Both Succession and Barry were...a lot, to say the least. Culkin was great in showing the spiraling, loved all of Snook and Macfadyen's scenes, but have to say Strong was MVP for basically that entire third act. Rasche and Smith-Cameron were also brilliant in their confrontation scenes.
As for Barry, Carrigan MVP. Amazing direction by Hader as expected, can't wait for whenever he makes his feature film directorial debut. There were a few things I still need time to think over, but what's great is really great.
So, uh... Barry. Huh. Interesting to see the season's most comedic episode be followed by its (so far) most dramatic. Really don't know how to feel about that ending. In fairness to Hader and co., I don't know where they're heading with it, but my honest gut reaction (after the initial shock) was thinking it was a bit of a cheat. I half-admire the ballsiness of it, with a dose of skepticism about how it'll work out in the long term. Best thing I can say for it is that I have no idea where the show goes from here.
Carrigan and Irby were the MVPs - the latter in particular has been underrated for some time now. Goldberg not far behind them.
Loved the Succession episode, despite being a bit taken aback by its initial approach. Strong was manically amazing, but everyone was great of course. Less sure about the Barry episode overall though will agree with Carrigan being spectacular (his best work on the show to date I think).
Will make my predictions when I've seen Bates, Ganjiro and McKern, but Melvin is my win and Stephens my runner-up.
Loved Succession again, as we got to see each sibling spiral in a different way, and great work in different ways from Strong, Culkin and Snook. And though he's gotten a bit less to do in the last few episodes loved all of Macfadyen's moments as well. If I had to lean towards a favorite, I'd say Strong.
Really liked Barry as well, particularly for how emotional the moments with Carrigan (MVP) and Irby were after that whole relationship really has been played for laughs up until this point. Loved the Sally stuff with Sian Heder (playing the part of Chloe Zhao), and don't think the ending was a cheat at all at this point, one because we don't know where it is going yet but two also because we see that Sally is at her own strange boxed in extreme at the moment.
Lenya - 3.5(She is the best part of the film as she manages to find at least some wry humor in depicting the character's rather blithe way of orchestrating her manipulations. She brings at least some minor entertainment just in this manner, and to be fair there isn't all that much variation in what she is doing, however, what she is doing is the one good thing about the film.)
Merkel - 2.5(Frankly she was better in The Parent Trap, and though she's not bad here, her nomination is rather baffling with just how little she does in the film. She really is just kind of there in a given scene, she's not terrible, nor is she anything more than fine. She exists for her few minutes of screentime and neither stands out poorly or well. She just is there and is a classic random bonus nomination brought in by Page's nomination for whatever reason.)
Anonymous:
The Phil Spector scene seems from a different film and I'd say was properly deleted. Dano is great in the family scene, but something about the construction of the scene doesn't quite work. Seems oddly disjointed outside of Dano's performance. With different editing, I think it could've worked. The studio scene is fairly long, and while Camp and everyone else is good in the scene, I think the other scenes depicting his oppressive abuse were on the whole more effective so it makes sense why it was removed. Luke:
Chatterjee - 4(Kind of in line with what I've seen in his typical work for Ray which depends on presence and charm at the center point. And that is certainly the case here. He gives the right sort of hapless yet endearing qualities that manages to make his character's wayward and somewhat inconsistent actions seem natural while maintaining the right level of likability.)
Brody - (I mean basically the same "jerk" performance that he gave in Grand Budapest and in See How They Run. But hey it's fine, Brody makes for a pretty good jerk, and I'll say I enjoyed him doing essentially that routine again here.)
Howery - (As proven by Judas and the Black Messiah he can go darker than this, as this is a pretty light villain within the series of villains. His best moments honestly are early on in his various reactions to seeing how his nefarious ways are going to be found out if his brother proceeds as a vegetarian. And then on the more comedically inclined villains go he brings not really menace but rather the right sense of haplessness of trying and rather failing to seem the innocent in the matter.)
Sevigny - (An episode I enjoyed I think for the general bits in and around the crime in this instance, and I certainly enjoyed the poetic justice element of the ending. Sevigny I think is perfectly fine as the past prime musician who just exudes cynical disregard at all times. I don't think she's the most dynamic of the villains, but her performance certainly fulfills the needs of the role.)
