Showing posts with label Pierce Brosnan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pierce Brosnan. Show all posts

Friday, 19 April 2013

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2010: Results

5. Sam Rockwell in Conviction- Rockwell gives the best performance in his film giving some poignancy to his character's situation even though the power of his performance is limited by the film's problems.
4. Andrew Garfield in The Social Network- Garfield plays the emotions of his role a little to heavily at times but still gives an effective performance with a few stand out moments.
3. Chow Yun-Fat in Let the Bullets Fly- Yun-Fat gives a very entertaining villainous turn even if he could have brought just a little more menace to his role. 
2. Pierce Brosnan in The Ghost Writer- Brosnan gives a strong performance effectively creating the different faces of a career politicians with too many secrets.
1. Ben Mendelsohn in Animal Kingdom- Good Prediction Fisti. This might not be a great year for great performances as I don't give anyone a five, but it is a great year for good performances. My personal winner came down to the two criminal uncles of Mendelsohn and John Hawkes in Winter's Bone.
Overall Rank:
  1. Ben Kingsley in Shutter Island 
  2. Taika Waititi in Boy
  3. Armie Hammer in The Social Network  
  4. Ben Mendelsohn in Animal Kingdom
  5. John Hawkes in Winter's Bone
  6. Michael Lonsdale in Of Gods and Men
  7. Cillian Murphy in Inception
  8. Pete Postlethwaite in The Town
  9. Ted Levine in Shutter Island
  10. Barry Pepper in True Grit 
  11. Joel Edgerton in Animal Kingdom
  12. Jackie Earle Haley in Shutter Island
  13. Jeremy Renner in The Town 
  14. Tom Hardy in Inception 
  15. John Ortiz in Jack Goes Boating
  16. Ray Winstone in Edge of Darkness
  17. Pierce Brosnan in The Ghost Writer
  18. David Bradley in Another Year
  19. Joaquin Cosio in El Infierno
  20. Chow Yun-Fat in Let The Bullets Fly 
  21. Guy Pearce in Animal Kingdom
  22. David O'Hara in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 
  23. Olivier Rabourdin in Of Gods and Men
  24. Peter Wight in Another Year 
  25. Jon Hamm in The Town 
  26. Kayvan Novak in Four Lions
  27. Andrew Garfield in The Social Network
  28. Nigel Lindsay in Four Lions
  29. Max von Sydow in Shutter Island  
  30. John Malkovich in RED
  31. Mark Ruffalo in Shutter Island  
  32. Michael Keaton in The Other Guys  
  33. Jason Schwartzman in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
  34. Justin Timberlake in The Social Network   
  35. Bob Hoskins in Made in Dagenham
  36. Sam Rockwell in Iron Man 2   
  37. Chris Evans in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
  38. Bill Murray in Get Low  
  39. Kieran Culkin in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
  40. Ed Harris in The Way Back
  41. Sam Rockwell in Conviction 
  42. Brandon Routh in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
  43. Laurent Lafitte in Little White Lies
  44. Arsher Ali in Four Lion 
  45. Philipee Laudenbach in Of Gods and Men
  46. Gary Oldman in The Book of Eli
  47. Emilio Estevez in The Way
  48. Ken Watanabe in Inception
  49. Ned Beatty in Toy Story 3 
  50. Guy Pearce in The King's Speech  
  51. Colin Farrell in The Way Back
  52. Jack McGee in The Fighter 
  53. Jacques Herlin Of Gods and Men 
  54. Benoit Magimel in Little White Lies
  55. Sullivan Stapleton in Animal Kingdom 
  56. Nicolas Cage in Kick-Ass 
  57. Morten Rose in Submarino
  58. Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu in Boy
  59. Ewan McGregor in I Love You Philip Morris 
  60. Michael Douglas in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
  61. Adeel Ahktar in Four Lions
  62. Mark Strong in Kick-Ass
  63. Michael Keaton in Toy Story 3 
  64. Gary Lewis in Valhalla Rising 
  65. Gabriele Ferzetti in I am Love
