Best Scene: Rocking Chair
4. Jeremy Irons in The French-Lieutenant's Woman - Irons is able to deliver honest and power to both forbidden romances of very different ilks.
Best Scene: A late visit.
3. Keith Carradine in Southern Comfort - Carradine gives a striking performance through his calm yet incisive demeanor.
Best Scene: Making decisions.
2. Michel Serrault in Garde à Vue - Serrault effectively delivers a tricky performance that is convincing in creating the sense of a man in an emotionally heightened state.
Best Scene: Seeing something horrible.
1. John Heard in Cutter's Way - Good predictions Robert, Ytrewq & Calvin. Heard proves he was perhaps a largely untapped talent with this powerfully intense portrait of a wounded war vet attempting a strange sort of revenge.
Best Scene: Cutter's reasoning for his plan.
Next: 81 Supporting
62 comments:
Nicol Williamson - Excalibur
Alan Bates - Quartet
James Woods - Eyewitness
Rod Steiger - The Chosen
Griffin Dunne - An American Werewolf in London
Louis: Your Female Lead and supporting TOP 25 rankings with ratings.
And tell me from the year 1981 which are your Top 7 with ranking of
- Song
- Score
- Poster
- Editing
- Screenplays (adapted and original)
- Character of the year (name and the film)
- Cast
- Blockbuster
Nice to see Hoskins take the win.
Louis: Your top 5 Hoskins performances?
WOW Marília Pêra wins! "BRASIL SIL SIL!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnLNDuKya04
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on the rest of the lead performances.
Your Female top 20s with ratings and other 4+ honourable mentions.
Rutger Hauer , Nighthawks
Griffin Dunne - An American Werewolf In London
Dennis Hopper - Out Of The Blue
David Warner - Time Bandits
RIP Louise Fletcher
Louis: Have you started watching Brideshead Revisited.
Wow, you sat through Heartbeeps, a movie I only know about from a one-off Simpsons joke.
My request is Russell Crowe in The Quick and the Dead for 1995 Supporting
R.I.P. Louise Fletcher.
Brazinterma:
1. Isabelle Adjani - Possession
2. Natja Burnckhorst - Christiane F. - 5
3. Barbara Sukowa - Lola - 4.5
4. Sissy Spacek - Raggedy Man - 4.5
5. Tina Engel - The Boat is Full - 4.5
6. Linda Manz - Out of the Blue - 4.5
7. Isabelle Adjani - Quartet - 4.5
8. Meryl Streep - The French-Lieutenant's Woman
9. Faye Dunaway - Mommie Dearest - 4.5 (Not worth watching though)
10. Bernadette Peters - Pennies From Heaven
11. Zoë Tamerlis - Ms. 45 - 4
12. Bete Mendes - They Don't Wear Black Tie - 4
13. Kathleen Turner - Body Heat
14. Diane Keaton - Reds
15. Marsha Mason - Only When I Laugh
16. Katherine Hepburn - On Golden Pond
17. Liza Minnelli - Arthur
18. Nancy Allen - Blow Out
19. Sally Field - Absence of Malice
Supporting Actress:
1. Marília Pêra - Pixote - 5
2. Krystyna Janda - Man of Iron - 4.5
3. Fernanda Montenegro - They Don't Wear Black Tie - 4.5
4. Audrey Hepburn - They All Laughed - 4.5
5. Frances Sternhagen - Outland - 4.5
6. Lisa Eichhorn - Cutter's Way
7. Isabelle Huppert - Coup De Torchon - 4.5
8. Helen Mirren - The Long Good Friday - 4.5
9. Laura Morante - Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man - 4.5
10. Maggie Smith - Quartet - 4.5
11. Karen Allen - Raiders of the Lost Ark
12. Alice Krige - Chariots of Fire
13. Stephane Audran - Coup de Torchon - 4
14. Romy Schneider - Garde A Vue
15. Jessica Harper - Pennies From Heaven
16. Anouk Aimee - Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man - 4
17. Shelley Duvall - Time Bandits
18. Maggie Smith - Clash of the Titans
19. Maureen Stapleton - Reds
20. Joan Hackett - Only When I Laugh
21. Tuesday Weld - Thief - 3.5
22. Colleen Camp - They All Laughed - 3.5
23. Margit Carstensen - Possession - 3.5
24. Ellen Sandweiss - The Evil Dead - 3.5
25. Betsy Baker - The Evil Dead - 3.5
Tahmeed:
1. Mona Lisa
2. The Long Good Friday
3. Felicia's Journey
4. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
5. Pennies From Heaven (though I've only seen the first episode)
Song:
1. "For Your Eyes Only" - For Your Eyes Only
2. "One More Hour" - Ragtime
3. "The First Time It Happens' - The Great Muppet Caper
4. "Best That You Can Do" - Arthur
That's the best I can do, and I don't even exactly love the theme from Arthur.
