Best Scene: Arriving at the wedding.
9. Al Pacino in The Godfather Part III - Pacino has some good scenes throughout unfortunately he's saddled with a script that doesn't do Michael justice for the most part.
Best Scene: Confession.
8. Robin Williams in Awakenings - Williams gives a modest and moving portrayal of a caring doctor that better sells the sentiment of the film than anyone else.
Best Scene: Discovering the first awakening.
7. Danny Glover in To Sleep With Anger - Glover gives an effectively unnerving portrayal of a man who seems to only speak in poison.
Best Scene: Conversation about his past.
6. John Lone in Shadow of China - Lone consistently elevates his inconsistent material, convincingly playing both the cold businessman his character is and the caring revolutionary he used to be.
Best Scene: Reunion.
5. Wojciech Pszoniak in Korczak - Pszoniak offers a moving portrayal of a man who adamantly gives warmth and decency in the most cold and indecent of times.
Best Scene: Long march.
4. Tim Robbins in Jacob's Ladder - Robbins manages to balance the tones of his film effectively by portraying both a sense of the real horror and a genuine emotional pathos.
Best Scene: The ladder.
3. Nicolas Cage in Wild At Heart - Cage wonderfully goes out on a limb that quite effectively matches the eccentricity of his director.
Best Scene: Injured motorist.
2. Jason Patric - After Dark, My Sweet - Patric gives a great performance that manages to so convincingly portray the truly damaged psyche of his character in so many different compelling ways.
Best Scene: Ending.
1. Gabriel Byrne in Miller's Crossing - Good prediction Brazinterma, Robert & Shaggy, Byrne gives a brilliant portrayal of every different side of his Tom, the real, the fake, and the often in-between.
Best Scene: "What heart?"
Next: 1990 Supporting
59 comments:
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on the cast of Trust (1991).
Ratings and thoughts on the rest of the lead performances.
Your Female Top 25s with ratings and other 4+ honourable mentions.
John Goodman - Arachnophobia
Roberts Blossom - Home Alone
and write-ups for Dafoe, Farnsworth and Polito
Brad Dourif in The Exorcist 3!
Louis: Please review George C. Scott as well for Exorcist III if he's a 4.5 minimum.
Honestly Jason Miller is damn impressive in Exorcist III as well.
You may want to double-check your spelling of Tie Me Up Tie Me Down.
If you don't mind, could you rewatch Reversal of Fortune and/or Mr. & Mrs. Bridge.
Hello Louis!
Tell me from the year 1990 which are your Top 10 with ranking of:
- Song
- Score
- Poster
- Editing
- Screenplays (adapted and original)
- Cast
Luke, where will The Odyssey rank in Louis's Top Ten for the year
Anonymous: 5th or 6th.
Louis: Your thoughts on Abbas Kiarostami's direction of Close-Up?
Luke: Any specific films you're predicting will be ranked ahead of The Odyssey, or are you just guessing based on his level of enthusiasm for it?
Daniel: Your top 5 Taskmaster tasks that went surprisingly well for the individual?
Jon Polito in Miller's Crossing
Thomas F. Wilson in Back to the Future III
Harris: For now, the latter. Usually 3 or 4 films get 5 stars.
I hope Wildwood is one of them.
Harris: Might have to skip that question since I really can't think of any off the top of my head, its always the ones that go wrong that I think make the show special lol.
Daniel: Not a problem. BTW, what did you think of Jason Mantzoukas on the show, if you saw series 19?
Harris: I did see it and I loved series 19, one of the best, I initially was worried about Mantzoukas casting because I had heard on this very blog some very unhappy reactions to some of his acting choices, describing it as over the top and hammy.
I think it helps that Taskmaster similar to What's My Line can suddenly turn bad screen performers into entertaining ones once they relax. Mantzoukas does go in loud but actually does settle in nicely and has great chemistry with everyone else, especially Stevie Martin, his exasperated reactions actually work here because they feel far more genuine and earned rather than an acting trick.
