Monday 20 April 2020

Alternate Best Actor 1983

And the Nominees Were Not:

Gerard Depardieu in Danton

Wojciech Pszoniak in Danton

Om Puri in Ardh Satya

Keith Gordon in Christine

Oleg Yankovsky in Nostalgia

David Bowie in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

Tom Conti in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

For Prediction Purposes:

Depardieu from Danton

Bowie from Lawrence

107 comments:

Luke Higham said...

Hope you find a five outside this lineup though.

Calvin Law said...

1. Bowie
2. Puri
3. Depardieu
4. Gordon
5. Yankovsky

Calvin Law said...

Of the ones I’ve seen, Bowie and Gordon are 4.5’s for me and Conti is a strong 4. Looking forward to seeing the rest.

Robert MacFarlane said...

1. Gordon (NGNG)
2. Bowie
3. Depardiu
4. Puri
5. Yankovsky

Really, really hope Gordon is a surprise 5.

Mitchell Murray said...

Ok, I'm going to say this right now...I really didn't find Gordon to be all that impressive. I'll give a more detailed explanation when his review comes.

1) Bowie
2) Depardieu
3) Puri
4) Yankovsky
5) Gordon

Michael Patison said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shaggy Rogers said...

1. Gordon
2. Bowie
3. Depardieu
4. Puri
5. Yankovsky

Emi Grant said...

1. Bowie
2. Puri
3. Depardieu
4. Gordon
5. Yankovsky

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: Could I have your updated top 20 Benedict Cumberbatch acting moments, and also your thoughts on 'The Reichenbach Fall.'

Calvin Law said...

What are everyone’s top 10 for 1983 by the way? Definitely one year I need to see more of so looking for recs.

1. The Right Stuff
2. A Christmas Story
3. The Dresser
4. Trading Places
5. Videodrome
6. Christine
7. The Dead Zone
8. The Big Chill
9. Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence
10. The Hunger

Mitchell Murray said...

Calvin: Don't really have a concrete list, as I still need to see a lot of the years more notable oscar nominees (The Dresser, Tender Mercies, The Right Stuff, The Big Chill, Silkwood, etc..)

Here's what I can say about the films I've seen, though:
-I love "A Christmas Story" unabashedly
-"Return of the Jedi" is fairly good
-"Trading Places" is pretty enjoyable
-It's been quite a while since I watched "Videodrome", but I remember liking it.
-"Terms of Endearment" is strong in certain aspects (acting) but weaker in others (Writing)
-"National Lampoon's Vacation" is an alright comedy
-"The Outsiders", while not without merit, is still less effective than its ensemble might lead you to believe

Mitchell Murray said...

Oh, and "Christine" is, for myself anyways, a standard low tier Stephen King adaptation...Sorry guys, but I just don't get the praise for it.

Michael McCarthy said...

The Big Chill is pretty easily my top film of 1983.

John Smith said...

1. Puri 
2. Bowie
3. Gordon
4. Depardieu
5. Yankovsky

John Smith said...

My request is Nawazuddin Siddiqui for Raman Raghav 2.0

Razor said...

1. Bowie
2. Puri
3. Depardieu
4. Gordon
5. Yankovsky

Bryan L. said...

Calvin:

1. The Right Stuff
2. A Christmas Story
3. The Dead Zone
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Videodrome
6. Trading Places
7. The Big Chill
8. Risky Business
9. Christine

I've also seen Terms, The Outsiders, Vacation and Scarface...but eh.

Maciej said...

1.Bowie
2.Depardieu
3.Puri
4.Yankovsky
5.Gordon

RatedRStar said...