Score:
6. Clash of the Titans
7. Blow Out
Poster:
1. The Howling (Torn Curtain)
2. Possession
3. Escape From New York (Statue of Liberty Head)
4. Ms. 45 (Bloody hand)
5. Thief
6. Stripes
7. Scanners
Editing:
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Chariots of Fire
3. Blow Out
4. The Road Warrior
5. Thief
6. Gallipoli
7. The Evil Dead
Adapted Screenplay:
1. Das Boot
2. Gallipoli
3. Cutter's Way
4. Mephisto
5. Thief
6. Pennies From Heaven
7. Pixote
Original Screenplay:
1. Chariots of Fire
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. My Dinner With Andre
4. Blow Out
5. The Long Good Friday
6. An American Werewolf in London
7. Escape From New York
Character:
1. Indiana Jones
2. Marion Ravenwood
3. Snake Plissken
4. Mad Max
5. Lord Humungus
6. The Kraken
7. That Guy whose head explodes - Scanners
Cast:
1. Chariots of Fire
2. Das Boot
3. Gallipoli
4. Thief
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
6. The Long Good Friday
7. Escape From New York
Blockbusters (top 25 USA):
1. Chariots of Fire
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. An American Werewolf in London
4. Clash of the Titans
5. Arthur
6. Time Bandits
7. The Fox and the Hound
Louis: Thoughts on the Female Performances.
Brazinterma: The Chosen is 1982.
*jotting down all these new recs from Louis' actress and supporting actress lineups*
Glad to have won this round. My request is Sammo Hung in Eight Taels of Gold for Lead Actor 1990.
Also what did you think of Out of the Blue? Frankly I thought it was a far more outstanding directorial achievement from Hopper than say, Easy Driver.
Calvin: IMDB says its 1989.
Calvin: I've been meaning to ask, are you thinking of recommending Oslo, August 31st to Louis in December.
Louis: Who was meant to be ranked 30th because Duvall was written down twice.
Luke: you're correct, thanks for the amendment (I was looking at the wrong date).
And yes, that will certainly be the one to recommend (I think Danielsen Lie could make his top 10 for that year).
R.I.P. Louise Fletcher
RIP Louise Fletcher
RIP Franciszek Pieczka
RIP Louise Fletcher
I would possibly have originally requested Plummer instead of Woods for Eyewitness, but I think his performance is a slightly lesser version of a previous role so I thought I'd go for a nothing character as written who does a lot with very little.
RIP Louise Fletcher
RIP Louise Fletcher
Louis: In case you haven't, thoughts on Louise Fletcher's Oscar-winning speech?
Luke:
Duvall - (True Confessions as a film, on the whole, is a whole lot of intriguing ideas poorly implemented except in the case of Robert Duvall, and in case anyone thinks he doesn't deserve to be put with De Niro as an actor, watch this damn film where he carries the entire film on his back. Duvall delivers such a compelling turn here even with the weak material he is working with. He is terrific in creating the complexity of the man who knows he's bad in his nature yet does try to do the right thing. Duvall never simplifies the idea of creating such a striking sense of shame in one's self but also frustration. Duvall naturally creates these moments where we see the honest truth of man's better nature. No element does he carry more than De Niro's performance as any sense of brotherly love or history can only be found in Duvall's dynamic performance that gives a sense of history and is even moving, despite De Niro barely registering a pulse here. Duvall suggests a far greater film could've been made, with a better script for sure, but also that just better acting also would've helped.)
