Friday, 23 February 2024

Alternate Best Actor 2023: Kōji Yakusho in Perfect Days

Kōji Yakusho did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite winning CANNES, for portraying Hirayama in Perfect Days.
 
Perfect Days follows a sanitation attendant through a week in his life. 

The last time I watched a film with Kōji Yakusho in it, it was the horrifying film Cure, so quite a shift in tones as I come into his work here as the attendant of the many public bathrooms of Tokyo. A performance that seems like all performance, while also being no performance, seemingly no great importance in what it is exploring, but also massive importance. And what I mean by all this, is the majority of this performance is just seeing a man going about his day of doing a job faithfully and consistently, listening to oldies (only when driving not while working), having lunch, taking the occasional picture of light coming through trees, visiting restaurants and occasionally some plant rescue. All of this is pretty just things that people do, given intimate detail by director Wim Wenders, with a focus being the whole notion of appreciating the day of this man. Yakusho's performance is just going through this action as Hirayama, who for much of the early scenes barely says a word, and we just see him living his life in the simplest sense of that idea. So what is the performance then? Well, it is kind of everything even the whole notion of it is also being absolutely nothing in terms of noticeable performance, just being as his, and as a performance. No more, no less. 

A person just existing may seem like an easy task to one who has never seen deadly dull performances of the ilk, so one must credit the specificity of the action, the editing and Yakusho's performance that the most mundane of moments are absolutely captivating here. Yakusho as the man about his job has a monk-like dedication as we see him go about every little segment of each bathroom with clear attention to detail and this focus. The man is here to do his job, and to do it right. There's ease in his action, even when dealing with less than ideal situations, like a man kicking over his caution sign without picking it up, Yakusho's performance shows Hirayama makes no particular note of it, he just keeps working. Even the nonsensical behavior of his far less focused co-worker, Yakusho shows a man not phased much by his less than stellar performance, rather just the conviction within his own work where everything is an exact task he will go about as a true professional. There's a minor slight disbelieving glance when his coworker is on his phone when doing the job, but even so he stays true and direct. Yakusho makes something wonderful about just a man doing his job, and in this case cleaning filth, that is wonderfully admirable as showing a man who is able to do it with a considerable ease in spirit. 

And perhaps we see the nature of the man most in the moments where he is not working, which big and small speak so loudly through honest poignancy realized in Yakusho's performance. Which is never cloying or forced in the idea of calm, it is just calm in a way that is mesmerizing in its way by how generous and pure it all seems. Take the first time someone ends the bathroom while he's working, which he quickly steps out for the minutes he needs to before proceeding again. Yakusho's performance as the man waiting isn't that of a man being impatient or annoyed by the moment; rather, you see him instead look up and take a moment in. And Yakusho's entirely wonderful in the way he makes this so genuine in the way Hirayama enjoys the little moments in life even as a quick respite between working, he still finds something worthwhile by just taking in the life around him. When we see him in lunch break, again we see the man just enjoying what he can, breathing in nature, taking in the sights he can see, and just finding the beauty of living in a way that feels so naturally earned through the delicate ease of Yakusho's performance. Although much of his reactions are specific, never do they feel as such as we just see him being him in a way that is entirely true to just being. 

When not working we see the man go about his day in a similar way that is built on routines, though this isn't about doldrums, rather it is about appreciation of these moments in fact. Take particularly when we see his hobby of saving interesting plants by picking them up and then planting them in his home garden. Yakusho makes the big statements so often not by saying anything at all, but also by his expression being equally quiet. He's not making big mime gestures, rather he's granting insight in such an easy way of a man who is very calm even in his expressiveness. But in this making the expressions he does have such a power to them, such as the generous pride we see in the slight smile as he goes about tending his garden clearly with a sense of love for this hobby. And there is the almost indescribable brilliance at times, of just little things he does, moving his fan from him to another, glancing at a rainstorm, enjoying his bath, getting a quick bit of excitement from a reaction to a baseball game all shouldn't exactly be captivating but they are. And again it isn't by Yakusho forcing us to enjoy his company, it just seems impossible to not enjoy it. What his performance is generous in spirit, in the way of inviting us in, though inviting us in the kind of purest empathy of showing a human trying just to be human. But always key to this, is basically showing that this is something worthwhile even in its seeming simplicity. 

