5. Robert Mitchum in The Friends of Eddie Coyle - Well this is unpleasant. I hate putting
any of these performances "last" because they're all great, but I have
to choose one. Anyway Mitchum gives a great performance giving this quietly devastating portrait of a man who essentially wasted his life.
Best Scene: "what a future he’s got, huh"
4. Robert Shaw in The Hireling- Shaw gives a heartbreaking performance here showing a
different shade of his talent in his powerful realization of a lonely
man seeking love.
Best Scene: Declaration of Love.
3. Donald Sutherland in Don't Look Now - Sutherland's performance is both an unforgettable depiction of man struggling with his grief and also so effectively helps to realize the spine chilling horror of the film.
Best Scene: Seeing the Inspector.
2. Elliott Gould in The Long Goodbye - Gould gives a brilliantly funny and always compelling performance in his rather contradictory yet most effective take on Phillip Marlowe.
Best Scene: "I even lost my cat"
1. Edward Woodward in The Wicker Man - Edward Woodward gives a masterful performance that works as normalcy against the unknown, as a portrait of zealous if foolish conviction, and harrowing depiction of facing unspeakable horrors. This year frankly deserves multiple winners by the sheer quality of so many of the leading turns.
Best Scene: Seeing the titular man.
Updated Overall
Next: 1973 Supporting
22 comments:
Whoa! Pacino gets a major upgrade. And i hate to see Mitchum left out of the top ten. 1973 was too good of a year.
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on the rest of the leading performances you've seen.
Your Female Top 10s and Honourable Mentions (4+)
Louis: Are you still gonna watch O Lucky Man!.
What a year, what a lovely year! Shaw was great, glad you loved him. Bit sad to see Carl Anderson so low now, but I understand :)
Rough seeing Nicholson drop down so low but FUCK YES PACINO.
Charles:
I hate to leave him out, also hate to leave out Fox, Nicholson, Anderson and Newman. I did not enjoy making that top ten.
Luke:
Holm & Rogers - 4.5(Although the film is a bit stodgy, just basically lets the actors act, which almost kind of works because of the caliber of actors on call. Both Holm and Rogers excel at being to extremely despicable and quietly sinister sorts. Holm's excels in portraying this most direct and efficient viciousness of a man who cares not for who he harms with his words. Rogers is also just as cruel yet alters it in showing a man who kind attempts to act as though he is nice at times, but the key word is "act".)
Guinness - 4.5(The film itself is rather interesting to watch given that so many scenes are recreations of the same moments we'd see in Downfall, that is the better film by the way. Guinness though gives a typically strong performance in a completely unsympathetic though not one dimensional approach to Hitler. Although he doesn't attempt an accent his physical representation is quite remarkable. Guinness though really revels just this writhing madness of a man who swears he's in power even as he keeps losing it. Guinness channels this derangement well by showing Hitler almost going into giving a speech whenever he becomes even more unhinged.)
O'Neal - 4.5(By FAR his best performance and funny enough it is as a conman though as a very different conman than in Barry Lyndon. O'Neal though works so well with the style of the film delivering his dialogue with the zip of a screwball comedy yet infused with a definite reality. What takes him to greater heights though is his pitch perfect chemistry with his daughter. They are great together in both their comedic back and forth but managing to create a natural underlying connection)
Caan - 4(His accent is a bit iffy at times but I liked his performance here. It's a good one in that he plays just his character's straightforward decency in such an honest way. He makes his character's actions wholly believable, and eventually makes his intention to help the family quite moving particularly in the final scenes of the film)
Gomez - 3.5(He's very much overshadowed by Torrent. He's good though in not making his apathetic state one note, but realizing the reality of a man basically folding into himself to avoid the outside world.)
Lee - 3.5(The part doesn't really stretch him all that much but Lee has bucket fulls of charisma that more than make up for the limited role.)
Redford - 3.5(Hate this film so much but I have to give Redford credit for offering a bit of substance to his strawman who gets unfortunately date raped.)
Bedford - 3(He basically does a Errol Flynn impression it works, but he's not the standout voice.)
Segal - 3(Segal does have comedic timing though he couldn't make me care about his character's "plight" heavy quotation marks on that one by the way.)
Scheider - 3(Such a limited role and I guess it just further reason to praise Hackman in The French Connection as Scheider just isn't able to make his character more than just part of the chases.)
Jodorwosky - 2.5(I'm going to say Jodorwosky in general isn't for me. He directs the film well visually speaking but that's all there is for me.)
Newman - 2.5(Yeah Newman and a British accent don't go together. He makes his whole performance a little awkward as he's just horribly miscast, the film needed a Michael Caine instead.)
Calvin:
I don't like having him so low either.
Louis: Is Newman a five.
Louis: You forgot to give thoughts on Eastwood in High Plains Drifter.
Thoughts and rating for Tatum O'Neal on Paper Moon? I agree that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the film and their performances. The only performance from above I'd really disagree with is Guinness who I found very off, but all else I've seen I'm in complete agreement.
