|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 6, 2020 19:41:46 GMT
Kidman, Noah Jupe and Donald Sutherland sound Rich .That's why how they all talk works on this show, which is about wealth (even Grant keeping his posh English accent plays into that wealth and class perception). Who the fuck knows where Sutherland's accent is supposed to be from (I guess it's still Canadian, since he made no attempt to alter it), but he sounds like old money, so you just instinctively believe he's some rich old high society New Yorker like the show tells you he is. He doesn't need to sound like he was raised in Brooklyn. Not everything requires that level of specificity.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 7, 2020 16:43:13 GMT
TVLine names Kidman the Performer Of The Week for her work in Episode 2.
Some of the ink:
Kidman was simply astounding as Grace Fraser's life collapsed around her.....the Oscar winner skillfully dramatized every beat of her alter ego's rapid descent into hell, from denial to despair, to ultimately, uttrer devastation.
Kidman masterfully caputures the shock and terror overtaking Grace...And now we are ready to make a call of our own: Kidman's Undoing performance is a triumph.
|
|
|
Post by therealcomicman117 on Nov 7, 2020 17:12:14 GMT
Really like this so far, but Kidman's Aussie accent is jumping out a lot.It's still astonishing to me that she hasn't mastered an American accent yet. I think she's had a lot flawless American accents ( To Die For, Destroyer, The Paperboy, Batman Forever and many more), but she probably used to work with dialect coaches more on some projects to make sure her Aussie didn't occasionally slip out. It was noticeable in Big Little Lies as well, but it doesn't really detract from the power and skill of her performance (obviously since she won every acting award going for it). And it actually fits these upper class patrician characters she's playing on both shows. She's probably getting to that Anthony Hopkins stage of her career where she isn't as fussed as she used to be ( I don't think I've ever seen Hopkins do an American accent, where his English/Welsh vowels didn't occasionally slip out. Never affects his overall performance though). I find that actors in general who have strong accents have a much harder time of getting rid of them, there's also the fact that in spite of what's said American accents aren't so easy to conquer, there's things such as consistency and regional variants that factor into them as well. I think Kidman's American accent is often fine or even very good at points, but it can slip up into that weird off lingo point that a lot of Australian actors seem to fall in.
|
|
|
Post by futuretrunks on Nov 7, 2020 23:43:52 GMT
I think she's had a lot flawless American accents ( To Die For, Destroyer, The Paperboy, Batman Forever and many more), but she probably used to work with dialect coaches more on some projects to make sure her Aussie didn't occasionally slip out. It was noticeable in Big Little Lies as well, but it doesn't really detract from the power and skill of her performance (obviously since she won every acting award going for it). And it actually fits these upper class patrician characters she's playing on both shows. She's probably getting to that Anthony Hopkins stage of her career where she isn't as fussed as she used to be ( I don't think I've ever seen Hopkins do an American accent, where his English/Welsh vowels didn't occasionally slip out. Never affects his overall performance though). I find that actors in general who have strong accents have a much harder time of getting rid of them, there's also the fact that in spite of what's said American accents aren't so easy to conquer, there's things such as consistency and regional variants that factor into them as well. I think Kidman's American accent is often fine or even very good at points, but it can slip up into that weird off lingo point that a lot of Australian actors seem to fall in. Personally, I think American accents are probably the easiest to do in the English-language world, precisely because there are people who were born and raised in every section of America that have nondescript, very "standard" sounding accents. I know people from Brooklyn who sound exactly the same as some people from Raleigh, North Carolina or Austin Texas or Pasadena or Seattle. A general "American" accent with the mid-west as the template. That's not really the case with England from what I can tell.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 7, 2020 23:57:35 GMT
I find that actors in general who have strong accents have a much harder time of getting rid of them, there's also the fact that in spite of what's said American accents aren't so easy to conquer, there's things such as consistency and regional variants that factor into them as well. I think Kidman's American accent is often fine or even very good at points, but it can slip up into that weird off lingo point that a lot of Australian actors seem to fall in. Personally, I think American accents are probably the easiest to do in the English-language world, precisely because there are people who were born and raised in every section of America that have nondescript, very "standard" sounding accents. I know people from Brooklyn who sound exactly the same as some people from Raleigh, North Carolina or Austin Texas or Pasadena or Seattle. A general "American" accent with the mid-west as the template. That's not really the case with England from what I can tell. You'd be surprised how many truly great British actors either struggle with an American accent or can't do it at all. Ian Mckellen has flat out admitted he cannot do an American accent at all. And it's always been something Michael Caine struggled with (despite being quite decent at non-American accents). Whatever the fuck accent Caine was doing in The Cider House Rules, was not it . And Caine is supposed to be American in the clip below for On Deadly Ground, and it's like a random made-up accent.lool!