Very pleasantly surprised to see Danny Elfman get his win at last.
Happy that John Williams got another win albeit for Song.
And I've noticed that Milena Canonero is now your most awarded Costume Designer.
Damn, Taika Waititi really has fallen from grace lately.
I was happy to see Reiner among Louis’s favorites. It’s surreal to imagine him ranking above Lynch and Coen.
I was also surprised by the wins for Dick Tracy. I never imagined Louis would award a win to that over-the-top makeup.
Luke: What's he done now lol
Klara and the Sun.
You Can See Everything is an absolutely captivating documentary by Nathan Fielder/Lance Oppenheim. Where Fielder essentially applies the drunken fist method of interviewing for the first half of the film, where his ability to ask questions no one typically would ask manages to be incisive while also hilarious. A particularly necessary approach perhaps in dealing with one of the most slippery of fishes and her seemingly equally demented husband, whose level of mutual madness only seems to grow the deeper Fielder penetrates. The second half I won’t spoil here, but just say that I loved it as well though I perhaps wasn’t as surprised by it as some reviews suggest one should be.
Your rating for [REDACTED], the one I've seen some people predict a S. Actress push for?
Harris:
I will say it's like Pacino in Looking For Richard, but probably with less actual acting, and here it also includes outtake acting so to speak. So personally I'll have to think about if I'll even give a rating, given a lot of the impact isn't from the acting from that person but rather that person being themselves. Though the acting is very good, it just doesn't seem wholly fair. Frankly the less talked about actor would be easier to quantify for me because they're there purely just to act.
Louis: Your thoughts on the cast of The Social Reckoning?
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on the cast of Animals.
Luke:
Donovan & Shelly - 4(They both convincingly bring real emotion into the contrived style of the film. I really don’t feel like saying more about or thinking about the film more than that. As I had forgotten I even watched it before this, and am good at returning to that state.)
Gere - 4.5(Where I thought he came off far too slimy in Pretty Woman for the intentions of that film I thought Gere thrived in owning that slimeness so wonderfully here. Gere just delivers in very much presenting the immorality of the character as something that he has no hesitation for and no scruples. Rather Gere presents this quality of a man empowering himself through his way of manipulating all, including going after the wives of so many men as just another power play. Gere smarms it up beautifully where he doesn’t have a traditional charm but rather just the sense of the charisma of someone who doesn't give a damn about even the slightest bit of decency. I only wish the film gave him even more interesting places to push but as just the vile fiend, Gere runs with it in a way that is wholly convincing and captivating.)
Banderas - 4.5(Manages to find an effective balance between his typical overpowering charm with a genuinely demented streak. I like that Banderas does not sugarcoat the ladder or present it as anything but it is in that sense. He makes his character’s mental state truly something that is ready to unsettle in just the tension he brings in every moment with the right nagging instability in everything that he does. While showing the potential of the man only in the sense that he can be insane and charming but is still insane, just sometimes the charm is more dominant than the insanity.)
Wen - 4(It is a performance that is unusual for a lead because the whole point is the character is supposed to be detached from everything around him and just in a state of distress. Wen is quite effective in playing that state of constant anxiety and emotional frustration in a particularly subdued way fitting for someone who frankly can’t act out because it seems like no one would care.)
Volonte - 4(Largely just asking him to be the calm authority who speaks with a definite yet understated conviction. Volonte certainly has the presence and delivers effectively on that. Also however with just enough bits of emotional nuance to show the quiet personal investment the man does have in it beyond the general idea of what he sees as justice.)
Glen - 4(While you have to kind of “catch him” in a way given the film’s constant editing. Glen is good in portraying the random states we do get of the man, random due again due to the editing. Glen though is consistent in being able to create the separate states of the slightly more quietly violent man we see before prison then the man basically raging against everything while in prison. Glen brings an effective mania even if I wish the film would’ve maybe had a bit less mania itself.)
