BYOB – November 7
My entries are getting longer and rantier… so here is some space for you to relieve yourselves.
April 25, 2024
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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
Was able to see a screening yesterday morning of Blade Runner : The Final Cut. I think what most impressed me beyond anything else was the restoration job on the picture and sound. I saw a 35 mm print (not a digital version)and right from the opening credits the amount of bass was phenominal.
Blade Runner has always been one of my favourite films since I dragged my father to it as a young boy and I have seen every theatrical incarnation since.
One brief notation; although the unicorn scene is much better cut now, it also seems more arbitrary and not well realized. Now, Deckard does not dream of the unicorn, he merely thinks about it while awake. On a textual level it makes no sense. Of course, I know the meaning is supposed to be that perhaps it was planted there so that we now know he is a replicant. But there is no logical reason why he shoulds have had a unicorn memory implanted in him.
Rachael’s memories of Tyrell’s niece made her think she was human. A unicorn is a fantasy image. It would not make Deckard think he was more human as unicorns do not really exist. Do they in the world of Blade Runner? Similarly, Scott’s argument that Deckard is not as strong as a Nexus 6 replicant because he is Nexus 7 seems like ‘cover your ass’ revisionist back tracking. If the replicants are used as off world colony slave labour, why would the corporation make them weaker as they progress and can control them?
Blade Runner is my 2nd favourite film of all time for a whole host of reasons. I have very personal memories associated with it. But Scott’s insistance that Deckard is a replicant weakens the film and he should have left well enough alone. The idea was never fully realized and the new version does nothing to abate the discussion. Ford has said he played Deckard as a human and the film is stronger, deeper and more philosophical in that interpretation. If Ford is a human then he is taught the importance of humanity by a supposedly inferior life form. That is a character arc. If he is a replicant himself, his lesson is nullified and moot. The film might as well just be called Robots in Love. No different than Andy Kauffman’s Heartbeeps.
I recommend everyone try to see this new version if you can as the restoration on sound and audio is stunning. I will certainly be back to see it again before it leaves. Just close your eyes when the unicorn comes on.
I just watched “Sophie’s Choice” for the first time in years. Streep gives an amazing performance, one of the most amazing I’ve ever seen…in Polish, German, and fractured English (referring to a seersucker suit as a cocksucker!).
She deserved more than her Oscar. There needs to be a Nobel Prize for bravura film acting.
Which then inspired me to start a list of The Most Amazing Film Performances. (Sort of over the top scene-chewing that is still within reasonable bounds…not excessive like Faye Dunaway in “Mommie Dearest.”) I was hoping to go for ten. Or twelve. A list for young people who might not have ever seen them and need some advice from an oldster about DVDs to rent and performers to study.
1. Streep in “Sophie’s Choice”
2. DeNiro in “Raging Bull”
3. O’Toole in “The Ruling Class”
4. Vanessa Redgrave in “Isadora”
5. Liza Minnelli in “Cabaret”
6. Olivier in “The Entertainer”
7. Bogart in “The Maltese Falcon”
8. Bette Davis in “All About Eve”
9. Geraldine Page in “Interiors”
10. Bogart in “The Maltese Falcon”
11. Katherine Hepburn in “Long Day’s Journey into
Night.”
12. Faye Dunaway in “Chinatown”
I stopped at twelve.
I’m sure we could list hundreds…thousands…of brilliant breath-taking performances that young filmbuffs need to be aware of. Would each of you be willing to contribute your 10 or 12?
I’ll just add a few:
Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver
Peter O’Toole in Becket
Shirley MacLaine in The Apartment
Charles Laughton in Witness for the Prosecution
Vincent Price in Pit and the Pendulum
For those that really love true independent film, we should all worry about the falling dollar and how it will affect indie film production.
For example, the Canadian dollar, which used to be cheap and paired with solid crews and tax credits drew so much “runaway production” to Canada…
The Canadian dollar now costs $1.08 American.
Crazy.
And not good for any movie company shooting in Canada.
Now that many states like Louisiana and Connecticut and Massachusetts and Rhode Island have their own progressive tax incentive policies, the savings of shooting in Canada are disappearing. And the sinking dollar just solidifies that.
