Friday 3 August 2018

Alternate Best Actor 1948: John Garfield in Force of Evil

John Garfield did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Joe Morse in Force of Evil.

Force of Evil is a rather effective film noir that follows a corrupt lawyer and his descent into the criminal underworld.

Force of Evil is notable as a film noir as the protagonist is amorally bent from the opening of the film. He is not the wrong man who gets into a plot nor the sap who is corrupted by some other force. The character of Joe Morse rather is comfortable in his place as a lawyer for the equally corrupt men involved with the numbers racket. In this role is John Garfield, an actor who had a notable intensity for his period in particular however I personally don't feel he always utilized it properly. This is actually a performance that doesn't play into that idea, at least not in a more traditional way. Garfield isn't the angry young man he often played, but rather a cold calculating man. This is interesting to see, and honestly seems to play towards his strength as his performances often become rather unwieldy when he goes for a more overt intensity. He still has an intensity here to be sure however he rearranges it to be far more internalized which works for the nature of Joe Morse's character. Garfield presents a man defined very much by his moral state which is almost in this certain separation from the moment.

Garfield's performance portrays a man essentially organized in this context of lacking nearly any concern for general decency, however not actively sadistic in this sense. Garfield offers this smooth delivery of a man very much presenting himself as this proper slick lawyer however this is subverted through the context of his work which is typically duplicitous in some way. Although distant this approach is actually rather effective in creating the sense of the style of Joe Morse's character and how he thrives within the underworld. He portrays this exact manner of his conviction in his dealing with the other nasty men of the other world. This is through the calm that Garfield brings along without an exact overt emotion in these interactions. He instead consistently emphasizes Joe's ability to detach himself from the dirty work of it all, and more of treat as though it is merely what is his duty as a lawyer should be. This could be alienating potentially however the approach works for the role particularly in terms of establishing what will be his arc throughout the film, which is strictly connected to his brother Leo (Thomas Gomez).

The relationship with his brother is central to the film overall as it is where the sense of any morality lies. This in itself is a bit more complex than one might expect given that Leo is also in the same world though as a smaller time crook in the underworld. Leo even in his more obviously criminal position is in a sense the conscience as he pushes back against Joe's methods that pull both deeper in. Garfield is very good in his interactions with Gomez though by delivering the right nuance within Joe's cold facade. In these moments Garfield doesn't break his overarching calm approach, but does grant tiny hints in his reactions towards him suggesting just the faintest hint of a struggle in Joe as Leo challenges him. This slightly other side is also shown within his relationship with one of Leo's secretaries Doris. Again Garfield does not fall onto any habits of his other performances to portray this keeping his performance true to the cold man Joe is for the most part. He again though just ever so slightly eases away that cold demeanor to reveal just hints of charm, and a more outgoing spirit. Again what is notable about it is how consistent Garfield is. He shows enough to hint the potential for change, yet still keeps the character firmly within his personal manner defined by amorality overall. The ending actually doesn't take Joe as far from this as one might expect for a noir, which were required to be moralizing in some way. The situations again push Joe out of his comfort yet Garfield does not depict an extreme change. This approach does work though in again keeping a more understated reactions towards the upheaval around him. He shows a loss of a bit of the calm, yet still shows the man's attempt to hold control as consistent even as his plans falls apart around him. This is a good performance by Garfield as he avoids the typical pitfalls of his performances, while still utilizing his talents to deliver an atypical yet intriguing protagonist to lead this noir. 

109 comments:

Luke Higham said...

Ratings and thoughts on the rest of the cast.

John Smith said...

1. Ray Milland
2. Takashi Shimura
3. Robert Donat
4. Rex Harrison
5. John Garfield

Luke Higham said...

Michael McCarthy: Your ratings/thoughts on Rex Harrison in Unfaithfully Yours, Thomas Gomez in Force Of Evil, Robert Donat and Cedric Hardwicke in The Winslow Boy and Ray Milland & Charles Laughton in The Big Clock.

John Smith said...

Started watching 'Patrick Melrose'. Damn. That shit makes you confront the the worst experiences you ever had.

Anonymous said...

Louis: your top 10 aubrey plaza acting moments

Calvin Law said...

1. Shimura
2. Milland
3. Harrison
4. Donat
5. Garfield

Calvin Law said...

Louis: your thoughts on Bob Odenkirk's voice.