|
|
|
Post by futuretrunks on Nov 8, 2020 0:02:41 GMT
Personally, I think American accents are probably the easiest to do in the English-language world, precisely because there are people who were born and raised in every section of America that have nondescript, very "standard" sounding accents. I know people from Brooklyn who sound exactly the same as some people from Raleigh, North Carolina or Austin Texas or Pasadena or Seattle. A general "American" accent with the mid-west as the template. That's not really the case with England from what I can tell. You'd be surprised how many truly great British actors either struggle with an American accent or can't do it at all. Ian Mckellen has flat out admitted he cannot do an American accent at all. And it's always been something Michael Caine struggled with (despite being quite decent at non-American accents). Whatever the fuck accent Caine was doing in The Cider House Rules, was not it . And Caine is supposed to be American in the clip below for On Deadly Ground, and it's like a random made-up accent.lool! I tend to avoid Gerard Butler films, but has he ever done a good American accent? Ewan McGregor has struggled, though I found what I saw in Fargo credible.
|
|
|
Post by therealcomicman117 on Nov 8, 2020 0:10:05 GMT
I find that actors in general who have strong accents have a much harder time of getting rid of them, there's also the fact that in spite of what's said American accents aren't so easy to conquer, there's things such as consistency and regional variants that factor into them as well. I think Kidman's American accent is often fine or even very good at points, but it can slip up into that weird off lingo point that a lot of Australian actors seem to fall in. Personally, I think American accents are probably the easiest to do in the English-language world, precisely because there are people who were born and raised in every section of America that have nondescript, very "standard" sounding accents. I know people from Brooklyn who sound exactly the same as some people from Raleigh, North Carolina or Austin Texas or Pasadena or Seattle. A general "American" accent with the mid-west as the template. That's not really the case with England from what I can tell. I mean American accents on paper are really easy to do, I can agree with that. It's just the regional accents where things can get a little complicated. Just like how there are multiple different ways of speaking in the UK, the US also has different patterns of talk. To me it's never just as simple as doing an American accent. Attempting a Southern drawl or doing a New York accent is arguably even harder then just trying out a bogstandard U.S accent for example.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 8, 2020 0:11:05 GMT
You'd be surprised how many truly great British actors either struggle with an American accent or can't do it at all. Ian Mckellen has flat out admitted he cannot do an American accent at all. And it's always been something Michael Caine struggled with (despite being quite decent at non-American accents). Whatever the fuck accent Caine was doing in The Cider House Rules, was not it . And Caine is supposed to be American in the clip below for On Deadly Ground, and it's like a random made-up accent.lool! I tend to avoid Gerard Butler films, but has he ever done a good American accent? Ewan McGregor has struggled, though I found what I saw in Fargo credible. McGregor has struggled with American accents most of his career, so he probably worked really hard with a dialect coach to make the improvement he did on Fargo. Some people have an ear for accent work and some don't. Being good at accents makes you a good mimic, not neccesarily a great actor. But even if you don't have that natural ear for accents, investing in a dialect coach can be worth it if it's really neccesary. Even Gary Oldman still uses a dialect coach for some of his accent work, and mimicry comes easy to him.
|
|
|
Post by therealcomicman117 on Nov 8, 2020 0:30:44 GMT
Personally, I think American accents are probably the easiest to do in the English-language world, precisely because there are people who were born and raised in every section of America that have nondescript, very "standard" sounding accents. I know people from Brooklyn who sound exactly the same as some people from Raleigh, North Carolina or Austin Texas or Pasadena or Seattle. A general "American" accent with the mid-west as the template. That's not really the case with England from what I can tell. You'd be surprised how many truly great British actors either struggle with an American accent or can't do it at all. Ian Mckellen has flat out admitted he cannot do an American accent at all. And it's always been something Michael Caine struggled with (despite being quite decent at non-American accents). Whatever the fuck accent Caine was doing in The Cider House Rules, was not it . And Caine is supposed to be American in the clip below for On Deadly Ground, and it's like a random made-up accent.lool! So many of those old-timey British stage trained actors cannot do American accents and they're pretty open about it. This is why whenever they did appear in a Hollywood production they would often be cast in an adaptation of a classic english-language novel or something, or they would just happen to be a Brit who was visiting the country.
|
|
sirchuck23
Based
Bad news dawg...you don't mind if I have some of your 300 dollar a glass shit there would ya?
