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Post by PromNightCarrie on Oct 18, 2019 19:24:12 GMT
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Post by pacinoyes on Oct 18, 2019 19:52:55 GMT
I like him but it's hard not to look at him after Traffic as something of a let down a bit - that's a really great performance, and he's been good since at times but it's not like he moved from strength to strength exactly. We had a thread on him once about this quote after he was asked about playing a lot of bad guys, and he mentioned maybe the greatest male movie star of all time (Bogart, arguable), maybe the best actor of all time (Pacino, arguable) and maybe the best actor of his generation at least (Washington, arguable) ......and I was like, hmmmmmmmmm well I admire his balls but is he in the class of any of them? Not to me, but he is a fine actor - I'd like to see him play more quirkier character parts.....he's in his early 50s now and soon (not yet) finding those plum roles is even harder unless you knock some doors down in your range. "Humphrey Bogart, Al Pacino and Denzel Washington also played a lot of bad guys", Del Toro said.
www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/movies/benicio-del-toro-sicario-day-of-the-soldado.html |
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Post by stephen on Oct 18, 2019 20:01:57 GMT
When he is at his peak, he can tangle with the best of 'em. He's the MVP with a bullet in Traffic (to wit, the only reason I would ever rewatch it), he's excellent in 21 Grams, Che and Things We Lost in the Fire in such wildly diverse roles, and Sicario might turn out to be the most iconic part of his career, which used him to his absolute peak. He's worked with some of the top auteurs in the business (PTA, AGI, Soderbergh, Villeneuve, Stone, Friedkin, Loach, Coppola, Bier, Gilliam, Ritchie, et al.), and more often than not, he's usually one of the highlights of whatever he's in.
The Bardem comparisons are inevitable, and while I do prefer Javier in terms of career heights, I think Benicio is absolutely capable of them as well.
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LaraQ
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Post by LaraQ on Oct 18, 2019 20:10:26 GMT
Great in Sicario.
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Post by TerryMontana on Oct 18, 2019 20:18:38 GMT
He was great in Sicario, Traffic, 21 Grams and Che. Very talented.
But most of his movies are mediocre at best. Imo there is no comparison with Bardem. I rank Bardem among the best of his generation. BDT is not at that level.
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Post by futuretrunks on Oct 18, 2019 20:35:14 GMT
Agree with most of what you guys are saying. Absolutely fantastic in Traffic, but hasn't gotten a role comparably great since.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Oct 19, 2019 0:07:22 GMT
Love him, wish he was in more stuff that was worthy of his talent. He's brilliant in Traffic especially. Brought a really beautiful understated humanity and kindness to that role. He's also terrific in 21 Grams as the lapsed believer. Wasn't as hot about his Sicario performance but not because of anything wrong with him, more because that script IMO was underbaked and I didn't see much interesting about that role (I do remember loving his acting during the bridge shootout though -- that whole sequence was aces). and no one's mentioned it yet but his Sin City perf rules. So much fun for such a small role.  Can't wait to see him in The French Dispatch. He isn't someone I'd expect to see in a Wes film so I'm looking forward to seeing how he fits into that aesthetic. |
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Post by hugobolso on Oct 19, 2019 0:46:24 GMT
There is a trouble with latino actors. Hollywood has no idea how to deal with them.
Such incredible talent so wasted.-
Bardem, Banderas, Alfred Molina and Cruz are Europeans: latins not latinos. They could work in Europe, if they career have a step down in the US.-
Salma Hayek, Benicio del Toro and Jennifer Lopez have troubles in finding good roles in Hollywood.-
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Post by jimmalone on Oct 19, 2019 8:42:25 GMT
I think he has an incredible range and therefore it's pretty sad he rarely has the chance to proove it. Partly because of his rather disappointing film selection.
I adore his performance in Traffic, which is not only my Supporting Win that year, but would be in my top 3 supporting performances of the 00s (and maybe sit at the top there as well). He was nearly as great in 21 Grams and after I saw this film I thought he would spoil me with great performances on a regluar base. But only with Things We Lost in Fire and the unpopular A Perfect Day, which gets Benicio another nod at my awards, he gave two more performances, which brought him back in at least similiar territory.
However that's enough for me to consider him one of the finest actors of his generation.
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thomasjerome
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Post by thomasjerome on Oct 19, 2019 9:50:48 GMT
Or he should play in a romantic comedy or some sorts, he never did it in his entire career  . His face is so scary nobody wants to ask him as romantic hero  He played one in "Excess Baggage" (1997), opposite Alicia Silverstone. |
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Post by pupdurcs on Oct 19, 2019 10:27:30 GMT
A brilliant actor. Both helped and hindered by his ethnicity. He doesn't have much competition in Hollywood for substantial Latino roles, but often not considered for a wider breadth of parts either. And he doesn't get the Spanish/European quality pictures that Javier Bardem does either.