Anonymous said...

Louis: your top 20 jack nicholson acting moments

Anonymous said...

Louis: your top 20 hal holbrook acting moments

Anonymous said...

Louis: your top 20 Martin sheen acting moments

GM said...

1. Shimura
2. Milland
3. Donat
4. Harrison
5. Garfield

Anonymous said...

Anonymous: Tone it down with the questions there, buddy.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

I'll save Gomez for the moment.

Pearson - 3.5(Although the character is limited to an extent I liked the degree of nuance she actually brought to the role that moved it past sort of the "virginal" love interest. She creates that certain overarching grace you'd expect from such a character, however I liked her more subtle moments that alluded to a certain complicity and interest to the world's corruption herself.)

Windsor - 3.5(Essentially doing what she would later expand on in The Killing. This is a fine simpler version of that where she successfully brings the same callous attitude and delivery quite effectively.)

Although he's currently ranked lower, Harris is probably more likely of the two.

Anonymous:

Both films are well shot action films from the outset. In each case they capture the intensity of a given sequence without relying on cheap tricks of the camera, while also actually allowing clarity of the action without losing a visceral touch. The effectiveness of the camera movement being particularly important in Blonde, where the scene is pulled off magnificently from a cinematography stand point at the very least. On a lighting front Blonde is perhaps more consistent however I only mean that in terms of it consistently takes the same approach, which is that sort of lurid neon colors throughout the majority of the film in terms of the interiors. Wick is more local centered in these choices, with the one major showoff scene being fittingly the nightclub, which is simply another amazing facet of that sequence. The other scenes though are well lit as well, but not quite as stylized. Blonde is consistently stylized but wholly pulls off this approach to be rather stunning looking throughout.

Zsigmond could have probably shot a dirty sock and made it cinematic, so yes.

Louis Morgan said...

Bryan:

Herzog - (One of the greatest narrators as his voice does inflict more than exposition through his voice which both naturally emotional while also being kind of menacing.)

Waititi - (One of the most naturally hilarious voices around currently. His accent is entertaining in itself in its curious way of being both sarcastic yet seemingly earnest in some way.)

Anderson - (As straight forward of a voice as they come.)

Jackson - (Not nearly as hilarious as Waititi as New Zealand accents go, but a perfectly lovely accent in its one right.)

Calvin:

Love most of those choices on the Stalag 17, though I would say Hammer would be a bit too obvious, and might suggest Waititi for a potential memorable cameo as either the "At Ease" or the "I believe it" guy instead.

Odenkirk's voice originally is this great, nearly greasy teen from the Simpsons, shakiness that made it rather naturally funny, though kudos to him in he's found way to lead it to the dramatic.

Charles:

Banks:

1. Can you live with it? - Better Call Saul
2. The half measure story - Breaking Bad
3. Last scene - Breaking Bad
4. Picking a fight - Better Call Saul
5. Almost killing Walter in the laundry - Breaking Bad
6. Lydia's interrogation - Breaking Bad
7. Being interrogated by Hank - Breaking Bad
8. Leaving his granddaughter - Breaking Bad
9. Meeting Hector - Better Call Saul
10. Instructions to the exterminators - Breaking Bad

Tahmeed:

A brilliantly executed sequence on every level particularly in the way he naturally pulls the three parties in. I love the way though it plays out with Vincent so calmly playing the room, despite being one many, and only going full assassin when essentially he gets his shot. Beautifully orchestrated carnage, but with that precision of it at its center that makes it so compelling.

Ever so slightly.

Omar:

Intriguing, and beautifully shot at the very least. Very Wong Kar-wai feeling. The trailer is obviously lyrical, though the book does have a very specific plot, so it will be interesting to see how the final film is.

Anonymous:

Plaza:

1. The Monster Arrives - Legion
2. Rebirth - Legion
3. Therapy sessions - Legion
4. Mad Dance - Legion
5. Confrontation of lies - Ingrid Goes West
6. Requesting The Shadow King - Legion
7. In the old House - Legion
8. Going back to the old haunt - Legion
9. Dying Monster - Legion
10. Reappearance - Legion

Calvin Law said...

Louis: you're right. Perhaps change Hammer over to Duke as a red herring, Angus Sampson as Animal, and for Price perhaps Jack Lowden.

Calvin Law said...

I'll find some way to check this one out too, sounds super interesting.