1. Bowie
2. Depardieu
3. Gordon
4. Puri
5. Yankovsky

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Films To Watch
Blackadder 1 (If you have the time)
Meantime (Leigh/Roth/Oldman)
The Day After
The Terence Davies Trilogy
The Wind In The Willows
Reuben, Reuben (Conti/Re-evaluation)
The Dresser (Upgrade for Courtenay)
Trading Places (Upgrade for Bellamy)
Under Fire (Upgrade for Harris)
Barefoot Gen (A Precursor to Grave Of The Fireflies)
Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life
The Hunger
The Fourth Man (Paul Verhoeven)
Eureka (Nicolas Roeg)
The Return Of The Soldier
The Man With Two Brains
Streamers (Robert Altman)
Strange Brew (Rick Moranis/Max Vn Sydow)
Yentl (Streisand/Patinkin)
Testament (Jane Alexander)
Bad Boys (Sean Penn)
Betrayal (Kingsley/Irons)
Another Time, Another Place
The Ploughman's Lunch
Never Cry Wolf
Carmen
In The White City (Bruno Ganz)
L'Argent
Entre Nous
That Day, On The Beach
À Nos Amours
El Sur
Angst
El Norte
City Of Pirates
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Gorky Park
Lianna
The Gold Diggers (Julie Christie)
Confidentially Yours
Cujo
Psycho II
Flashdance
The Keep (Michael Mann)
The Osterman Weekend (Sam Peckinpah)
Variety
Pauline At The Beach
Krull
Mr. Mom (Michael Keaton)
Valley Girl (Nicolas Cage)
Project A (Jackie Chan)
The Boxer's Omen
Born In Flames
Curtains
First Name: Carmen (Jean-Luc Godard)
Breathless (Richard Gere)
10 To Midnight (Charles Bronson)
The Last Battle (Luc Besson)
And The Ship Sails On
The Makioka Sisters
Eyes Of Fire
House Of The Long Shadows
Heat And Dust (James Ivory)
Careful, He Might Hear You
The Sting II
Blue Thunder
The Death Of Mario Ricci

RatedRStar said...

I am pretty sure Louis will hate the first series of Blackadder, especially Atkinsons performance which thank god he changed the character after, I think its pretty meh outside of Peter Cook and Miriam Margolyes and possibly Rik Mayall who would hit far bigger heights later.

Louis: The second series is when it gets really good and you don't even need to watch the first series since each series is its own separate timeline.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: What about Brian Blessed. He's the highlight of the series for me.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: If he wants to skip to 2, that's fine with me.

RatedRStar said...

Luke: Oh yes can't forget him 2 lol.

Calvin Law said...

Season 1 was awful. Ben Elton was a huge part of the series becoming the classic it was.

Omar Franini said...

Louis: i have a good copy of Violette Nozière, if you are interested to just send me a mail to omarfranini@yahoo.com

Calvin Law said...

RatedRStar and Luke: your main cast rankings for each of the four seasons? Mine would be,

Season 1:
1. Brian Blessed
2. Tim McInnery
3. Tony Robinson
4. Elspet Gray
5. Robert East
6. Stephen Tate
7. Rowan Atkinson

And Mayall and Cook were my favourite guest performers.

Season 2
1. Miranda Richardson
2. Rowan Atkinson
3. Tony Robinson
4. Patsy Byrne
5. Tim McInnery
6. Stephen Fry

With Mayall, Tom Baker, and of course Hugh Laurie as my favourite guest performers

Season 3
1. Rowan Atkinson
2. Hugh Laurie
3. Tony Robinson (all three are pretty much equal this particular season)
4. Helen Atkinson-Wood

And a real abundance of riches with the guest appearances in this one, Simon Osborne, Robbie Coltrane, Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Connor, Richardson are all brilliant.

Season 4
1. Rowan Atkinson
2. Tony Robinson
3. Hugh Laurie
4. Stephen Fry
5. Tim McInnery

With Mayall, Richardson and that firing squad all being highlights.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: I personally have Atkinson as my Series 2 MVP and Richardson isn't far behind. Funny how McInnery is ranked bottom of Season 4 though it's his best work of the 3 series he starred in. (Love his delivery of 'Bugger' in the season 4 finale)

Calvin Law said...

Luke: You know what, I'd switch him and Fry. He was fantastic in the finale, though everyone was really (Laurie's sadness at realising he can't maintain his optimism to the bitter end is heartbreaking).

BRAZINTERMA said...