My hope is that the endgame is that this fosters regional film industries in the States, and more films with regional sensibilities.
The indie film world is changing big time because of this, but you don’t hear much about it because most film journos are very studio-centric. When they talk about indie films, they talk about the dependents, but not real independents.
Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot or Age of Innocence
Marlon Brando in The Gofather
Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird
Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon
Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity
Peter Lorre in M
Catherine Deneuve in Belle Du Jour
Jean-Pierre Leaud in The 400 Blows
Jean Paul Belmondo in Breathless
Diane Keaton in Annie Hall
F. Murray Abraham or Tom Hulce in Amadeus
Malcolm MacDowell in A Clockwork Orange
Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet
Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life
Ellen Burstyn in Requeim for a Dream
Danny Aiello in Do the Right Thing
Jeff Bridges in The Big Lewbowski
Really, this list could go on forever…
Jeff Bridges – Fabulous Baker Boys (hot and talented with his fingers)
Eric Bana – Munich (hot and sweaty)
Robert de Niro – Taxi Driver (hot and crazy = awesome combo)
Tony Leung – In the Mood for Love (hot with unrequited longing)
Tom Hanks – Forest Gump (hot and dumb)
Bill Holden – Sunset Boulevard (hot with no dignity)
Russell Crowe – LA Confidential (hot with a temper)
Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain (hot and gay)
Ed Norton – American History X (hot and racist and raped)
question for those who’ve already seen Atonement:
Is it worth my hopping on a 1/2h train ride to Maastricht this weekend to see it in english? (the alternative is waiting ’till the January release and seeing it in Spanish or French depending on where I am then)
Cris; if you want to hear the hot british accent of Keira Knighley then by all means get on that train. If you want to hear some hot spanish speaking woman doing her voice… wait til January :D!
Michael Caine in LITTLE VOICE “The record shows / I took the blows / And did it my fucking way!”
George C. Scott in MOVIE MOVIE
Michael Caine in LITTLE VOICE WITHOUT A CLUE (“My father has been abducted? By whom, Mr, Holmes? “Abductors!”
James Cagney in ONE, TWO, THREE
Kurt Russell in BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (“I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And I’m all out of bubblegum.”
Robert Newton in TREASURE ISLAND
Jack Nicholson in EASY RIDER
Alec Guiness in THE LADYKILLERS
Roy Scheider in ALL THAT JAZZ
CARY GRANT in BRINGING UP BABY
Ian Sinclair, have you ever even seen Big Trouble in Little China?
Perhaps you should stick to whoring for Beowulf instead of misquoting John Carpenter films.
“Kurt Russell in BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (“I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And I’m all out of bubblegum.””
Wrong Carpenter movie. That line is from They Live with Roddy Piper.
Beat ya, Noah! 😉
My bad. The CHINA quote should have been “let’s just CHEW our way out of here.” THEY LIVE is a great movie, too.
That that no one yet has mentioned the actual greatest film performance, Brando in Last Tango in Paris. Not only are none of these other actors capable of that level of realism, but wouldn’t dare to go there anyway. No accent, no affectations, just soul-baring of the highest order.
Others: Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs, Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc (another one that should have been noted already), La Binoche in Blue, Keaton in Reds, Blanchett in Heaven.
Sinclair, you’re deserving of some kind of prize for becoming more of an unbelievable jackass with every passing day.
And you already won the prize for Irrelevant Dickhead of the Decade.
Noah–Thank you for mentioning Ellen Burstyn in “Requiem.”
I watched it again a few months ago and could not believe what a fantastic performance she gave. I often have fantasies of what things would have been like if her name had been called as Best Actress at the Oscars instead of Julia Roberts’.
I always felt that Burstyn’s performance in REQUIEM was a pale immitation of the brilliant work she did in THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS 20 years before.
Check that film out for genius work by Burstyn and the too-often-slept-on Bruce Dern, as well as solid stuff by Nicholson, a excellent spooky work by the king of spook Scatman Crothers (RIP Scatman!).
Nicol, I 100% agree with your thoughts that Scott’s declaration that Deckard is a replicant totally screws up the film. Your description of the arc being that a human learns how to be human from replicants is right on in terms of what is interesting about the film.