Mueller-Stahl - (Always the interesting actor and here he is most intrigued by the state of the character he realizes in this very specific way. This man of seemingly exact morals yet also is so exact that in a way he becomes this sort of strange sight in everyone else's eyes. He manages to create this strange state in a way that is somehow tangible, even at times oddly moving as the man expresses his love for the prostitute who in turn doesn't exactly seem to love him back, or maybe she does, but certainly not in the same way. Mueller-Stahl though creates this state of sort ignorance that is fascinating because it never seems simplistic.)
Tognazzi - (The film itself is all over the place but Tognazzi is consistently compelling portraying this oddly specific state of this huckster, a huckster over the kidnapping of his own son. Tognazzi's work is largely satirical in portraying this certain blithe disregard for common decency it would seem, yet there is a modicum of humanity that he does create within all the man's more prideful posturing it would seem, and more than anything he creates the elements that work within the film by riding this tone quite effectively, better than the film itself does, I would say.)
Adorf - (In a way the opposite of Mueller-Stahl's performance, as the man who knows exactly who he is and what he is doing. This being a complete sleaze and just going about owning every moment of it. Adorf is effective in this lack of hesitation about it but I think what is key to his work is that there is some nuance in it. He is never one note, even though his character is a constant, and delivers these moments of pseudo humanity, in that it is humanity at least in terms of what this guy is capable of.)
Noiret - 4.5(Noiret's performance is a most unusual performance that technically falls within the noir lead style, in a very bright film that doesn't look like a noir visually, as the man of many shady relationships and dealings. His performance is effective by finding this strange casual quality in the man's approach and making it so it always seems honest to the man. In that with every development he shows the man just kind of going with his atypical flow no matter what the particular situation may be.)
Sinclair - 4(Delivers just an honest off-beat charm to the character. He manages to be endearing by just being very real in the character's complete lack of confidence at every point.)
Connery - 4(Although the film itself doesn't amount to much, the direction just is too weak, particularly the action, Connery delivers a rock-solid leading man, bringing the weight of the dogged man trying to bring justice where no one cares about it.)
da Silva - 4(Not the child performance that I think Babenco focuses too much on in terms of carrying key emotional moments, but he does give an honest and earnest turn that creates the right sense of the natural emotional turmoil of living a painful life.)
Opania & Radziwilowicz - 3.5(I actually got a bit more out of the former than the latter, and the former is really just there to set up the story of the latter. The latter is entirely fine in depicting the man who is just trying to follow his principles, while Opania is good in the man reacting towards possibly subverting his own by following the government's corrupt task. Both are good, but I'll admit the film didn't really quite come fully alive to me until Janda showed up, not that it was bad.)
Riccelli - 3.5(Similar to the last R in performance, earnest enough work that wholly works even not overly distinctive.)
Andrei - 3(Maybe I need to re-watch this but the film to me seemed very jarring in telling the character study with an extreme pseudo-Hitchockian thriller. Andrei I thought was fine, if somewhat forgettable in creating the average hero caught between it all, though again not in the way you'd think as the film very much does its own thing, unfortunately, I didn't exactly love it.)
Nicholson - 2.5(There are some okay moments in there, but the performance fails because he doesn't have any chemistry with Lange, who I didn't like at all here. There's some of that great Nicholson spark in brief moments but on the whole, it doesn't come together.)
MacNicol - 2.5(I like MacNicol typically as a character actor, but he's not leading man material, though hey kudos for trying to make that happen given he definitely isn't who'd you expect. I thought he was okayish here as the unlikely hero, but there wasn't enough charm here to really sell the role beyond its simplicities.)
Shibata - 2.5(Fine but forgettable work that isn't really the focus of the film that is more just a kind of naturalistic observation.)
De Niro - 2.5(An oddly lifeless performance from him, for this period, and feels more like paycheck De Niro. Given that most of his work from this period is typically pretty good, I imagine it must've been a miscalculation of some kind, as maybe he was going for extreme subtlety and the camera just doesn't pick it up. Either way, it didn't pick it up and he just seems adrift the entire time.
Moore - 2(Typical Moore Bond.)