Just finished all five seasons of Silicon Valley thus far, and I actually really loved most of Season 5, particularly the finale. Overall I definitely would consider it one of my favourite television shows now, especially of the comedy variety, since even when the plotting or humour isn't on point it's still engaging in many regards. My cast ranking:

1. Zach Woods (easily series MVP, especially for Season 5)
2. Matt Ross
3. Martin Starr
4. Thomas Middleditch
5. T.J. Miller (would be higher if not for season 4)
6. Kumail Nanjiani (hated majority of Season 5 for his character but he was pretty great in the finale, and the rest of the series so far)
7. Matt McCoy
8. Chris Williams
9. Chris Diamantopoulos
10. Bernard White
11. Josh Brener (somewhat underused but love whenever he appears)
12. Christopher Evan Welch
13. Amanda Crew
14. Andy Daly
15. Ben Feldman
16. Jimmy O. Yang
17. Jake Broder
18. Stephen Toblowsky
19. Suzanne Cryer
20. Hayley Joel Osment

RatedRStar said...

Yes I knew Thomas Gomez was worth a look =D is it me or does he look like Thomas Mitchell and Anthony Wong if they were made into one person.

Anonymous said...

Louis: Ratings for Freddie Highmore and David Kelly in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

Calvin Law said...

Saw First Reformed...that was quite something. Not sure how I feel about the ending, but overall I thought it was pretty great, and though it's a hard sell for an Oscar nomination Ethan Hawke is incredible.

Hawke - 5
Seyfried - 4/4.5
Kyles - 3.5
Hill - 3.5
Ettinger - 3.5

Anonymous said...

Calvin: What did you think about Seyfried?

Anonymous said...

Louis: Your thoughts on the cinematography of To Catch a Thief and The Wrong Man.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: Who's your Lead Actor winner so far. Foster or Hawke.

Matt Mustin said...

Calvin: I'd actually go higher for Ettinger. He's really only in one long scene, but he absolutely haunts the entire film.

Calvin Law said...

Anonymous: I found her pretty good in showing the strange sort of journey through grief and belief her character was going through, and most importantly her dynamic with Hawke is great.

Luke: it'll take awhile to decide.

Matt: I may do too, he was great.

Charles H said...

Louis: What are your thoughts on James Stewart in The man who Knew Too Muc

Calvin Law said...

Charles:

Stewart - 4(It's a solid performance from him if easily the least remarkable of his collaborations with Hitchcock. Stewart as usual brings his typical charm and welcome presence to the thriller, but the film keeps him a particularly limited hero. I don't know if his pairing with Doris Day was necessarily the best either. Stewart does what he can but the film just does not give him enough of an opportunities here)

Calvin Law said...

Apart from Louis, what 5's have people given for 2018 performances thus far? For me,

Best Actor -

Ben Foster (Leave No Trace), Ethan Hawke (First Reformed)

Best Actress -

Toni Collette (Hereditary), Thomasin McKenzie (Leave No Trace), Olivia Cooke (Thoroughbreds), Anya Taylor-Joy is right on the border

Matt Mustin said...

Calvin: For Me, not in any order.

Lead Actor: Hawke, Foster, Stanfield

Lead Actress: Collette, McKenzie

Calvin Law said...

Matt: I'm really looking forward to Stanfield and Sorry to Bother You, unfortunately I have absolutely no idea when it's going to be distributed beyond America.

Álex Marqués said...

Since HBO confirmed the movie a few days ago, I implore you guys to check out Deadwood. You won't stop talking about that cast.

Luke Higham said...

Alex: Your quick thoughts on McShane and Olyphant.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin:

Hawke (Right now, I hope he wins the overall, he deserves it), Foster, Stanfield (Saw it last night and his career should get a boost from his terrific work here)

McKenzie, Collette (Still need to see Thoroughbreads)

None from Supporting so far though Kaluuya (Widows), Crowe and Kidman(Boy Erased) would be the most likely at this moment in time.

Omar Franini said...

Calvin:

Lead Actor: Hawke (First Reformed), Marcello Fonte (Dogman) and Yoo Ah-in (Burning)

Lead Actress: Colette (Hereditary) and Anya Taylor-Joy (Thoroughbreds)

Supporting Actor: Lily Franky (Shoplifters)

Supporting Actress: Jeon Jong-seo (Burning), Sakura Ando (Shoplifters) and Elena Sofia Ricci (Loro)

Luke Higham said...