Posts: 2,720
Likes: 4,829
|
Post by sirchuck23 on Nov 8, 2020 0:31:03 GMT
Personally, I think American accents are probably the easiest to do in the English-language world, precisely because there are people who were born and raised in every section of America that have nondescript, very "standard" sounding accents. I know people from Brooklyn who sound exactly the same as some people from Raleigh, North Carolina or Austin Texas or Pasadena or Seattle. A general "American" accent with the mid-west as the template. That's not really the case with England from what I can tell. You'd be surprised how many truly great British actors either struggle with an American accent or can't do it at all. Ian Mckellen has flat out admitted he cannot do an American accent at all. And it's always been something Michael Caine struggled with (despite being quite decent at non-American accents). Whatever the fuck accent Caine was doing in The Cider House Rules, was not it . And Caine is supposed to be American in the clip below for On Deadly Ground, and it's like a random made-up accent.lool! LOL..sounded like a mix of Cockney and a generic Transatlantic type accent. If you think that’s funny, you should see Jason Statham’s attempt at a Texan accent in Parker..lol. Which I found deplorable as an actual Texan.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 9, 2020 10:23:03 GMT
Episode 3 was very solid. Not as tension filled or nail-biting as the first two episodes, but still pretty entertaining with the usual high production values and strong performances. Hugh Grant got to do a lot more this episode after disappearing for most of episode 2, and he didn't disappoint. This ain't your Four Weddings And A Funeral Grant, I'll tell ya that! Donald Sutherland gets a meaty breakdown scene and plays the piano to bolster his award hopes, and Lily Rabe gives quality best friend support. But once again, it's Nicole Kidman who absolutely bodies this episode. Performance wise, so far, nobody on this show is operating at her level. Three episodes in, and I'm already of the opinion that if The Undoing was released in the spring as originally intended before coronavirus messed everything up, Kidman probably would have provided Regina King with the stiffest challenge for the Emmy. Anyway, the episode ends with another incredible cliffhanger that makes waiting a week for the next episode kind of annoying.
7.5/10
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 11, 2020 0:08:52 GMT
The Undoing continues to be a hit for HBO, as it reaches a season high viewership of 1.7 million viewers for episode 3, matching the season high of Perry Mason and outperforming the season finale of Lovecraft Country
The series also has shown huge international appeal and is breaking viewership records outside the US, being the biggest launch of the year for Sky Atlantic in the UK. It's the best first season premiere for HBO networks in Nordic and Central Europe. It's the biggest HBO first season launch of all-time in Denmark. It ranks no.1 among series on HBO GO in Latin America, as well as no.1 on Binge and Foxtel in Australia. For the week of Nov 2-8, it was the no.1 most watched show among streaming platforms on Crave, in Canada.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 16, 2020 12:13:39 GMT
Episode 4 was great. A step up from the 3rd episode, and maybe my personal favorite episode of the season so far because of the amount of character development packed in. This is the first episode of the season where Kidman would not claim MVP honors from me. While Kidman was exceptional as usual, this episode really gave Donald Sutherland an opportunity to shine, and he took it greedily. From confessing his sins to his daughter, to making death threats to Hugh Grant and intimidating school headmasters like some sort of mafia boss, this episode was pretty much Sutherland's Emmy tape. Grant was fantastic as well in this episode, and it's good to see some of the other actors make their case for awards consideration. Noma Dumazweni also deserves a mention for her very strong work as Grant's savvy and cynical defense attorney.