I hope to check out the new version soon….
I honestly haven’t seen a lot of older movies, but I’m working on it. Here are some that pop out of my mind:
Nicolas Cage – Leaving Las Vegas
Elisabeth Shue – Leaving Las Vegas
Samuel L. Jackson – Pulp Fiction
Anthony Hopkins – Silence of the Lambs
Jodie Foster – Silence of the Lambs
Ione Skye – Say Anything
John Cusack – Say Anything
Mickey Rourke – Sin City
Al Pacino – The Godfather 1&2, Scarface, Scent of a Woman, etc.
James Dean – Rebel Without a Cause
Jason Patric – Rush
Jennifer Jason Leigh – Rush
Chris Rock – New Jack City
Tom Cruise – Magnolia
Clark Gable – Gone With The Wind
Kathy Bates – Misery
Keira Knightley – Pride and Prejudice
Still can’t believe Patric and Leigh failed to get nominations for that Rush.
Carpetmuncher,
Yes, definitely check it out. As I said, this is one of those instances where I think the actor understands the material more than the director. And as I mentioned, the picture and sound will blow you away. Very modern sounding.
Speaking of tremendous acting, I just saw BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOUR DEAD and HOT DAMN…..that’s a great film! At about the 1/3 mark I was wondering what all the hullaballoo was and then it just takes off! Phillip Seymore Hoffman just got another Oscar nod…if there’s any justice in the world. And, there isn’t.
the ellen burstyn ref reminded me of her performance in ‘resurrection’….should go on the list…
I hate to go back to this contentious idea, but I think that what I keep hearing about the new version of Blade Runner, combined with the entertaining mediocrity that is American Gangster, is further evidence that Ridley Scott is a craftsman but not an artist and lacks the emotional and intellectual sensitivity that a truly great filmmaker should have. I know that this means that Tremayne will call me names, but so be it.
Charles Laughton in “Mutiny On The Bounty”
Choi Min-Sik in “Oldboy”
Robert Mitchum in “Night of the Hunter”
Emily Watson in “Breaking the Waves”
Orson Welles in “The Third Man”
Alain Delon in “Le Samourai”
Takashi Shimura in “Ikiru”
Erich von Stroheim in “La Grande Illusion”
Jean Marais in “Belle et la bete”
Malcolm McDowell in “Clockwork Orange”
Roger Livesy in “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp”
just off the top of my head out of the literally hundreds of performances I treasure.
I can’t resists throwing a couple more that popped into my head seconds after pressing “post”.
Humphrey Bogart in “Treasure of Sierra Madre”
James Cagney in “White Heat”
Burt Lancaster in “Il Gattopardo”
Burt Lancaster in “The Swimmer”
Peter Lorre in “M”
Martin Sheen in “Apocalypse Now!”
John Wayne in “The Searchers”
Paul Newman in “Cool Hand Luke”
Cloris Leachman and Ben Johnson in “The Last Picture Show”
Ben Gazzara in “St. Jack”
Billy Bob Thornton in “Sling Blade”
Madeline Kahn in “Paper Moon”
Bill Murray in “Rushmore”
Leonardo DiCaprio in “Catch Me if You Can”
Gael Garcia Bernal in “Bad Education”
Vanessa Redgrave in “The Devils”
Glenda Jackson in “Women in Love”
Maggie Smith in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”
Julie Christie in “Darling”
Matthew Modine in “Birdy”
Peggy Ashcroft in “A Passage to India”
Linda Fiorentino in “The Last Seduction”
Genevieve Bujold in “Anne of the Thousand Days”
Lily Tomlin in “Nashville”
Juliette Binoche in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”
…wow, this is fun!
