tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post865655214852434363..comments2024-03-17T10:11:46.952-04:00Comments on Film Experience Blog: TIFF: The People Speak.NATHANIEL Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11597109147678235399noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-47762226783482844342010-09-23T14:54:37.678-04:002010-09-23T14:54:37.678-04:00My Last Word: Except, how many times has Brad Pitt...My Last Word: Except, how many times has Brad Pitt been "Bad." Post Fight Club, he's maybe only been bad once. (I count Troy as a "non-performance" that doesn't count toward his batting record. No, it was Babel. And what makes that more disgusting was that he was likely the 6th place that year.)Volvagianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-50573840068083401272010-09-21T21:19:50.692-04:002010-09-21T21:19:50.692-04:00Anyway, if Giamatti is not overdue because he was ...Anyway, if Giamatti is not overdue because he was not the Best of the year, Bening is not overdue either. Even you, a diehard fan, regret the gold medal and said it should go the Imelda! Then, why Is Bening overdue?<br /><br />But, still, getting to the point: do you think that, if AMPAS nominates both Giamatti and Firth, who will they consider more overdue? <br /><br />A guy that, like them or not, gave two performances considered for nominations and that got a nomination?<br /><br />Or this other guy, British, that got only one nomination and only a performance that received attention during Oscar season? (I don't remember Firth being ever in Oscar contention prior to A Single Man).<br /><br />This question is more objective, I think.cal rothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-86760875214028720412010-09-21T20:34:31.765-04:002010-09-21T20:34:31.765-04:00cal -- well that just shows you how debatable &quo...cal -- well that just shows you how debatable "overdue" AND "year best" are. I actually don't remember him PERIOD in <i>man on the moon</i> and i liked the movie. I thought he overplayed his hand in American Splendor but agree he was splendid in SIDEWAYS though not "best of the year". That'd be Jeff Bridges in DOOR IN THE FLOOR.NATHANIEL Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11597109147678235399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-78274227598272831582010-09-21T20:12:35.440-04:002010-09-21T20:12:35.440-04:00"have routinely given masterful, year-best pe..."have routinely given masterful, year-best performances and gone unrewarded."<br /><br />What is routinely?<br /><br />Giamatti gave three year-best performances in a decade, for Man on The Moon, as supporting, and for American Splendor and Sideways, as leading.<br /><br />He may not be the most overdue working actor, but he surely is the most overdue actor in this race.cal rothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-1260715035964911872010-09-21T19:10:16.613-04:002010-09-21T19:10:16.613-04:00The term "overdue" in this thread is baf...The term "overdue" in this thread is baffling me. Do y'all even know what overdue means? It doesn't mean "he was pretty good that one time and the academy didn't give him the award." Overdue is Jeff Bridges last year or Annette/Julianne this year. People who have routinely given masterful, year-best performances and gone unrewarded.<br /><br />But, I guess, I didn't even think Kate Winslet was "overdue" in the traditional sense because, apart from maybe <i>Eternal Sunshine</i> (and even then...), there is another contender in all of her nominated years that gave a better performance.<br /><br />"Overdue" is becoming the new "lock!" No, Natalie Portman is not a lock. No, whatever movie that came out this week to good reviews (<i>The Town</i> for instance) is not a lock. etc. ay ay ay!Glennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08194113062830373898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-74566812737552529652010-09-21T16:57:59.096-04:002010-09-21T16:57:59.096-04:00No, Giamatti is 5X as overdue. Before Capote, Hoff...No, Giamatti is 5X as overdue. Before Capote, Hoffman's only leading role was Owning Mahowny. Before Barney's Version, Giamatti has led/co-led 4 movies and a TV mini series: Sideways, Big Fat Liar, American Splendor, John Adams and Cold Souls.Volvagianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-61787109754450964502010-09-21T09:58:14.001-04:002010-09-21T09:58:14.001-04:00Um... Franco doesn't need to be told to relax....Um... Franco doesn't need to be told to relax. He's managing a perfect balancing act of comedy and drama. Next up for him: What sounds like a raunchy fantasy comedy called Your Highness.Volvagianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-64028709621358893202010-09-21T05:57:24.808-04:002010-09-21T05:57:24.808-04:00Ang Giamatti is exactly as overdue as Philip Seymo...Ang Giamatti is exactly as overdue as Philip Seymour HOffman whe ge got his