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Post by Mattsby on Apr 14, 2021 20:31:43 GMT
Walter Matthau - A New Leaf (1971)"Oh my god. That's what it is. It just stops and becomes a waterfall." One of the great comic perfs, Matthau is sublime... He sometimes seems to float into scenes. It's a greatly sustained perf in tone and unpredictable. He makes it look easy when really nobody else would've played it so right. You sense the very tutored child in him reared on the finest things. And he sees no repercussions, like a child. It's all very hilarious and pitched just underneath satiric size... Elaine May is too clever to blow it up. There isn't any Jerry Lewis mess or the exasperation of other/earlier comics who might've played the role, though they would've worked here too in a different way. Matthau performs it gloved, like his character Henry Graham would... and makes this badly spoiled, casually murderous, plotting character one of surprising sympathy.... without asking for it either.
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 18, 2021 10:49:20 GMT
Nobuko Otowa in Akutô (The Conquest) - (1965) -Pretty great performance in a character that is all at once vaguely drawn, mysterious, and slightly "wrong" on paper - or at least I've never seen a character like this in this setting. This Kaneto Shindo movie is made between his 2 masterpieces - Onibaba (1964) and Kuroneko (1968) - and at first it seems lesser and more dramatic and not as overtly "horror". But there are elements of horror all through it and elements of things you already know - specifically Macbeth but also about that ending - it is funny, horrific, deeply sad with more than a little of ............ Salome . It kind of sneaks up on you and the performance of Nobuko Otowa - really does as you realize who she is and what purpose she serves in the story........and since she's the acting connection between Shindo's 2 other biggies of this era.......she deepens it just by her presence.
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Post by isabelaolive on Apr 19, 2021 1:25:25 GMT
Simone Signoret and Lawrence Harvey - Room at the Top
Incredible as it may seem, until a few months ago I had never heard of this film. I 'discovered' it by chance while looking for British films that were part of the 'british kitchen sink dramas' movement, which sparked my interest after I saw 'Saturday Night & Sunday Morning' a few months ago. I was even surprised when I finished and found out that I was nominated for six Oscars and won two - Actress and Adapted Screenplay. Another surprise was to discover that the actress who played Elspeth has the shortest screen time to have been nominated for an Oscar.
Anyway, I thought the performances were great, this is the first film I watch with Simone Signoret, and I already have several films with her that are on my list, mainly 'Les Dialoliques'. I thought she was simply sublime in that role, I was even happy with the fact that her role was bigger than I expected, since I thought the film would be more focused on the romance between Joe (Harvey) and Susan (Sears). Both had incredible chemistry in the film and I even found Signoret's performance 'subtle' compared to the female performances in melodramas from the 30/40/50/60 decades I have watched so far. Even in the 'oscar clip' scenes, she remains contained, something that many actresses probably would not do, and would probably deliver a more 'histrionic' performance than would be necessary.
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 20, 2021 7:51:28 GMT
George C. Scott - The Hospital (1971)
I've said this before but where I rank George C. Scott as an American film actor - usually in that crowded #11-20 range (with a lot of guys - like more than 10 guys are in that group) - is a tricky thing - he has slightly over a 10 year run of awesomeness (59-71) and while that's impressive - other fine actors had much longer ones overall.
But in that peak he's a lot closer to the top 10 - ever - than he is near 20.......this is one of the greatest monologues ever written (by Paddy Chayefsky) and I love how Scott plays this - at various times, funny (and he did comedy), threatening, sad and when he faces away from the camera....impotent........which is the point of the speech.
Like he's directing himself......this is an actors time capsule scene from a sensational and wise performance.
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Post by Viced on Apr 21, 2021 20:55:19 GMT
Robert Preston in S.O.B.The whole ensemble is strong, but Preston gives one of the funniest performances I've seen in a long time. Hilarious madcap energy and nailed every line delivery. Especially this one: "I could sue you for calling me that, Polly! A shyster is a disreputable lawyer. I'm a quack!"
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Post by isabelaolive on Apr 21, 2021 22:46:18 GMT
Andy Griffith - A face in the crowd
Based on the little I read about Griffith, this seems to be one of those cases where someone is cast to "play himself" that worked incredibly well. Andy exudes an unparalleled charisma and plays the typical 'ordinary citizen of the South' in an exaggerated way, without being totally stereotyped to the point of looking like a caricature. Not only does he act, he also sings very well and I wonder if there are some scenes in the film that may have been improvised, since Griffith worked on television and played a role similar to what he was already doing on and off the screens. I consider myself the type of person who likes subtle performances, but this is a great example that sometimes more is better!