Barkin & Meadows - (The most overtly comedic of the villains in any episode and I can't help but feel Barkin is playing the part of Jessica Lange playing the part, which works. They're both ridiculous in playing each aspect of the part and are less legitimate threats of any kind, more so buffoons. Each is enjoyable in this though in their over-the-topness, from Meadows being so aggressively frustrated and hostile, to Barkin being the over-the-top diva at every moment of it. Even the twist antics are over the top in that sense, each ridiculous but as intended.)
Nelson - (Along with Hong Chau, is probably among the least exploited in terms of talent to what is required of them in the series. Nelson certainly does what he can in bringing the right stubbornness combined with genuine emotional regret and concern, however, he's just not really the focal point so only gets to bring that to a fairly cursory level.)
Melton - (I wasn't too surprised to see that he was a CW actor, however, I will say that sort of thinness of performance, the flatness, worked in a way to reveal this psychopathy really beneath it all and this detachment from everything he is doing. Maybe not intentional, but either way it worked for me.)
I would retract my "cheat" comment about Barry in retrospect. That was a knee-jerk reaction borne out of shock to just how far they were willing to go. My official stance is now to reserve judgement until we have a clearer idea of where we're heading with it. Actually, I have a bigger problem with the Gene plotline in that its culmination is connected to a relationship this season hadn't explored in-depth at all so far.
Louis, do you have any alternate roles for Bill Hader?
Louis: Regarding that idea of Leto emulating Cagney in Suicide Squad, I don't buy it either.
Speaking of Cagney, he apparently said that he was so pissed by Horst Buchholz due to his unprofessionalism on the set of One, Two, Three that he wanted to "knock him on his ass".
Luke: Like Personally, I would exchange the ratings for both of his Oscar nominations, although I don't mind his La La Land performance being a 5, but it's not better than Half Nelson. Also, what is your opinion on his Lars And The Real Girl performance???
Clift winning is awesome, but I personally have Nakadai and Schell above him. I would be in favor of Schell winning here, considering Nakadai already got the lead win.
Probably, also having seen a few of Buchholz's performances, I could see how such over-the-top acting, without the talent to back it up, would be very tiring to act with for someone like Cagney.
Perfectionist:
Yes.
8000's:
Burn After Reading 1960's directed by Billy Wilder (the only acceptable choice)
Harry Pfarrer: William Holden Linda Litzke: Shelley Winters Chad Feldheimer: Tony Curtis Osbourne Cox: Richard Widmark Katie Cox: Margaret Leighton Ted: Eddie Albert CIA office Smith: Philip Ober CIA Officer: Walter Matthau
41 comments:
1. Stephens
2. Melvin
3. Bates
4. Ganjirō II
5. McKern
Melvin and Bates are both fantastic.
1. Stephens
2. Bates
3. Melvin
4. Ganjirō II
5. McKern
1. Stephens
2. Bates
3. Melvin
4. Ganiro II
5. McKern
Although Stephens, Melvin and Bates are doing very well, let's hope Clift keeps his win because it's the best supporting performance in a scene.
1. Melvin
2. Stephens
3. Bates
4. Ganjirō II
5. McKern
1. Melvin
2. Stephens
3. Bates
4. Ganjirō II
5. McKern
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on Lotte Lenya in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and Una Merkel in Summer and Smoke?
1. Stephens
2. Bates
3. Ganjiro II
4. Melvin
5. McKern
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on Soumitra Chatterjee in Teen Kanya.
Remaining films to watch
Mother Joan Of The Angels
Barabbas
King Of Kings
A Woman Is A Woman
A Wife Confesses
The Long Absence
1.Stephens
2.Melvin
3.Bates
4.Ganjiro II
5.McKern
1.Stephens
2.Melvin
3.Bates
4.Ganjiro II
5.McKern
Luke, what are your rating predictions.
