holifila:
Despite being the most nominated, celebrated and respected actress EVER…for some reason, I have never been able to get into the “flow” of Meryl Streep.
Despite watching a number of her films…I just haven’t been able to “get it”…
…which obviously puts me in a minority indeed…
Mufasa
[quote]Mufasa wrote:
[center]Micky and Mallory[/center]
Woody Harrelson
Juliette Lewis
“Natural Born Killers”
Mufasa[/quote]
Hellz yeah. I don’t really see this whole “Great actor” stuff you talk about, but I just love this movie. Great music and great everything. Especially Leonard Cohen’s song at the end.
As for great acting:
Stallone in Rocky, Rocky II, and Rocky Balboa. And I’m serious, Mufasa.
Rocky Balboa: Love the part when he mourns his wife with Paulie yelling at him to hurry up. The van and the lights. There was another scene where he was crying and I liked that.
Tiribulus:
Lest we forget…
Penn’s chilling performance in Brian de Palma’s “Casualties of War”…
WolBarrett:
Don’t totally disagree with your “Natural Born Killers” points.
The question is this; how much is “caring” about totally heartless killers a function of the screenplay; the actors; or both?
Makes for great discussion!
Mufasa
“The Penn Moment” in “Mystic River”…
Mufasa
Hey, Wol!
I certainly understand Stallone more than Streep!
(Sorry, guys…and the “Academy”…!)
LOL!
Look…Stallone REALLY pulled it off in “Rocky Balboa”…and all indications are that he will do it again in the new “Rambo”…
Mufasa
Craig Sheffer and Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It. Didn’t care for Brad Pitt much before that movie, just dismissed him as another hollywood pretty boy. That film is the closest thing to a novel ever put on screen, and the acting by both of the brothers is superb.
Leonardo DiCaprio in the Aviator. Great bio-pic. 2 & 1/2 hours long, but flies by. Leo plays an odd-ball character, but still has the depth of a real person.
[quote]Mufasa wrote:
Tiribulus:
Lest we forget…
Penn’s chilling performance in Brian de Palma’s “Casualties of War”…
WolBarrett:
Don’t totally disagree with your “Natural Born Killers” points.
The question is this; how much is “caring” about totally heartless killers a function of the screenplay; the actors; or both?
Makes for great discussion!
Mufasa[/quote]
Mufasa:
No no, that’s not what I meant. The acting in the movie is good and I relate to Woody’s character “Micky”. I like him…he’s heartless killer, but at least they leave one victim to tell the tale. The acting is really good.
What I meant is this: In movies like “The Pianist” or some other type of fartsy artsty movie that wins Oscars, I don’t see the appeal. I just don’t. I’d much rather give an Oscar to Stallone in First Blood than Adrian Brody in anything.
Mystic River: Good movie, Sean Penn did excellent.
Hey Mufasa!
Another Stallone comment: I think he is underated. He really tries to make movies with substance and he really does try to act. What he has against him is his accent, the face he makes when he yells (Judge Dredd “Law?!!”, that scene sums it up), and once he made Rocky, it was hard for him to get away from it. Like after 1976 Rocky, he had like 3 movies before Rocky II came out.
Sample of him breaking the mold (unlike Arnold Schawnegger): Copland.
Two guys who are great, underated, and not used enough: Kurt Russell and Bruce Willis, specifically Kurt.
[quote]WolBarret wrote:
Sample of him breaking the mold (unlike Arnold Schawnegger): Copland.
[/quote]
That mold breaking is also probably why his appearance in movies dropped drastically after that. Don’t forget action stinkers like Cobra (even though everyone went to go see it when it first came out and probably thought it was great back then but couldn’t sit through the whole thing now).
I swear I thought he was mildly retarded growing up until I heard him get interviewed several years later. Then again, the fact that he played the roles of Rocky and Rambo that convincingly probably does say a lot about his acting ability.
To Cobra’s credit, I found out from wikipedia (in relation to Beverly Hills Cop):
[quote]Sylvester Stallone was originally intended to play Axel Foley. After his departure due to differences in scope (he wanted more action than the producers would budget for) the role was re-written for Murphy.
Stallone went on to use his version of the film as the basis for his movie Cobra. The character of Jenny Summers was originally a Stallone love interest, but was rendered only an “old friend” to Murphy’s Foley. Mikey was originally supposed to be Stallone’s brother.[/quote]
Also, simply because it is coming out next week:
It isn’t a widely seen movie, but Dead Man’s Shoes (A movie made in the UK by Shane Meadows) is not only one of the best I’ve seen in years, but the actor who plays the lead … Paddy Considine is easily one of the best around.