After the first day what we examine between the routine mostly are what are the changes that he undergoes. Some changes are pretty minor, like a sincere bit of fun with playing a quick game of ongoing tic tac toe with an unknown user of the bathroom, but some are more substantial like when Hirayama ends up getting pulled into his coworkers fairly weak attempt to try woo a woman. And we get some great comedy as Hirayama's routine is disrupted by this and he's literally stuffed into the back of his own car as the younger pair pilot his car and his radio. As much as it is a sillier setup Yakusho's marvelous in the same way, but a new way. Same way in that this just the character so naturally, so remarkably, but what's new is what we see more of the man as he engages within the situation. He's funny as he makes sure they don't break his tapes as they use them, as well as just his general expression of quietly observing the situation, being awkward in a certain sense, while trying to be as natural as he can. Yakusho just being a joy to watch explore the scene, because we too are exploring with him in this interaction, and he's completely lovely in also bringing this ease of warmth when he admires the young woman's appreciation for his taste in music or even more so his extremely endearing head-shaking in just reflecting on this interaction. 

The button on that scene is the young woman bringing back one of the tapes she borrowed to hear it one more time, and Yakusho articulating the right sort of sense of connection and disconnection at the same time. Awkward but with understanding and like most scenes just watch what Yakusho is doing and there's so much life in there. Yakusho suggests life experience even when not saying it as the young woman ponders her own experiences and anguish it seems, with Yakusho being calm in his care and understanding. With the unexpected kiss on the cheek though being a tremendous scene by the perfectly acted moment by Yakusho of the genuine surprise of the older man who can take it as anything but something to be appreciated and a bit taken aback by. But tis the philosophy of this man it would seem who just is taking all as it is, and as much as he's a hard working man it seems life, even frequently alone, is east through the sense of appreciation for it that fills the scenes. Yakusho's performance is one of amplification in silence so often, that it is about as remarkable as it comes in the way he articulates the way of the man. Whether it be reading a book with interest, or just taking a moment to appreciate a live performance of a bar owner, with the deepest care that has such a tremendous power in his reaction because it speaks so strongly to the philosophy of the man. 

Of course who this man was before this point in his life, well we finally figured some of that out when his niece unexpectedly turns up on his doorstep after running away from home. Yakusho is outstanding in seeing here because he again couldn't be more genuine in granting an immediate sense of history as he looks in confusion at first but then slowly this loving realization of his family along with the years that have gone by in his delivery of her name. We now see the break in the routine and Yakusho is fantastic in being different, though still so natural, in showing the man with a bit more required self-awareness as he now knows he's being watched by his niece. Yakusho now does things with a bit more of a rush at times, a bit more of a show as he attempts to in a way now do his routine while presenting his routine to his niece. It isn't this painstaking difference, but subtle in Yakusho's performance that shows a break in his equilibrium. Not an unpleasant break mind you, but a break from it. Even though he has a moment where he's a bit more self-aware in the way he goes about his apartment now, we also see the poignant warmth as he goes about sharing his experience with his niece. Bringing the sense of an innate love even when needing to fumble about a bit such as ask what shop "spotify" is, bringing the natural humor of the man of his generation with an elegant purity to  Hirayama absolutely just being who he is as he is. 

We have such moments of tender beauty, such as when Hirayama shows off his old camera with that certain easy pride of a man who just loves to do things his way, while also being taken aback as she shows off a gift he once gave her to which he has no memory but attempts to put on the grace of an uncle about it. With their being the most pleasant of suggestions of this relationship as you see the connection of long ago, even as again she kind of questions his state, such as his tree picture taking and there is again something so special in the sincerity of Yakusho's smile at the very idea of the question. Yakusho's performance expresses itself in new ways even as consistent in his ways, as we see the man with specific familial connection, and it is fascinating. As despite the man always being alone, you never sense him being truly lonely, but what Yakusho presents in these scenes is that while the man isn't desperate for the connection the appreciation for such a connection isn't something he'd ever hide. With Yakusho so honestly creating the years of separation in the emphasis on the certain discovery, but so much the real love in the brightness of his smile every time she indicates she always wanted to see him again, even if he might not be able to fully decipher the reason immediately. 
 
