Kevin's Watch

DeNiro has sullied himself by taking too many shit roles [mainly in bad comedies] but when you see him at his most powerfull [as he is in his brief but utterly compelling appearence in American Hustle

But, he's the same character in AH as he was in Goodfellas and Casino. That's not range. That's a reprise.

qfufs wrote: In this light you have to consider that there is not so much a thing as great actors as actors who have been fortunate enough to be directed greatly.

but then on consideration, to play such an extreme charachter really makes little demand on a skilled and trained actors talents. There's so much scope for 'hamming' it and getting away with it, that it's not really a challange.

You may have to consider it sometimes...because sometimes it is true.
But there are great actors. And just "do what the director tells you?"
Seriously?
Then why isn't everyone a rockstar, moviestar, olympic champ, CEO, billionaire investor, experimental and theoretical physicist, NFL quarterback, etc. etc?
Because it doesn't matter at all how great the instructions/vision are if you don't have the talent/skill.
A great performance can absolutely be purely individual.
A great film, however, usually requires high-level work by everyone [or at least most everyone]]
[[Sure, there are great films that work more like paintings in motion, where it's mostly the directors design. And a few films that would be crappy films except for someone's performance]]

On the second...those extreme characters are quite difficult to portray convincingly, and incredibly easy to ruin...
almost anyone can ham it up...
But no one wants to pay any money to watch most of them do it.
Thousands of them a year---at least---go direct to video.
Some of them are this new art-form called "reality TV."...Ham, no wry...[[because people DO love a train wreck and seeing people at their worst...they just don't want to pay 10+ bucks a person [not including transport and snacks] to see it]]

dlbpharmd wrote:

DeNiro has sullied himself by taking too many shit roles [mainly in bad comedies] but when you see him at his most powerfull [as he is in his brief but utterly compelling appearence in American Hustle

But, he's the same character in AH as he was in Goodfellas and Casino. That's not range. That's a reprise.

He played a killer with ice in his veins in Goodfellas and a neurotic controlling pussy in Casino.

Going back to V.'s post - I'm not sure a film 'performance' actually qualifies as a performance as such does it? In the making it's so random, so disjointed that the actor never really gets to perform in the same manner as a stage set production. Here is where an actors metal is tested and true greatness can be achieved (which reminds me - Spacey) and is why all practitioners of the art hanker to get back on to the boards to cement their genius. The performance feel of film is like all the rest of it - illusion.

Like the guests in Macbeth, they stood not upon the order of their going but went at once!

dlbpharmd wrote:

DeNiro has sullied himself by taking too many shit roles [mainly in bad comedies] but when you see him at his most powerfull [as he is in his brief but utterly compelling appearence in American Hustle

But, he's the same character in AH as he was in Goodfellas and Casino. That's not range. That's a reprise.

His villain in Machete was a completely different role for him, though

Of course, there's also Emma Thompson. I don't think I've ever seen a movie where I didn't appreciate her performance.

(Brought to my mind by revisiting Stranger than Fiction, where she's incredibly quirky and eccentric in a not-overdone way)

Rigel wrote:Of course, there's also Emma Thompson. I don't think I've ever seen a movie where I didn't appreciate her performance.

(Brought to my mind by revisiting Stranger than Fiction, where she's incredibly quirky and eccentric in a not-overdone way)

We just re-watched Dead Again a few months ago. She's great.

Much AdoAbout Nothing!

Rigel wrote: His villain in Machete was a completely different role for him, though

The Senator was really more of a pawn of Booth and Torrez.

Movie trivia time: Trejo's character Machete taking down Segal's character Torrez was payback for Segal stuffing a rag into Trejo's mouth before throwing him into the trunk of a car way back in the opening scene from Marked for Death (1990).

Surprised noone has mentioned Jeff Bridges.

He's starred in lots of my favourite movies, from, The Last Picture Show, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Fisher King, King Kong, The Big Lebowski, Tron and Tron: Legacy, True Grit ...

... which reminds me! I noticed that Crazy Heart, his only Oscar Win for Best Actor, was on the DVD shelf earlier this week where I work. Fingers crossed it will still be there tomorrow.

Agreed - he has earned a place on any list worth its salt!

How could I have forgotten - Eli Wallach! Tuco is possibly one of the greatest film charachters of all time. He provides the 'human' foil to Eastwood and Van Cleef's cold efficiency. He fails, rises and fails again always seeming to have the dice roll against him, He's a bastard but you can't help rooting for him. I don't know if Wallach did anything else of the same note - but even if not, that one performance seals his place amongst the greats.