He was intimidating and convincing as an older brother, returned from the military to find that the local crowd of losers had targeted and abused his mentally slow younger brother. The movie is about his delivery of vengeance.
Over the last few years I’ve seen it several times and it grips me tight.
Paddy Considine is remarkable.
imdb link-
I have not seen dead man shoes but Considine looks brilliant
De Niro punching the walls in Raging Bull is epic
Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson is brilliant i thought so realistic
Phillip Seymore Hoffman in any of PT Andersons films
And Tom Cruise like him or hate him he is immense in Magnolia
Molotov:
Wow…
“Dead Man’s Shoes” (and Paddy Considine) are on my list!
I’ll give you a follow-up!
Mufasa
Marcello Mastroianni is one of the few actors I actually tried to emulate when I was younger. His character in 8 1/2 was the first I’ve ever identified with, he’s pretty amazing in all his films. I don’t know if 8 1/2 is a good movie to see his capabilities though (thats more for fellini’s.)
La Dolce Vita is a great Mastroianni starter though, especially the fountain scene and the last half hour.
Some pretty good movies I haven’t seen being mentioned.
[quote]holifila wrote:
…have you ever had an actor ruined for you from one role, not even the role, but the reactions to it. Here I’m thinking about Penn in “I am Sam”, an annoying performance in an annoying movie. But pretty forgettable. But a bunch of praise and an oscar nod, I don’t know why, but it really turned me off of Penn…
[/quote]
Blame the Oscar committe. They always seem to like those very mannered, method actor, get-in-character-and-stay-in-character-all-fucking-day roles. I don’t know why.
Peter Sellers in Being There, Russell Crowe in Beautiful Mind, I am Sam, Hoffman in Rain Man, the list goes on…
The Oscars eat that shit up with a spoon and then lick the bowl.
Rutger Hauer
Bladerunner, at the end. Very touching. Actually there was a lot in that whole film. But that last scene is rated as one of the few things guaranteed to make men cry. I think it was better in the cinema release, not the directors’ cut. Harrison Fords’ narration made it better I believe.
Actually he was very good in a few films. Check out “The Hitcher” for one disturbing one - the original not the remake.
Also was touching in Ladyhawke, a bit of a cheest movie especially the music, but some moments were really powerful.
I am not saying he is the best just using him as an example of how sci fi is underrated by the academy.
He was the corporate guy in Batman Begins by the way.
[quote]Magarhe wrote:
Rutger Hauer
Bladerunner, at the end. Very touching. Actually there was a lot in that whole film. But that last scene is rated as one of the few things guaranteed to make men cry. I think it was better in the cinema release, not the directors’ cut. Harrison Fords’ narration made it better I believe.
Actually he was very good in a few films. Check out “The Hitcher” for one disturbing one - the original not the remake.
Also was touching in Ladyhawke, a bit of a cheest movie especially the music, but some moments were really powerful.
I am not saying he is the best just using him as an example of how sci fi is underrated by the academy.
He was the corporate guy in Batman Begins by the way.
[/quote]
and Cardinal rourke in sin city! Rutger Hauer is awesome, he may not be an A list actor, but he can play in roles that no one else really seems to pull off.
I like most everything Jack Nicholson has done. His performance in “A Few Good Men” was amazing.
Kevin Spacey is another favorite of mine. I really liked him in “The Usual Suspects”.
[quote]Molotov_Coktease wrote:
It isn’t a widely seen movie, but Dead Man’s Shoes (A movie made in the UK by Shane Meadows) is not only one of the best I’ve seen in years, but the actor who plays the lead … Paddy Considine is easily one of the best around.
[/quote]
I completely agree! I love Considine! Great in In America and funny in his small role in Hot Fuzz. Watch for this guy to do big things real real soon.
And yes, Dead Man’s Shoes is amazing.
Good villains usually make for good movies.
Robert Patrick in Terminator 2 was so menacing. Not much of a role, but the body language and the soundtrack made him the creepiest ever.
Khan in Star Trek 2 was mentioned. That role was good. He wasn’t just a bad guy, he had a purpose.
Agent smith was a cool villain and made the Matrix watchable (the first one). Hugo is the man.
Gary Oldman’s Dracula and Lost in Space.
last but not least…Doctor Hannibal Lector…in SofL’s
Old crazy man Nicholson in The Departed and The Shining and Batman.
Word to Neph, books and music affect me much more than acting performances; to the point that reading a stage or screen play gets me more than any film ever could. With that said, only 2 film performances make me think “art” when I see them (don’t laugh): Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, and the whole cast of A River Runs Through It. I can admit securely in my manhood that ARRTI makes me sob every time I see it.
Oh, and Robin Williams doesn’t suck in Dead Poets Society.