Murray - 4(Very much in sardonic Murray mode and effectively so. He really weaponizes it quite well here fittingly in the opening sequence especially. This isn’t one where it challenges that mode of his in the way say Groundhog Day does, but Murray succeeds in keeping this note with just slight hints of variation which aren’t anything amazing however are totally fine.)
Léaud - 4(It is all about the deadpan however his deadpan is quite enjoyable here where he finds just enough of a comedic pathos with just the minor changes, that are so minor yet are all part of the comedic qualities of the man who has determined he’s wanted to die casually then later just casually determines he wants to live.)
Washington - 4(Full charm offensive from him and quite successfully so. We mostly get Mo’s just wanting to charm everyone around him whether or not he’s on the stage with just bits of frustration within his band’s dynamic and occasionally in his attempting to be with two women at the same time. Even in the latter Washington plays it more comedically, per the tone of the film, where it is more of the sense of being slightly overwhelmed by the switching demands of him, but even within that tone what Washington does works.)
Nicholson - 4(Trying entirely and not just coasting on his “Jack” persona as he sometimes did in this period. Nicholson is playing Jake again but this time as a much sadder even sentimental man. Nicholson presents a different relaxed attitude of someone set in his ways and more beaten down by needing to deal with the plot rather than presenting the rage against it. It works as a contrast, especially the scene with James Hong where Nicholson really realizes the deep sadness of his character beautifully in such an understated way. Unfortunately the plot doesn’t really let him go anywhere too interesting with anything but Nicholson is good with what he has.)
Hofschneider - 4(A performance that is largely about reactions due to the character being in a constant state of being undercover essentially. His performance though works in managing to create that state of uncertainty along with though fear though also with even a bit of youthful playfulness and indiscretion. He manages to balance it well and brings us enough into the sense of what he’s going through while also trying to put on the front to survive.)
Roth - 4(Not a great Van Gogh but a good enough one. Roth very much fixates on the emotional insecurities and really emotional isolation with his performance. Presenting his Vincent as either filled with rage, anxiety or just desperation at any given moment. I would say to a degree his version is more isolating to us as well as never felt really invested within his personal story in the same way I did sense it with Douglas and Dafoe, but regardless there is a certain effectiveness even within that limitation.)
Silver - 4(He’s giving it his all even though the script really wants far less of that. Silver is trying to convey some sort of mental urge that he’s fighting against in moments while also then embracing it as this charged bit of complete flaming intensity. While also presenting briefly the ability of the character to be charming away from that. It really doesn’t add up to a believable character, particularly with his teleporting ability, and I would say the attempt at depth seems all Sliver, given the film really just wants a sick monster, which he is that too. One just wishes the film bothered to be a bit more interesting.)
Cox - 4(Cox is good in creating the reasoned passion of his character that slowly grows more outward as the film progresses. He shows sort of the blend between the man taking every step with a bit of logic that slowly grows to full discontent. The film eventually wraps up all too quickly though Cox is effective first in presenting the disgust of his character towards the sleazy blackmail against him, but then is also good in portraying the frustration of the man as he attempts to speak in compromises.)
Hurt - 4(Hurt deserves all the credit for moving every bit of this ridiculousness with a genuine care for the material. Hurt goes about selling every over the top bit whether it is his future car, wanting to stop the plot of Frankenstein while knowing it, dealing with his own super invention that went haywire, and of course his own romantic subplot with Mary Shelley. Hurt brings a sincere conviction to it all, showing a man who genuinely cares about all these things, with some genuine charm and just offers a foundation of something serious…for material that couldn’t be more silly.)
Rochefort - 3.5(A curious performance given he is clearly supposed to be playing a much younger man but also because so much of his non-narration is just kind of being there in general awe of his sexy wife basically. Rochefort delivers on the general needs of that but the focus is more so just his narration that conveys that very boyish fantastical, while also being horny, qualities that suits the nature of the piece effectively.)