Charles Grodin in “The Heartbreak Kid”
Diane Keaton in “Marvin’s Room”
Warren Beatty in “Shampoo”
Ruth Gordon in “Rosemary’s Baby”
Gena Rowlands in “A Woman Under the Influence”
Ellen Burstyn in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”
Gene Hackman in “Unforgiven”
Michelle Pfieffer in “Batman Returns”
River Phoenix in “My Own Private Idaho”
Lilli Taylor in “Dogfight”
Matt Dillon in “Drugstore Cowboy”
Jerry Lewis in “The King of Comedy”
Marcello Mastroianni in “Dark Eyes”
Rosanna Arquette in “Baby It’s You”
John Friedrich in “The Wanderers”
John Belushi in “Animal House”
Sissy Spacek in “Carrie”
Shelley Duvall in “3 Women”
Jessica Lange in “Sweet Dreams”
Joan Allen in “Manhunter”
Kate Winslet in “Little Children”
Vanessa Redgrave in “Howards End”
Jennifer Garner in “Catch Me if You Can”
Julie Christie in “Petulia”
Cher in “Mask”
Sussanah York in “Images”
Nicole Kidman in “To Die For”
Lilli Taylor in “Household Saints”
Robert Duvall in “Tender Mercies”
Robert Duvall in “The Apostle”
Weird Al Yankovic in “UHF.” Simply transcendent.
“Right now I’d like to show you one of my favorite cartoons. It’s a sad, depressing story about a pathetic coyote who spends every waking moment of his life in the futile pursuit of a sadistic roadrunner who *mocks* him and *laughs* at him as he’s repeatedly *crushed* and *maimed*! Hope you’ll *enjoy* it! “
Colin Farrell in “Tigerland”
Mark Ruffalo in “You Can Count on Me”
Maribel Verdu in “Y Tu Mama Tambien”
Q’Orianka Kilcher in “The New World”
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Capote”
Jake Gyllenhaal in “Donnie Darko”
Nicolas Cage in “Raising Arizona”
Holly Hunter in “Broadcast News”
Albert Brooks in “Modern Romance”
Julie Haggerty in “Lost in America”
Maria Bello in “The Cooler”
Samantha Morton in “Sweet and Lowdown”
Michael Douglas in “Wonder Boys”
Kim Novak in “The Legend of Lylah Claire”
Liza Minnelli in “The Sterile Cuckoo”
Mary Badham in “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Donald Sutherland in “Lost Angels”
Gong Li in “Shanghai Triad”
Barbara Hershey in “The Last Temptation of Christ”
Cathy Burns in “Last Summer”
Sterling Hayden in “The Long Goodbye”
Sally Kellerman in “M*A*S*H”
Bud Cort in “Brewster McCloud”
Susan Sarandon in “Atlantic City”
Judy Davis in “A Passage to India”
John Savage in “The Deer Hunter”
Jon Voight in “Midnight Cowboy”
Valerie Perrine in “Lenny”
Jeff Bridges in “The Door in the Floor”
Mimi Rogers in “The Rapture”
Brad Pitt in “Thelma and Louise”
Rita Moreno in “The Ritz”
Audrey Hepburn in “Robin and Marian”
Dorothy Stratten in “They All Laughed”
Mariel Hemingway in “Star 80”
Julianne Moore in “Boogie Nights”
Alfred Molina in “Prick Up Your Ears”
Adam Sandler in “Punch Drunk Love”
Toni Colette in “Muriel’s Wedding”
Ralph Fiennes in “Spider”
Sharon Stone in “Irreconcilable Differences”
Phoebe Cates in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”
Richard Farnsworth in “Comes a Horseman”
Charlotte Ramping in “The Night Porter”
Helmut Berger in “The Damned”
Dirk Bogarde in “Daddy Nostalgia”
Hanna Schygulla in “The Marriage of Maria Braun”
Brad Davis in “Querelle”
Dyan Cannon in “Heaven Can Wait”
Natalie Wood in “Splendor in the Grass”
Forrest Whitaker in “Good Morning Vietnam”
Meryl Streep in “The Bridges of Madison County”
Richard Dreyfuss in “Tin Men”
Mickey Rourke in “Body Heat”
William Hurt in “The Big Chill”
Divine in “Female Trouble”
Edith Massey in “Pink Flamingos”
Betty Buckley in “Tender Mercies”
Crispin Glover in “Back to the Future”
Molly Ringwald in “Sixteen Candles”
Peter Boyle in “Joe”
Ellen Barkin in “Diner”
Leonardo DiCaprio in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”
Joey Lauren Adams in “Chasing Amy”
Denzel Washington in “Malcolm X”
Renee Zellweger in “Jerry Maguire”
Matt Damon in “School Ties”
Darlene Cates in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”
Jeff,
WHile I am a great fan of Ridley Scott’s I have often waivered on where I would place him as well. Calling him a great craftsman seems too trite, yet calling him a great artist seems too much.