lead nomination, that same character actor shines as Cinderella win that we've seen since Borgnine in Marty.cal rothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-1495848667874346602010-09-21T05:38:56.452-04:002010-09-21T05:38:56.452-04:00Nathaniel, a handicap is not only a handicap. Over...Nathaniel, a handicap is not only a handicap. Overcoming it can make you sweat, fight, cry and shout, or can make you listen to Geoffrey Rush. Not every handicap is prime bait.cal rothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-18439900902103148242010-09-21T00:53:47.211-04:002010-09-21T00:53:47.211-04:00volvagia -- yeah i despise the toothless Twilight ...volvagia -- yeah i despise the toothless Twilight but i also don't want vampires just ugly/monstrous. to me if you utilize the sex portion of the mythos, you've lost the entire raison d'etre of vampires. otherwise you're just dealing with generic monsters that happen to have fangs.<br /><br />rich aunt -- i probably should have thought of Giamatti when i was typing that Firth has it in the bag. Giamatti is also considered "overdue" -- neither of them are "overdue" in my estimation (for a win) but my estimation doesn't matter ;) -- so if it comes down to both of them, maybe we'll have a real contest for once?NATHANIEL Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11597109147678235399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-76234363312633417942010-09-20T22:48:24.492-04:002010-09-20T22:48:24.492-04:00volvagia -- yeah, i think Pitt has more range than...volvagia -- yeah, i think Pitt has more range than DiCaprio as well. But i think the difference is that what Pitt does best (funky loose wild freaky) is not what you win acclaim for (in the traditional sense of prizes and people going "what an actor!") whereas what DiCaprio does best (anguish) is <i>just</i> that.<br /><br />and the other difference is that when Brad Pitt isn't good in something he is worse than when DiCaprio isn't good in something ;)<br /><br />everyone -- yeah, i don't see how struggling with a handicap or physical limitation (ANY type ... even if it's just speech impediments) is not prime bait in that particular category. We all know that men are rewarded for playing characters who go without their full physical/mental abilities whereas women are rewarded for playing characters who go without their full beauty.<br /><br />it's an obvious double standard based entirely on gender stereotypes as to wthat's "of value"NATHANIEL Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11597109147678235399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-88749058239390071992010-09-20T19:03:40.855-04:002010-09-20T19:03:40.855-04:00Think Shakespeare in Love. Best Picture, Brit crow...<em>Think Shakespeare in Love. Best Picture, Brit crowdpleaser, but nobody ever felt Fiennes should have won.</em><br /><br />But tons of people are already talking about Colin Firth; only Franco's work rivals him in buzz currently. Hence, their cases are not the same.IslandLiberalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02587140315984984396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-90241544896445539822010-09-20T18:29:53.587-04:002010-09-20T18:29:53.587-04:00Being a crowdpleaser doesn't mean people think...Being a crowdpleaser doesn't mean people think an actor deserves best of the year awards. Think Shakespeare in Love. Best Picture, Brit crowdpleaser, but nobody ever felt Fiennes should have won. <br /><br />Of course we have to consider the performance, but intellectual arcs always get little attention unless you're absolutely mad and have to recover your sanity, shouting. <br /><br />Not being able to make a speech doesn't sound THAT HUGE of a handicap. And the making of a leader have to be more heroic than, you know, overcoming a phobia.cal rothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-38349154486994129392010-09-20T17:32:58.301-04:002010-09-20T17:32:58.301-04:00Wait. "DiCaprio has better chops"? He...Wait. "DiCaprio has better chops"? He's only played 2 types of characters well. 1. The damaged or neurotic man (See Gilbert Grape, The Departed, Shutter Island, Inception, Blood Diamond, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, The Beach, This Boy's Life, Total Eclipse, The Basketball Diaries, Marvin's Room) or 2. The Cocky Romantic (See Titanic, Romeo + Juliet, The Quick and the Dead, The Man in the Iron Mask, Catch Me If You Can). Brad Pitt has more demonstrable range: Stoner (True Romance), Damaged Romantic (Interview With the Vampire, Meet Joe Black), Psychos (Fight Club, 12 Monkeys, Kalifornia, Inglourious Basterds, Assassination of Jesse James...