Connery - 3.5(He’s actually quite charming here and I like the fun he has in presenting the man’s excitement and even pompousness around doing spy work that he really has no business doing. Unfortunately he really doesn’t have any chemistry with Pfeiffer and that aspect just doesn’t really work. But he is fun with the setup bit and I wish the film had allowed him to explore that more.)
Li - 3.5(Very much overshadowed by his co-star though he is totally fine in playing first the surprise of the woman being interested in him then later the certain sloppy messiness of the man attempting to maneuver the difficult situation they find themselves in.)
Clements - 3.5(All the performances in the film are a little strange in a way in speaking with this pseudo intellectual candor while also being obvious in that it is more than just a bit of a facade with the stiffness of it all. In this film it is a purposeful environment of the mostly like thinkers although like in their manner wholly in very much stuck in their minds and less so with reality. Clements reflects that well even if there is a purposeful limitation to it.)
Bridges - 3.5(As noted previously doesn’t really feel like the fairly shallow Duane exactly but Bridges does offer his general charm in the part written for Bridges being generally charming.)
Depardieu - 3.5(Found him to be somewhat charming here even though little is asked of him than to be somewhat charming. Which mission accomplished I guess.)
Spader - 3.5(Kind of flip flops between effective moments of portraying the lusts of the character along with the quiet nagging sense of grief that influences many of his decisions and the far less effective moments where we need to believe the attempted overly earnest moments. It’s a strange combination that Spader struggles with more than a bit though he certainly has good moments as well.)
De Niro - 3(Kind of charming here but the character just seems a little too contrived at a fundamental level.)
Bergin - 3(Kind of the most basic form of the leading man for an epic, pseudo or otherwise. He exists, he’s not bad but he really isn’t notable in any way.)
Sutherland & Bacon - 3(They are both just fine in bringing a generalized ambition, fear and mental trauma. It isn’t anything substantial in any quantity but they are perfectly fine if kind of forgettable.)
Çobanoglu - 3(Working with a very simplistic role and is totally serviceable as such but never comes to life as a true person.)
Malkovich - 2.5(I’ll admit needing to portray being lost and bored is pretty tough particularly when your script doesn’t seem to have any insights on it either. Well Malkovich in turn seems mostly lost and bored.)
Garcia - 2.5(Definitely the less interesting of the two main roles but Garcia has a real tendency to overact randomly. This is particularly a problem for the scenes with his wife where he really overcooks. The moments where he faces off with Gere, he’s a little better albeit totally overshadowed, when working with Metcalf he’s also overshadowed but ok in portraying the drive of the character.)
Rhys - 2.5(Boring and dull. Theo is a challenge because he should be the one who tempers the other, and a great performance can be realized in such specific requirements. Rhys though doesn’t find his way into the challenge though is satisfied with mostly being there, and being boring.)
Selleck - 2.5(His over the top movie star mugging would probably be okay if the film was true to the fun blockbuster sentiment that is selling some of the time. But it feels tonally all wrong with all the film contains and quite goofy at times.)
Cruise - 2.5(Not great early attempt at Cruise control before he really refined it to ideal form. There’s just a much more effortful quality about him before he found enough of an ease onscreen consistently.)
Broderick - 2.5(Standard Broderick performance.)
Fisher - 2.5(Not terrible but very much your standard child performance where he really doesn’t make you believe him as a character just a generalized child so to speak.)
Redford - 2(Redford in fully dull mode. Where his charm just isn’t coming through and he just seems to be coasting the entire time.)
Ward - 2(Sometimes you see a character actor get the lead and you say “oh why aren’t they the lead more often”, other times you see it and go “oh that’s why they’re a character actor”. Ward is definitely in the latter category based on this where he just does not have a leading presence in the least and frankly seems to purge energy out of scenes. Everything he does feels very overtly performative to create a memorable historical figure rather than being just genuine as this guy in this situation.)
Kemps - 1.5(Boring one and boring two. Neither have onscreen charisma, both Krays seem exactly the same, which is totally uninteresting.)