Luke:
Actress:
1. Sissy Spacek - Badlands
2. Tatum O'Neal - Paper Moon - 5
3. Ana Torrent - Spirit of the Beehive - 4.5
4. Ellen Burstyn - The Exorcist
5. Glenda Jackson - A Touch of Class - 4.5
6. Florinda Bolkan - A Brief Vacation - 4.5
7. Julie Christie - Don't Look Now
8. Marsha Mason - Cinderella Liberty - 3.5
9. Linda Blair - The Exorcist
10. Barbara Streisand - The Way We Were - 3
Supporting:
1. Sarah Miles - The Hireling
2. Hilary Mason - Don't Look Now
3. Valentina Cortese - Day For Night - 4.5
4. Mercedes McCambridge - The Exorcist
5. Eileen Brennan - The Sting
6. Jacqueline Bisset - Day for Night - 4
7. Madeline Kahn - Paper Moon
8. Vivien Merchant - The Homecoming - 4
9. Diane Cilento - The Wicker Man
10. Irene Sunters - The Wicker Man
In regards to O Lucky Man I think I might to a full review for all three performances when I review for If....
Louis: Thoughts on Torrent, Jackson, Bolkan and Cortese.
I actually agree on Miles in supporting. One of the film's flaws is that it kinda lacks her character's perspective within the novel which is one of its greatest strengths. Shaw kinda earns his 5 from me purely on the basis that he adds to the complexity of the role through the somewhat limited margins of the film.
Calvin:
O'Neal - (Everything that she does here is really just the best. She manages to make so much out of the tough little girl idea that could easily be annoying or ridiculous. O'Neal not only makes it wholly endearing she actually makes it believable as well. She is wonderful in the con scenes in the way she switches around from the hard nosed con artist to the likable little girl. Further than though she makes you actually believe in the character and her growing attachment to who is probably her father. Again her chemistry with O'Neal is so strong, I especially love some of those perfect moments where she kind of pushes him around and O'Neal makes it convincing.)
Luke:
Torrent - (Her performance is particularly internalized for a child performance yet it never feels underwhelming in this regard. She really manages to create this sense of a child's wonder and viewpoint in even a harsh world. Torrent manages to convey the nuance in her reactions, as she does take in what she sees even if she does not see everything purely for the reality that they are. She says very few words throughout it yet she manages to show what she is going through as she comes to her own terms with the curious world she's living in.)
Jackson - (She made the movie at least tolerable for me, as I'll admit its plot does not make me particularly invested even if it is a comedy. Jackson though does completely excel in the role having such deadly accuracy with her one liners throughout the film. She's always on her mark even when the film is not. Jackson takes it further though in managing to elevate the disposable comedy by giving a real honesty to her character's desperation in dealing with a man who she can never really be with. She gives it far more substance than it deserves.)
Bolkan - (The film overall didn't quite work for me and I found Renato Salvatori so bad in this I feel like giving Eli Wallach his win back. Anyway though Bolkan is very good in the role in her largely reactionary role that manages to create the idea that the vacation is more than just a time to get better. Bolkan says a lot with very little here and I found her best scenes where outside of the predictable romance. I found her best in reaction to her fellow patients as she offered the right complication by in her reactions giving the sense of truly what her character was going through by showing how she takes in the others' problems.)
Cortese - (I mean there's a reason even Ingrid Bergman was like, yep you should have won. Cortese is hilarious in every one of her scenes in being such an entertaining hapless diva. Her line flubbing scene is comedic gold as Cortese makes her so terrible yet in a rather likable way. I especially enjoy her enthusiasm in trying to deliver the lines as numbers, like she did for Fellini after all.)
Luke:
Eastwood - 4(Eastwood is good as usual but what makes this turn work so well is the way he directs around himself. He's the usual Eastwood badass, but the way he presents himself he's far more ominous than in any film. I like the way he takes some of his old tricks and twists them to be kind of sinister even though he's not a villain.)
In regards to Newman, it's him at his absolutely most charming so yes he's a five.
Louis: Rating and thoughts on Peter Ustinov in Disney's Robin Hood.
Louis: Is Spirit of the Beehive similar to Beasts of the Southern Wild at all? Because it looks like something I'd rather dig.
Louis: Rating and thoughts on Penelope Allen in Scarecrow?
RIP Darlene Cates.
YESSSSSSSSSSS PACINO GETS UPGRADED. I really didn't expect Nicholson to drop down so low, although it must have been hard as hell to rank these 15 performances.
I guess ill put my 5 down just for interest, I think Yul would be an interesting review, although of course I dont want to see this always happen. It probably wont take too long to get through 1973 supporting since you have seen all of them.
Yul Brymner - Westworld
Christopher Lee - The Wicker Man
Richard Jordan - The Friends Of Eddie Coyle
Sterling Hayden - The Long Goodbye
François Truffaut - Day for Night
Luke:
Ustinov - 3.5(Very enjoyable voice work from him as he gives such a wimpy and whiny approach to John that is very funny. Though it's short he's also good in giving a more regal approach to Richard.)
Omar:
Allen - 3.5(She's very good in her single scene and successfully realizes the difficult history between her and Pacino's character. She makes in the moment the bitterness of the relationship but with a bit of regret suggesting a better relationship at one time at the end of the scene.)
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