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 23, 2021 7:51:36 GMT
Ian Bannen - The Offence (1973)I've talked about this performance before and how I think it's an all-timer in Supporting and watching it again it really is - it's immaculate. Almost so perfect that Bannen can be THAT good when you could envision many great actors in this role (in particular this would have been a great character role of evil for GOAT Laurence Olivier). Bur Bannen is so great here because unlike Olivier he doesn't come at it with that star baggage - you feel you know him and yet don't which of course is the key to this monster (in theory) and the character's taunts in the film. He's superb and played with genuine actor's relish in the act he's playing for (and upon) Sean Connery ......very few "villains" are quite this joyful, inscrutable and yet believable.
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Post by Viced on Apr 28, 2021 16:24:42 GMT
Barbara Stanwyck in There's Always TomorrowOne of the most devastating portrayals of loneliness, longing, and... virtue (lol) I've seen in a while. Totally wrecked me towards the end especially. But I would've enjoyed her even if her character was no more than the badass dress designer. Elevates a very good film into a great one too...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2021 18:09:33 GMT
Barbara Stanwyck in There's Always TomorrowOne of the most devastating portrayals of loneliness, longing, and... virtue (lol) I've seen in a while. Totally wrecked me towards the end especially. But I would've enjoyed her even if her character was no more than the badass dress designer. Elevates a very good film into a great one too... Thats an amazing still. And I love your new gif. Tommy Udo and a Tony Soprano quote .
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on May 10, 2021 16:53:23 GMT
I can't keep up with all the great performances I've been watching lately but right now my obsession is Burl Ives in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, an Oscar winner if ever you saw one (*ahem* ) This performance deserves legendary status. I know Ives is supposed to be great in The Big Country too (can't wait to see it), but surely in any other year he'd be sweeping for this. This movie is already such an actor's movie and Newman and Taylor's greatness goes w/o saying (and Judith Anderson is great too), but Ives is the shocker because if you're an Oscar nerd/completionist, the absence of this performance in the awards canon is striking and it'll come at you like a ton of bricks when you're not looking. He plays "Big Daddy," the family patriarch who towers over his wife and offspring like a king over subjects, whose brash exterior masks deep reservoirs of fear and regret. A huge man in every sense who makes his presence known wherever he goes. Ugly and biting and cruel but also loving and concerned in his own way. It's amazing to see him needle Paul Newman about the gay friend who killed himself. Maybe to serve his controlling nature, to know everything that's going on around him, or maybe out of a profound sense of concern filtered through an interrogative style. But it's really amazing watching him shrink in the last act when he comes face to face with the one thing he's most afraid of is and the thing that's most inevitable: his death. this scene is that moment. And god, what a moment.
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Post by JangoB on May 10, 2021 20:19:34 GMT
After a recent rewatch of The Color Purple I've concluded that Whoopi Goldberg's performance is one of the most perfect ones I've ever seen. A thought that quickly comes to mind is 'How could a debut turn have been so astonishing?' but after a little pondering I think it's exactly that freshness and first-time energy that makes her acting so genius and genuine and heartfelt. It's as if this performance is being born right in front of you, unfolding in real time as you watch the film even though you realize that movies are a collection of separate bits and pieces put together in the editing room. Goldberg is like a stream of light flowing through all the cinematic constraints of space and time - her very soul shines through until it reaches a supremely emotional denouement and overcomes you as a viewer. That whole cast is as perfect as it gets but she is just in a different realm.
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speeders
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Post by speeders on May 11, 2021 1:18:19 GMT
Liv Ullman, Face to Face (1976).
I admit I've never been a fan of Liv before (being fluent in Swedish, I've always found her Norwegian accent take me out of her roles as a Native Swede in Bergman's other films) but she was definitely great here in a very challenging role. I'm both surprised this is her only Oscar nominated turn in a Bergman but it's definitely deserved, more so than her other performances in his films I've seen. If anything this motivated me more to catch up on The Passion of Anna and Shame.
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Post by Mattsby on May 11, 2021 1:47:07 GMT
Moses Gunn - Homicide: Life on the Street "Three Men and Adena" (1993) Curiously restrained yet shattering, very uncomfortable perf but purposely.... as he's coerced to break under a lifetime of shame. Evading as much as possible, he okays questions that reveal a better side of him (No I don't drink anymore), but it builds and builds to such a disturbing reveal... It's difficult to get a make on him, as he seems neither predatory nor harmless. As his last perf... it's an impressive and daring one. It's kinda like Ian Bannen in The Offence (but he's not as great as the Scot). It also feels like a one-act theater piece, so it works with Gunn's history... a major stage actor who also made marks on screen - he won the Obie in '75, a Tony nom in '76, and an Emmy nom (Roots) in '77. What's interesting is how he was often presentable and formidable, a presence, in the movies/tv....but this role is something so much weaker and entirely different....
