37:55 GMT
Yeah, Charlize feels very much the heir apparent to the likes of Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton, and I am absolutely on board with that. I loved her Furiosa (my win that year), I dug the shit out of Atomic Blonde, and she's a lot of fun in the The Fate of the Furious. Yes....you have to wonder how soon it'll take her to be snapped up by Marvel for an action based role (either as villain or hero). A lot of people were fan-casting her as Captain Marvel, but they obviously went younger in Brie Larson (though Carol Danvers skews older in the comics, so Theron was probably a better fit). . Yet Marvel have found space to cast a couple of big stars in Theron's age range ( Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek) in their upcoming Eternals film, so they don't have any issue casting middle aged actresses. Still, with the X-Men and Fantastic Four still to be introduced into the MCU, I think there might be quite a few roles upcoming that would be suited to Theron's talents.
|
|