Omar: Could you try not to go overboard with the 2018 requests. I know Diehl and Schoenaerts are becoming unlikely this year but even if Fonte and Yoo manage to get fives, I want Louis to review all of his as well as deciding for himself who were the best of the year.

Omar Franini said...

Luke: I’ve only requested Fonte for 2018, and i think that Yoo is going to get a review anyway so i’m not going to request him at the moment.

Luke Higham said...

Omar: I don't mind if you were requesting Yoo, I just don't want any fives missing out because the Academy even with it's more enlightened and diverse membership nowadays, could mess up their lineup again.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Calvin:

Lead Actor: Ethan Hawke in First Reformed, Lakeith Stanfield in Sorry to Bother You

Lead Actress: Anya Taylor-Joy in Thoroughbreds, Charlize Theron in Tully, Rachel McAdams in Disobedience, Toni Collette in Hereditary

Supporting Actor: Alessandro Nivola in Disobedience

Álex Marqués said...

I've only rewatched the first three episodes. Olyphant is solid as what initially appears to be the protagonist of the show, but the story is more about the whole camp as it continues developing, and I'd say Al ends up becoming the main chara cter. Ian McShane gives my favourite tv performance ever (Gandolfini in The Sopranos is close), but the whole supporting cast is excellent, especially Weigert and Dourif. It would be tempting to rank them but I still need to catch up with the third season. Trust me, just watch it.

Calvin Law said...

Huh, looks like I need to re-watch Thoroughbreds and re-evaluate since I preferred Cooke to Taylor-Joy.

Alex: Will definitely be watching it based on your recommendation, any cast with Ian McShane and Brad Dourif is bound to intrigue me anyway.

Calvin Law said...

By the way, RatedRStar, I think Louis is making exceptions for changing requests so long as they are within the same year, so if you want to change from Daniel Wu to Nicholas Tse for Police Story I think that's still on.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Could you still switch Tony Jay to Stellan Skarsgard in Breaking The Waves. If not, is it because you're reviewing Jay for the voice acting lineup instead of 1996 supporting.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Calvin: Cooke was very good, but I think Taylor-Joy had a much trickier role to pull off. I don’t want to get into it too much since Louis hasn’t seen it, though.

Calvin Law said...

Everyone: your top 10 television comedy performances? (I do need to watch Seinfeld)

1. Glenn Howerton, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
2. Rowan Atkinson, Blackadder
3. Tony Robinson, Blackadder
4. Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
5. Hugh Laurie, Blackadder
6. Miranda Richardson, Blackadder
7. Charlie Day, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
8. Zach Woods, Silicon Valley
9. Steve Carell, The Office
10. Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live

Luke Higham said...

Nice to see some love for Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Calvin: Comedy performances I love. I'm seperating British and American Comedy as the styles are different.

British:
Ronnie Barker in Porridge (He's great in Open All Hours as well and I'd recommend watching his double act with Ronnie Corbett)
Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Miranda Richardson, Brian Blessed and Rik Mayall in Blackadder
John Cleese and Andrew Sachs in Fawlty Towers
Arthur Lowe and Clive Dunn in Dad's Army
David Jason and Roger Lloyd-Pack in Only Fools And Horses (It's one of my top 5 British comedies though I'd recommend watching the above first since some of the references and the cockney slang will go over the heads of North American viewers)
Dermot Morgan, Ardal O'Hanlon and Frank Kelly in Father Ted
Simon Bird and Greg Davies in The Inbetweeners
Ricky Gervais as David Brent and Extras + Cameos

American:
Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney in Frasier
Andre Braugher in Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza and Amy Poehler in Parks And Recreation
Bryan Cranston in Malcolm In The Middle
Will Patton in That '70s Show

I've seen bits and pieces of Arrested Development, Modern Family, New Girl, The Goldbergs, How I Met Your Mother and Scrubs but not enough to give an opinion on.

Don't particularly care for Friends and I absolutely detest The Big Bang Theory.

Calvin Law said...

Was Will Patton in That 70s Show? Also, thanks for reminding me about Arrested Development, I'd add Will Arnett on there (though haven't seen Season 5).

Who was Will Patton on That 70s Show?

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: Sorry, I meant Kurtwood Smith.

Luke Higham said...

