Javi
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Post by Javi on Apr 2, 2020 0:37:41 GMT
James Cagney in White Heat - Amazing fear-inducing performance that reminds me of other personal faves (Lorre in M; Oscarsson in Hunger) in its discomfort--evoking terror because there's no one more terrified than him. An all-timer, full of reveals in every scene, but what sticks with me most is the mangled raging child in him... like a blown-up mama's boy, inviting and rejecting your pity.
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Post by DeepArcher on Apr 2, 2020 1:03:56 GMT
Rhea Seehorn in Better Call SaulSeriously one of the all-time great supporting actress TV performances (always has been) and as I said in the BCS thread she has really reached new heights this season. In the show at its worst she's the only good thing about it and even in the show at its best she's still the best thing about it ... and this season with some of its ups and downs (at least in my eyes) has showcased that perfectly. Last week's ep. 6 was probably the finest hour of the season so far and it was Kim's episode in a lot of ways (she got the cold open etc.) and even in all-around strong episode she still stands out as the one really exceptional thing ... her performance in that last scene between she and Odenkirk is just riveting stuff, the way she conveys all of Kim's complex feelings for Jimmy in a way that we get it perfectly without it having to be explained to us in words ... just tremendous. "I don't believe you. You don't believe yourself. It's a lie. You lie, I lie. This has to end." ... heartbreaking line. Whatever is in store for Kim it's clear that this is a tragic arc, and Seehorn has followed it beautifully.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2020 3:10:56 GMT
James Cagney in White Heat - Amazing fear-inducing performance that reminds me of other personal faves (Lorre in M; Oscarsson in Hunger) in its discomfort--evoking terror because there's no one more terrified than him. An all-timer, full of reveals in every scene, but what sticks with me most is the mangled raging child in him... like a blown-up mama's boy, inviting and rejecting your pity. Amazing how this guy can win an Oscar for singing and dancing, then get back on the saddle and play his most evilest role.
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Post by Mattsby on Apr 2, 2020 17:25:28 GMT
George C Scott in The Flim-Flam Man (1967) - "You worked that old scrooge like a natural-born shill." Looking dusted and rolled over, GCS plays an aging drifting grifter with a quicksilver tongue (at times he sounds like an auctioneer) and a bittersweet element in just how much he's pretending or occupying himself with self amusement. It's a great, wily perf - GCS suggests a whole well underneath of what the character has never had - and a hilarious one, especially when he's playing a role within the role, as a larcenous clergyman or a German liquor merchant.
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Javi
Badass
Posts: 1,543
Likes: 1,629
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Post by Javi on Apr 4, 2020 18:20:41 GMT
Humphrey Bogart - In a Lonely Place (1950)In Casablanca he was an exciting presence but his cynical attitude was essentially the 40s idea of romanticism. Here those illusions are gone, and he's electrifying--rotting away, not at all charming, and bluntly funny. A killer perf. Not what you might call in the mood for love:
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Apr 4, 2020 21:11:41 GMT
Humphrey Bogart - In a Lonely Place (1950)In Casablanca he was an exciting presence but his cynical attitude was essentially the 40s idea of romanticism. Here those illusions are gone, and he's electrifying--rotting away, not at all charming, and bluntly funny. A killer perf. Not what you might call in the mood for love: My favorite Bogart performance, and film. So much more hidden depth gets explored in it. He plays tormented so well here.
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 6, 2020 10:27:19 GMT
Peter O'Toole - My Favorite Year (1982)Another of those O'Toole specials where he doesn't exactly "raise" the movie but is giving a bravura turn (The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man) in the way only a master actor- playing an actor too - could. He's having great fun but a lot of it is very wise in its choices and how he conveys them to us and why - and why we feel for and about him too.