1. Bowie
2. Puri
3. Depardieu
4. Gordon
5. Yankovsky

Luke Higham said...

1. Bowie
2. Depardieu
3. Puri
4. Gordon
5. Yankovsky (Get the feeling he's overshadowed by Tarkovsky's direction and Erland Josephson. Also, I don't know how Louis will react to Nostalghia as it's by most accounts Tarkovsky's least popular work)

RatedRStar said...

Luke: Pretty much in agreement with those choices, I would probably switch Fry and Mcinnery for Series 2, I think Captain Darling is easily McInnerys golden performance.

Miranda Richardson is easily my favourite Elizabeth I, she is exactly how I imagined her being lol.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Could you also watch The Return Of Captain Invincible (Christopher Lee).

Anonymous said...

Louis: Thoughts on the use of color in The Dark Knight trilogy?

Emi Grant said...

Louis: Your thoughts on BCS's Season Finale? This has honestly become my favorite season.

GM said...

1. Depardieu
2. Bowie
3. Puri
4. Gordon
5. Yankovsky

Louis, break or increase some hope here: can Paul Winfield go up for Sounder?

Calvin Law said...

Louis: thoughts on the BCS finale? I thought it was amazing and the season on the whole...just wow.

Calvin Law said...

And your ranking for the season? I’d go,

1. Rhea Seehorn
2. Bob Odenkirk
3. Tony Dalton
4. Jonathan Banks
5. Michael Mando
6. Giancarlo Esposito
7. Patrick Fabian
8. Lavell Crawford
9. Barry Corbin
10. Dean Norris
11. Steven Michael Quezada
12. Rex Linn
13. Dennis Boutsikaris
14. Juan Carlos Cantu
15. Steven Bauer
16. Norbert Weisser
17. Laura Fraser
18. Max Arciniega
19. Steven Ogg
20. JB Blanc
21. Mark Margolis
22. Kerry Condon
23. Jeremiah Bitsui
24. Ray Campbell

Top 5 were all amazing and honestly everyone was at the very least good.

Michael Patison said...

Still haven't gotten around to watching any Blackadder. From the looks of the rankings, maybe I should. I've been avoiding it for so long because I really wholeheartedly dislike Rowan Atkinson.

Also, it looks like Stephen Fry has never been a good actor. Terrific humorist, though.

Luke Higham said...

Michael Patison: Perhaps because he's far better playing Wit than Dimwit.

Luke Higham said...

Michael: Fry's great in my opinion, especially in 4.

Calvin Law said...

Michael: Fry has never been a particularly versatile actor in the conventional sense but he has a niche he’s very good at. I will say that Laurie does overshadow him in pretty much anything I’ve ever seen them in together. Jeeves and Wooster included.

Anonymous said...

Michael, I understand if you're basing your opinion on Bean and Johnny English but he's brilliant in Blackadder 2-4.

Michael Patison said...

I have been basing off of Bean and Johnny English, but I'd always been intending to try Blackadder at some point. Maybe I'll have to move it up.

Luke Higham said...

Michael: Avoid Blackadder 1 if you hate Dimwit Atkinson.

Calvin Law said...

I actually enjoy Johnny English. And a bit of Mr Bean.

Anonymous said...

Luke, what ratings do you think these performances will get? And who do you predict will be Louis’ Best Director choices for the year?

RatedRStar said...

I have heard some great things about Stephen Fry in Twelfth Night but then again apparently everyone was great in that.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Man, I wasn't really aware people disliked Mr Bean. The movies are trash, but I've always enjoyed the live action episodes.

Mitchell Murray said...

So I just watched "Witness" for the first time, and I REALLY liked it. Between this and his other films that I've seen, Peter Weir is becoming one of my favourite directors. "Witness" may not be his best "helmed" movie (I would say the direction of "Master and Commander" and "The Year of Living Dangerously" is more impressive), but its certainly one of his best paced, most effective thrillers. To put it simply, I just found it to be a strong, taut drama, with a good mix of tension and intimacy throughout.