  66. Frank Langella in All Good Things
  67. John Carroll Lynch in Shutter Island 
  68. Ewan Stewart in Valhalla Rising
  69. Lucas Black in Get Low 
  70. Samuel L. Jackson in Mother and Child
  71. Chris Cooper in The Town
  72. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Inception
  73. Garret Dillahunt in Winter's Bone 
  74. Mickey O'Keefe in The Fighter 
  75. Mark Webber in Scott Pilgrim vs the World
  76. Matt Damon in True Grit
  77. Luke Ford in Animal Kingdom
  78. Bill Cobbs in Get Low
  79. Choi Moo-sung in I Saw the Devil 
  80. Chris Evans in The Losers
  81. Dustin Hoffman in Barney's Version 
  82. Jim Sturgess in The Way Back
  83. Brian Cox in RED 
  84. Chris Cooper in The Company Men
  85. Oliver Platt in Please Give
  86. Maarten Stevenson in Valhalla Rising
  87. Pete Postlethwaite in Inception
  88. Kevin Costner in The Company Men
  89. Tom Wilkinson in The Ghost Writer
  90. Don Cheadle in Iron Man 2 
  91. Idris Elba in The Losers
  92. Ray Winstone in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
  93. Karl Urban in RED 
  94. Stephen Rea in Ondine
  95. Eli Wallach in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
  96. Rupert Grint in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows   
  97. Mickey Rourke in The Expendables 
  98. Paolo Bonacelli in The American  
  99. Josh Brolin in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
  100. Robert Pugh in The Ghost Writer
  101. Andrew Garfield in Never Let Me Go 
  102. Benedict Cumberbatch in Four Lions 
  103. Saul Rubinek in Barney's Version
  104. Michael Caine in Inception
  105. Michael Gambon in The King's Speech
  106. Morgan Freeman in RED 
  107. Gilles Lellouche in Little White Lies
  108. Stellan Skarsgard in King of Devil's Island 
  109. Tom Berenger in Inception 
  110. Gerard Butler in How to Train Your Dragon
  111. David Zayas in The Expendables
  112. Dileep Rao in Inception
  113. Mark Strong in The Way Back 
  114. Stanley Tucci in Easy A
  115. Jimmy Smits in Mother and Child
  116. Lee David in Poetry
  117. Scott Speedman in Barney's Version 
  118. Jean Dujardin in Little White Lies
  119. Frank Grillo in Edge of Darkness
  120. Hugo Weaving in The Wolfman
  121. Edoardo Gabbriellini in I am Love
  122. Tim Blake Nelson in Leaves of Grass
  123. Eric Roberts in The Expendables
  124. Jackie Chan in The Karate Kid 
  125. Yoruck van Wageningen in The Way
  126. Elias Koteas in The Killer Inside Me
  127. Christopher Mintz-Plasse in Kick-Ass   
  128. Peter Gallagher in Conviction  
  129. James Nesbitt in The Way 
  130. Flavio Parenti in I am Love
  131. Ned Beatty in The Killer Inside Me
  132. Vincent Cassel in Black Swan  
  133. Thomas Haden Church in Easy A
  134. Alan Rickman in Alice in Wonderland 
  135. Richard Dreyfuss in Leaves of Grass
  136. Bill Pullman in The Killer Inside Me
  137. Michael Sheen in Alice in Wonderland
  138. Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are Alright
  139. Derek Jacobi in The King's Speech
  140. Josh Hutcherson in The Kids Are Alright 
  141. Josh Brolin in True Grit 
  142. Jason Statham in The Expendables
  143. Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2 
  144. Danny Huston in Edge of Darkness
  145. Miles Teller in Rabbit Hole
  146. Ben Barnes in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader  
  147. Crispin Glover in Alice in Wonderland 
  148. Brandon T. Jackson in Percy Jackson 
  149. Liu Kai-chi in Stool Pigeon
  150. Jamie Foxx in Due Date
  151. Josh Pais in Leaves of Grass
  152. Timothy Spall in The King's Speech
  153. Dolph Lundgren in The Expendables
  154. Jet Li in The Expendables
  155. Randy Couture in The Expendables
  156. Anthony Hopkins in The Wolfman
  157. Jesse Moss in Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
  158. Jason Patric in The Losers
Next Year: 2001 Lead