We have probably one of the longest talking scenes up till this point in the film as Hirayama briefly comments on the relationship between himself and his sister. Yakusho is truly amazing in this scene as we get Hirayama's simple yet profound statements in the nature of there being different worlds for different people to explore, and he and his sister are in two different worlds in that respect. It isn't with heartache Yakusho speaks the words, nor pompous disregard, rather a concise understanding of where this man finds his happiness in his life. The next moment is even more tremendous of a moment, as modest as Yakusho's delivery is, as the niece asks about the next time they'll meet and Hirayama simply says "next time is next time" "today is today". Yakusho speaks with the utmost conviction albeit also so gently in his way, and really with such a sense of jubilation that it is hard not to be inspired to take his the idea he's projecting to heart. As you see in his voice, in his eyes, and his whole demeanor that this is fundamental to the man, and his belief in life, which we have seen throughout the film up until this point, we just didn't realize it. His scene with his sister perhaps speaks even more to the man, as she comes to pick up her daughter from him. It's an extraordinary scene because both actors immediately, you know these two are siblings, not the closest, but you do sense the ease of siblings, even as they exist in "different worlds" as he describes it. And you do see the different worlds, just as you see the history, as he smiles with such a brotherly smile as she brings him his favorite chocolate as a thank you, but you do see the separate world as she asks if he's really cleaning toilets with a bit of judgment, to where we see in Yakusho a man without a shame a man who is who he is and will be that. But in their final embrace, no more words, but the connection is fundamental, is truly deeply felt, and you do see understanding even if still separation. With one of the most emotional moments from Yakusho words, which speaks volumes from his reserve, as we do see a bit of sorrow as he breaks down briefly, where even in acceptance in his relationship Yakusho naturally reveals, acceptance doesn't mean sadness can't exist within that.

We continue another the break in the routine, in what perhaps speaks most strongly about the idea of appreciating the little things, can sometimes not even be enough, when you are overworked to the bone and not allowed to appreciate them. As Yakusho's co-worker quits with little notice leaving the man to do the most evil of punishments...the regrettable double shift. And within this sequence we see that his equilibrium being broken, by being asked to do more than he should in all rights have to do, shows the man still working diligently, but now instead of a profession he's truly just doing his job as an overworked job. He's moving around just to do things, just going from place to place, there's no calm, there's no focus in the job, but most of all we see that he can't take those seconds to appreciate life because he only has more and more work to do. Yakusho shows perhaps so simply this pain in this by showing us the natural joy the man finds in life being lost, and replaced with annoyed frustration at this state. Leaving his exasperated delivery of needing his bosses to find someone, as the man truly having enough when far too much is being asked of him. 

True to form, when he gets a new coworker the next day, peace can be found, and honestly it's hard not to feel the same immense relief that Hirayama feels. We have the final break that occurs by accident, as he stumbles into a bar at the wrong time, to find the owner and a man embracing, causing Hirayama to run off. Great acting by Yakusho in just completely embodying many of what many have also had, which is the "ooh didn't mean to step into a personal moment, I will try to erase myself from existence as quickly as possible". That's not the break actually, rather the break is when the man (Tomokazu Miura), misinterpreting Hirayama's quick exit, tracks down Hirayama to try to explain the situation, as the man thought Hirayama might've had some closer relationship with the bar owner, which he did not. What follows is just an extraordinary scene, and one of the very best of 2023. Yakusho begins in just being taken aback a little confused by the sudden appearance but welcoming enough as he can be, as the man asks for cigarette off of him, before inquiring more, where Yakusho grants Hirayama just the perfect look of a man who just is trying not to focus too much on his accidental embarrassment. The man reveals himself to be her ex-husband, which you see the tension of trying to be a distant stay in Yakusho, until the man reveals that he is dying of cancer. Yakusho gives one of the most beautiful portrayals of human empathy as his face falls in hearing this news, losing the awkwardness and switching to trying to now immediately find some kind of connection as he offers the man a beer and a bit of friendship. Yakusho being so wonderful in the way he just listens to the man, even if he has to gently explain he's not in any relationship with his ex wife, and exudes just the utmost generous warmth in his endearing smile towards the man. 
 