Stallone - 2(Yeah far from his finest hour, there's a reason you probably haven't heard of Association Football film starring Michael Caine, Max von Sydow, and directed by John Huston. It's just a bad film that never comes to life. One of the reasons why is Stallone who just seems to be going through the motions here and fashioning his less interesting action persona that defined some of his later performances.)
Keach - 1.5(You know I do feel bad for him because this film is so atrocious that it is hard not to stink in it. Well sadly as much as he's an old pro, he still is extremely awkward here and certainly can't make any kind of chemistry with his aggressively bad co-star.)
Kaufman - 1(You'd convince me this was a bit from him to give the least funny performance, but it was apparently not. Anyway if you like an hour of him doing a robot voice with little variation, here it is...)
Can I also have rating and thoughts on Jessica Lange.
Burnckhorst - ( A companion performance to Oksana Akinshina's work in Lilya-4-Ever, in terms of creating an absolutely devastating portrait of broken and corrupted youth. Her performance here only ever feels pointedly authentic and because of that is brutally hard to watch this particular descent. What makes it so hard though is because Burnckhorst is wholly honest in the moments of seemingly just enjoying the purer moments of youth such as enjoying the David Bowie concert or listening to music at home. This is in vicious contrast to her scenes though of getting deeper into a life of drug addiction. Her performance never holds back on any ferocity in terms of presenting this state of desperation but also a state of kind of indifference to the effects of this life. Her performance is in this constant natural realization of this state that is often in horrible circumstances or with questionable people, and her performance makes every moment feel so brutally real in her performance. She expresses this not as a melodramatic loss of innocence but rather this naturally intertwining into this eerie if not even grotesque at times state of the girl experiencing what becomes a natural state for her as harrowing as it may be. Absolutely brilliant work and I think the key to it is that not every moment is just depression and sadness, as potent as that is here, but there is those moments of joy, even within the moments of drug use that express the complexity of the life, even as it is clear quite tragic on the whole.)
Barbara Sukowa - (Wonderfully deliciously duplicitous work that in a way is also that on the audience itself. This as she is of course alluring on the most superficial levels and brings a charisma of the performer and the prostitute being the performer. Sukowa though plays with the idea of the emotional truth of the character quite effectively. This is creating moments where she seems truthful in this genuine way of revealing a woman who might want different circumstances though will subvert that just as quickly in playing a note of callousness with such incisiveness. Her performance is playful in presenting moments between what might be truth and might be a game, and does so in a way that keeps her from ever feeling too vague either. She rather makes Lola just enigmatic enough in this state.)
Spacek - (Would you believe Spacek gives a moving authentic performance? Well the film itself I don't think is great its overall exploration of its ideas. Spacek is just pitch perfect throughout in creating the reality of the woman trying to do her best while dealing with the gossip and threats of the vile people around her. In every turn, Spacek delivers truth to the film just because her work itself feels so honest in each moment of frustration but also balances that with some warmer moments of joy or even humor. Spacek is able to articulate moments frankly better than the script does, and brings some power to the proceedings even as the film doesn't quite come together.)
Engel - (A very moving portrayal that is often reactionary in creating the sense of the state of attempting to find solace only to find rejection instead. Her performance is particularly good in the moments of initially playing the different roles of the character in the woman trying to play whatever role will allow her to stay in safety. She segues this effectively to natural anger and frustration towards those around her and creates a palatable sense of desperation as her attempts become more obvious and more painful as this plea really just to be able to survive.)
Manz - (Shame her run just so abruptly ended after this as she is such a unique presence on screen and this from what I've seen the best expression of this presence. This is as she captures so well this balance between this forced maturity and still childhood innocence. She manages to be both her in a way that is appropriately tragic in the state, but also I think particularly effective in the way she slowly unravels the film's major revelation with her perfomrance. This as she seems a bit off-beat at first, but as we go on we see more and more wrong with her as articulated so effectively in Manz's performance. This is as she gets closer to revealing who the girl is by the damage her adults have done to her through their horribleness, and she slowly goes from off-beat to just heartbreaking by showing this brutal descent really to a nihilistic depression fueled by an earned hate.)