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Post by pacinoyes on May 12, 2021 16:48:07 GMT
Bruno Ganz - Winter Journey (2019) A lovely, aching performance by Ganz who does a lot of acting around the eyes and in his manner. This movie is a sort of half documentary and half docudrama about WWII and you can read Ganz manner and what he evokes as a guy who has done a lot in life and seen a lot and carries it with him.........always. His last performance........ afaik....
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Post by pacinoyes on May 17, 2021 8:48:37 GMT
Laurence Olivier - The Merchant of Venice (1973)Olivier - Emmy nominated here (of course) is complicated and sympathetic and this is one of his performances that again shows you just how any criticism of him always has to be taken in a broader context. His Othello is openly mocked for using "blackface" now but his Othello - Oscar nominated (of course) - is a great performance and a more thoughtfully conceived one than those surface level (and stupid) jokes are - and heartbreaking too.......and so is his Shylock here. Fairly understated - dignified even - it is not what you expect and not hammy like you may have been thought to believe - he is less impassioned than Pacino - "less realistic" as the character in the film but in some ways more marginalized......he was NEVER going to be accepted and that makes his exasperation sadder in his own way. Pretty marvelous.....and surprising in its detail.
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Post by pacinoyes on May 18, 2021 20:47:34 GMT
Richard Attenborough - The Angry SilenceI had seen this a long time ago and forgotten how defiantly you can read this as an anti-progressive (or whatever) "anti-strike" movie - though it really isn't THAT simple - at times sort of like Serpico in his how he is isolated by the group/colleagues. Very much the individual at center over the obligation to the group .....and at times in both you want them to just give in. Really a fascinating movie for its time (1960) with a pretty marvelous and natural performance by Attenborough.....
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Post by stephen on May 18, 2021 21:19:52 GMT
Richard Attenborough - The Angry SilenceI had seen this a long time ago and forgotten how defiantly you can read this as an anti-progressive (or whatever) "anti-strike" movie - though it really isn't THAT simple - at times sort of like Serpico in his how he is isolated by the group/colleagues. Very much the individual at center over the obligation to the group .....and at times in both you want them to just give in. Really a fascinating movie for ts time (1960) with a pretty marvelous and natural performance by Attenborough..... One of the many, many notches in Attenborough's belt of great performances. I still stand by my claim that before Day-Lewis hit the scene, Attenborough was the best actor across the pond.
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Post by pacinoyes on May 23, 2021 8:12:46 GMT
Peter Finch - No Love For Johnnie (1961)Kind of specific and wise performance (won the BAFTA - he won 5 - um) where Finch balances a sexual relationship with his political career and crumbling marriage. With all that you would think he'd get a lot of showy moments but this is actually more nuanced - and he gets a lot of time to build this character too - he's in like every scene. Seems very modern both in his choices and how he conveys his actual job through his choices too.......
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Post by pacinoyes on May 25, 2021 6:11:04 GMT
Simone Signoret - Casque d'or (1952)Beautiful performance that is both tough in a sense of realism and genuinely moving in an otherworldly sense of the movies. It's not just a tragedy, there's tragedy hinted in her acting too and how she illustrates it to the audience.
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Barbie
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Post by Barbie on May 26, 2021 4:12:50 GMT
Anthony Hopkins in The Father. He's one of my favorite actors, and he's still got it. His performance was definitely worthy of an Oscar win. The last few minutes of the movie was so so heartbreaking, and he made me cry. Bravo sir!
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Javi
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Post by Javi on May 27, 2021 22:52:28 GMT
Two from Jan Troell movies: Liv Ullmann, Zandy's Bride - Better than co-star Gene Hackman. An affecting, stoic perf as a civilized woman caught up in pioneer land... yes, Liv was once the lead in a Western. Entirely an English-speaking role and she's suprisingly funny, too. Bergman used Ullmann psychologically whereas Troell presented her heroically, viking-like, yet vulnerable. She gives "natural" a good name. With a cast that includes Eileen Heckart, Susan Tyrrell and the always welcome Harry Dean Stanton. Per Oscarsson, Who Sam Him Die? - Oscarsson may have been one of the world's top actors in the late 60s (he's an all-timer in Hunger). Here he plays a committed teacher brought down by (what he sees as) the viciousness and vulgarity of his students... and the transition from old-school teaching to (even worse?) modern methods. This is not a pleasant watch--it almost makes you lose all hope in education--but you won't forget Oscarsson's crippled teacher.