8.5/10
|
|
LaraQ
Badass
English Rose
Posts: 2,301
Likes: 2,835
|
Post by LaraQ on Nov 18, 2020 13:40:33 GMT
I'm starting to think the son may have killed Elena.Jonathan just seems too obvious.
|
|
|
Post by Mattsby on Nov 23, 2020 18:50:16 GMT
"The verb is singular." Very happily surprised to see Rosemary Harris pop up in Ep5, her first role in 5 years, and 93y/o. It's a small but well-played perf.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 23, 2020 20:00:35 GMT
Man, this episode (5) was so much fun! And that twist at the end I still have no idea who fucking killed Elena, even though they've planted enough clues to make you believe everyone might be guilty (and as shocking as the ending is, I can't believe they'll really go there). Looking forward to seeing how this unfolds in the final episode. David E Kelly was in his element here with so much of the trial/courtroom stuff (no surprise, as he's a former lawyer who had tremendous success with Ally McBeal and The Practice, two legal shows) and it shows. Ultimately, Kidman once again carries this episode superbly, but she's run close with some fantastic support from Noma Dumazweni (terrific in the courtroom scenes. And I hope this actress gets a lot more work. She's the real deal) and Hugh Grant, who teeters between being sympathetic and a possible sociopath, depending on the scene. Noah Jupe also does some strong work. I don't think they have an ensemble cast award for limited series at SAG, but with the work this cast is putting in, they'd certainly deserve the nomination. 8.5/10
|
|
LaraQ
Badass
English Rose
Posts: 2,301
Likes: 2,835
|
Post by LaraQ on Nov 24, 2020 13:03:09 GMT
Man, this episode (5) was so much fun! And that twist at the end I still have no idea who fucking killed Elena, even though they've planted enough clues to make you believe everyone might be guilty (and as shocking as the ending is, I can't believe they'll really go there). Looking forward to seeing how this unfolds in the final episode. David E Kelly was in his element here with so much of the trial/courtroom stuff (no surprise, as he's a former lawyer who had tremendous success with Ally McBeal and The Practice, two legal shows) and it shows. Ultimately, Kidman once again carries this episode superbly, but she's run close with some fantastic support from Noma Dumazweni (terrific in the courtroom scenes. And I hope this actress gets a lot more work. She's the real deal) and Hugh Grant, who teeters between being sympathetic and a possible sociopath, depending on the scene. Noah Jupe also does some strong work. I don't think they have an ensemble cast award for limited series at SAG, but with the work this cast is putting in, they'd certainly deserve the nomination. 8.5/10Yeah,they certainly spent the entire episode signposting the fact that the Son did it,which makes me think that maybe he didn't.It just feels too obvious now.I'm starting to think it was maybe Sylvia (Lily Rabe),that she was the other woman Grant had the affair with and she is still obsessed with him and killed Elena in a fit of jealousy.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 24, 2020 17:05:09 GMT
Man, this episode (5) was so much fun! And that twist at the end I still have no idea who fucking killed Elena, even though they've planted enough clues to make you believe everyone might be guilty (and as shocking as the ending is, I can't believe they'll really go there). Looking forward to seeing how this unfolds in the final episode. David E Kelly was in his element here with so much of the trial/courtroom stuff (no surprise, as he's a former lawyer who had tremendous success with Ally McBeal and The Practice, two legal shows) and it shows. Ultimately, Kidman once again carries this episode superbly, but she's run close with some fantastic support from Noma Dumazweni (terrific in the courtroom scenes. And I hope this actress gets a lot more work. She's the real deal) and Hugh Grant, who teeters between being sympathetic and a possible sociopath, depending on the scene. Noah Jupe also does some strong work. I don't think they have an ensemble cast award for limited series at SAG, but with the work this cast is putting in, they'd certainly deserve the nomination. 8.5/10Yeah,they certainly spent the entire episode signposting the fact that the Son did it,which makes me think that maybe he didn't.It just feels too obvious now.I'm starting to think it was maybe Sylvia (Lily Rabe),that she was the other woman Grant had the affair with and she is still obsessed with him and killed Elena in a fit of jealousy. Yeah, I'm leaning toward Sylvia myself now as well, for the same reasons as you.
|
|
speeders
Based
Posts: 4,093
Likes: 2,211
|
Post by speeders on Nov 25, 2020 2:15:43 GMT
Yeah,they certainly spent the entire episode signposting the fact that the Son did it,which makes me think that maybe he didn't.It just feels too obvious now.I'm starting to think it was maybe Sylvia (Lily Rabe),that she was the other woman Grant had the affair with and she is still obsessed with him and killed Elena in a fit of jealousy. Yeah, I'm leaning toward Sylvia myself now as well, for the same reasons as you. I feel the same way as you too. I was predicting the son from the first episode but now it feels just too obvious. Maybe it is him and the last 50 or so minutes will just be the fallout from that but right now, I'm not completely convinced and think it's Sylvia (since the other mistress was brought up and then dropped, it probably is her, also makes sense within the context of the show how none of them act selflessly, why Sylvia has been hovering around Grace so much). I will not rule out Sutherland either, he would have an easier access to the violin case than Sylvia would (in the first episode, I played with the theory he might be the father of Elena's baby and have gotten her into the school to pay her off, but alas...)