Adjani - (I mean in terms of showing range this and Possession together are great performances though of very different ilks. This is a far more subdued performance, a portrayal of a woman trying to find her place in a world which seems both friendly and manipulative to her. Adjani consistently brings the right emotional sense to this journey, even when the film fumbles a bit, by always showing very much the real woman trying to find her place within the strange games that seemed to be played around her. She's terrific in making her journey one fueled by this authentic search for a place and doing so in just a moving way. Again also impressive by the quiet heartbreak of this work in contrast to the complete madness of her other performance.)
Dunaway - (Dunaway is actually very good at creating Crawford's personal style. She's good at delivering this sort of camp that was existent in Crawford naturally. She's effective in going completely mad and bringing the intensity in showing the abusive mother. In the moments though where we see maybe some semblance of a heart to Crawford here, she's honestly great in these moments and gives some real depth to the relationship just in her own performance. Having said that. This is like a non-movie, as every scene is just like perfunctory action, there's nothing in the dialogue, there's nothing in the scenario, it is just like here's a thing that happened without any build or really deeper meaning for the most part. So in turn it is impressive that Dunaway does anything with it, because everything else about the film is pretty terrible.)
Tamerlis - Ms. 45 - (Like the film itself quite fascinating in its minimalistic very specific style. She says nothing, yet there is very much something going on in her eyes, though again not quite what you'd expect with that either. She's doing her own thing here even as revenge thrillers go, but even as such there is something transfixing about her style here that is unlike anything you'd expect.)
Mendes - (A good performance in bringing a nice charisma and empathy within the central relationship, and later in the sense of hardship and the plight of it all.)
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn in My Dinner with Andre?
Louis: How do you think Jason Statham would fare in the role of Butch Coolidge?
Also, could I have your thoughts on the following scenes from Moneyball?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTjhHrcyiQI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR2aUw0rq0Q
RIP Louise Fletcher
Hoskins' victory is like Scheider and Hurt's: no salt and nothing surprising. I believed that Louis might surprise us by giving the #1 to Heard or Ford.
Louis: your #6 - #10 for Director in 1981.
Shaggy: Scheider's victory was a surprise for me personally, because Louis originally disliked the movie from what it seemed like before the review got updated.
Also Which Hurt's victory are you talking about btw??
Perfectionist: He meant John Hurt in The Elephant Man who took the win from Nakadai.
Pêra - (A performance that dominates the second half of the film in spectacular fashion. This as she delivers just this spirit of really the one who is apparently most willing to do whatever she needs to survive and she delivers this sort of blunt yet casual conviction with the character. She shows someone who is quite assured of her place within society and in turn plays her cards as she sees them. Her performance then articulates this through moments of striking manipulation whether that be the marks she is exploiting or the boys really that she is using to exploit the marks. Her performance casually switches effectively though always with this sense of a certain cunning behind her eyes no matter the situation. Whether that be the strict allure of the prostitute or the seemingly warmer qualities of a surrogate mother. In each though, one later than the other, she ends up subverting this to reveal the truth of a woman just doing what she views as a need for survival which she reveals fully by the end in what is a tremendous cutting moment, particularly for our misguided protagonist.)
Janda - (Also domineering her film when she appears, although this is really just the last portion of it where I thought she made the film fully come to life. Janda is such a charismatic performer to begin with but she goes further than strictly just charisma. This plays well the two sides of the role is the emotionally present woman in the past being the supporter and lover of the man of iron. She contrasts that well though in her more reflective work as the woman looking back at it all with this reality but also a striking empathy.)
Montenegro - (A potent maternal force within the film and is powerful in every bit of screen time. This in her early scenes just brings such a potent life as the loving but also tough mother giving out her lessons towards her family, but always doing so with a tremendous sense of warmth in her performance. Later on the key to her work are largely reactionary moments, yet there is such power in each of these reactions. Her silent counting moment in particular is heartbreaking work where she just beautifully embodies the turmoil the family has faced, but also the love that defined the heartbreak behind the developments of the story.)
Hepburn - (The best part of the film, which I think is neither the masterpiece that some notable filmmakers think it is nor the failure some critics at the time felt. I think it has some good bits the best bit being Hepburn's work. An apparently very personal story too, in which Hepburn brings her typical grace, however in a slightly different context here as we get equally in her work this sad resignation for the state, but also these little bits of joy she brings in the moments of the connection she finds. This is even with her scene partner here where I didn't think Ben Gazzara was particularly on point in this film, but Hepburn makes up for it with just how honestly she realizes the painful state of her character, making her little bits of joy quite potent.)