His looks factor to an extent. He doesn't exactly scream "Everyman" or "romantic comedy lead", but if he were considered "white", there's no reason he wouldn't have the options of someone like Joaquin Phoenix. His career would be a whole different ballgame then
Considering all that, he's had a fantastic career as film actor. But it's been far less than many actors without his raw talent.
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Post by PromNightCarrie on Oct 19, 2019 16:31:36 GMT
A brilliant actor. Both helped and hindered by his ethnicity. He doesn't have much competition in Hollywood for substantial Latino roles, but often not considered for a wider breadth of parts either. And he doesn't get the Spanish/European quality pictures that Javier Bardem does either. His looks factor to an extent. He doesn't exactly scream "Everyman" or "romantic comedy lead", but if he were considered "white", there's no reason he wouldn't have the options of someone like Joaquin Phoenix. His career would be a whole different ballgame then Considering all that, he's had a fantastic career as film actor. But it's been far less than many actors without his raw talent. It's interesting people only bring up Javier Bardem, but I don't really just think of him when I think of Benicio. I think of Benicio more with the Edward Norton, Sean Penn, Joaquin Phoenix kind of guys. His ethnicity doesn't really factor in hugely for me, but I suppose with other people it does. And maybe with Hollywood it does - I just didn't notice. He has sex appeal, but very unconventional looks. I remember when he was on Howard Stern, he was described as looking like Brad Pitt - only a tad uglier and latino. |
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thomasjerome
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Post by thomasjerome on Oct 19, 2019 17:05:55 GMT
Great actor, always reliable, versatile. Some of his best performances have already been mentioned. He can delight in minor or supporting roles like "Sin City", "Basquiat" and "The Fan". He had been in many of my favorite films. In fact, his filmography is full of underrated/overlooked gems ("China Moon", "Swimming with Sharks", "The Funeral"). He can elevate the poor material ("The Hunted", "The Wolfman") and is always interesting to watch.
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Post by pupdurcs on Oct 19, 2019 21:09:02 GMT
A brilliant actor. Both helped and hindered by his ethnicity. He doesn't have much competition in Hollywood for substantial Latino roles, but often not considered for a wider breadth of parts either. And he doesn't get the Spanish/European quality pictures that Javier Bardem does either. His looks factor to an extent. He doesn't exactly scream "Everyman" or "romantic comedy lead", but if he were considered "white", there's no reason he wouldn't have the options of someone like Joaquin Phoenix. His career would be a whole different ballgame then Considering all that, he's had a fantastic career as film actor. But it's been far less than many actors without his raw talent. It's interesting people only bring up Javier Bardem, but I don't really just think of him when I think of Benicio. I think of Benicio more with the Edward Norton, Sean Penn, Joaquin Phoenix kind of guys. His ethnicity doesn't really factor in hugely for me, but I suppose with other people it does. And maybe with Hollywood it does - I just didn't notice. He has sex appeal, but very unconventional looks. I remember when he was on Howard Stern, he was described as looking like Brad Pitt - only a tad uglier and latino. Well, if you think about it, Bardem falls into that category with guys like Penn. Macho actors who did a lot of arthouse movies and most likely had an inflated view of themselves as "artistes". Penn has roped Bardem into a number of collaborations (including Penn's cameo in Before Night Falls, and getting Bardem to appear in his action vehicle The Gunman and his directing failure The Last Face). Penn probably saw Bardem as the Spanish version of himself. But yes, Del Toro does fall into that general bracket you mention. He just never consistently recieved leading man projects as strong as them at their peaks, even though he was obviously more than capable of carrying a film. So he ended up doing a lot more supporting/character roles than any of them. The Bardem comparison is down to the Latin thing, and the fact that in Hollywood at least, they are probably considered for a lot of the same parts. Like I'm sure the top two candidates for Soderbergh's Che biopic were probably Del Toro and Bardem. So while the comparison is valid, Bardem has a completely seperate career in international productions and in Spain, which is not easily available to Del Toro. I think Del Toro has always been aware that his ethnicity could hinder his career. He gave an interview to The Guardian last year saying he's always looked to Denzel Washington as an example to inform his own choices, avoid stereotypes and elevate them into something better. "Denzel is one of those actors who had to deal with stereotypes", Del Toro says. Me being Latino, I've looked at his career to see how to navigate and take those stereotypes and flip them upside down". www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jun/29/people-talk-about-sicario-as-if-its-a-documentary-benicio-del-toro-on-his-new-thrillerHe's obviously had a completely different career to Washington, whom to many of his peers is arguably the GOAT, but it says a lot that Del Toro as a Latino actor saw Washington's example and choices as the gamechanger for himself to look at. He's done as well as he can. |
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Post by PromNightCarrie on Oct 19, 2019 23:10:04 GMT