Neeson - 1.5(Oooh he is really bad here. He manages to be over the top in a completely unentertaining way in his Darkman scenes, then is also completely boring, yet still over the top, in his supposedly sincere way. Everything just feels forced from him here.)
Lead:
Actress:
1. Kathy Bates - Misery
2. Kerry Fox - An Angel At My Table - 5
3. Kati Outinen - The Match Factory Girl - 5
4. Victoria Abril - Tie Me Up Tie Me Down - 4.5
6. Laura Dern - Wild At Heart
7. Gong Li - Jou Du - 4.5
8. Lena Stolze - The Nasty Girl - 4.5
9. Joanne Woodward - Mr. and Mrs. Bridge - 4
10. Meryl Streep - Postcards from the Edge - 4
11. Susan Sarandon - White Palace - 4
12. Jamie Lee Curtis - Blue Steel - 4
13. Mia Farrow - Alice - 4
14. Maggie Cheung - Song of Exile - 4
15. Anna Galiena - The Hairdresser’s Husband
16. Jane Fonda - Stanley and Iris
17. Frances McDormand - Hidden Agenda - 4
18. Winona Ryder - Edward Scissorhands
19. Debra Winger - Sheltering Sky - 3.5
Anymore would probably be forcing it.
Supporting Actress:
1. Lorraine Bracco - Goodfellas - 5
2. Grace Zabriskie - Wild At Heart - 4.5
3. Marcia Gay Harden - Miller’s Crossing
4. Shirley MacLaine - Postcards from the Edge
5. Billie Whitelaw - The Krays
6. Annie Potts - Texasville
7. Glenn Close - Reversal of Fortune
8. Lu Hsiao-fen - Song of the Exile - 4.5
9. Helena Bonham Carter - Hamlet - 4
10. Whoopi Goldberg - Ghost
11. Alexia Keogh - An Angel At My Table
12. Karen Fergusson - An Angel At My Table
13. Sheryl Lee Ralph - To Sleep With Anger
14. Catherine O'Hara - Home Alone - 4
15. Mamata Shankar - Shakha Proshakha
16. Margi Clarke - I Hired a Contract Killer
17. Mai Zetterling - The Witches
18. Mary Alice - To Sleep With Anger
19. Joan Plowright - Avalon
20. Vonetta McGee - To Sleep With Anger
21. Kimberly Scott - Flatliners - 4
22. Elizabeth Pena - Jacob’s Ladder
23. Laurie Metcalf - Internal Affairs - 4
24. Rachel Ward - After Dark My Sweet -3.5
25. Catherine Scorsese - Goodfellas - 3.5
Brazinterma:
Song, thought I was forcing this a little at top five.
Score:
6. Avalon
7. Wild At Heart
8. Tie Me Up Tie Me Down
9. Misery
10. The Rescuers Down Under
Poster:
1. Dreams
2. Misery
3. The Sheltering Sky
4. Arachnophobia
5. Gremlins 2
6. To Sleep With Anger
7. Wild At Heart (Heart)
8. The Witches
9. Dick Tracy
10. Metropolitan
Editing:
1. Goodfellas
2. Misery
3. Wild At Heart
4. Miller’s Crossing
5. Jacob’s Ladder
6. Home Alone
7. American Dream
8. Bullet In the Head
9. Avalon
10. Dream
Original Screenplay:
6. Jacob’s Ladder
7. Home Alone
8. Bullet in the Head
9. Korczak
10. Avalon
Adapted Screenplay:
6. Ju Dou
7. White Hunter Black Heart
8. The Rescuers Down Under
9. After Dark My Sweet
10. Hamlet
Cast:
1. Goodfellas
2. Miller’s Crossing
3. Wild at Heart
4. Misery
5. Reversal of Fortune
6. Sleeping With Anger
7. I Hired a Contract Killer
8. Henry Portrait of A Serial Killer
9. Hamlet
10. Home Alone
Lucas:
White - (White is working within such a contrived Sorkin character without the prime material that the obviousness of the character becomes more obvious. I would say he doesn’t manage to pull off the basic needs of it but I will say this one was a particular challenge because of that level of contrivance involved. I mean I’m not sure anyone could convincingly sell his Capra lines for example but I know that White doesn’t do it. He’s not terrible, he's fine in enough moments but too often the artifice of the writing is all you can see with him.)
