tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post7419318238046047681..comments2024-03-17T10:11:46.952-04:00Comments on Film Experience Blog: Supporting Actor Lineup (Now With More Psychological Problems!)NATHANIEL Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11597109147678235399noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-79051044600511223642009-02-04T06:30:00.000-05:002009-02-04T06:30:00.000-05:00Hey, if books can be translated into English, why ...<I>Hey, if books can be translated into English, why can't books be adapted into English-language movies.</I><BR/><BR/>B/c if the adaptation is inauthentic, dishonest, and half-assed, it should have simply either not have been made at all or done by people who could have brought some truth to it and done the story justice with actual German actors.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-62036467443260165622009-02-04T02:42:00.000-05:002009-02-04T02:42:00.000-05:00Hey, if books can be translated into English, why ...Hey, if books can be translated into English, why can't books be adapted into English-language movies.<BR/><BR/>In regards to supporting actor... Love Heath, Really liked Hoffman (oddly), but would put him in Lead, prefered Hirsch and Franco to Brolin, didn't care for Shannon and I haven't seen <I>Tropic Thunder</I>.<BR/><BR/>My personal top five at the moment is:<BR/><BR/>Emile Hirsch, <I>Milk</I><BR/>James Franco, <I>Milk</I><BR/>Heath Ledger, <I>The Dark Knight</I><BR/>Steve Le Marquand, <I>Men's Group</I><BR/>Brad Pitt, <I>Burn After Reading</I>.<BR/><BR/>So, ya know, 1/5 is a good crossover, right?!Glennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08194113062830373898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-17159791681792480402009-02-03T22:26:00.000-05:002009-02-03T22:26:00.000-05:00P.S. Anonymous 2-above... I think, with respect, t...<I>P.S. Anonymous 2-above... I think, with respect, that The Reader is making the very same point you're accusing it of not making; that it is more ridiculous to be ashamed of being unable to read than it is of killing Jews. Further, that instance of tragic irony (in the Alanis sense) isn't the decision of the filmmakers, but one of the fundamental points of the adapted source material.</I><BR/><BR/>I didn't read the novel, nor should I have had to when it came to what was presented in the film. The big point that you think they made I thought they didn't, which was a fundamental flaw that made a promising premise into something poor and dreadful. "The Reader" is a terrible film, and it isn't worth any of the Oscars that it's about to get this month, especially for Kate Winslet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-74107270574667987092009-02-03T20:55:00.000-05:002009-02-03T20:55:00.000-05:00Am I the only person who thinks that Philip Seymou...Am I the only person who thinks that Philip Seymour Hoffman bears a striking resemblance to Curt Schilling? I think we know who to turn to if somebody ever decides to make a Schilling biopic.<BR/><BR/>Anyways, I've only seen The Dark Knight and Tropic Thunder, so Ledger/Downey are my 1-2 punch by default, but I'm getting to be pretty certain that the Academy will throw a hook and give us the upset of the century in this category. I'm not sure which of the other four will win, but the chances of it happening rises with each passing day.ajnruleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07990303219460863679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-87617866369973787422009-02-03T20:37:00.000-05:002009-02-03T20:37:00.000-05:00Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading. ohhhhhhhh thats r...Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading. ohhhhhhhh thats right, everyone's stupid and he got a nod for arguably his worst performance in a brilliant career, when his best performance which was released in the same year went unnoticed!<BR/><BR/>of the nominees, this is how I'd rank them:<BR/>Ledger<BR/>PSH<BR/>Brolin<BR/>Shannon<BR/>and I can't even believe that stupid performance got a nomination. eugh I really hate RDJFilm Knowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00330154362374156989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-80682390311575609422009-02-03T20:21:00.000-05:002009-02-03T20:21:00.000-05:00anon 6:14. I dunno. you didn't type your name so m...anon 6:14. I dunno. you didn't type your name so maybe we're not ready for full honesty ;)NATHANIEL Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11597109147678235399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-27255663110834719392009-02-03T18:26:00.000-05:002009-02-03T18:26:00.000-05:00First, I must say the Supporting Actor field was q...First, I must say