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Apr 6, 2020 16:57:31 GMT
Peter O'Toole - My Favorite Year (1982)Another of those O'Toole specials where he doesn't exactly "raise" the movie but is giving a bravura turn (The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man) in the way only a master actor- playing an actor too - could. He's having great fun but a lot of it is very wise in its choices and how he conveys them to us and why - and why we feel for and about him too. That's an underrated movie in general (supposedly it's based on an experience that Mel Brooks had as a writer). O'Toole is really great, basically relishing his one chance to play an older washed-up swashbuckling matinee Errol Flynn type.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Apr 6, 2020 19:55:01 GMT
Timothy Spall in DenialI came for Weisz (who can do no wrong) but I stayed for Spall. He has no business being so good. I've seen a lot of his projects. Most viewers probably know him from Harry Potter and his stuff with Mike Leigh, so color me shocked that this relatively-forgotten Bleecker street movie from 2016 contains one the best performances of his career. Spall plays Holocaust denier and [eventually] discredited Third Reich scholar David Irving, a historian whose racism, anti-semitism and Hitler apologia blinded him to the facts of Nazi Germany and led him down the path of a failed hubris-fueled lawsuit against Jewish-American historian Deborah Lipstadt (Weisz) which collapsed his professional career. It's important to note how unrecognizable Spall is in this role. Just to see a picture of him in the film doesn't do justice to how much he disappears into this character with brilliant voice and accent-work. When the film opens with Irving's voice and then we see his face, I remember thinking that there's no way I was looking at Spall or hearing his voice, but I was. Spall customarily speaks at a very low register and his voice is much higher here, with much louder volume and clearer enunciation than I'm used to from him (it's not a Hoffman-to-Capote transformation but it's impressive for the same reasons). Spall also just plays Irving so wonderfully, and with so much disarming charm and confidence. He's a man who doesn't believe but knows he's right about everything he thinks. He has the same dogged resiliance and lowkey charisma that recalls someone like Christopher Hitchens but not quite--Spall finds Irving somewhere between bombast and that Hitchens deadpan and lands on someone larger than life and totally witty and intimidating. I also love how you can see some of that bravura drain from Irving's face in the closing minutes... his absolutist certainties give way to quiet fatigued denials: "but I'm not a racist" (how often must he have had to repeat that lie to himself) until the judge hands his ruling which acts as the final nail in the coffin of Irving's career and you can see in Spall's face that Irving knows when he's been defeated. He's not feeling so confident anymore.
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 6, 2020 23:12:55 GMT
Peter Mullan & Olivia Colman - Tyrannosaur (2011) Not merely a ferocious performance by Mullan but one of great breadth and humanity too - he had an amazing 2010s. Colman is meticulous and unforgettable and never for one minute a cliche. Some of the best scenes within these performances are looks, or thoughts or halted/swallowed dialog. Scenes can be broken down into a thousand little breathtaking choices - that you maybe didn't realize how skillful they actually are.
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Post by Viced on Apr 7, 2020 4:02:47 GMT
Nina Hoss in PhoenixSinglehandedly keeps the (somewhat ridiculous) premise captivating. A performance that's both devastating and hopeful... she's been ground down but there's still an almost childlike innocence to her (the stuff with the husband seemed kind of like a daughter trying to please her father... but maybe that was just my strange interpretation of it). Her eyes have seen some shit and she's clearly been through it all. Get fucked, Johnny.
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 7, 2020 16:22:12 GMT
Jeff Goldblum - Law & Order Criminal Intent - S9, E6 - Abel and WillingThe one of a kind Jeff Goldblum never quite clicked when he was tapped to replace Vincent D'Onofrio in this show but it wasn't his fault or fair. In an attempt to mix with his uh, "quirks" - much of the shows he's in drift too heavily to humor and his character is interesting but undefined - he needed a rewrite and more time. But this is one of his very best appearances.......an ingenious plot mix that almost uncomfortably echoes Saw and the current TV show Hunters (without the campy elements) in uncomfortable Nazi dread removes the humor from him (mostly). In fact the famous "resolution" scene at the end which the show always ended on should have been cut this time - because its pat wrap-up deflates the previous great Goldblum scene where he just walks out of the room because he's seething with anger (for Goldblum I mean )
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Apr 8, 2020 21:18:31 GMT
Brenda Fricker in My Left FootInspired by that recent “favorite mothers thread”, I decided to rewatch My Left Food again, and I agree with the consensus that Brenda Fricker’s turn as Christy Brown’s mother is award worthy and fantastic. She plays the female support of a large Irish family, rather well. Typically demanding and stern, but underneath all that hard exterior is a lovely woman who knows what’s best for her son and his huge disability. Even in her worst moments, she never loses her confidence in her son's ability. It’s the true definition of a supporting performance.