Will Patton came into my head for some unknown reason.

Mitchell Murray said...

Robert: I've seen "Disobedience" but I'm reserving my thoughts on McAdams for the mean time. What are you thoughts on her in the film?

Bryan L. said...

I'm also glad Brooklyn Nine-Nine has some love around here. Here's my ranking for the cast. I like all of them btw.

1. Braugher (The MVP for me.)
2. Peretti
3. Samberg (I prefer Bill Hader when it comes to SNL cast members outside of the show, since I think Samberg can be a little too self-aware at times, but he's proven to be a good fit for this part.)
4. Beatriz
5. Lo Truglio
6. Fumero
6. Miller and Blocker
7. Crews

Calvin Law said...

Bryan: for me,

1. Braugher
2. Samberg
3. Lo Truglio
4. Peretti
5. Beatriz
6. Crews
7. Miller and Blocker
8. Fumero

And my favourite guest star would easily be Sterling K. Brown.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Top ten comedy performances on Tv:

1. Glenn Howerton in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
2. Jason Bateman in Arrested Development
3. Donald Glover in Community
4. Joel McHale in Community
5. Ricky Gervais in Extras
6. Danny DeVito in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
7. Jeffrey Tambor in Arrested Development
8. Barry Evans in Mind Your Language (it's an old sitcom, one of my absolute favorites)
9. Zach Woods in Silicon Valley
10. Jason Segel in How I Met Your Mother

Bryan L. said...

Calvin: Brown was very good in his episode. My favorite guest star is the aforementioned Hader. I also have fond affection for Craig Robinsons' Doug Judy and Dean Winters' The Vulture.

Luke Higham said...

I'd add Tim McInnerny in Blackadder as well. His Captain Darling is great, especially love his final moment in the bunker.

Charles H said...

Calvin:

My fives:
Ethan Hawke - First Reformed
Toni Collette - Hereditary
Anya Taylor-Joy - Thoroughbreds
Lily Franky - Shoplifters
Sakura Ando - Shoplifters

Charles H said...

For TV i haven't seen enough but here's some.
Glenn Howerton in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Danny DeVito in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Bryan Cranston in Malcolm In The Middle
Charlie Day in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Kelsey Grammer in Frasier
David Hyde Pierce in Frasier
John Mahoney in Frasier

Matt Mustin said...

Not gonna rank 'em, but here's some TV comedy performances I love

Jason Alexander-Seinfeld
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss-Seinfeld
Michael Richards-Seinfeld
Kelsey Grammer-Frasier
David Hyde Pierce-Frasier
John Mahoney-Frasier
Alan Alda-MASH
Harry Morgan-MASH
Danny Pudi-Community
Alison Brie-Community

MASH is a tough one, because it's really only kind of a comedy, but I'm gonna count it.

Luke Higham said...

Matt: Who did you like most from Blackadder.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Unranked

Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock
Gillian Jacobs on Community
Donald Glover on Community
Jason Alexander on Seinfeld
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss on Seinfeld
Michael Richards on Seinfeld
Brian Cranston on Malcolm in the Middle
James Avery on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Brad Garrett on Everybody Loves Raymond
Carroll O’Connor on All in the Family

Matt Mustin said...

Luke: That's one I haven't got around to watching yet, but I should, because I love Rowan Atkinson.

Luke Higham said...

Matt: He's fine in the first series even if his worst tendencies do come out on occasion but he's brilliant from series 2 onwards playing a more witty, conniving character.

Luke Higham said...

I also want to mention, I haven't seen The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air for many, many years.

Calvin Law said...

I completely forgot to mention James Avery. Though in fact the whole ensemble of Fresh Prince is great.

Matt Mustin said...

By the way, I saw Grave of the Fireflies and it blew me away. Not in the same way that Spirited Away did, but they're very different, equally excellent films.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Guys, I might be inactive here for the next few days. The Bangladeshi government is cracking down hard on student protesters by censoring the media, slowing down 3G and 4G connectivity, and worst of all, giving hooligans free rein to beat and rape students. What are the students protesting for? Safer roads, to prevent literal dozens of deaths from road accidents every day. To those of you who want to know more, and can get in touch with your local media, please message me on Facebook.

Luke Higham said...

Tahmeed: Be careful out there.

Anonymous said...

What year from the 60's is going to be covered next?