A smile that comes as the man ponders if shadows get darker when on top of each other, to which Yakusho invites the man over to check, and well Yakusho portrays it as though Hirayama has become a boy who found a friend to play with on a playground. Bringing this perfect combination of the weight of what he just heard but this energy of a man trying to bring a bit of happiness to another in such a desperate time. When both men start trying to jump on each other's shadows, the chemistry and the connection couldn't feel more honest or natural, and couldn't be more heartwarming. As both actors are just kids again in the moment, and in that you see the men be able to share in a simple joy of life, if for a minute, but what an essential minute that is. Yakusho's performance here is masterful in a way that you don't often see, but when you do it is a treasure to behold. As it is completely effortless, never do you feel performance or look at performance. It isn't a performance about accents or the most extreme moments of human condition. It is a performance about the human condition, capturing in a way few performances do, by making every little gesture, every reaction and every interaction something special and a pleasure to behold in itself. And this review simply wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention his final scene, of Hirayama starting his week again by driving to his job early in the morning while listening to his music and seemingly taking a moment for reflection on what it means to be human. Yakusho's expression of Hirayama in this moment in a way seems to express it all, as there is the bitter with the sweet, joy with the sorrow, intense happiness, with tragedy as Yakusho seems to go through almost every emotion between that gap of sadness and jubilation. With such a fundamental ease in his performance that it is just particularly stunning bit of acting, particularly at the very end where he in the same expression you see tremendous joy with tremendous sadness, which doesn't feel contrived, doesn't feel forced, rather it feels just like the truth of what any one of us can experience, expressed with the utmost perfection from a performer. Perfection because never does it feel like acting, it just is, is in a way that is this whole performance, that can bring every one of us into a singular life of an elderly Japanese man cleaning toilets and not make it remotely foreign but rather profoundly universal.

61 comments:

Robert MacFarlane said...

12 paragraphs. Shit, Murphy's got fierce competition.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

My favorite reviews of yours tend to be of performances that are doing so much in a way that is difficult (for myself) to articulate, so this was well worth the wait. Yakusho is simply magnificent here, I have zero hesitation in calling this an all-timer performance. Such honest, layered work in every second, that it transcends any notion of acting.

Louis: Your thoughts on Wenders' direction and the editing? I feel it's easy to take direction like this for granted, but every single choice (especially the use of music) is so essential to making it work.



Marcus said...

Top 10 Prediction:

1. Murphy (it will be very close though)
2. Yakusho
3. Scott
4. Sessa (he might be #3)
5. Yoo
6. Giamatti
7. Howerton
8. Melton
9. Kurokawa
10. Fassbender

Louis: What's your rating for Yakusho in Cure? I can't find him in the lead rankings for that year.

Anonymous said...

Marcus: He's a 4. He's listed as Koji Hashimoto.

Calvin Law said...

Without question my favourite film of the year, my favourite performance of the year and considering it to be verging on an all-timer for me, personally.

Top 4 seems like it's locked to be some variation of Murphy, Scott, Sessa and Yakusho; fifth spot will probably be Giamatti, though I could also see Yoo.

Anonymous said...

What’s everyone’s SAG predictions? Here’s mine:

Ensemble:Oppenheimer
Actor: Cillian Murphy
Actress: Emma Stone
Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr.
Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph
Stunts: John Wick Chapter 4

Jonathan Williams said...

Astounding work.

Shaggy Rogers said...

Anonymnous

Ensemble:Oppenheimer
Actor: Paul Giamatti
Actress: Emma Stone
Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr.
Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph
Stunts: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

PS: But I hope there are surprises in the lead up to Murphy and Gladstone winning. The same kind of surprise that was with Fraser and Yeoh last year.

Robert MacFarlane said...

So I saw All of Us Strangers yesterday. I agree with the praise for Scott, and I was extremely moved by Foy and Bell. But the Mescal portions kind of lost me, and the ending was a shit-the-bed moment that nearly (but not totally) ruined it. I'm surprised I haven't heard more grief about the climax, it felt so arbitrary and self-defeating.

Louis Morgan said...