the Supporting Actor field was quite rich this year. And even though Brolin’s performance has slipped a bit in my mind (though admittedly his distressed line reading of “You will NOT demean me!” was spot-on) and Hoffman never had me to begin with, this is overall a respectable lineup with two truly phenomenal, “Oscar-repellent” performances. I only wish Pitt had been honored here for BAR instead of BB. <BR/><BR/>In regard to echoes from the 2005 Best Actor race, I’ve ALWAYS perceived Philip Seymour Hoffman to be an abhorrently overrated actor- even before his grand theft of Ledger’s statute for “Brokeback”. My one succor having been that despite Hoffman’s near dominance that year, Ledger still snagged the most prestigious critics award; the NYFCC (as well as a Film Bitch prize). In light of all this, it’s somewhat irritating that Hoffman has now wheedled his way back into a lineup with Ledger’s name in the mix… but I ain’t gonna let that spoil the moment. <BR/><BR/>While my beloved Heath would have probably hated all this, it's still comforting for those of us he touched so deeply to know that on Feb 22, he will be honored with an Oscar; recognizing two already legendary- albeit very different- performances that will be placed among cinema’s greatest. <BR/><BR/>Sigh... we miss you Heath.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-61087349016739003002009-02-03T18:14:00.000-05:002009-02-03T18:14:00.000-05:00Shannon would get my vote over Ledger. In fact, I...Shannon would get my vote over Ledger. In fact, I think Heath's work is highly overrated. <BR/><BR/>It's been a year since his death so we can all be honest again, right?<BR/><BR/>Shannon<BR/>Marsan<BR/>Brolin<BR/>Franco<BR/>FarrelAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-75479139506258835332009-02-03T17:44:00.000-05:002009-02-03T17:44:00.000-05:00what RobUK said.I find reaction to Holocaust stori...what RobUK said.<BR/><BR/>I find reaction to Holocaust stories so troubling because people always want them to play as pure good and evil history tales but what do we learn from them if they're played that way? Nothing.<BR/><BR/>People are capable of these things. And whole swaths of people are capable of supporting systems that allow for atrocities as long as they don't have to commit the atrocities themselves and if you demonize other people long enough... well, to make a long story short:<BR/><BR/>I seriously don't get the point of any filmed treatment of the Holocaust that DOESN'T move into these really uncomfortable kinda yucky kind of WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER/HIM? areas.<BR/><BR/>so i liked The Reader.<BR/><BR/>It's far from perfect and I don't think it merited a BP nomination but they've nominated a lot worse films than that in the past.NATHANIEL Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11597109147678235399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-70267378274419385192009-02-03T17:19:00.000-05:002009-02-03T17:19:00.000-05:00P.S. Anonymous 2-above... I think, with respect, ...P.S. Anonymous 2-above... I think, with respect, that <I>The Reader</I> is making the very same point you're accusing it of not making; that it <B>is</B> more ridiculous to be ashamed of being unable to read than it is of killing Jews. Further, that instance of tragic irony (in the Alanis sense) isn't the decision of the filmmakers, but one of the fundamental points of the adapted source material.<BR/><BR/>I agree with you that the timeframe was rather confusingly handled however.RobUKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09822980378536652491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-21377470933925021432009-02-03T16:19:00.000-05:002009-02-03T16:19:00.000-05:00I'm really not crazy about this category, and even...I'm really not crazy about this category, and even my adoration of Heath's work here is blighted by my general numbness for <I>The Dark Knight</I>.<BR/><BR/>I generally love Josh Brolin, and I loved <I>Milk</I>, but his nomination for me has the equivalent rationality that your podcasts level at "Frost/Nixon" for being the Best Picture race... i.e. I just don't get why it kept turning up all season in the precursors and seamlessly cruised to a nomination. I thought James Franco was infinitely more impressive in that movie, and I just don't get the love for Brolin. I can see that, before they started shooting, the role - on paper, or indeed if you watch <I>The Times of Harvey Milk</I> - would be the supporting performance you'd expect to see nominated, but I don't think the execution warranted the love.<BR/><BR/>Clearly I'm on my own in this, so I'll stop whining and move on...