(you know the rest)), an impressive oddity (Snatch), the Coolest guy in the room (Oceans series, Thelma and Louise) and a dumbell audience surrogate (Burn After Reading).Volvagianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-15070735910150870892010-09-20T16:49:51.601-04:002010-09-20T16:49:51.601-04:00Moreover, since your concern seems to be that the ...Moreover, since your concern seems to be that the movie isn't "obvious" enough in its character's arc, it's been pretty uniformly described as a crowd-pleaser (and given the Audience Award, there's some quantification of that) - that hardly suggests a film that lacks a recognizable dramatic arc and performance.IslandLiberalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02587140315984984396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-81628316714687877842010-09-20T16:46:45.802-04:002010-09-20T16:46:45.802-04:00It's a movie about oratory for God's sake,...<em>It's a movie about oratory for God's sake, at least on paper!</em><br /><br />It's about struggling with a handicap, about examining George's backstory and how his family experience exacerbated his problems (parent issues), and about bridging class and nationality divides (between George and Dr. Logue, the Australian commoner).IslandLiberalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02587140315984984396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-66056270380100458602010-09-20T16:29:11.245-04:002010-09-20T16:29:11.245-04:00somebody will have to explain to me someday what&#...<i>somebody will have to explain to me someday what's special about Leo in Shutter Island. I think he handles anguish and a particular male sort of emotional bafflement very well (here and in other movies) but a whole performance? I just don't see how that one is particularly interesting. But maybe my reaction is colored by not liking the film very much.</i><br /><br />Shutter Island is a bust. Leo’s performance is appropriately OTT. However the final twenty minutes of the film gives a Million Dollar Baby level emotional twist. Every beat in the flashback sequence is the best acting from Dicaprio since the early 90’s with This Boy’s Life and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. <br /><br />I know what you’re thinking one sequence in a performance doesn’t equal a win let alone a nomination but he’s a movie star who doesn’t get his fair shake in spite of the privileges he gets being a movie star. Sort of like Brad Pitt except Dicaprio has better chops. Although one thing’s for sure Brad Pitt’s best work is when he’s relaxed. When there’s no pretense he’s cooking with grease. You hear that Joseph Gordon Levitt, Christian Bale, James Franco and Leo Dicaprio --- relax and the rest will follow./3rtfu11noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-90982736746810718502010-09-20T16:01:43.576-04:002010-09-20T16:01:43.576-04:00I did see this at In Contention today from Kris Ta...I did see this at In Contention today from Kris Tapley, Sony will be releasing the film for a week in December and wide in January. Following the same path as The Last Station last year.<br />that Barney's Version. <br /><br />I still think Firth is the frontrunner for now though.Rich Aunt Pennybagshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05005421089633289280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-84810291223387129142010-09-20T15:59:20.200-04:002010-09-20T15:59:20.200-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Rich Aunt Pennybagshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05005421089633289280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-75562540631273700632010-09-20T15:55:43.899-04:002010-09-20T15:55:43.899-04:00@Rich Aunt Pennybags
Firth is the frontrunner for...@Rich Aunt Pennybags<br /><br />Firth is the frontrunner for the nomination, not for the win, I think. <br /><br />@IslandLiberal<br /><br />Becoming able to make a speech is not that much of an arc, if you ask an Academy member. What does he do in between? He goes to the front and commands troops to the win? No, he listen to advices from Geoffrey Rush. That's not Best Actor-y, sorry.<br /><br />Brody would be a fair comparision only if you forget he was nominated against 4 former winner in an Holocaust movie. Even is part is not that uneven: he had to fight to survive, he grew a beard and looked hungry in a movie that looks much more "important" (hate the word) than The King's Speech.<br /><br />On Hoffman, NOT AT ALL, because we, the audience, were allowed to every hint of weakness of Capote: we saw him jealous, drunk, disturbed by guilt, with his face full of tears, laughing out loud. All those things were not only mannerism. Every word and look of the performance had a different note to handle (anguish, pride, desperation), and the audience knew all the time what was happening. I really really doubt Firth will have more than 1/10 of the notes Hoffman had to play. It's a movie about oratory for God's sake, at least on paper!<br /><br />It's not like he will have his last scene with the big speech during the whole screentime. That would be Paul Scofield, and it's not the case.cal rothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-48895179723767844442010-09-20T14:43:04.590-04:002010-09-20T14:43:04.590-04:00Best Actor is about visible character arcs, you kn...