His films are too beautifully crafted to be just ‘workaday’. He is no Arthur Hiller. And yet, when he bombs, he bombs big time. Hannibal is dreck. As is GI Jane. As is Whie Squall. I haven’t seen American Gangster yet but will this week.
Still, when Scott touches greatness, he does touch it in a way only a master can. And even with its flaws, I do think Blade Runner is a great film in the true 2001-Citizen Kane sense of the word. I actually think it ages better than 2001.
I might disagree that a great film artist needs to be emotionally or intellectually sensitive though. Kubrick certainly was not. Coppola could be very cold and cruel. I think the ‘sensitive’ angle is something that gets overplayed too much.
Nevertheless, if you haven’t seen it, Blade Runner on the big screen is worth checking out.
Naomi Watts, “Mulholland Drive”
Meg Ryan, “In the Cut”
Debra Winger, “Urban Cowboy”
William Petersen, “To Live and Die in L.A.”
Gerard Depardieu, ‘The Last Woman”
Isabelle Huppert, “The Lacemaker”
Isabelle Adjani, “The Story of Adele H.”
Marisa Berenson, “Barry Lyndon”
Catherine Deneuve, “Repulsion”
Sylvia Miles, “Heat”
Susan Tyrrell, “Andy Warhol’s Bad”
Tim McIntire, “American Hot Wax”
Stacy Keach, “Fat City”
Marlon Brando, “Reflections in a Golden Eye”
Andie McDowell, “sex, lies and videotape”
Cindy Williams, “American Graffiti”
Barbra Streisand, “The Way We Were”
Austin Pendleton, “What’s Up, Doc?”
Michael Schoeffling, “Sixteen Candles”
Tom Cruise, “Taps”
Candy Clark, “The Man Who Fell to Earth”
Theresa Russell, “Bad Timing”
Robert DeNiro, “The Last Tycoon”
Marie-France Pisier, “Cousin, Cousine”
Robert Redford, “The Candidate”
Nastassia Kinski, “Tess”
Burt Lancaster, “Ulzana’s Raid”
Henry Fonda, “Once Upon a Time in the West”
William Holden, “The Wild Bunch”
Anjelica Huston, “The Dead”
Joe Mantegna, “House of Games”
Peter Mullan, “My Name is Joe”
Robert Blake, “In Cold Blood”
Giovanni Ribisi, “Suburbia”
Parkey Posey, “Party Girl”
Elaine May, “A New Leaf”
Sarah Miles, “Ryan’s Daughter”
Christopher Jones, “Wild in the Streets”
Ray Liotta, “Something Wild”
Eddie Murphy, “48 Hrs.”
Madonna, “Desperately Seeking Susan”
Sigourney Weaver, “Working Girl”
Gene Hackman, “The Conversation”
Harrison Ford, “Witness”
Mel Gibson, “Mrs. Soffel”
Nicole Kidman, “Billy Bathgate”
Jack Nicholson, “Reds”
Diane Keaton, “Looking for Mr. Goodbar”
Thomas Mitchell, “Stagecoach”
Paul Scofield, “A Man for All Seasons”
crazycris, I’d say yes. Atonement is worth the investment of time/money. At least, I wouldn’t hesitate to see it again – and I had to get up early in the morning to make a showing at a filmfest. Definitely was a hi-light for me. Oh and I had a 90 minute bus/train trip to see it…so 1/2 hr ain’t that bad.
And most of the performances I would have listed are already up, but here’s a few that always stick out to me:
Alec Guinness – Bridge on the River Kwai
Harrison Ford – Star Wars & The Empire Strikes Back
Toshiro Mifune – High and Low
Peter O’Toole – Lawrence of Arabia
Morgan Freeman – Se7en
BTW, BIG TROUBLE IN LITLE CHINA will be kicking ass at midnight saturday at the new beverly.
Sonofabitch must pay.