Ford - 4
McGillis - 4
Rubes - 3.5
Haas - 3
Glover - 3
Sommer - 3
Godunov - 3
Jennings - 3

Michael Patison said...

Calvin & Luke: Yeah the dimwit fool has always been my least favorite trope of British comedy.

Michael Patison said...

I'm revising my predictions:
1. David Bowie
2. Om Puri
3. Gerard Depardieu
4. Keith Gordon
5. Oleg Yankovsky

Luke Higham said...

Tahmeed: I grew up on Mr. Bean when I was a child and it is an acquired taste for Non-British audiences but Blackadder is where his true genius lies. I also like Atkinson in The Thin Blue Line yet David Haig steals the show as the DI.

Mitchell Murray said...

Luke: I was never all that familiar with Mr. Bean, so I can't really comment on the show or Atkinson.

For what its worth, though, and at the risk of speaking in broad strokes, I do greatly prefer British humour over American humour.

Luke Higham said...

Mitchell: Good man. :)

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous:
Bowie - 5
Conti - 4.5/5
Depardieu - 4.5
Pszoniak - 4.5 (If not for the dubbing, he'd be a 5 for me)
Puri - 4.5
Gordon - 4.5
Yankovsky - 4

Aidan Pittman said...

1. Bowie
2. Depardieu
3. Puri
4. Gordon
5. Yankovsky (Starting to think the odds are against him too now)

Luke Higham said...

Louis: If you decide not to review Yankovsky, I'd suggest one of Gene Hackman in Eureka, Jeroen Krabbe in The Fourth Man or Alan Bates in The Return Of The Soldier as a replacement.

Mitchell Murray said...

By the way, how would everyone rank the Peter Weir movies they've seen? Mine would be as followed:

1) Master and Commander
2) Witness
3) The Truman Show
4) The Year of Living Dangerously
5) Dead Poets Society

Still need to see Gallipoli, Mosquito Coast and The Way Back.

Luke Higham said...

Mitchell: You forgot Picnic At Hanging Rock and The Last Wave.

Anonymous said...

Fearless and Green Card

Mitchell Murray said...

My apologies, though "Mosquito Coast" and "Gallipoli" are the ones I'm most interested in seeing next.

Louis Morgan said...

Tahmeed:

Do you know where my last list was as I'm having trouble finding it?

The Reichenbach Fall I felt was excellent in basically being what technically should've almost been the climax of the series. This with much clever twisting in its subversion of expectation revolving around Moriarty's grand scheme, and his less grand scheme, both of differing complexity. This though with I'd say the emotional height of the series/Cumberbatch's performance in the final sequence, which offers a real sense of the power of their friendship. This making it not only find the greatest intensity within the series as Sherlock is genuinely pushed near the edge literally, and just making for a fantastic episode.

Anonymous:

That quality is interesting in that in a way you see Nolan's red/green color blindness in the palette choices for his films in general, that tend skew towards brown, black and blues. This is perhaps most emphasized with the Batman trilogy of films. Effectively so though in having its own color language, in using that technically muted set of colors to create its own, "realistic" style that grants that partial sort of noir you'd want for Batman, though less overtly. It also makes it so where the colors differ from this purposeful constraint, fire, Joker's makeup, even his suit, it stands out. More than anything an effective low key sort world building through that color use.

Emi Grant:

An altogether amazing finale, that managed to not go where I expected to regarding either Jimmy/Kim's relationship, or with Lalo. The latter being a masterful bit of tension, and the latter being fascinating in showing sort of the exploration in the way the relationship kind of both terrible in how it brings the worst out of both of them even though their actual interaction is of such genuine tenderness. Loved everything about the episode, and most importantly for this type of season finale, can't wait to see next season, while also finding this season entirely satisfying as well.

GM:

Given it was my second review ever...yes.