|
|
wattsnew
Full Member
Posts: 712
Likes: 347
|
Post by wattsnew on Nov 25, 2020 4:18:03 GMT
Saw this tweet on my TL, and yikes! This is bad even for her standards. The struggle to emote (all she can do now is the same bug eyed look over and over, apparently) and that frozen forehead.... besides the fact that she can’t seem to act anymore, she just looks awful. I did a quick search and found endless tweets which agree. It’s quite sad, really.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 25, 2020 7:35:28 GMT
Saw this tweet on my TL, and yikes! This is bad even for her standards. The struggle to emote (all she can do now is the same bug eyed look over and over, apparently) and that frozen forehead.... besides the fact that she can’t seem to act anymore, she just looks awful. I did a quick search and found endless tweets which agree. It’s quite sad, really. First off, the guy you quoted Jarret Weiselman is actually a very big fan of Kidman's performance in The Undoing, and that was not meant to be a negative tweet about her performance. Just a throwaway gag about being amused by some of her heavy breathing reaction shots done in an edited smashcut. The woman was giving every emotion possible in episode 2 when TV Line named her Performer Of The Week (I'm sure you saw that tweet too) Even with that said..... The desperation! You can literally find negative or unflattering tweets or online comments about every single movie star or actor (there is even a joke segment about it on Jimmy Kimmel called Celebrities Read Mean Tweets, where some of the most acclaimed actors out there read tweets about people shitting on them, whether it's their abilities or their looks ). I can find you tweets about Meryl Streep being an overrated ham. There are literally thousands of tweets I could dredge up from people claiming Tom Hanks is a peadophile. That comes with the territory of being a performer or celebrity. There's always people on the internet willing to neg you (your looks, your talent, your fashion sense, your teeth etc). Looking for negative comments about celebrities or actors on Twitter is like shooting fish in a barrel. It's the easiest thing in the world. This shit ain't going to make Naomi Watts career better. i genuinely hope Kidman can give her a job or something one day and help get her out of this career funk of hers. Shame that Game Of Thrones pilot went nowhere. The Undoing is a massive, career defining hit for Kidman, she is going to be nominated for a ton of acting awards for it, and tweets like this are far more indicative of the success the show has been for her:
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 25, 2020 7:39:53 GMT
Oh, look, someone on Twitter thinks Meryl Streep isn't a good actress. Stop the presses. What will poor Meryl do: Oh noes, someone on Twitta thinks Daniel Day-Lewis is overrated and a trash actor. Guess Danny should give back them 3 Oscars now.
|
|
|
Post by pupdurcs on Nov 25, 2020 11:32:01 GMT
Another massive ratings surge in the US for Episodes 5, which drew a season high live audience of 1.28 million viewers.
Also, the highest rated cable programme in the UK for Sky Atlantic between 9-15 Nov.
|
|
|
Post by Viced on Nov 26, 2020 17:35:38 GMT
Caught up on the first 5 episodes this week (this thread is a tornado of nonsense... wtf)... entertaining and enough twists and turns to keep me interested, but nothing great. Kind of like a more pulpy and better made version of Defending Jacob from earlier this year. Kidman and Grant have had some amazing moments, but Donald Sutherland is easily MVP. Completely different old rich dude from J. Paul Getty, but just as great. He's had like 3 scenes here that I'd put up there with the best acting of his career. And are people really trashing Kidman's accent when this dude has the worst New York accent in the history of filmed entertainment? For the theories: I'll hop on board the "Sylvia did it" bandwagon. This show would be pointless if Jonathan did it... the son having the sculpting hammer is a nice holy shit twist but too ridiculous of a conclusion... but Sylvia has been in the show a strangely large amount of time to just be a friend character and nothing more.
|
|
|
Post by thomasjerome on Nov 26, 2020 17:41:16 GMT
Kidman and Grant have had some amazing moments, but Donald Sutherland is easily MVP. Completely different old rich dude from J. Paul Getty, but just as great. He's had like 3 scenes here that I'd put up there with the best acting of his career. I can't name many actors who could make that "cocksucker" monologue work but he did it and he did it perfectly. What a legend. Hoping for a second Emmy win.
|
|