<em>Best Actor is about visible character arcs, you know?</em><br /><br />At the start of the movie, he can't make a speech, and bombs at trying; at the end of the movie, he delivers a rousing one. That's as visible as they come; anyone can understand that. <br /><br /><em>And, if you dig into Best Actor history, the last winner with this same Firth/George VI profile is... I can't find it. Maybe David Niven in 1958?</em><br /><br />Adrien Brody, 2002, would be an obvious comparison; maybe Hoffman in 2005 too, in terms of emotional repression (Capote had a lot of showy mannerisms, but not emotion).IslandLiberalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02587140315984984396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-60710027425825850502010-09-20T13:54:12.817-04:002010-09-20T13:54:12.817-04:00So less Murnau's Nosferatu or Twilight, more I...So less Murnau's Nosferatu or Twilight, more Interview with the Vampire or Lugosi's Dracula in regard to vampires?Volvagianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-1813997035623290312010-09-20T13:23:35.830-04:002010-09-20T13:23:35.830-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Rich Aunt Pennybagshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05005421089633289280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-25465275991788111372010-09-20T13:23:32.601-04:002010-09-20T13:23:32.601-04:00Rich Aunt Pennybags
I still don't see where t...<i>Rich Aunt Pennybags<br /><br />I still don't see where this frontrunner status for Firth comes from. You don't win Oscars if your character isn't able to talk in public. Best Actor likes assertive, showy, active parts. <br /><br />And Brit actors usually win for American movies or great heros. I imagine AMPAS members seeing The King's Speech and wondering what's so difficult in playing a guy that can't make a speech. Best Actor is about visible character arcs, you know? Helen Mirren would never win Best Actor for The Queen. It's not about the performance, really. I think you all are falling into wishful thinking. <br /><br />And, in terms of momentum, a lot of people think Giamatti had should won by now, after two egregious snubs in American Splendor and Sideways. His part isn't also that bait, but when Oscar goes for comedy, they do it with verbal foul-mouthed guys. <br /><br />And, if you dig into Best Actor history, the last winner with this same Firth/George VI profile is... I can't find it. Maybe David Niven in 1958? <br /><br />That's it. I really don't see Firth winning for this role. I don't know who's gonna win (Giammatti is a risky bet, too), but I am almost sure Firth won't.</i><br /><br />I think Firth is a frontrunner now just because the rest of the rest of the field is so wide open right now. A lot of the other contenders seem too young to actually be in contention for the win (Eisenberg, Franco, Gosling). A few others like possibly Duvall, Bardem, and maybe Douglas probably will more likely serve as filler than a real threat to win since they've all won before, and are unlikely to win with the movies they might be nominated for this year. David O. Russell's never been an Academy pet, and even if <i>The Fighter</i> does get nominated in several categories, right now it seems Mark Wahlberg might be upstaged by his supporting co-stars; although, if the movie gets a Best Picture nomination, I think he's in just because he's the lead, and leading actor seems so weak right now. Further, I'm not sure being in two very successful films is enough for DiCaprio to be nominated this year even if does feel like a weak year right now because of the vote splitting, and because I don't know if they'll look all the way back to February if they need a filler nominee. <br /><br />As for Giamatti, while he is a past nominee, it doesn't seem like <i>Barney's Version</i> as a whole will be as baity as <i>The King's Speech</i>. Maybe <i>The King's Speech</i> won't inspire as much passion as like perhaps <i>Barney's Version</i> might, but <i>TKS</i> seems really safe, and something that they're likely to nominate in more categories than <i>BV</i> not just Best Actor. There's not much else right now that seems to be that baity with a leading actor in it whose age wouldn't work against him, so Firth is my frontrunner.Rich Aunt Pennybagshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05005421089633289280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8256060.post-19513996974929682452010-09-20T11:20:19.656-04:002010-09-20T11:20:19.656-04:00Except it's not that it "can be good"...Except it's not that it "can be good" it's "can it be shameless bait?" The answer: "Any movie about an illiterate 84 year old African, even if directed by Mike Nichols, is shameless bait."Volvagianoreply@blogger.com