It's interesting people only bring up Javier Bardem, but I don't really just think of him when I think of Benicio. I think of Benicio more with the Edward Norton, Sean Penn, Joaquin Phoenix kind of guys. His ethnicity doesn't really factor in hugely for me, but I suppose with other people it does. And maybe with Hollywood it does - I just didn't notice. He has sex appeal, but very unconventional looks. I remember when he was on Howard Stern, he was described as looking like Brad Pitt - only a tad uglier and latino. Well, if you think about it, Bardem falls into that category with guys like Penn. Macho actors who did a lot of arthouse movies and most likely had an inflated view of themselves as "artistes". Penn has roped Bardem into a number of collaborations (including Penn's cameo in Before Night Falls, and getting Bardem to appear in his action vehicle The Gunman and his directing failure The Last Face). Penn probably saw Bardem as the Spanish version of himself. But yes, Del Toro does fall into that general bracket you mention. He just never consistently recieved leading man projects as strong as them at their peaks, even though he was obviously more than capable of carrying a film. So he ended up doing a lot more supporting/character roles than any of them. The Bardem comparison is down to the Latin thing, and the fact that in Hollywood at least, they are probably considered for a lot of the same parts. Like I'm sure the top two candidates for Soderbergh's Che biopic were probably Del Toro and Bardem. So while the comparison is valid, Bardem has a completely seperate career in international productions and in Spain, which is not easily available to Del Toro. I think Del Toro has always been aware that his ethnicity could hinder his career. He gave an interview to The Guardian last year saying he's always looked to Denzel Washington as an example to inform his own choices, avoid stereotypes and elevate them into something better. "Denzel is one of those actors who had to deal with stereotypes", Del Toro says. Me being Latino, I've looked at his career to see how to navigate and take those stereotypes and flip them upside down". www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jun/29/people-talk-about-sicario-as-if-its-a-documentary-benicio-del-toro-on-his-new-thrillerHe's obviously had a completely different career to Washington, whom to many of his peers is arguably the GOAT, but it says a lot that Del Toro as a Latino actor saw Washington's example and choices as the gamechanger for himself to look at. He's done as well as he can. Well Bardem's in a cool, unique place from the others where he can turn to European arthouse projects if Hollywood projects aren't as satisfying. His career is very different from one Benicio could have. Benicio is a Puerto Rican who was brought up in boarding schools in the States. I can see why he would look to Denzel as a role model. Just like people would first think to compare Benicio to another latin actor rather than his other peers, people would compare Denzel to Sidney Poitier - another famous black actor. My point being - they see ethnicity first. So maybe that's been a problem for him. BTW, I haven't seen Sicario. How is he in that? Is it a worthy watch? |
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Post by pupdurcs on Oct 20, 2019 3:58:50 GMT
Well, if you think about it, Bardem falls into that category with guys like Penn. Macho actors who did a lot of arthouse movies and most likely had an inflated view of themselves as "artistes". Penn has roped Bardem into a number of collaborations (including Penn's cameo in Before Night Falls, and getting Bardem to appear in his action vehicle The Gunman and his directing failure The Last Face). Penn probably saw Bardem as the Spanish version of himself. But yes, Del Toro does fall into that general bracket you mention. He just never consistently recieved leading man projects as strong as them at their peaks, even though he was obviously more than capable of carrying a film. So he ended up doing a lot more supporting/character roles than any of them. The Bardem comparison is down to the Latin thing, and the fact that in Hollywood at least, they are probably considered for a lot of the same parts. Like I'm sure the top two candidates for Soderbergh's Che biopic were probably Del Toro and Bardem. So while the comparison is valid, Bardem has a completely seperate career in international productions and in Spain, which is not easily available to Del Toro. I think Del Toro has always been aware that his ethnicity could hinder his career. He gave an interview to The Guardian last year saying he's always looked to Denzel Washington as an example to inform his own choices, avoid stereotypes and elevate them into something better. "Denzel is one of those actors who had to deal with stereotypes", Del Toro says. Me being Latino, I've looked at his career to see how to navigate and take those stereotypes and flip them upside down". www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jun/29/people-talk-about-sicario-as-if-its-a-documentary-benicio-del-toro-on-his-new-thrillerHe's obviously had a completely different career to Washington, whom to many of his peers is arguably the GOAT, but it says a lot that Del Toro as a Latino actor saw Washington's example and choices as the gamechanger for himself to look at. He's done as well as he can. BTW, I haven't seen Sicario. How is he in that? Is it a worthy watch? He's terrific in Sicario, and I'd say the movie is well worth watching. |
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. His face is so scary nobody wants to ask him as romantic hero 