As for over th top but not quite performances:
Roddy Mcdowall – CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Harrison Ford – The Mosquito Coast
Griffin Dunne – After Hours
Jimmy Stewart – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
John Cazale – Godfather 1 and 2
Harvey Kietel – Bad Lieutenant
William Petersen – Manhunter
Kathleen Turner – Body Heat
Marilyn Monroe – Some Like It Hot
Ingrid Bergman – Casablanca
Nicole Kidman – Dead Calm
Leslie Nielsen – The Naked Gun
Jeff Goldblum – The Fly
Christopher Walken – The Dead Zone
Morgan Freeman -Street Smart
Peter Finch – Network
Charles Grodin – Midnight Run
Nothing in this decade has dropped my jaw more than the WETA/Andy Serkis Gollum “performance” five years ago in The Two Towers. Still waiting for something to top that mindfucker.
Well, something just did. The Animation branch of the Academy has just ruled that the motion-capture picture BEOWULF is in fact elegible for Best Animated Feature. Justice has been done.
http://www.awardsdaily.com/2007/11/12-films-on-list-for-animated.html
Yay for a movie you haven’t seen being eligible to be nominated for an award maybe.
Donlt you have a column to try and write?
Nicol, I don’t think we’re using the same terminology. I would say that both Coppola and Kubrick were exceptionally artistically sensitive, regardless of how ‘warm’ they were to their crew members or loved ones. That wasn’t my point. My point is that I don’t get the impression that Ridley Scott really cares much about the world around him, but is primarily concerned with making big Hollywood-formula movies that look and sound nice, and makes his films accordingly.
Movieman, I love your list. I was going to jot a few names down and saw that you had mentioned most of the ones I would have mentioned.
I’d like to add, Gene Wilder, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factor,
Joanne Woodward, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds,
Audrey Tatou, Amelie
Henry Gibson, Nashville
Ronee Blakely, Nashville
Terrence Stamp, Adventures of Priscialla, Queen of the Desert
Irene Dunne, The Awful Truth
James Stewart, Shop Around The Corner
Rita Moreno, The Ritz/West Side Story
Mia Farrow, Rosemary’s Baby
Alec Guiness, Kind Hearts and Cornets
Carole Lombard, To Be or Not To Be
Seth Green, Party Monster
Martin Landau, Ed Wood
Shelly Duvall, 3 Women
Sissy Spacek, Carrie
Jack Lemmon, The Apartment
Maggie Smith, Travels With My Aunt
Julianne Moore, Safe
Sean Penn, Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Madeline Kah, What’s Up Doc
Miriam Hopkins, Trouble In Paradise
Margret Hamilton, Wizard of Oz
Robert Mitchum, Night of the Hunter
Shirley Booth, Come Back Little Sheba
Anthony Perkins, Psycho
Shelly Winters, A Place In The Sun
Too many…must stop!
…but can’t stop…
Peter Sellars, Being There
Ruth Gordon, Harold and Maude
Michael Caine, Sleuth (the original)
Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid (the only one)
Albert Finney, Scrooge
Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady
Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl
Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce
Marilyn Monroe, Some Like It Hot
Diane Ladd, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Michael Keaton, Beetlejuice
Kay Thompson, Funny Face
Albert Finney, Murder on the Orient Express
Coral Browne, Dreamchild
Emma Thompson, Howard’s End
Anthony Hopkins, Remains of The Day
Harrison Ford – Working Girl
Robert Englund – The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
John Candy – Uncle Buck
Lance Henriksen – Aliens
Karen Allen – Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Lauren Graham – Bad Santa
Ron Pearlman – Hellboy
Summer Glau – Serenity
Christopher Lloyd – Back to the Future I-III
Tom Cruise – A Few Good Men
Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito – Hoffa
Michael Keaton – Gung Ho
Ed Norton – The Illusionist
Molly Ringwald – Sixteen Candles
Ed O’Neil – The Abyss
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
Natalie Portman – Beautiful Girls
Tilda Swinton – Orlando
and
Michael Douglas – Black Rain.
IO, you mean Ed Harris for The Abyss don’t you? Al Bundy ain’t in the film, unless I totally missed him all those years ago. 😉
Some of these choices are utterly bonkers. Harrison Ford in Working Girl? Lauren Graham in Bad Santa? Seth Green in Party Monster?