Madison - (Madison is equally dealing with many contrivances that do go too far, but I just believed her ability within those a bit more. While also occasionally finding some genuine emotion in some quieter moments that she does deliver on. The rapid fire “tech person” moments are more the contrivances where I think Madison does what she can and never gets fully overwhelmed for me, though she comes near it at times. When showing the emotional weight of what she’s doing she’s at her best, but again the writing here too feels wholly artificial and limits her.)
Burr - (Technically the setups are similarly artificial in that we have a guy here just to be the moral voice, but Burr genuinely sells it consistently, better than anyone in the film. He brings a real passion to his performance where you get the sense of the man behind these words rather than posturing. Infusing everything with a sense of genuine passion of someone with a real connection to the ends and concern for where his old partner has gone too far.)
Mosaku - (Functionally fine but just really there to deliver very surface lines, nothing more.)
Magnussen - (Effective in actually downplaying the bro qualities to some extent but owning them in others. He’s good though here in making the bro the facade and presenting the cutthroat beneath it with this real tension about him that delivers effectively as the real vile corporate hatchet man who pretends to be something else.)
Gilpin - (Usually like her but found her whole character and performance just over the top with every single thing she is given to do.)
Anonymous:
Affleck - 2(He just goes for one overwrought choice after another. You will see him yell, then yell, then yell and really I didn’t really even believe him in the yelling despite the noise of it, nor did I believe the moments where he wasn’t yelling briefly.)
Washington - 2(Found her very stilted or forced. Again no chemistry with Affleck in terms of convincingly creating a history that would earn just that noise of their scenes together.)
Anderson - 3(Kind of a ridiculous character in design though she’s fine in bringing a cold precision in everything she does to at least get through it decently.)
Paz - 3(The most believable performance albeit simplistic. She at least delivers on the basic emotions.)
Mendez - 2.5(Found his character a bit over the top as well though in a “oh look how just of salt of the earth guy he is”. Mendez really has an overly simplistic note to play and I didn’t think he overcame it.)
Yeun - 3(Affleck apparently likes to cast him. I wish he’d give him a little more interesting roles than just weasel. This time political weasel, but still weasel. He’s fine.)
Regarding Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
In the hitman character study genre one must stand out and I will say this film mostly manages to do so. Its method is to curiously make religion the focus of both Christianity and Islam, as well as demented versions of both but also earnest ones. This side angle manages to give the film a peculiar life that it mostly successfully finds some new ground to explore and some interesting avenues to go down. Eventually it has to abide by the genre and that is where the film falls into the expected a bit but then an ending that becomes a bit take it or leave it. I’ll admit it, it didn’t quite work for me, but enough did leading up to it to say I mostly liked the unique approach to a common genre.
Cho - 3.5
Esposito - 3.5
Ali - Tillman - 3
Boone - 3
Adia - 4
Kamara - 3.5
Could you add Donovan in Trust to the 1991 overall?
Tahmeed:
Fitting to talk about Close-Up’s direction with You Can See Everything just coming out because I have a feeling the former influenced the latter. As Kiarostami seemingly seeks the truth however in doing so reveals just how elusive the truth can be. As we have the literal closeup in the court scenes trying to find who this man actually is, what he actually intended and whether he is malicious in any way. Although in doing so shows that sometimes the closer you look the more obscure things can become. An idea that he plays with then through his own recreation of the events where he purposefully blends the idea of pretend and reality and most importantly our perception of it. Letting the man play himself, while maybe he was playing someone else, and showing how hard it is to truly understand someone even when you give them all the avenues to explain. The ending is particularly fascinating as the denial yet the denial ends up being the safety from a falsehood to instead trying to find a truth, but by lying about audio issues. Creating a wonderful enigma that shows how truth can become a lie but also how one can try to be more truthful in this instance by lying.