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: 1963. I'm really excited for it, especially with it's Lead lineup being incredibly strong on paper.

To be honest, once 1948 and 1975 are out of the way, I want 1987 to come after instead of 1980 because I need a really strong Lead lineup to get invested in soon. Outside of Pacino, Kristofferson/Walken and maybe Stacy Keach in The Ninth Configuration, there's no one else from 1980 that I care much about.

Anonymous said...

Luke: That's good to know. I'm really wondering what Louis will think of The Leopard. The production design, the costumes and Lancaster's performance are all excellent. I have to wonder if James Wong Howe will keep his Oscar because the cinematography is just exquisite in The Leopard.

Oh well, if Howe loses the Oscar, then at least he has Seconds. I could easily see that film winning Best Cinematography.

RatedRStar said...

Tahmeed: Hope you will be ok.

RatedRStar said...

Robert Redford has announced his retirement from acting, I really hope "The Old Man and The Gun" will be a good finale to his career.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: I have faith that it'll be an amazing swansong to his career.

Omar Franini said...


1. Shimura
2. Milland
3. Harrison
4. Donat
5. Garfield

Bryan L. said...

Louis: Your thoughts on the voice of Melanie Lynskey?

Matt Mustin said...

I saw Mission: Impossible-Fallout and I adored it. It's a hugely entertaining and thrilling action movie from beginning to end, and it needs to be said that it is just expertly crafted. Probably my favourite of the year so far.

Cruise-4.5
Cavill-3.5
Ferguson-4
Rhames-4
Pegg-3.5
Harris-3.5
Monaghan-3
Baldwin-3
Bassett-2.5
Kirby-3

Matt Mustin said...

Also, they need to invent some kind of special award for the crazy-ass camera operator who filmed that HALO jump.

Bryan L. said...

Louis: And the voices of Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander and Margot Robbie?

Anonymous said...

Louis: Just one last question: I've noticed that in your top 10 of 1958, Touch of Evil is your number 1. What exactly made you prefer it over Vertigo? Is Vertigo still a 5-star movie for you?

Calvin Law said...

Saw Shoplifters. I really, really liked it even though some of the revelations in the third act took me aback and kind of made me feel uneasy about the film, which the more I think about it may have been its intent. A wholly ensemble cast, by the way.

Franky - 5
Ando - 4.5
Matsuoka - 4
Jō - 4.5
Sasaki - 3.5
Kiki - 3

Will be checking out the latest Better Call Saul episode later on Netflix.

Calvin Law said...

Louis: your thoughts on the Better Call Saul season premiere.

RatedRStar said...

Saw Ant Man finally in the cinema, I dont know what to say, it was just fine and acceptable, I guess.....

Luke Higham said...

Louis, Calvin and RatedRStar: Apparently, Tom Hardy is getting tired of acting. I hope he'll go down the Day-Lewis route instead of retiring for good at 40. The good thing is he probably won't be playing Bond.

Anonymous said...

Luke Higham: Your top 5 british comedies

Louis Morgan said...

Anonymous:

Interesting as the films are on opposite ends in terms of cinematography despite both being from the same man. Robert Burks essentially proves his range as a cinematographer. In terms of To Catch a Thief one can take it as sort of a standard for the photogenic Europe style common in spy films. Honestly its cinematography is one of the few things the film has in my mind, and Burks delivers in just creating rich vibrant images, even though rarely anything interesting is going on in them. It's a paid film vacation, and Burks at least makes it a pretty one. The Wrong Man is a whole different extreme with its stark black and white cinematography. It's a stunning looking film in this approach granting a real isolation of the environment, though with a careful emotionalism within some lighting choices that Burks always makes very naturalistic. It's a film that emphasizes faces, and the detail that Burks realizes in that is brilliantly handled as it so bluntly reveals them through the lighting and framing.

Bryan:

Lynskey - (Lovely voice that's just the right type of a little off-beat.)

Larson - (Uh, a fine voice, but very standard. Nothing wrong with that.)

Vikander - (Interesting if you separate her accents in language, as her accent when speaking English sounds like a in-between of an American and English accent, rather than Swedish, which is stronger when she is speaking a Scandinavian language. All wonderful though in themselves.)

Robbie - (Downright beautiful Australian accent, though we rarely hear her in film with that voice. Though the beauty of that mostly carries over when doing her American accents, even when purposefully crass.)