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Post by JangoB on Apr 9, 2020 23:43:16 GMT
I went in " Mr. & Mrs. Bridge" mainly anticipating to be wowed by Joanne Woodward just because she received all the nominations (and even some wins) for the role...but it was Paul Newman who ended up impressing the heck out of me. Woodward is very good, no doubt, and their duo is a joy in and of itself, but I found Newman's to be a marvelous character turn. The character's unshakeable stoicism is sprinkled with wonderful hints of mischief and inner playfulness which his status doesn't mermit him to often showcase, and Newman also manages to give warmth and humanity to a person who could've easily been portrayed in an unattractive distancing way. The film is about a shift of mindsets and Mr. Bridge is certainly a man of a certain era with very particular views on relationships, principles and women's role in society. To the modern viewer he can definitely seem like a bit of a dinosaur. But I think it is due to Newman that you end up understanding where he comes from, understanding him and falling a bit in love with him. And that's even without going into detail about the nuances of physicality and face expressions that Newman delivers to perfection.
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Post by isabelaolive on Apr 10, 2020 1:43:56 GMT
Today I want to talk about a performance that I really like and that changed my opinion a little after having watched it again and learned some things about the origin of the film and character; Renee Zellweger in Chicago. When I watched this movie for the first time, I was doing a marathon of the best actress lineups of the Oscars and I decided to watch the Oscars of 2003, since that year happened one of the most debated lineups to date. Kidman's 'controversial' victory, Renee losing after being probably the favorite since she won GG + SAG, the fact that three of the nominees had campaigned by Harvey Weinstein (and there is a very interesting video about it on 'Be kind rewind'), Julianne losing twice, etc. When I watched Chicago I didn't know ANYTHING about the movie, who was Bob Fosse or Gwen Verdon, which was based on a Broadway musical, etc. the only thing I knew about musicals was the Disney animations that I watched as kids and that's it. I watched it, I liked the movie and the performances and nothing more. Today, after having watched countless musicals from the most popular to some more unknown ones, after being introduced to the work of Fosse and Gwen, read and watched documentaries about the history of musicals, Ziegfeld Follies, Vaudevilles, Broadway, etc. I watched Chicago again and enjoyed the movie and the performances much more than before. First I will make it clear that I never watched the version of Gwen and Chita of Velma and Roxie, at most I saw some really bad quality videos on Youtube with some excerpts from their performances. But I have to say that Renee and Catherine were perfect on these roles, maybe even better than Chita and Gwen. I will emphasize again that I obviously never watched a Chicago performance live and in color with Gwen and Chita, but based on what I read and saw, I started to appreciate more the performances of the film version. Renée mainly, since in my eyes she was miscast in that role when I first watched, but after watching it again knowing more about the character's origin (and Beulah Annan who mainly inspired it), she gave Roxie an upgrade. She managed to be convincing as a young and 'naive' but cynical and seductive woman who uses everything she can to get where she wants (Especially considering that she was appropriately young for the role, while Gwen as far as I know was over 35 when she played Roxie). One of her best scenes is the scene of 'Roxie' she danced and sang wonderfully and another scene where she was also great was in 'We Both Reached for the Gun. In the scenes where she is just 'Roxie' she seems mediocre, ordinary, forgettable, but in the musical numbers she exudes the sensuality and cynicism of a murderer. If I were to make a list of my favorite performances from the 2000s, Renee's performance in Chicago would enter the list along with her performance in Bridget Jones, which is already one of my favorites of this century. And I say more; I changed my mind and I think maybe Julianne wasn’t even that robbed when she lost Oscar to Catherine, since Catherine was good in Chicago as Moore in The Hours and and she had a real supporting role. And Julianne or Renee should have won Best Actress instead of Kidman. Considering that she has always been great at comedies and very good at drama, "finding out" now that she is also great at musicals makes me appreciate Renée as an actress even more, a pity that her two Oscar victories are so questionable. I will not exaggerate and put Renee's performance on the same level as Streisand in 'Funny Girl', Andrews in 'The sound of music' or Liza in 'Cabaret', etc. but it is definitely a great performance and one of the best of the musical genre in cinema, without a doubt.