<BR/><BR/>...to whining about Michael Shannon, who I also don't get. Didn't he just sorta shout clever insightful stuff whilst providing questionable comic relief?<BR/><BR/>Meh. This category can just do the posthumous tribute thing and move on for me.RobUKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09822980378536652491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-2414316697513286282009-02-03T15:49:00.000-05:002009-02-03T15:49:00.000-05:00Nathaniel, you're looking at what's outside. PSH c...Nathaniel, you're looking at what's outside. PSH can scream every words he wants, but his turns in Mission Impossible, Capote, Before the Devil... and Charlie Wilson's War are totally different performances and make us feel different things. I agree he repeats the same tricks, but he always get different wonders.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-33337257381170227972009-02-03T15:42:00.000-05:002009-02-03T15:42:00.000-05:00"The Reader" is an awful film that not only uses t..."The Reader" is an awful film that not only uses the Holocaust as a backdrop to this ridiculous love story and "shame" of poor Hanna not being able to read (yeah, that's more to be ashamed of than killing 300 Jews). Plus the film should have been done in German with German actors, not in English. The time frame should have been better managed too. "Frost/Nixon" was "Citizen Kane" compared to this trash.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-66593786007705535582009-02-03T15:26:00.001-05:002009-02-03T15:26:00.001-05:00Jamie the reason for the high number there is that...<B>Jamie</B> the reason for the high number there is that type of ballsy comedic turn is only nominated if the person is brilliant (see also Johnny Depp in Pirates)<BR/><BR/>you can give a subpar performance in a drama and be nominated if the timing / field / movie is the right one. But if you're a fully comedic role you'll never get anywhere close to a nomination unless people think you're freaking brilliant in it.NATHANIEL Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11597109147678235399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-51193699860862684692009-02-03T15:26:00.000-05:002009-02-03T15:26:00.000-05:00I loved Milk, you know that. But I just don't get ...I loved Milk, you know that. But I just don't get why Josh Brolin is singled out here, except that he plays the lone straight role. Is there all <EM>that</EM> much to it? Brolin is a very fine actor, and he certainly brought his own fine sensibilities to the performance, but I'm just not there with "Oscar nomination."Deborahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05061313079120981794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-71081751690449903292009-02-03T15:25:00.000-05:002009-02-03T15:25:00.000-05:00RGM... i don't mean to imply that the Dark Knight ...RGM... i don't mean to imply that the Dark Knight deserved the big snub. I just mean that the primary reason (and I truly believe this) that people love it to the depths that they do is because of Heath Ledger's work. Therefore that's the best category to give it a statue in. And it was the only one it was going to win (in terms of the top 8 categories) anyway...<BR/><BR/>I do think The Reader has been badly maligned due to this snubbing and that that's silly because the Reader is far more interesting as films go than Frost/Nixon.<BR/><BR/>I like the Dark Knight better than Benjamin Button, Slumdog or Frost/Nixon.NATHANIEL Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11597109147678235399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-3001023013592203352009-02-03T15:06:00.000-05:002009-02-03T15:06:00.000-05:00#2 is definitely Josh Brolin. Just imagine how ham...#2 is definitely Josh Brolin. Just imagine how hammed up the performance would have been if done by any other actor. Brolin delivered it so perfectly subtle and haunting. The scene of him walking down the hall with the camera fixed on his face alone is worthy of the nomination.<BR/><BR/>#3 is RDJ. Bravest performance of the year. He really went all out on that one.<BR/><BR/>The rest is meh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-73478672991242598422009-02-03T15:02:00.000-05:002009-02-03T15:02:00.000-05:00Robert Downey Jr was nominated 60% because of his ...Robert Downey Jr was nominated 60% because of his performance?<BR/>I think the reason why he got the nod was because people really like him, and they were expecting to nominate him for The Soloist (more Oscar-y), but then it got pushed to 2009, and they still thought they had to give him something (and they weren't going to nominate him for Iron Man).