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2010: Pierce Brosnan in The Ghost Writer

Pierce Brosnan did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Adam Lang in The Ghost Writer.

The Ghost Writer is a very effective thriller about a new ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) brought in to finish the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister while he is under scrutiny for his involvement with the torture of suspected terrorists.

Pierce Brosnan plays the former British Prime minster Adam Lang. Brosnan is of course best known as his run as James Bond, but here he goes a bit against type as the somewhat shady politician. Brosnan's character is one we hear of several times before we finally meet him in the film. He has a build up and Brosnan does not disappoint when we do meet him. He takes a rather interesting approach in his performance which is he makes Lang sort of a mystery, but he plays him as a man who does not at all wanted to be taken for one. It is an effective portrayal in his few scenes he get across the several different faces of the career politician.

Brosnan has his scenes on the television where he seems the most confidant although as well the least natural. Brosnan creates the right posture though the way he so firmly speaks, and the way he seems to be happy and confidant even when there is no reason to be. Brosnan knows just how to be basically the fake man, but at the same time makes Lang seem like the leader he should have been considered at one time. He does very well here and he does well in showing the difference between the public persona and the real man that we meet when he speaks to the ghost writer, although even then there are really two sides to the man.

On one hand Brosnan keeps Lang as a base man of former power and still one of wealth and importance. Brosnan creates the right type of casual pompousness in the man in the way he deals with his entire staff and particularly the ghost writer. Brosnan is good actually because he never makes Lang to seem overly malicious in his behavior as it Brosnan allows us to see this as the sort of behavior that developed from being a person of such power. There is more than the fairly shallow rich powerful man behavior to this man, and Brosnan does create the right depth in his performance to suggest why Lang is in the trouble he currently has.

When pressed about his troubles Brosnan shows Lang is an intensely defensive and angry man over his fall from glory. He is very good in portraying just the sheer bitterness the man feels, but as well alludes early on that maybe he is hiding a darker secret. Brosnan is great though in his very last scene though as he seems in a way breaks the mystery with his performance even if in terms of the film's development we do not yet know that he has. Brosnan creates strong passion in Lang for what has done and there is not an undercurrent suggesting otherwise in this moment perhaps suggesting that Lang is not hiding anything in terms of his own actions.

This is a very solid performance by Pierce Brosnan particularly by the way his performance allows the secret in the film to exist while completely supporting the eventual revelation in regards to his character. He handles every aspect of his character very well especially through his portrayal of each shade of the man in terms of both the public and private man. Brosnan all in all actually does not have too many scenes to his name or even that much total screen time. Brosnan within the time that he does inhabit though gives the proper life to his character to support the character who is in always at the center of the film even though is often not on screen.

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2010

And the Nominees Were Not:

Ben Mendelsohn in Animal Kingdom

Sam Rockwell in Conviction

Andrew Garfield in The Social Network

Pierce Brosnan in The Ghost Writer

Chow Yun-Fat in Let the Bullets Fly

Sunday, 24 March 2013

Best Bond: Results

6. Roger Moore in Live and Let Die- Moore sits as the worst Bond due to his excessively light approach that makes his Bond seem frankly disinterested at times. He tries to just be charming and funny but the problem he does not even do that all that well.
5. George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service- Moore has more screen presence than George Lazenby but I do prefer Lazenby because he actually seems into the action scenes and he is pretty good in his last scene. As a whole though his Bond is underwhelming just by how indistinct his approach is to the character.
4. Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye- Brosnan gives a slick and suave approach to Bond similar to that of Connery. He does not reach the heights of Connery but he gives nice performance as Bond that balances the serious and humorous elements of his character well.
3. Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights- Although Brosnan is more consistent I prefer Dalton for dealing with the inconsistent tone of his picture and actually delivering well on his darker approach to Bond when there is a scene that actually allows him to do it. I would love to see Dalton in a bleak picture about espionage.
2. Daniel Craig in Casino Royale- Craig gives an excellent portrayal of Bond that shows a much more vulnerable and less experienced Bond. Unlike Dalton, who went alone, he and the film go together to effectively explore a darker place for the character.
1. Sean Connery in From Russia in Love-Good Prediction RatedRStar. My favorite Bond performance goes to Sean Connery in this film. He took on a role that was already big shoes to fill and instead of just fulfilling the role he instead made the role his own. He made him the iconic character he has become through his charming, suave, and charismatic portrayal that could even go darker when necessary. He simply made Bond.
I might do something like this again down the road if I can think of something good

Overall Rank:
  1. Sean Connery in From Russia With Love
  2. Daniel Craig in Casino Royale
  3. Sean Connery in Dr. No
  4. Sean Connery in Goldfinger
  5. Daniel Craig in Skyfall
  6. Daniel Craig in Quantum Of Solace
  7. Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights
  8. Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye
  9. Timothy Dalton in License to Kill
  10. Sean Connery in Thunderball
  11. Sean Connery in You Only Live Twice
  12. Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies
  13. Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever
  14. Pierce Brosnan in The World is Not Enough
  15. Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day
  16. George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service
  17. Roger Moore
Next Year:  1935

Saturday, 23 March 2013

Best Bond: Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye

Pierce Brosnan became the fifth man to portray James Bond in GoldenEye.