Tahmeed:

Directing and editing in a film of this ilk actually indeed can be taken for granted but both are essential in making the film engaging rather than boring. Wenders's really is pretty light in his touch, accept for the relatively brief dream sequences that are very brief, rather his direction is specific in its careful realism, careful because not dull with the excuse being "it's realistic!". With the specific choices of the songs only being diegetic part of that, though utilized technically in a non-diegetic way by how they define the scenes and emotions of moments. What it does though instead is help to create us within the mindset of Hirayama rather than observing it. His overall choices though are subdued, but always feel right, whether it is crapping in the car for the "date", or the way he shoots the shadow play scene, Wenders let's them play out seemingly natural, though with a sense to still be captivating in his choices. Finding the right balance to being matter of fact and artistry that serves both ideas and doesn't force the style to constrict the story.

The editing is where in a way one figures out exactly how long do the mundane scenes play out for, which is actually perhaps one of the most extreme delicate balances in editing, since too much editing makes it seem suddenly a rushing montage, too little, can become just become boring. And what is remarkable is the way the edits always hit that "just right" medium consistently throughout the film, without ever seeming like we are staying too long or too little time in a moment, everything feels ideal which is what great editing often is.

Robert:

I did mention in my review of Scott that the twist is unnecessary (other than explaining why Harry is different from the first meeting to the subsequent meetings), and while it far from ruined the film for me, it is by far the weakest part of the film, where I think Haigh couldn't accept having a happy ending, which I do think was a mistake.

Ytrewq Wertyq said...

Louis: Thoughts on these two hypothetical casts?

1990s The Great McGinty directed by Mike Nichols:

Daniel McGinty: Bruce Willis
Catherine McGinty: Sherilyn Fenn
The Boss: Ken Davitian
Skeeters: David Huddleston


2010s The Onion Field directed by Michaël R. Roskam:

Karl Hettinger: Jimmi Simpson
Gregory Powell: Sebastian Stan
Jimmy Smith: Kingsley Ben-Adir
Ian Campbell: Adam Brody
Jailhouse lawyer: Shea Whigham

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Would you ever consider watching Yakusho's performance in Shall We Dance?. He's Calvin's Runner-Up for 1996 Best Actor.

Louis Morgan said...

Hearing the Cruise pairing with Inarritu (and his apparent desire to get back into challenging himself as an actor), is great news, and hope it takes both in a bold direction.

Anonymous:

Just peak Howerton as well, with the whole notion of his calming day setting up the perfect sort of you know this will be disaster but will enjoy every moment of that disaster as it proceeds. Howerton being hilarious throughout in playing the note of the intensity but with Dennis constantly trying to hold himself back while getting angry making it all the funnier. Particularly can't help but sympathize with excessive aps and aps over keys. And the ending is just pure gold on just about every front particularly Howerton's portrayal of the calm in his heart murder and then his satisfaction as he walks out in triumph.

Bryan:

The screenplay very much wears its Social Network influence on its sleeve in terms of its overall structure. And again for me the weird thing about screenplays is if it's honest with its intention whatever that intention it is trying to meet tends to work, but if it lies then it doesn't. And what I mean by that is the screenplay very much wants to be just a pressurized, simplified and more comedically inclined version of that story, while hitting the basic beats of the true story, and just run through it. And it totally works as such because the scenes work as such in this approach that is pure to its intention, enjoyable in its immediacy and comedy. It does have more there in terms of the contrast of kind of productivity and success, against you know actually enjoying what one does, and works in that exploration.

Tony:

Zwick seems like a poor messenger for that, and I really think neither should be taken for granted, as some of the very best films have great plot and great characters, it is not as though one must sacrifice the other.

Anonymous:

Think Howerton would be a great fit for Lanthimos, McDonagh, Tarantino and might not be my favorite director, but Schrader (as I think Howerton seems a great fit for playing one of his "men on an edge" at some point).

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

I mean if there's a great performance to be seen, I'm game at seeing it some point.

Ytrewq:

Interesting choices for McGinty, but with the right direction I can easily see Willis working, Fenn seems an easy fit and Huddleston as well.