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-29439339760875207032009-02-03T14:51:00.000-05:002009-02-03T14:51:00.000-05:00I agree that Philip Seymour Hoffman fully earned h...I agree that Philip Seymour Hoffman fully earned his Oscar for "Capote", and that was my choice that year too. Nothing against Heath in "Brokeback", but that was just a case where I liked one over the other. <BR/><BR/>I generally like this category, but I thought that "Tropic Thunder" was pretty much unwatchable, so Robert Downey Jr. making it in for that performance drags down the category considerably. Loved PSH in "Doubt", he's my second pick after Heath, who'll win this no problem and will be the pinnacle of my Oscar night. Michael Shannon was good, but there's many names that I'd replace with him. Josh Brolin wasn't even the best supporting actor in "Milk", let alone the entire field, so that nomination doesn't do much for me either. But Heath's Joker more than makes up for those deficiencies in the end.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-65766702218422315032009-02-03T14:43:00.000-05:002009-02-03T14:43:00.000-05:00What did you mean when you said that rewarding Hea...What did you mean when you said that rewarding Heath is the "good/correct" way to honor "The Dark Knight"? Are you saying it deserves nothing beyond supporting actor? Techs? Or is that just the highest profile category for it to be rewarded in, and that's what the audience wants to see the most now. Is that also somehow validating the Academy's snubbing of it in best picture and best director (and for the awful "The Reader" of all things)? Can you clarify that meaning there?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-57041059720315625712009-02-03T14:06:00.000-05:002009-02-03T14:06:00.000-05:00My second place is RDJ.I also agree with you on PS...My second place is RDJ.<BR/><BR/>I also agree with you on PSH. I always feel like I'm supposed to love him, but he just comes off so smug. He's always Philip Seymour Hoffman in every performance. I will admit that I've never seen 'Capote', and that's because I heard someone compare his performance to Milton in 'Office Space' and now I could never take it seriously.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-38927834058272032872009-02-03T13:55:00.000-05:002009-02-03T13:55:00.000-05:00Michael Shannon is actually my second place. I ha...Michael Shannon is actually my second place. I had issues with RR, but I loved his performance. His scenes were my faves of the film.Garenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06569526364085928078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-11689784894671711452009-02-03T13:34:00.000-05:002009-02-03T13:34:00.000-05:00To be totally nerdy here, you could look at the PS...To be totally nerdy here, you could look at the PSH/HL actor year as similar to the Streep/Lange year of 81. You had two indisputably brilliant perfs, but one that just really had to get the award. There's no doubt, I think, that PSH was brilliant in Capote, and he transformed the way Streep did for Sophie, but Ledger and Lange both did emotionally challenging, superb work in felt, brilliant performances which did not seem to be as transformational. I'm not expressing it well, but that dichotomy, between emotional, felt, real performances by an actor vs performances that seem completely transformational, is what I think that's about. <BR/><BR/>Frankly, that's why I hope Penn gets it this year-_I think he did both. He seemed to shift something inside himself and who we understood him to be as an actor/person, while not appearing to do so. Quite an act, I think.<BR/><BR/>As for my second in this race, from what I've seen I'd go for. Haven't seen Shannon; Brolin gets more diffuse for me as my time away from the film grows; PSH is almost a lead and I think upset the balance of the piece; so I'd probably go with Downey.Criticlasmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15942568777607340234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-54332341604609763872009-02-03T13:00:00.000-05:002009-02-03T13:00:00.000-05:00I can't believe that you think Best Supporting Act...I can't believe that you think Best Supporting Actor is usually the worst line-up. Admittedly, my favorite category is usually Cinematography, but out of the main categories, Supporting Actor is always consistently the strongest.<b>Jack</b>https://www.blogger.com/profile/01271818915947176789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-83303373297097500222009-02-03T12:48:00.000-05:002009-02-03T12:48:00.000-05:00Count me as part of the RDJ group.And count me amo...Count me as part of the RDJ group.<BR/><BR/>And count me among the group that wouldn't have voted for PSH for Capote (in which I found him mannered and ***ACTING***!!! in grating ways).Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07607567799469685872noreply@blogger.com