Calvin:

1. Rhea Seehorn
2. Bob Odenkirk
3. Tony Dalton
4. Jonathan Banks
5. Michael Mando
6. Giancarlo Esposito
7. Patrick Fabian
8. Rex Linn
9. Dennis Boutsikaris
10. Dean Norris
11. Steven Michael Quezada
12. Barry Corbin
13. Juan Carlos Cantu
14. Lavell Crawford
15. Steven Bauer
16. Mark Margolis
17. Steven Ogg
18. Max Arciniega
19. Norbert Weisser
20. Laura Fraser
21. JB Blanc
22. Kerry Condon
23. Jeremiah Bitsui
24. Ray Campbell

Dalton/Seehorn/Odenkirk will be extremely difficult to dethrone as my favorites in their respective categories.

Mitchell:

1. Master and Commander
2. Gallipoli
3. Picnic At Hanging Rock
4. Witness
5. The Truman Show
6. The Year of Living Dangerously
7. The Mosquito Coast
8. Fearless
9. Dead Poet's Society
10. The Way Back

Jack Narrator said...

1. Bowie
2. Puri
3. Gordon
4. Depardieu
5. Yankovsky

Bryan L. said...

Louis: The previous Cumberbatch 20 are in Claude Rains’ review for White Banners.

Emi Grant said...

Louis: How would you rank Season 5's episodes? I think I'd go with...

1. Bagman
2. Wexler v. Goodman
3. Magic Man
4. JMM
5. Something Unforgivable
6. Bad Choice Road
7. 50% Off
8. The Guy For This
9. Dedicado a Max
10. Namaste

Anonymous said...

Louis: Thoughts on Edward Hopper as a painter?

Matt Mustin said...

Anonymous: That's a new one.

Calvin Law said...

Emi Grant: I’d go the same with you pretty much I think.

Bryan L. said...

Louis: Your #11-20 films for 2010, and your top five for Cinematography from that year?

Louis Morgan said...

Anonymous:

He does some great house work, you should've seen what he did for my neighbor, excellent job. Seriously though, like non-film music, while I definitely have thoughts, I'd prefer to keep it confined to film/tv.

Tahmeed:

1. Right before the fall - Sherlock
2. Revealing his past trauma - Patrick Melrose
3. Almost dying - Sherlock
4. Mother's funeral - Patrick Melrose
5. Best man speech - Sherlock
6. Any figuring it out moment - Sherlock
7. Seeing Joan the Last time - The Imitation Game
8. Gathering his father's remains - Patrick Melrose
9. Suicide attempt - Patrick Melrose
10. Infiltrating the Circus - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
11. Returning to rehab - Patrick Melros
12. The two pills - Sherlock
13. "Am I a Machine" - The Imitation Game
14. Telling truth to his mother - Patrick Melrose
15. Dealing with Magnussen - Sherlock
16. Confronting the "healer" - Patrick Melrose
17. End of the party - Patrick Melrose
18. Past "Drug" haze - Sherlock
19. Breaking it off - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
20. Very awkward flirting - Patrick Melrose

Emi Grant:

1. Bagman
2. Bad Choice Road
3. Wexler v. Goodman
4. Something Unforgivable
5. JMM
6. The Guy For This
7. Magic Man
8. 50% Off
9. Namaste
10. Dedicado a Max

Although #10 is still very good.

Bryan:

11. Certified Copy
12. Four Lions
13. Inception
14. The Town
15. Toy Story 3
16. Another Year
17. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
18. Get Low
19. The King's Speech
20. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

Cinematography:

1. Valhalla Rising
2. The American
3. I Saw the Devil
4. True Grit
5. Shutter Island

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: Is Sherlock you favourite Cumberbatch performance, or is it still Patrick Melrose.
Also, could I have your ranking of Sherlock's episodes?

Anonymous said...

Louis: your thoughts on the cast of better call saul

Calvin Law said...

I saw Ardh Satya (available on Einthusan) and I have to say Puri was a very easy 5 in it for me. I'm even considering switching him and Bowie, although I'd want to wait on a rewatch of Mr Lawrence and also I do think this particular type of performance is very tailored for my tastes.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Puri's work is astonishing, especially in his final scene.

1. Puri
2. Depardieu
3. Bowie
4. Gordon
5. Yankovsky

Luke Higham said...