Perhaps it is playing into type, but I personally would swap Stan and Simpson, as Simpson sleazing it up in that Woods style just seems hard to pass up, plus Stan has kind of John Savage vibe to him. Whigham's ideal in the Lloyd role.

Calvin Law said...

Louis: not really a 'retro casting' so to speak but what actors could you see/could you have seen thriving in a role like Hirayama? The obvious ones with a clear point of reference would be like, Frances McDormand, Harry Dean Stanton, Chishu Ryu; ones where there seems potential for that would be Stephen McKinley Henderson, Scott Glenn, James Hong, Hiroyuki Sanada (who in a world where Koji Yakusho does not exist, though I would hate to live in that world, I think could have been a great Hirayama in this version too).

Bryan L. said...

Louis: Your cast and decade of release for a Kurosawa version of Godzilla Minus One.

8000S said...

Aside from Lynch and Branagh, what do you think of Willem Dafoe (ironically, born in Wisconsin) as Robert La Follette? It'd be always interesting to see him in a role of a politician who did seem to be really a friend of the working man.

Tony Kim said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tony Kim said...

Any interest in checking out any of the Oscar-nominated short films (both live-action and animated) this year? Outside of Henry Sugar, that is.

Louis Morgan said...

Drive Away Dolls is nearly terrible. Perhaps unfair to say that it could've used someone saying "This doesn't quite work bro", but it sure feels that way. Most of the film is b-roll, reject, Coen Brother ripoff ideas. It all feels like uninspired retreads of better crime road trip films, particularly the awful comedic hit-men, the plot that feels especially uninspired, and various stops that just don't add up to much of anything. And while only set in the 90's, one could imagine it might've been written then as well, because of its treatment as lesbianism, despite ostensibly being sympathetic, boiling down to "isn't some of the stuff they do OUTRAGEOUS". That's not even getting to solo Coen's visual style here, that honestly feels like someone failing to recreate better Coen brothers movies.

Qualley - 2.5
Viswanathan - 3.5
Feldstein - 3
Pascal (is in the movie)
Domingo - 2.5
Camp - 3
Damon - 2
Slotnick - 2
Wilson - 2

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Thoughts on the cast. To be honest, I didn't have much hope for this one.

Louis Morgan said...

Calvin:

Support all your choices, I'd add Tom Waits (I mean always), Sam Neill, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Donald Sutherland and of course Robert Duvall.

I also think this could be the kind of role fashioned in the right way that perhaps Val Kilmer could still do.

Bryan:

1960's:

Kōichi: Tatsuya Nakadai
Noriko: Kyoko Kagawa
Shiro: Yūzō Kayama
Sōsaku: Tsutomu Yamazaki
Kenji: Takashi Shimura
Sumiko: Machiko Kyo
Akitsu: Toshiro Mifune (Expanded Role)

Tony:

Maybe I'll try to check out the rest of the live action/animated ones, if I have time.

Luke:

Qualley - (Reminded of Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hudsucker Proxy, of a talented actress going in the wrong direction via a far too overt caricature, which I thought she was just too much for far too long and more a ridiculous idea than a natural person who has a big personality. Eventually she eases up a little bit in her performance that I ended up disliking her a bit less, but it still added up to a misfire.)

Viswanathan - (The closest thing to a performance that works in that as much as she playing a more intense trait in her stiffness, she doesn't overplay it like Qualley does with the opposite trait. She balances it out with at least subtlety to make her character believable beyond that. And her slight journey into any sort of confidence is decent largely because of her reactions within it, even when the writing for her really isn't any better on the whole.)

Feldstein - (One note and over the top, but at least I found her slightly amusing in her over the topness.)

Domingo - (I guess this probably the tail end of getting cast in roles like this as there was no need for him to play this uninteresting part that goes nowhere and has no real purpose. He's fine but he just has nothing to work with.)

Camp - (I really just like Camp I guess, but found his Coen character moments were at least okayish even if forgettable in the overall pantheon.)

Damon - (Can we all stop casting him as the big secret character, though he's not really a secret, as that does not serve Damon well, who is better in not trying to make a big scene with his performances. So in turn he's not very good here, just kind of fumbling around for the right note and coming up with very little but a kind of disjointed performance.)

Slotnick & Wilson - (Neither were funny nor endearing in any way shape or form.)