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Post by Mattsby on May 29, 2021 18:38:47 GMT
Albert Finney, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)
Karel Reisz often had great endings… this one a little more low-key yet quite key. Finney chucks a rock and his new wife says “You shouldn’t throw things” and he seriously replies “It won’t be the last one I throw” - it’s almost scary before being saved by a smirk. That hill they’re on is a romantic picture, yet it brings the Finney character back to childhood, that’s where he played and had a good time. And those houses in view weren’t for living in - they were just there. A lot of the Finney perf feels that way, forward and back - looking one way, suggesting something deeper and deniable. With eyes that lock or dodge you, Finney in his lead debut already has a Brandolike presence and dark charm. His threats come in the form of play, a maintenance of youth; adulthood is the losing side. He keeps side-stepping (“W/e they say I am, I’m not”) and placing things under his terms, even micro things like at the movies he says “I knew it’d end like that”…. In a way, it’s like he knows how he’ll end too… But he won’t go there gladly, he’ll give it the ole contest.
When this was released in October, Finney was mid stride on stage originating Billy Liar. He became an overnight star and at the same time turned down Lawrence of Arabia - after four day of test shoots in August, they decided they wanted him, and he gave it the pfft. It still amazes me that in his first five movies, essentially, he does Night Must Fall and Charlie Bubbles… daring you, like a Sillitoe lad, not to like him. Yet we do. Ohhhh we do.
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Post by pacinoyes on May 29, 2021 19:06:40 GMT
Albert Finney, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) Karel Reisz often had great endings… this one a little more low-key yet quite key. Finney chucks a rock and his new wife says “You shouldn’t throw things” and he seriously replies “It won’t be the last one I throw” - it’s almost scary before being saved by a smirk. That hill they’re on is a romantic picture, yet it brings the Finney character back to childhood, that’s where he played and had a good time. And those houses in view weren’t for living in - they were just there. A lot of the Finney perf feels that way, forward and back - looking one way, suggesting something deeper and deniable. With eyes that lock or dodge you, Finney in his lead debut already has a Brandolike presence and dark charm. His threats come in the form of play, a maintenance of youth; adulthood is the losing side. He keeps side-stepping (“W/e they say I am, I’m not”) and placing things under his terms, even micro things like at the movies he says “I knew it’d end like that”…. In a way, it’s like he knows how he’ll end too… But he won’t go there gladly, he’ll give it the ole contest. When this was released in October, Finney was mid stride on stage originating Billy Liar. He became an overnight star and at the same time turned down Lawrence of Arabia - after four day of test shoots in August, they decided they wanted him, and he gave it the pfft. It still amazes me that in his first five movies, essentially, he does Night Must Fall and Charlie Bubbles… daring you, like a Sillitoe lad, not to like him. Yet we do. Ohhhh we do. The full quote is of course the sacred text for not only me ........but.........for all spiritual Punk rockers..........free thinkers........contrarians ........malcontents .......young bands should name their album title after it Whatever people say I am, that's what I'm not ............because they don't know a bloody thing about me!
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Post by Mattsby on May 30, 2021 18:50:42 GMT
Anna Magnani, The Automobile (1971) I like what some reviewer said, that at this point Italian cinema didn't know what to do with her, but she knew what to do with it. This is one of four TV Movies she did with Alfredo Giannetti (Oscar winner for writing Divorce Italian Style) - they were her last batch of perfs. Here she plays a former prostitute named Anna aka The Countess - it lovingly plays on her celebrity and past work like Mamma Roma. It's a great-ish little midlife crisis character study, economically made, very funny, bittersweet. Even tho she's playing a lonely, out of step character - Magnani doesn't brake, she keeps a sharp confidence at the fore, denying nostalgia and shifting interest in order to rebuild. She carries the charming appeal of experience, and observes more than she admits. Underrated perf and obscure gem, a surprise as I never heard of it and randomly played it on Criterion Channel....
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Javi
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Post by Javi on May 30, 2021 20:40:36 GMT
Anna Magnani, The Automobile (1971) I like what some reviewer said, that at this point Italian cinema didn't know what to do with her, but she knew what to do with it. This is one of four TV Movies she did with Alfredo Giannetti (Oscar winner for writing Divorce Italian Style) - they were her last batch of perfs. Here she plays a former prostitute named Anna aka The Countess - it lovingly plays on her celebrity and past work like Mamma Roma. It's a great-ish little midlife crisis character study, economically made, very funny, bittersweet. Even tho she's playing a lonely, out of step character - Magnani doesn't brake, she keeps a sharp confidence at the fore, denying nostalgia and shifting interest in order to rebuild. She carries the charming appeal of experience, and observes more than she admits. Underrated perf and obscure gem, a surprise as I never heard of it and randomly played it on Criterion Channel.... Looking damn sexy in that gif too!
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