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Post by stephen on Mar 31, 2023 16:59:48 GMT
One of the most unique actors who has ever lived, the Walken Dude is the big 80 today.
It's fascinating to think about how this man has become a living meme that will never turn down a role, regardless of the quality of the part or the film, that it makes you sometimes forget that he is an Oscar-winning actor whose performance in The Deer Hunter is one of the greatest performances to ever be anointed with the golden boy. But what I love so much about Walken is how he rarely phones it in -- he's always committed, even in service to a project that doesn't deserve it, but once in a while he'll turn up in a quality project and remind you that he is just as talented as the rest of his generational compatriots like the Big Four. (And he is still turning out acclaimed work on stage and television to this day.)
Also, dude's gonna be Shaddam IV Corrino in Dune Two: Electric Boogaloo. That is genius casting.
Anyway, top ten performances?
1. The Deer Hunter
2. Seven Psychopaths
3. Pulp Fiction
4. Suicide Kings
5. True Romance
6. Catch Me If You Can
7. The Dead Zone
8. Stand Up Guys
9. That SNL Blue Oyster Cult sketch
10. The Funeral
I haven't seen a lot of his TV work, though, so I'm game for suggestions.
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sirchuck23
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Bad news dawg...you don't mind if I have some of your 300 dollar a glass shit there would ya?
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Post by sirchuck23 on Mar 31, 2023 17:37:11 GMT
Happy Birthday to the great Christopher Walken!  One of my favorite film quotes of his. Boy does he know how to deliver them (quotes/monologues) |
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Post by pacinoyes on Mar 31, 2023 17:41:50 GMT
I don't think he's really even close to any of the Big 4 of his generation myself but.......I do think he is the actor who has the biggest gap between his talent and his filmography - or work resume overall - in US film history actually......he is certainly more than just an actor "who can be great" and much closer to an indisputably "great actor" Walken is a strange guy in how he's perceived too - if he had won a 2nd Oscar it would go a long way in changing how he's seen by mainstream plebs - and he was fairly close (won BAFTA, won SAG).....he is not an Emmy or Tony winner but has 2 nominations in each....... I would certainly include At Close Range among his upper tier work.......he's brilliant there.....and Weapon of Choice......if he was around in the old days he'd be like Jimmy Cagney or someone like that ......I mean he can dance......there is a high "peformative" aspect to him in his presentational style....  |
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Post by stephen on Mar 31, 2023 17:42:53 GMT
Happy Birthday to the great Christopher Walken!
One of my favorite film quotes of his. Boy does he know how to deliver them (quotes/monologues)One of the very best in the game at this, because his idiosyncratic delivery makes him so compelling to listen to. There's a reason we are engaged when he goes on a talk show and recites the lyrics to "Poker Face" or reads "The Three Little Pigs." The old adage about listening to someone read a phone book -- that doesn't apply to anyone more perfectly than it does to Walken. |
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thomasjerome
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Post by thomasjerome on Mar 31, 2023 17:46:44 GMT
One of the GOATs, can play everything, comedies, dramas, lead, supporting, can steal a whole show with one brief appearance. Excellent dancer, great SNL host, and seemingly a lovely dude. I hope he'll be with us for many more years to come and keep working.
So hard to come up with just ten but:
1. The Deer Hunter
2. The Dead Zone
3. King of New York
4. The Comfort of Strangers
5. Romance & Cigarettes
6. A Late Quartet
7. Sarah, Plain and Tall
8. Suicide Kings
9. Around the Bend
10. Things to Do In Denver When You're Dead
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Post by ibbi on Mar 31, 2023 17:55:46 GMT
I just finished watching Severance a few days ago, and seeing him in it was a delight. What a superstar. I hope they give him more to do next time around. Dune 2 is going to be so epic just for that bit of casting alone.
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Post by wallsofjericho on Mar 31, 2023 18:03:02 GMT
Love him. Happy Birthday Sir!
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Post by stephen on Mar 31, 2023 18:19:59 GMT
I just finished watching Severance a few days ago, and seeing him in it was a delight. What a superstar. I hope they give him more to do next time around. Dune 2 is going to be so epic just for that bit of casting alone.Honestly, Dune: Part Two could just be Walken reading the fucking book in front of the camera and I would want it to win every Oscar imaginable. |
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Post by wallsofjericho on Mar 31, 2023 18:22:46 GMT
He is frightening in True Romance in his brief scene. Both him and Hopper stole the show for me.
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cranly
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Post by cranly on Mar 31, 2023 20:32:44 GMT
In chronological order:
The Deer Hunter
The Dead Zone
At Close Range
King of New York
The Comfort of Strangers
The Funeral
New Rose Hotel
The Opportunists
Catch Me If You Can
A Late Quartet
HM: Pennies from Heaven, Biloxi Blues, The Addiction (the greatest of his many immortal cameo roles), Seven Psychopaths.
His strongest tv work is in Jonathan Demme's Who Am I This Time? (1982) and David Hare's Turks & Caicos (2014).
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Post by pacinoyes on Mar 31, 2023 20:41:29 GMT
In chronological order:
His strongest tv work is in Jonathan Demme's Who Am I This Time? (1982) and David Hare's Turks & Caicos (2014). Wonderful mention This is on Youtube btw like many of the American Playhouse Productions |
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meowy
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Post by meowy on Apr 7, 2023 16:57:58 GMT
Christopher Walken is a national treasure, the most amazing and eccentric actor of his generation. He's been memorable many times; The Dead Zone, King of New York, The Deer Hunter, True Romance, Suicide Kings, At Close Range, Seven Psychopaths.
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thomasjerome
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Post by thomasjerome on Mar 31, 2024 17:56:39 GMT
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Nikan
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Post by Nikan on Mar 31, 2024 18:21:16 GMT
1. Pulp Fiction
2. The Deer Hunter
3. Seven Psychopaths
4. True Romance
5. Catch Me If You Can
Eccentric legend. His "chapter" in The Addiction was one of my favorite sequences from all that I saw last year.
Would like to check out: Heaven's Gate, The Funeral, Next Stop Greenwhich Village and The Prophecy.
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Post by paulgallo on Mar 31, 2024 20:12:18 GMT
"dude's gonna be Shaddam IV Corrino in Dune Two: Electric Boogaloo. That is genius casting."
Would have been if the director hadn't instructed him to speak like a normal person instead of doing his idiosyncratic line delivery. Sadly a waste.
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