Sternhagen - (She's a lot of fun and a good scene partner for Connery. This in bringing this sort of dogged and overworked doctor with the right comic swagger. She doesn't go too far with it though finding the right balance in the sense of gravity in certain moments creates the right sense of her concern for Connery's character even as she is as quick to dismiss him at times with her overall manner. She offers the only real other bits of life and the film does work when she and Connery are directly together with their chemistry as Connery the straight man and Sternhagen's very sardonic work.)
Huppert - (I mean right in her wheelhouse in every sense, and delivers as expected as the sultry and cutting mistress.)
Morante & Aimee - (Both are more representative yet effective in these representations in their way. One is this sort of dream woman activist in Morante's work that is both seemingly everything the old man would want while also constantly challenging him all the same. She's compelling in crafting the drifting nature of the character without seeming overly random in these moments. Aimee is also good, if a bit more limited, in showing the seemingly unloving wife, although in that perspective she's terrific in creating the very real humanity of her concern that is essentially overlooked by our compromised "narrator".)
Smith - (Rather different work for Smith to be sure in that while there is the overall sense of the stiff upper lip that ends up not being her character at all. Smith manages to successfully explore this certain complexity where the character naturally has this seemingly content unknowing state, yet Smith naturally reveals more to this, and that is where she is her most striking. This in revealing this certain kind of cunning in constructing her world, and being more active in this construction than had been expected, and Smith peels away to reveal a bit of a different kind of emotion from her that is rather remarkable.)
Stephane Audran - (Another horrible wife character and effectively so in playing just the strict callousness and brandishing it always without even a sense of a second thought.)
Camp - (Her delivery is weird, but I enjoyed her strange bit. Helped out by Ritter's off-beat comedic timing, and Camp brings the right overly intense sexuality against his hesitations. It is a weird performance overall, but I think largely works in its broader tone.)
The Evil Dead Ladies - (Limited to an extent but both are quite effective in creating the intense state of fear to a most intense state of creepy psychosis...when it's them anyways.)
Louis: If it hasn’t been asked and answered yet, why was the cast of Hamilton removed from the actors’ ranking? I noticed Hamilton is still listed on your top 10 films of the year (apologies if it’s just a situation of not having gotten to it yet to take it off).
Michael: He excluded any Live Theatre performances from the rankings that also included Whitmore and Burton & Cronyn.
Louis I wanted to ask you, you weren't the biggest fan of the 2021 Best Picture Winner Coda, how would you compare it with Children Of A Lesser God with Marlee Matlin and the late great William Hurt?
Louis: When you get to 1989, Janda might well be your Lead Actress #1 for Interrogation.
Calvin:
I did like Out of the Blue, and also preferred to "Motorcycle Montage" the movie. I can understand why it isn't better known, but it is rather effective in its rather brutal exploration of basically this sort of small town toxic gossip, but also revelation of truth of all the poisonous secrets. This to the point we think we know a character is horrible but in this film they only get worse. In some ways I found it a little similar to Once Were Warriors, in showing this world kind of defined by tension on hostility within a family, although somehow even more brutal than that film already is.
Bryan:
Statham honestly seems ideal as the British Butch.
The firing people scene is good in illustrating kind of a brutal truth in that sometimes soft balling in an attempt to sympathize only makes things worse. Although side note, it also has somewhat why I don't love the film in that the editing just is a little slow going in the conversation and you get a little whiplash occasionally with Sorkin vs. Zaillian, as the final line feels overly cutesy Sorkin, where the film I think overall is bit more Zaillian.
The second scene is a good sequence and highlight within Pitt's performance in basically seeing the man ply his trade directly truly as the general manager.
8000's:
I have before, somewhere where I was talking about best Oscar speeches, which that most definitely is.
Luke:
Lange - 2(Not much to add other than I didn't find her particularly alluring nor particularly interesting in creating either sexual or violent tension with Nicholson.)