1. Bowie
2. Puri
3. Depardieu
4. Gordon
5. Yankovsky

RatedRStar said...

Quick change

1. Bowie
2. Puri
3. Depardieu
4. Gordon
5. Yankovsky

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Really hope Puri gets reviewed first.

Luke Higham said...

Tahmeed: I think it'll be Gordon.

Tim said...

what are your thoughts and Rating on Brendan Fraser in Gods and Monsters?

Anonymous said...

Louis: Would you say that Lee Byung-Hun is your favorite Korean actor, given that he is the only one to get 3 5's from you? (as of yet)

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I think he'll stick with Choi Min-Sik for the time being due to the strength of his two best performances but he could end up switching to Song Kang-Ho if he ends up topping his work in Parasite.

Michael McCarthy said...

1. Gerard Depardieu
2. David Bowie
3. Keith Gordon
4. Om Puri
5. Oleg Yankovsky

I’m not super confident in this order, particularly 2-4. I might feel totally differently in a week.

Luke Higham said...

Michael: Your ratings.

Luke Higham said...

Michael: Your ratings for Conti and Pszoniak as well.

Mitchell Murray said...

So I added to my viewings of 1983 today, by watching an online version of “Educating Rita”. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the film going into it, but I ended up feeling it was a good enough comedy/drama; Predictable, and not without some nit picks in editing/music, but an enjoyable picture nonetheless.

Caine - 4
Walters - 4.5
Lipman - 3

Anonymous said...

Luke, who do you think will be Louis’ Best Director choices for this year?

Luke Higham said...

Philip Kaufman
David Cronenberg x2
Andrzej Wajda
Andrei Tarkovsky

Bryan L. said...

Louis: Your ranking of the Revolutionary-War-era content that you’ve seen? (Films, TV movies, miniseries, etc.)

Luke Higham said...

Bryan:
1. John Adams
2. Turn: Washington's Spies
3. The Devil's Disciple
4. The Patriot
5. Revolution

I'll give an honourable mention to Assassin's Creed III.

Bryan L. said...

Luke: How is Revolution btw? It’s one of the few films that Pacino did in the 80s. I forget that he kind of had a low-profile that decade.

Also, thoughts on #2? Hadn’t heard of that one.

Lastly, how would you feel about a Nolan film that takes place during that period? :)

Michael Patison said...

Luke: What did you think of Turn? I've been meaning to watch it. The son of one of my favorite teachers in high school was on it, Nick Westrate.

Luke Higham said...

Bryan: Haven't seen Revolution in a long time but I recall it being boring and lacklustre. Thought Pacino was average, perhaps disinterested since he didn't act again for 4 years. And I don't remember Sutherland bringing much to the table.

Turn is a really good series by AMC that has a strong ensemble and great characters, especially on the British side. (I've particular affection for Burn Gorman, Hiddleston lookalike, JJ Feild and Samuel Roukin)

I'd like to see him tackle another pre-20th century period piece since he hasn't done one since The Prestige though again as a Master and Commander fan, Peter Weir would be my personal choice.

Luke Higham said...

Michael: Had to look up his photo on Imdb but yeah, Westrate was very good from what I remember.

Louis Morgan said...

Tahmeed:

Well I'd say Sherlock is his most entertaining performance but I'd guess I'd still give it to Melrose for the dramatic range presented. It's a mighty top two though.

1. The Reichenbach Fall
2. The Great Game
3. The Sign of Three
4. His Last Vow
5. A Scandal in Belgravia
6. A Study in Pink
7. The Abominable Bride
8. The Hounds of Baskerville
9. The Empty Hearse
10. The Blind Banker
(Gap)
11. The Final Problem
12. The Lying Detective
(Bigger Gap)
13. The Six Thatchers

Tim:

Fraser - (A performance that is a little hard to directly respond to, and I think Roger Ebert made a very valid point in his review, in that Fraser is miscast in just that you don't for a second think he'd ever be interested in McKellen, just by his presence which isn't at all sexually charged. I'll say part of this is on Fraser I suppose, as he does seem just generally affable towards McKellen and interested, and doesn't do that poorly, however his attachment seems not distant, but differently directed. Again though I think this relates more strongly to his presence as sort of that likable lunk more than anything. He actually is fine in terms of the dramatic specifics, but sort of his chemistry with McKellen isn't *quite* right, although I think that too stems from Bill Condon's script/direction, where it's overall *take* on Whale is just slightly vague.)