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Post by DeepArcher on Apr 13, 2020 21:54:49 GMT
Justin Kirk in Angels of AmericaWhen I posted about Angels in America in the TV thread I cited Pacino as my favorite performance (obviously) and Kirk as second -- though more broadly I'd really say that Pacino is probably MVP of the first half and Kirk of the second, or at least that it's closer between them in the rankings than you might think, and I keep find myself thinking about Kirk's performance perhaps the most. He's essentially the "leading" role here if there is one and he has a hell of a lot to take on -- Prior is somehow the comic relief character and the tragic center of the show and the protagonist thrown into a bizarre situation we're supposed to sympathize with and is maybe having a mental break and totally losing his mind or not. Kirk does all of this so seamlessly that you almost don't even notice the complexity of the character, he is so natural and selling so much and always 100% plausible. Funny, heartbreaking, endlessly charismatic, totally endearing performance down to the end ... he even sells the fourth-wall break final scene without it coming off as cheap and it's beautiful and touching. An impeccably acted series all around ... but this performance deserves more praise.
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Post by Viced on Apr 14, 2020 4:16:36 GMT
Nicolas Cage in Army of OneHoly shit... Cage's funniest performance ever? Probably... I can't think of another actor who has more performances (or really any at all...) where in their first scene you think "okay... so they're doing that" and then you quickly get used to it and start enjoying it. Absolutely hilarious yet strangely believable. Maybe his most unhinged performance since Vampire's Kiss... and single-handedly elevates the movie from a 5 to a 7. Just call me "The G."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2020 5:31:28 GMT
Jodie Foster in The Silence of the LambsOkay. I love Jodie Foster. Last year when I rewatched The Accused, I thought it was great performance as per usual from Foster, BUT it was not the best. Glenn Close deserved it. I will never change my opinion of that. However, Foster CLEARLY deserved it here as rookie cop Clarice Starling. Its a raw, tough, sensitive performance. After she lets her guard down and tells Lector he darkest dream, you would figure her character would become more vulernable because we learn of her sad past, but she doesn't. She gets tougher. She gets braver. She saves the day. Her performance is still fresh 29 years later.
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Apr 14, 2020 18:50:33 GMT
Kirsten Dunst in The Virgin SuïcidesLong before she was ever considered a respectable actress of any kind, Kirsten Dunst was a child actress, trying to transition into more young adult roles. She didn't seem to get a lot of parts that challenged her or at least allowed her to show her talents, but then along came the perfect role for her in Sofia Coppola's film debut, The Virgin Suicides. As the protagonist of the film and the middle child of a group of sisters known as the Libson's, Dunst is excellent at portraying the young tragic wonderful teenage life. She comes off young, fresh, and vibrant, but underneath all that exterior is a lost soul who just wants to escape the world around her. It's not hard to see why she became a huge muse of Coppola's after this.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2020 21:05:44 GMT
Elliott Gould in The Long GoodbyeWhoa. This performance has got to be one of the most underrated. Its definitely on my list of "What the hell the Academy was thinking not to nominate this?" Gould plays Phillip Marlowe so cooly, and refreshing as he's transformed from his 1940s world to an uncaring 1970s. Surroundings don't matter to him. He's going to be him: Chain smoking everywhere, making sly cracks, and trying to honest in a superficial world. He's a born loser because he cares. I love that. We care about him too, so I guess were losers too. Yay!