Louis, do you at all think of writing reviews as its own artistic process of making aesthetic objects in and of themselves? Why or why not? How much of your enjoyment of writing about films comes from things like molding the prosody of the overall piece, creating a rhythm and flow, etc.?
Louis: Did you mean to give Abubakr Ali a rating for Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, and if you did what rating was it?
Louis: Glad You Can See Everything went up for you. What do you think of its awards chances at the moment, particularly with competing beyond Best Documentary?
Did you rewatch YCSE or did you mean to give it a 5 when you reviewed it?
Louis: Where would you rank Sissy Spacek in The Long Walk Home.
And your rating for Whoopi Goldberg (If you can still recall it).
Harris:
I think they can be. And I think it is something Roger Ebert rightly disagreed with from the Anton Ego speech at the end of Ratatouille where it essentially says that the biggest piece of junk made by the artist has more merit than Anton’s best review. Which isn’t really true, I think the best reviews of any critic are more valuable, have more insight, have more artistic merit, and are far more entertaining than say something like Son of the Mask. Now what is art and what is an artist compared to someone just trying something or even a hack, definitions can vary. When does a review become art, I don’t know, when does a movie become art, I don’t know, when does paint on a canvas become art, well someone probably claims that it always is, but then we get into the question, is bad art “art”, so to speak? Is there a moment of elevation that needs to occur to truly be art? Or is the attempt at any creative endeavor even a creative endeavor in reaction to a creative endeavor, art? Bad or good? I don’t think there are clear answers to those questions, I think we can just debate different notions.
I personally wouldn’t consider what I do to be anything more than just my opinion on performances. I do try to find a way “in” to talk about them and perhaps there is an enjoyment I have when I do, although sometimes frustration. I mean my reviews like Fassbender in The Killer or Matt Dillion in The House that Jack Built didn’t come from an initial choice rather finding that in each instance was just the best way I could come up with to talk about those performances that made it interesting or engaging for me to write about it.
Lucas:
Yes, 2.5.
Anon:
No, I just kept thinking about the film, and asked myself “why isn’t it a 5?” and I had no good answer. Conversely if I asked myself “Why is it a 5?” I had plenty of reasons.
Tahmeed:
I actually think it is in danger of getting eliminated from the shortlist given the documentary branches tendency to sometimes eliminate docs that have a more popular impact. I do think, particularly if the box office fully backs it up, it could potentially be the first documentary to make it into picture because of how much focus and praise it is getting. I could even see a scenario where a snub from the shortlist leads to the push for a picture all the more, kind of like Hoop Dreams getting its editing nomination. Although I honestly hope it just gets into both.
I think the picture would probably be “enough” for the academy in terms of breaking trends as the first doc in picture, and I don’t think they’d go as far as to also recognize Oppenheim/Fielder as director. Maybe editing, because it is brilliantly edited, though not showy in a traditional doc sense in that way, but hey neither was Hoop Dreams. I kind of would prefer we don’t go down the acting route at all just because I think it would get into precarious territory.
Luke:
I mean I really haven’t seen the film since the mid-90’s and I wouldn’t call it the most memorable film overall. I recall both being good, particularly Spacek, but I can really honestly recall more.
All of a Sudden continues the very quiet and intimate approach of Hamaguchi also through multiple languages that he seems to want to connect through emotional universal truths. Where Drive My Car was about very complicated grief, this time it's about trying to find connection and humanity while facing impending death. The connection here between a nursing home director and a play director who bond through personal sentiment and mutual understanding. A moving connection powerfully realized by the understated performances of both actresses. Once again the film is quiet, slow, and has some randomness to it. And largely I liked this even though I felt the length even more so this time than Drive My Car, which I also felt the length of in its middle section. And of course maybe the tempo is needed for the intimacy but then again I haven't seen the streamlined version, maybe it would just feel even sharper. Regardless while moments did drag, there were more than enough that pulled me into their subdued poignancy particularly due to those central performances.