Anonymous:

I love Touch of Evil, both are "5-star" films in my mind. I just get personally a bit more out of Touch of Evil, but not by much. They're both masterpieces in my mind.

Calvin:

A good setup episode, loved the flash forward prologue, as I always do, and Odenkirk was great throughout the episode.

Luke:

Hmmm can't help but feel it might have something to do with Venom.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous:
1. Blackadder
2. Porridge (Haven't seen It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia yet but Ronnie Barker gives my favourite comedic performance of all-time)
3. Father Ted
4. Only Fools And Horses
5. Dad's Army

I need to re-watch Fawlty Towers before deciding it's ranking.

Calvin Law said...

For me from what I've seen

1. Blackadder
2. The I.T. Crowd
3. Jeeves and Wooster
4. Dad's Army
5. Peep Show

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: Really need to see Jeeves and Wooster. I love Fry and Laurie. Seen one episode of The I.T. Crowd which had Benedict Wong in it and I've seen abit of Mitchell and Webb which I've enjoyed.

Calvin Law said...

Luke: would recommend all of them. Also, forgot to add I'm Alan Partridge, which would be my #2, and The Thick of It.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: The academy just added a new category, outstanding popular film.

RatedRStar said...

Luke: I am not sure what to make of this, I can see the benefit though of recognising the most popular mainstream film though, it will help get the likes of Marvel on the podium, which at this minute will probably be Black Panther at this moment in time.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Luke: Probably a bid to increase the number of people who watch the show. What it does hurt is the competitiveness of these films in the main races, the same way the Best Animated Feature category means that voters usually can skip out on nominating great animated films for Best Picture.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I wasn't saying BOOEARNS either.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: At the moment, is There Will Be Blood your favorite performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, or is it still My Left Foot.

Mitchell Murray said...

Luke and Louis: I'm not sure about you guys, but for me this decision by the academy just screams "desperate". Also, are they following a rule stating no double nominations IE no film can be recognized for best picture and most popular? Because if thats the case, I ponder what categories something like Wonder Woman would've gotten into, or if a major player like Get Out would've made the final cut.

Luke Higham said...

Mitchell: Their ability to make truly idiotic decisions like this never ceases to amaze me.

Luke Higham said...

How we still don't have a Stunt category is beyond me.

Louis Morgan said...

Tahmeed:

My Left Foot.

Mitchell:

VERY desperate. They also are apparently cutting out the techs/shorts from the telecast, which I find disgusting. Why not cut out the terrible sketches, bad jokes, and pointless montages they so often have instead.

Robert MacFarlane said...

It's the worst thing they've done since nominate Sean Penn in I Am Sam, and I'm pretty sure that's considered a war crime by modern standards.

Charles H said...

The academy is really at an all time low here, their ratings have plummeted so bad this is what they do to try & fix it. I agree with Louis. The academy should cut out their pointless montages & their jokes and sketches then we'll see if their ratings go up.

RatedRStar said...

They are cutting out the shorts, oh in which case I am definately against this then lol, I love seeing the previews for the shorts.

Mitchell Murray said...

Robert: Considering Penn is my bottom place for best actor nominees of the century.. yah, I'd have to agree.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: If I still had Sky, I wouldn't watch the ceremony for a couple of weeks out of protest.

Charles H said...

I don't if this will backfire, i'm sure a lot of people will be very unhappy about this decision. Their ratings will stay low.

Calvin Law said...

They're turning into the MTV Movie Awards.

That's outright disrespectful to the tech and shorts people. Just awful.

Álex Marqués said...

They've come full-circle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Academy_Awards

It's a pretty misguided idea, especially considering how much it could affect the already enormous divide between "critics" and mainstream audiences.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Not kidding, if the Academy doesn't reverse this decision, I'm not watching the Oscars in February.

Mitchell Murray said...

Robert: I'm sure your not the only one.

Emi Grant said...

Hopefully...*hopefully* it's just a one time thing.

Matt Mustin said...

I saw Eighth Grade. It made me cry. It captures the distinct unpleasantness of middle school in an honest, genuine way, and I'm certain this is going to make Elsie Fisher a star. Side note, the fact that this is R-rated is disgusting.

Fisher-5
Hamilton-4
Robinson-4
Ryan-3
Prael-2.5
Zolghardi-3

Louis Morgan said...

Robert:

Think I'll do the same.