Shaggy:
6. Michael Mann - Thief
7. Herbert Ross - Pennies From Heaven
8. John Landis - An American Werewolf in London
9. George Miller - The Road Warrior
10. Sam Raimi - The Evil Dead
I'll admit a year where there isn't much different between my "best films" and "director", as most of the best films are also very distinct in terms of their directorial visions.
Perfectionist_ad: The Elephant Man. I liked when Nakadai was #1.
Luke:
I watched the first episode, which is as long as many features, and I quite liked it, but I don't think it is a series that would be appropriate to try to "run through" so to speak, but I will try to make my way through it over time.
Anonymous:
Well I greatly prefer Children of a Lesser God, for being whole lot less phony, even with the repeating of the signing (something clearly designed for stage that while I wouldn't preferred subtitles, it doesn't bother me that much), because it doesn't turn its main deaf character into a horny cartoon, even though the character is sexual, but that is used to explore her humanity not to make cheap jokes. Overall the film doesn't cheapen its ideas, it explores its tensions of our central character with her difficult life but also the possible joys in the central love story that I feel is very much earned. The only thing I'll say is I wouldn't have minded more of Hurt with his class scenes, however I think even as a limited subplot makes the kids more than caricatures of deafness. For me it earns its emotional stakes and frankly is far more progressive than the deaf cartoon family we got in CODA by presenting a genuinely complex deaf lead character. Although I would say it would be great in general if we could get more films of this ilk on the whole, as I'd love to see a film like CODA...but actually well written.
Happy to see Hoskins take this, because he’s probably my favorite performance of the 80’s.
Kind of unrelated, but does anyone know which US streaming services have the theatrical cuts of Amadeus and Apocalypse Now?
Louis do you buy the Tom Cruise talk for Best Actor for a nomination or even win?
Tahmeed:
Sadly I think the only way to get Amadeus is the very early physical releases (The first Dvd and VHS), something quite vexing given that cut is my all time favorite film.
I know Amazon used to have both cuts of Apocalypse Now, though I don't know if they still do currently.
Anonymous:
Not at the moment, I've seen the argument "that if they want to give a makeup they do", but the only comparison I really can see then is Don Ameche, as he's the only makeup win that would be that flagrant (though Cruise's performance is more substantial than that one but not that much more in terms of going outside his expected range). Other "makeup" wins are bit overstated, Color of Money, Newman was returning to an Oscar nominated famed role (with even a big Oscar scene that John Mahoney did better of course), which is not the case for Cruise, Pacino was playing blind and actually was in a very showy role, Coburn was completely against type, just for a few examples. I won't say it's impossible, but I seriously doubt it.
Louis what would be your top ten score pieces from 1981?
Who would be the rest of your cast for a British Pulp Fiction with Statham as Butch?
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on Diana Scarwid in Mommie Dearest?
May I also know your ratings and thoughts on Diane Keaton in Reds and Marsha Mason in Only When I Laugh? I can’t find your thoughts on them when I search it in google.
Louis: Thoughts on Lola, Coup de Torchon, The Boat Is Full, Dragonslayer and The Evil Dead.
Anonymous:
Well 2000's then as that would be appropriate for Statham's age.
Vincent Vega: Cary Elwes
Jules: Lennie James
Mia Wallace: Eva Green
Winston Wolfe: Charles Dance
Butch: Jason Statham
Pumpkin: Sam Rockwell
Honey Bunny: Emily Lloyd
Fabienne: Marion Cotillard
Marcellus: Idris Elba
Lance: Paddy Considine
Captain Koons: Alex Cox
Anonymous:
Scarwid - 2(Found her very one note of just this perpetual state of the troubled pout. I'm not going to go on too much about it though because really her part is terribly written and is just repetitious. She becomes dull like the entirety of the film, which again is why I say hard pass, because it isn't entertainingly bad, it's just very dull with Scarwid's work being emblematic of that.)
I have at some point but to reiterate. 4 for each. Keaton is working with a wooden block, I mean Warren Beatty but she is trying to bring something and her natural presence delivers something in that. Her best scenes honestly are the ones with Nicholson as I thought they have much better chemistry and found the two more convincing together. There's still a certain detachment I have to the work, like the film itself, but she's good. Mason is working with the typical Simon role, but I do always like Mason to some greater or lesser extent in these roles. This one somewhat lesser but I think she still makes a consistent go of the material.