Efira - 5
Tao - 5
Nagatsuka - 4
Louis: Was somebody left out of your Actress ranking at #5, or did you just accidentally leave out #5?
Louis: With you covering another turn by the great John Lone this, who are some other performers that you felt deserved a much better career trajectory?
How did you see All of the Sudden? Also, what’s Tao’s placement?
Louis, in your view, what were the 5-10 most boring films you have seen that were nominated for best picture?
Where's Walken in King of New York?
Louis: Your rating and thoughts on Christopher Walken in King Of New York.
Louis: Cavalcade and the Titanic, that should sound exciting... oh dear was that dreary lol.
Behemoth took me by surprise, particularly compared to the dramatic trailer, as essentially it seems like Tony Gilroy decided to make a sitcom about a cellist, his brother is even Gob and no not because he’s played by Will Arnett the character essentially is Gob in almost every way. Although the hitch is Gilroy decided to instead put a potential season of the sitcom into one movie. That probably sounds like a criticism, but it’s really not because I found it to be a good sitcom. There is a dramatic bone in here, but mostly it is really about comical setups in the life of one cellist and the random events that go on in and around him. And the key to this is it is actually pretty funny, including the use of the score which occasionally is used directly to be dramatic but more often the dramatic sounding score is itself a punchline, most notably during a pseudo heist sequence that ends with a pretty hilarious sight gag. Again there are dramatic points, sometimes cursory, sometimes a little more, never too much, but at the same time it felt like mostly enough since I stayed invested and was certainly entertained.
Wilde - 3.5
Victor - 3
Arnett - 3.5
Azaria - 3
Swinton - 3
Griffin - 3
Williams - 3
Levieva - 3.5
Buric - 3
Kretschmann - 3
Got a lot of unused winning requests so I think I'm gonna use one of them right now.
Samuel L. Jackson in Unbreakable (2000)
Louis: Thoughts on the female performances?
Also your thoughts on the direction and production design of Dreams (1990).
Louis: Could you hold off on the female performance thoughts until the lineup's posted.
Louis: Tell me if this is too out of the blog's purview, but what are the most important lessons about writing you've learned in your life from others, not necessarily related to reviewing films specifically, that you like to keep in mind?
Michael:
No, I had to add someone and didn’t replace the number.
Robert:
Early screening. She doesn’t appear until a half hour into the film and doesn't more consistently appear until like an hour in. Having said that she definitely is equally important to the film once she does and I do feel is co-lead once she appears for the second time. Although because of her late entry there is at least a little bit of grey area that there are worse cases of category fraud.
Marcus:
Purely in terms of talent disregarding any personal things:
Mickey Rourke (Twice)
Kirk Douglas (Late career)
John Heard
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Anonymous:
1. Cavalcade
2. Disraeli
3. Fanny
4. Alibi
5. Cimarron
6. Sayonara
7. In Old Arizona
8. Peyton Place
9. One Night of Love
10. The Razor’s Edge
Luke:
Walken - 4(He’s good in managing to bring the callousness that Walken really does with such cold assurance when presenting the ability to kill for the character. Walken honestly just exudes like that history of killing with such ease that is pretty chilling. Although the film kind of wants the character to have semi positive aspects, or at least aspects about someone going against a system despite obviously being corrupt himself. Walken I think wisely plays these scenes less heroically and more so with this egotistical bent of the character that even when he’s standing up for something good, like anti-racism, there's a sense of grandstanding about it even if he’s also genuine to a degree. Where Walken plays it fittingly like brutal king who makes decrees which occasionally are for good, but in no way overcome the violence he is capable of.)
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