1. Stephens
2. Bates
3. Melvin
4. Ganjirō II
5. McKern
Melvin - 5
Bates - 4.5/5
Ganjirō II - 4.5
McKern - 4
1. Stephens
2. Melvin
3. Bates
4. Ganjirō II
5. McKern
Louis: Your thoughts on these deleted scenes https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LqEpvVskykM
Both Succession and Barry were...a lot, to say the least. Culkin was great in showing the spiraling, loved all of Snook and Macfadyen's scenes, but have to say Strong was MVP for basically that entire third act. Rasche and Smith-Cameron were also brilliant in their confrontation scenes.
As for Barry, Carrigan MVP. Amazing direction by Hader as expected, can't wait for whenever he makes his feature film directorial debut. There were a few things I still need time to think over, but what's great is really great.
So, uh... Barry. Huh. Interesting to see the season's most comedic episode be followed by its (so far) most dramatic. Really don't know how to feel about that ending. In fairness to Hader and co., I don't know where they're heading with it, but my honest gut reaction (after the initial shock) was thinking it was a bit of a cheat. I half-admire the ballsiness of it, with a dose of skepticism about how it'll work out in the long term. Best thing I can say for it is that I have no idea where the show goes from here.
Carrigan and Irby were the MVPs - the latter in particular has been underrated for some time now. Goldberg not far behind them.
Loved the Succession episode, despite being a bit taken aback by its initial approach. Strong was manically amazing, but everyone was great of course. Less sure about the Barry episode overall though will agree with Carrigan being spectacular (his best work on the show to date I think).
Will make my predictions when I've seen Bates, Ganjiro and McKern, but Melvin is my win and Stephens my runner-up.
Louis: Thoughts on Adrien Brody, Lil Rel Howery, Chloe Sevigny, Ellen Barkin, Tim Meadows, Tim Blake Nelson & Charles Melton in Poker Face?
1. Stephens
2. Melvin
3. Bates
4. Ganjiro II
5. McKern
Louis: Now that you've made your Top 5 Score, say which movies are #6 and #7 of 1961?
1. Stephens
2. Bates
3. Melvin
4. Ganjiro II
5. McKern
Loved Succession again, as we got to see each sibling spiral in a different way, and great work in different ways from Strong, Culkin and Snook. And though he's gotten a bit less to do in the last few episodes loved all of Macfadyen's moments as well. If I had to lean towards a favorite, I'd say Strong.
Really liked Barry as well, particularly for how emotional the moments with Carrigan (MVP) and Irby were after that whole relationship really has been played for laughs up until this point. Loved the Sally stuff with Sian Heder (playing the part of Chloe Zhao), and don't think the ending was a cheat at all at this point, one because we don't know where it is going yet but two also because we see that Sally is at her own strange boxed in extreme at the moment.
Anonymous:
Lenya - 3.5(She is the best part of the film as she manages to find at least some wry humor in depicting the character's rather blithe way of orchestrating her manipulations. She brings at least some minor entertainment just in this manner, and to be fair there isn't all that much variation in what she is doing, however, what she is doing is the one good thing about the film.)
Merkel - 2.5(Frankly she was better in The Parent Trap, and though she's not bad here, her nomination is rather baffling with just how little she does in the film. She really is just kind of there in a given scene, she's not terrible, nor is she anything more than fine. She exists for her few minutes of screentime and neither stands out poorly or well. She just is there and is a classic random bonus nomination brought in by Page's nomination for whatever reason.)
Anonymous:
The Phil Spector scene seems from a different film and I'd say was properly deleted. Dano is great in the family scene, but something about the construction of the scene doesn't quite work. Seems oddly disjointed outside of Dano's performance. With different editing, I think it could've worked. The studio scene is fairly long, and while Camp and everyone else is good in the scene, I think the other scenes depicting his oppressive abuse were on the whole more effective so it makes sense why it was removed.
Luke:
Chatterjee - 4(Kind of in line with what I've seen in his typical work for Ray which depends on presence and charm at the center point. And that is certainly the case here. He gives the right sort of hapless yet endearing qualities that manages to make his character's wayward and somewhat inconsistent actions seem natural while maintaining the right level of likability.)
Anonymous:
Brody - (I mean basically the same "jerk" performance that he gave in Grand Budapest and in See How They Run. But hey it's fine, Brody makes for a pretty good jerk, and I'll say I enjoyed him doing essentially that routine again here.)