Emi Grant said...

R.I.P. Buddy Duress

Matt Mustin said...

RIP Buddy Duress. Absolutely awful, entirely too young.

RatedRStar said...

RIP Buddy Duress

Mitchell Murray said...

Rest in peace, Buddy Duress. I concur with Matt - far too young.

Mitchell Murray said...

Also, I caught up with "Maestro" tonight.

Let me just say the pizza, chicken wings and crown royal I consumed probably helped my viewing experience. That said, I still found the movie to be an overly standard and boring film of it's sort, with some very ineffective choices in direction and storytelling.

Cooper - This is one of those performances (similar to Javier Bardem in "Being the Ricardos") where reading Louis' review prior sort of poisoned it's perception for me. I will be bold and say Cooper has a couple passable moments...when he's not talking. When he does talk or move or perform in any overt way, it's remarkable how false and calculated the performance feels. Also, his on-screen dynamic with Mulligan is very lacking.

Mulligan - I have no real complaints about her work; She does the best she can with her material. I just don't think she deserved to be nominated for it.

Bomer and Hawke - Not in substantial enough parts to really leave an impact

Silverman - ??

8000S said...

Louis: The Netflix show where Shannon will play James Garfield is supposedly going to be about his assassination.

Also, thoughts on that idea of Dafoe as La Follette?

Louis Morgan said...

8000's:

Well that's certainly an interesting choice in show, since that assassination isn't something covered very often, I wonder who will play Guiteau, and if they will include Robert Lincoln.

I mean Dafoe doesn't really look that much like him, then again Dafoe doesn't look that much like almost anyone because there is no one who looks like Dafoe. But I'm always up for Dafoe in anything, so sure.

Tony Kim said...

RIP Buddy Duress

Tony Kim said...

Fuck it, I'm just gonna say it: I wouldn't be too surprised if American Fiction wins SAG Ensemble tonight. The BAFTA win for Adapted Screenplay against bigger contenders makes it something people should be prepared for. It's not my main prediction, but watch out.

Anonymous said...

American Fiction won Adapted for the same reason Fuck won the literature prize in American Fiction.

Emi Grant said...

Tony: I'll be shocked if it translates towards the acting branch. If anything, I think it makes it the front-runner for Adapted Screenplay.

Matt Mustin said...

It's not the frontrunner for anything, I don't think.

8000S said...

Louis: This scene from Shadow of the Vampire bugs me a little (not Dafoe), particularly one line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohgN4PexEv4

The line "How dare you destroy my photographer, you idiot". It's a rather awkwardly written line. I mean, why not say "kill" instead of "destroy"?

Emi Grant said...

Murphy won. The race is over.

Louis Morgan said...

All is as it should be.

Tony Kim said...

Emi and Matt: I could of course be wrong, I'm not Nostradamus.

Louis Morgan said...

Gladstone wins, I think we have our four acting winners based on last year.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

I'm 100% sure it's Gladstone's to lose now, and Murphy winning is the very best-case scenario.

Louis Morgan said...

Oppenheimer making an upset against even less likely than it already was, good times.

Matt Mustin said...

Tahmeed: Stone can still very easily win the Oscar, it's really close.

J96 said...

I knew Gladstone wasn’t out of the race! I love how happy Emma was for her! Best Actress could be either of them at this point. Cillian is now in the lead, but I wouldn’t count our Paul. It’s not outside of Academy norms to give an epic film BP and then give the lead award to someone else. “Lawrence of Arabia” O’Toole looses to Gregory Peck. “Gone Woth the Wind” Gable loses to Robert Donat. “Casablanca” Bogart loses to Paul Lukas. Others whose actor lost to someone whose film wasn’t nominated, “Godfather Part 2” “Dances with Wolves”. The list goes on. RDJ and DJR are locked.

Marcus said...

J96: If Giamatti was going to win the Oscar, he would have won tonight.

Tony Kim said...

Matt: Why? So far, Stone's only won industry awards in categories where Gladstone wasn't nominated.

Matt Mustin said...

Tony: I still think it's a close race, because they obviously loved Poor Things and she would be the way to award it. But Gladstone is a good bet.