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Post by Mattsby on Apr 15, 2020 23:51:42 GMT
The Return of the Soldier (1982) - Surprised how rare this is considering the cast. They're all very, very good here, even smaller parts like Frank Finlay's. Alan Bates, with a temporary jump of innocence, plays a man who returns home from WWI with amnesia, causing tension within his upper class lifestyle. Mostly gets into the shifting longing of the three women around him - a caring, heartbreaking Glenda Jackson as his now poor former love - an unrecognizable, repressed, cautious Ann Margret as his cousin - and birthday gal Julie Christie as his wife in one of her finest perfs, she's hilariously vain and self-directed but besides a little cruelty (like her final grin) there's a deep worry to her of being cast into the background, and some sweet moments like a scene where she defines to Bates what their marriage was like....
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Apr 16, 2020 5:12:59 GMT
Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer in Call Me By Your Name (rewatch)Long overdue second take. Somehow even better than I remembered. It's easy to rag on Chalamet because of his instant popularity and hearthrob status (we hate what girls like, I know, I know), but also because nothing he's done post-2017 has come close to the highs he reached with this performance. It's remarkable how fully-formed Elio is, and Chalamet achieves that without ever resorting to showiness or taking the easy way out. He makes it look simple but there's so much going on in this performance. You have all the contradictions of a hot-blooded teenager just starting to discover himself. You see the playfulness, the affected confidence, the detached ease which melts into desire and then vulnerability, and finally the heartbreak--the entire spectrum in Chalamet's acting. And he's so fucking grounded. Even when the screenplay lays bare Elio's anguish, Chalamet never once for a single second overacts. You can see the intention in every single one of his decisions. It all feels real. And you can't talk about Chalamet without acknowledging the chemistry he shared with Armie Hammer in the back half of the film, and I make a point to be sworn enemies to anyone that does. Their chemistry is such that the performances blend into each other and their dialogue exchanges coalesce together in ebbs and flows like a stream. It feels like you're watching two people fall in love for real. Hammer's standoffish demeanor just makes Elio's desire that much more palpable so when he finally lets down that wall and becomes tender and inviting, it's nothing less than magical. What Chalamet and Hammer accomplished with this film is truly, truly special. (Stuhlbag is lovely too! Has such a gentle presence in this film. Very intelligent and giving.)
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Post by JangoB on Apr 16, 2020 11:03:04 GMT
I wasn't really expecting anything special from "Butterflies Are Free" but it turned out to be just a lovely movie with a trio of magnificent performances who practically glue you to the screen. The Oscar-winning Eileen Heckart is bitingly funny and also quite heartbreaking, Edward Albert is a surprising revelation who manages to portray blindness convincingly and taps into some deep emotional places of his character, and Goldie Hawn just lights up the screen with her astonishing eyes (was it possible for an actor to co-star with her back in those days and not fall in love?), her perfect comedic timing and her honesty.
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Post by JangoB on Apr 16, 2020 17:58:25 GMT
The Oscar winner George Burns is certainly terrific (albeit not supporting) in "The Sunshine Boys" but it is Walter Matthau who truly blew me away in it. I think it's the first time that I've been totally floored by Matthau whose performances I usually find good but a bit limited and recycled. He's good in his occupied niche but I sometimes find that he doesn't really go beyond it. Well, this is the movie that truly changed my mind. The usual Matthau-cisms are here in spades, sure, but they're an additional pleasure to some truly magnificent character work. Playing against a partner who's almost 25 years older than him, Matthau immerses himself in the part and makes one believe in his old age. He's belligerent, he's hilarious and even a bit heartbreaking, and even though he may annoy the heck out of you, you can't help but love him.
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Post by JangoB on Apr 16, 2020 20:56:11 GMT
Sorry for flooding the thread again but I can't help it if I see numerous great performances in a row! This time it's the astonishing duo of Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Devos in Jacques Audiard's terrific "Sur mes lèvres" - a truly original genre hybrid with one of those on-screen collaborations which are simply perfect. Devos is particularly stunning especially in how her acting never goes for easy sympathy-milking of the character's disability. She's just perfect.
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