Howery - (As proven by Judas and the Black Messiah he can go darker than this, as this is a pretty light villain within the series of villains. His best moments honestly are early on in his various reactions to seeing how his nefarious ways are going to be found out if his brother proceeds as a vegetarian. And then on the more comedically inclined villains go he brings not really menace but rather the right sense of haplessness of trying and rather failing to seem the innocent in the matter.)
Sevigny - (An episode I enjoyed I think for the general bits in and around the crime in this instance, and I certainly enjoyed the poetic justice element of the ending. Sevigny I think is perfectly fine as the past prime musician who just exudes cynical disregard at all times. I don't think she's the most dynamic of the villains, but her performance certainly fulfills the needs of the role.)
Barkin & Meadows - (The most overtly comedic of the villains in any episode and I can't help but feel Barkin is playing the part of Jessica Lange playing the part, which works. They're both ridiculous in playing each aspect of the part and are less legitimate threats of any kind, more so buffoons. Each is enjoyable in this though in their over-the-topness, from Meadows being so aggressively frustrated and hostile, to Barkin being the over-the-top diva at every moment of it. Even the twist antics are over the top in that sense, each ridiculous but as intended.)
Nelson - (Along with Hong Chau, is probably among the least exploited in terms of talent to what is required of them in the series. Nelson certainly does what he can in bringing the right stubbornness combined with genuine emotional regret and concern, however, he's just not really the focal point so only gets to bring that to a fairly cursory level.)
Melton - (I wasn't too surprised to see that he was a CW actor, however, I will say that sort of thinness of performance, the flatness, worked in a way to reveal this psychopathy really beneath it all and this detachment from everything he is doing. Maybe not intentional, but either way it worked for me.)
Brazinterma:
6. Splendor in the Grass
7. Breakfast At Tiffany's (I guess, really Mancini won two Oscars for Moon River.)
I would retract my "cheat" comment about Barry in retrospect. That was a knee-jerk reaction borne out of shock to just how far they were willing to go. My official stance is now to reserve judgement until we have a clearer idea of where we're heading with it. Actually, I have a bigger problem with the Gene plotline in that its culmination is connected to a relationship this season hadn't explored in-depth at all so far.
Louis, do you have any alternate roles for Bill Hader?
Louis: Regarding that idea of Leto emulating Cagney in Suicide Squad, I don't buy it either.
Speaking of Cagney, he apparently said that he was so pissed by Horst Buchholz due to his unprofessionalism on the set of One, Two, Three that he wanted to "knock him on his ass".
I guess he would have hated Leto too.
Louis: Also, your cast and director for a 60's Burn After Reading?
Regarding Succession, I would just like to shoutout the moment where Greg channels Logan with the sound editor. That is all.
Louis: Is there a possibility of Gosling going up for Half Nelson when you revisit 2006??? That's absolutely perfection of a performance imo.
Perfectionist: At bare minimum, he will go up to a 4.5. I'm hoping for a 5 as well.
Luke: Like Personally, I would exchange the ratings for both of his Oscar nominations, although I don't mind his La La Land performance being a 5, but it's not better than Half Nelson. Also, what is your opinion on his Lars And The Real Girl performance???
I haven't yet seen it.
Luke: What is your prediction of the Supporting Actor rank?
Louis: Rating and thoughts on Wakao in A Wife Confesses.
1. Clift
2. Nakadai
3. Melvin
4. Schell
5. Gleason
6. Stephens
7. Scott
8. Bates
9. Malden
10. Ganjirō II
Clift winning is awesome, but I personally have Nakadai and Schell above him. I would be in favor of Schell winning here, considering Nakadai already got the lead win.
8000's:
Probably, also having seen a few of Buchholz's performances, I could see how such over-the-top acting, without the talent to back it up, would be very tiring to act with for someone like Cagney.
Perfectionist:
Yes.
8000's:
Burn After Reading 1960's directed by Billy Wilder (the only acceptable choice)
Harry Pfarrer: William Holden
Linda Litzke: Shelley Winters
Chad Feldheimer: Tony Curtis
Osbourne Cox: Richard Widmark
Katie Cox: Margaret Leighton
Ted: Eddie Albert
CIA office Smith: Philip Ober
CIA Officer: Walter Matthau
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