Razor:
Lola - (The best shot Fassbinder film that I've seen, as its gorgeous in its use of color. Effective a very off-beat multiple character study as the pseudo remake of the Blue Angel, but certainly twisted in a different direction where it takes itself, which is a bit unexpected in the end as rather unusual look at wavering morality.)
Coup de Torchon - (A decent sense of place, and the scenes that are good are quite good. It meanders though a little too much and there are just sort of lulls between the substantial scenes. The performances are all good though and carry the plot through, which again gets just a little obscured due to its pace)
The Boat is Full - (A great story but not told great. The transitions between each moment isn't all that well realized in the editing and the writing. When it gets to the key moments though it is rather powerful, and also at times some satirical. Doesn't quite live up to its full potential, but it is good.)
Dragonslayer - (It's decidedly not great, but I had some fun with it, particularly with its attempts to create the old fashioned dragon and some of its darker elements are striking to a degree. There's some fun to be had here, plus you can see where George R.R. Martin got the names Tyrion and Valerian from.)
The Evil Dead - (Although you can tell its limits, one can also see what one can accomplish with just conviction, vision and ingenuity. What makes it work is just how creative Raimi is with his visual stylings, there isn't anything truly amazing about the plot or the characters, just its execution which is captivating, and quite unique as Raimi delivers an example where style can be over style, if the style is good enough.)
On the note of Cruise, I did finally watch "Top Gun: Maverick" tonight. As someone who doesn't love the original film, I still enjoyed it a great detail, since it captures the spirit of the first movie while improving on it in certain regards. I also thought Cruise was quite strong, and its honestly cool to see how much he's improved as an actor between 86' and now.
Louis: Would you say that Mark Prokschs' character in Better Call Saul was meant as a parallel to Walt White? As in, "this is how things would've gone for Walter if he was waaaaay more naive."
Background-wise, he's not far off from where Walt started in Breaking Bad.
(Also, I'm talking strictly on a conceptual level, not anything to do with Prokschs' performance).
Anonymous:
1. "Eric's Theme" - Chariots of Fire
2. "Titles" - Chariots of Fire
3. "The Raiders March" - Raiders of the Lost Ark
4. "Beach" - Thief
5. "Finale" - The Road Warrior
6. "Fireworks" - Blow Out
7. "The Miracle of the Ark" - Raiders of the Lost Ark
8. "Confrontation" - Thief
9. "Main Title" - Escape From New York
10. "The Kraken" - Clash of the Titans
Bryan:
Yes I could see that, though again I think that gets obscured from being drawn too broad both in terms of performance and writing.
Louis: Thoughts on the demo version of Hellfire? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J35C7A7TSlw
Louis: thoughts on Pêra winning for Best Actress at LAFCA and NSFCA? Because while I do agree with you that she is supporting, I can also understand why they awarded her in lead because she really does dominate the second half of the film (which I rather loved) entirely.
Anonymous:
I mean still a good song even as a demo, that is almost the song in terms of the elements. The final version of the chorus though is much better, both musically and in terms of concept. In this version it breaks the flow of the song a little bit. Conceptually though the "hellfire" is more like Frollo is attacking with it, where the final version Frollo is scared of it, ashamed of it, transfixed by it before only at the end "weaponizing" making the song in itself much more complex on a character level, showing a personal journey within the song itself.
Calvin:
I mean kudos to those two groups for the inspired choice, and to be fair I prefer Pêra over most (though not all) of the truly leading turns. Having said that I think that is a case of lead via strength of the performance (which she dominates the scenes she's in), like Hopkins in Lambs, although unlike him she is just isn't in the first half of the film, and she's not in every scene of the second half, and her scenes are always distinctly from Pixote's perspective. But I do get the wins in terms of the sheer quality of performance, and hers is the performance that stays with you.
Louis: Thoughts on the sound design of Blow Out and Zsigmond's work in Obsession.
I'm so glad you loved the performance Pêra, I really wish she was alive and show her all these compliments.
Pixote for me is the fourth best Brazilian film of all time; second only to: City of God, The Given Word and Central Station.
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