Riiiight.
Aladdin; thanks for the catch. Good. Good. Camel; YOU LIKE PARIS HILTON! Until your personal TASTE BAROMETER has been repaired. I think we need to cut from a clip Magnolia featuring Julianne Moore in a doctor’s office. That’s all I am statin, man. That’s all I am statin.
I nominate every actor or actress in every movie I’ve ever liked ever. Now my list matches everyone elses.
IOIOI, your list is cute and all, but…come on.
Dave- I liked your choices, too.
This is maddeningly addictive, isn’t it? It’s a good thing that I was able to tear myself away from the computer and get back to “life.” So many great performances and unforgettable memories from a lifetime of inveterate cinephilia!
In the wake of raptuourly recieved previews, BEOWULF will open earlier than scheduled. It will have 9pm shows on Thursday 15th in addition to the midnight shows.
Jeff; this is why you are an asshole. It’s my list. Those are performances that I like. If you want me to get all Vincent Cassel on you or the Polish Brothers, then I could easily go down that road. I instead decided to share performances that I have always enjoyed. Why you — you torture porn liking twisted fuck 😀 — believe anyone would have to defend their taste to you, demonstrates how out of sorts you really are as a human being. Seriously Jeff; you need to stop taking those open chairshots to the head. They will catch up to you at some point. Nevertheless… HERE ARE MORE PERFORMANCES…
Nick Nolte – The Good Thief
Joe Morton – T2
Robert Townsend – Hollywood Shuffle
Patrick Fugit – Almost Famous
John Matuszak – The Goonies
Gary Busey – Lethal Weapon
Sean Connery – Finding Forrester
James Earl Jones – Field of Dreams
Liam Neeson – DARKMAN
Martin and Charlie Sheen – Wall Street
Darryl Hannah – Kill Bill vol 2
Bill Paxton – NEAR DARK
Harold Ramis – Stripes
Delroy Lindo – Get Shorty
Kelly MacDonald and Michael Rispoli – Two Family House
Michael Rapport – True Romance
Robert Downey Jr – Less Than Zero
and
Carrie Fisher – The Blues Brothers
IO, I’ll give you one thing – I was incredibly surprised after watching Field of Dreams to find out that Jones hadn’t been nominated for an Oscar. But, honestly, Connery in Finding Forrester? Lindo in Get Shorty?
I can’t help but come back to Petaluma’s comment:
“I nominate every actor or actress in every movie I’ve ever liked ever. Now my list matches everyone elses.”
Eeeexactly.
Besides, if I was to do a list it’d include Julie Walter’s in Educating Rita, Toni Collette in Japanese Story and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Last Exit to Brooklyn.
So, no new threads for awhile. Does this mean we’ll have a thread where we all talk about old threads? Or maybe we can just repeat old threads. Or how about a thread that’s a “reality thread” written by producers?
Camel; these are performances that I enjoy and you are attacking me for them? Really? Paris Hilton’s biggest fan and Mr. TORTURE PORN are slamming my enjoyment? Seriously? Seriously? You two need to cease your referring to my post. It would help you immensely in the future.
To be fair, the statment by the OP was for “The Most Amazing Film Performances…brilliant breath-taking performances that young filmbuffs need to be aware of”, not just “performances I enjoy”. Now I love Bad Santa, but Ms. Graham’s performance just isn’t in the same category as Marlon Brando or Rod Steiger in On the Waterfront. Now Billy Bob Thornton’s performance…I could be convinced…
Hey KamikazeCamelV2.0, yeah, perhaps it didn’t reach the level of your beloved Paris Hilton in House of Wax, but I do think that Seth Green’s performance in Party Monster is amazing. He throws himself fearlessly into this role, not just playing it as a one note drag queen. He channels Bette Davis’ Margo Channing…if Margo Channing was a NY club kid desperate for attention and traveling through K holes and near death experiences, all in the search for identity and self-expression. I thought it was one of those masterful performances that was much bigger and better than the film that he was in.
Glad you’re always there though to belittle other people’s opinions!
David Thewlis in Naked.
Best performance in Bad Santa-Brett Kelly as the Kid.
Thurman Merman is awesome.
You people crack me up.