Anonymous:

I wouldn't say I have any additional thoughts as of yet, that haven't already been given. Although Dalton's work was just a natural, and remarkable expansion on what we already saw.

Anonymous:

No, but I've become a big fan of Lee's talents. Choi Min-sik though is the most inherently compelling performer for me, and hopefully he'll work with one of the top tier Korean Trio of directors again soon (Bong, Kim, Park). Although he, Lee and Song Kang-ho are quite the top tier acting trio.

Bryan:

1. John Adams
2. The Devil's Disciple
3. The Patriot
4. The Crossing
5. April Morning
6. The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell
7. Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor
8. Johnny Tremain
9. Drums Along the Mohawk
10. The Time of Their Lives

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your thoughts on #4, 5 and 7 with ratings and thoughts on the casts.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your ranking of Films/TV on the French Revolution. (Danton and La Revolution Francaise unseen).

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

I have not seen any of those recently, it should be telling how easy of a mark I am for the era, when I hardly sought out TV movies until this most endeavor. I recall all three as fairly mediocre but not terrible, too often the case with material for the era, with The Devil's Disciple and especially John Adams being a major step from anything else.

In terms of my vague recollections of the casts:

Crossing: Daniels not bad, but never remotely convinces you he is Washington. MVP Roger Rees, basically doing his own Dr. Maturin...I think.

April Morning: Recall Tommy Lee Jones being decent enough doing his usual thing as an authoritative type, and Rip Torn being kooky, that's about it.

Benedict Arnold: I recall Aidan Quinn being okay, and Frasier, I mean Grammer, also not being all that convincing as Washingtion.

Louis Morgan said...

1. Ridicule (kind of)
2. Marie Antoinette (1938)
3. A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
4. La Marseillaise
5. Marat/Sade (kind of)
6. The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
7. A History of the World Part I
8. Quills (Kind of)

RatedRStar said...

Louis: Speaking of American Revolutions, you ever thought of seeing the Oscar winning film Sons of Liberty from 1939? =D you might know why I would want you to see it?

Louis Morgan said...

RatedRStar:

Obviously because it stars Donald Crisp, we all know you're a huge Crispman.

Seriously though I could make time for it, quite literally as it is only 20 minutes.

Anonymous said...

Louis: Thoughts on the cinematography of The American? Kind of surprised that you rank it higher than the ones below it on your top 5.

Matt Mustin said...

True Grit is pretty unimpeachable as my cinematography win that year, only because it has one of my favourite shots of the decade.

Calvin Law said...

It’s definitely some of Deakins’ best work.

Matt Mustin said...

My runner up though is I Saw the Devil.

Louis Morgan said...

Anonymous:

I wouldn't be too surprised, Martin Ruhe's work is fantastic in multiple ways in my view (in a film that'd I'd say is easily one of the most underrated of the 2010's), although that top 5 shared, I adore all 5, and maybe if I re-watched True Grit (Haven't seen it in about 10 years at this point) it could go up, however that wouldn't be due to anything lacking in The American. The American has amazing establishing shots, each one, being such so perfectly scenic, making foreign locals better looking than any Bond films, except for maybe Skyfall. My point it is it captures that scenic, beauty, however manages to do it in a way, that adds just a bit interesting dread, as Ruhe's work always captures a degree of more shadow laden landscapes than is per usual. The lighting though being expressive in more than a single way, as Ruhe manages to excel with both more stylistic, like in Clooney's rendezvous with the prostitute, or more calmly, such as the at night sequences. Each though are incredible. The only thing I might love more though is the composition of shots, which are so striking here, in creating the sense of isolation, through technically off-beat but oh so dynamic of shots.

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