J96: Yeah, Giamatti needed this. This is the one place I saw him maybe winning and he didn't.

Louis Morgan said...

J96:

Murphy's as close to locked as he can be, he's less like the examples you gave (many who would've also lost SAG if it had existed at that time) and more like the many lead actors of best picture winners, that took home both awards.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: With EEAAO last year and Oppenheimer's track record so far, do you think the industry is more prone to sweeps now than before, or if it is a case of two gargantuan films in consecutive years?

Anonymous said...

Louis, your ranking of the past four Best Actor SAG winners?

Louis Morgan said...

Tahmeed:

No clearly it is just the awards season gods, deigned such good fortune to Calvin last year with EEAO's run, they decided to give it to me this year with Oppenheimer's, hence the extreme level of success for those two films.

Seriously though, yes, I think it's just a perfect storm of success with both hitting just the right sweet spot, of appealing to almost all types of voters and being boxoffice hits (EEAO was smaller technically but huge for its studio/budget), and also I think the fact that it's difficult to name the runner-up succinctly also helps.

Louis Morgan said...

Anonymous:

1. Murphy
2. Boseman
3. Fraser
4. Smith

Anonymous said...

If (or ig when) he wins, would you say Cillian Murphy is one of the most subtle Best Actor winners ever?

Louis Morgan said...

Anonymous:

Yes, though I'd say he joins rather naturally the previous winners of Paul Scofield and Ben Kingsley in fairly subdued depictions of historical figures, though with a few pivotal more overtly expressive moments.

Tony Kim said...

Your thoughts on Barbie's "Dance the Night" and The Hunger Games' "Can't Catch Me Now"? Surprised people haven't asked you about those already.

Also, what do you think of Dua Lipa and Olivia Rodrigo's music outside of those songs?

RatedRStar said...

Louis: What do you suppose was perhaps seen as the equivalent of SAG back in the old days? New York maybe?

Antony said...

What are u guys top 10 Lead Actor performances of the decade so far?

Luke Higham said...

I'd rather wait until half-way through the decade.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Antony:

1. Anthony Hopkins - The Father
2. Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer
3. Koji Yakusho - Perfect Days
4. Colin Farrell - The Banshees of Inisherin
5. Bradley Cooper - Nightmare Alley
6. Park Hae-il - Decision to Leave
7. Benedict Cumberbatch - The Power of the Dog
8. Paul Mescal - Aftersun
9. Dominic Sessa - The Holdovers
10. Mads Mikkelsen - Another Round

Calvin Law said...

Antony:

1. Koji Yakusho - Perfect Days
2. Hidetoshi Nishijima - Drive My Car
3. Benedict Cumberbatch - The Power of the Dog
4. Riz Ahmed - Sound of Metal
5. Teo Yoo - Past Lives
6. Franz Rogowski - Great Freedom
7. Park Hae-il - Decision to Leave
8. Steven Yeun - Minari
9. Daniel Kaluuya - Nope
10. Josh O’Connor - La Chimera

Robert MacFarlane said...

Antony:

1. Anthony Hopkins in The Father
2. Delroy Lindo in Da 5 Bloods
3. Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer
4. Bradley Cooper in Nightmare Alley
5. Paul Mescal in Aftersun
6. Mads Mikkelsen in Another Round
7. Hidetoshi Nishijima in Drive My Car
8. Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog
9. Park Hae-il in Decision to Leave
10. Bill Nighy in Living

Louis Morgan said...

Tony:

Dance The Night is just a fun song that is the rare Oscar related song that one could easily dance to and kind of doesn't really hide its intentions which is part of its appeal. As the instrumentation is straightforward, though with some nice touches like the "fairy dust" with just the consistent beat, and then the straightforward but very energetic lyrics blending with the melody.

Can't Catch Me Now, I am less loving in the verses where Rodrigo's delivery is a little too whispery with perhaps it musically being a little too simple with the guitar backing not adding up too much for me. I do like the chorus though that builds nicely with the back up voices, that capture this relevant haunting quality that is a nice progression within the song.

Unsure, because I have not consciously listened to any of their music.

RatedStar:

Well technically nothing since there were no overlapping precursors, but I would say something like New York had more of an impact as it with the Globes were some of the few things voters could go off of.