GoldenEye is an entertaining Bond film with some fairly memorable villains, and action set pieces.

There was several years between Timothy Dalton's second and Brosnan's first. The time delay was probably a good thing as this film now has a tone that feels right for Bond unlike The Living Daylights and especially the previous License to Kill which failed to find a consistent tone leaving Timothy Dalton moving in every direction to meet the demands of the part which he did quite well considering the difficult situation. Pierce Brosnan has much to benefit from the fact that GoldenEye does find a consistent tone for Bond, therefore allowing Brosnan to make an entirely consistent Bond.

Brosnan, like the actor I will be getting to next, actually goes for covering Bond in a way to the manner a previous Bond handled him. Brosnan forgets the darkness Dalton tried to examine for the most part, and goes instead to opt for an approach similar to Sean Connery. What this means is he takes Bond as a much lighter character on the whole although never nearly as light as Roger Moore, but darker when needs to be although never as dark as Dalton was. This means the thing Brosnan aims at first being a charming Bond, but still a Bond with a mission to do unlike Roger Moore who seemed frankly disinterested at times. 

Brosnan I should specifically say does not copy Connery in any way in terms of even the manner of charm he uses, or the fashion in which he brings weight to the performance, but I would put these two in the same style of Bond. Brosnan's task is a bit different this being a 90's action movie instead of a 60's action movie. This means there are less diversions really and the action is louder and the danger tends to be more oppressive in a certain way where in the 60's Bond there was usually some breathing room along the way. Here Brosnan is almost always on the move, or if he is not the story is doing very much the same around him.

As the suave charmer Brosnan is properly suave and charming. He knows how to deliver the lines of "Bond, James Bond", "Shaken not Stirred" and the quips he has throughout the film although these are far less frequent here than they were present the past films. Brosnan still has to say them on occasion but there are not the stream of them like there was before, making it so he actually has less of challenge to keep them having an impact throughout since he just does not have that many to say.  Brosnan though handles the lighter qualities well, and while doing keeps it within Bond still going about his task, the best example is when he deals with a Russian mobster and Brosnan is playful, humorous yet he still shows that Bond is still keeping his mission in mind.

Brosnan does a good job of handling the action scenes. He makes them believable, and is able to bring the wit needed for Bond well still creating that illusion of threat needed. Brosnan's Bond treads through serious situations but there is only one major personal issue that his Bond faces which is that the main villain is a former fellow agent and friend. There are not too many scenes that linger on Bond's feelings toward this in fact Brosnan pretty much has to express his feelings about it almost entirely in his reactions, but even with these limitations Brosnan does handle them well. He does not have Bond lose his resolve at all but he does handle in a satisfying fashion of Bond more of being surprised and disappointed with his friend more than anything else.

In a way this is the mainstream streamlined Bond by Brosnan is in the vein of Connery. I will say he never quite reaches the heights of Connery's best work as Bond, but his portrayal of Bond is a good one. He leads the film well and although he does not get all that deep with the character he does find his own way to play Bond that harkens back to Connery without ever copying him. Brosnan went on to play Bond three more times and the quality of the films and to a lesser degree Brosnan's performance went down in quality as well, although he never became bad in the role, this film is by far his highlight as Bond. Brosnan is not the best Bond but he is a good Bond that handled the role effectively in a fashion fitting for his set of films.

Sunday, 17 March 2013

Best Bond

And the 007's Were:

Sean Connery in From Russia With Love

George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Roger Moore in Live and Let Die

Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights

Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye

Daniel Craig in Casino Royale

Well I thought I would have some fun and review all the actors who have played James Bond in a serious film. Also I thought I might as well do it since it will open spots up for other actors in 63, and 2006 at least. For these six the prediction contest is still in place.