It's not acting anymore... can it be real?

[Pacino86845]

IPAMPILASH!

[MasterWhedon]

Back on topic, you know what performance REALLY got to me? Gollum in Two Towers, the back-and-forth schizophrenic scene. There were other moments in the film when he was a CGI character, but that scene... Nothing better.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Yeah, I'd go with that being real, 'cos I do have a mate that looks like him.

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

Okay, the Dino, he did a what a the Blue could a not a bring a himself a to do anna he split a the thread, eh? Look for a the Garden State thread inna the Movie Reviews a room, eh?

[Pacino86845]

Thanks Dino!

[doglips]

The whole cast of the Thin Red Line. Man that film is so emotionally intense, I love it from start to finish but it takes quite a lot of concentration to watch it properly. Then after you get past watching it you realise how much all the actors must have put in to make it so taught and erm, claustrophobic, is that the right word? One hell of a movie anyway.

Jeff Bridges WAS the Dude.

[clownboy]

Randy Quaid as Larry Meadows in the Last Detail. Amazing. Check out the scene in the greasy dinner. Randy actually flinches when Nicholson tells them to send it his cheesebuger back. Actually the whole fucking cast including Jack and (may he rest in peace) Otis Young are brilliant. Doesn't look like acting at all. And of course...I AM THE MOTHERFUCKING SHORE PATROL!!! Give this man a beer!

[DennisMM]

As mannered as the rest of it might be, the last couple shots of Dangerous Liasons are stunning. Glenn Close sitting there, in silence, no big gestures, her face displaying her agony but very restrained, wiping off her makeup as a few tears slip out.

[bluebottle]

This might be slightly off topic, but i think that actors like Gene Hackman and Donald Sutherland almost always bring their A-Game. They are two of the finest actors EVER.

I find it sad that if they were to arrive on the scene today, they wouldn't get any work, they're not good looking enough... Hollywood would brand them as, "Steve Buschemi types"

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Gene Hackman had some great natural though calculated moments doing his Heroine addiction/cold turkey segment of French Connection 2.

I seem to be the only gentleman that talks about it.

[bluebottle]

i've never seen part 2, is it really that good?

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

God, not another one!

[bluebottle]

kirks, i'm serious, i'm not trying to bait you... has this been discussed before, cuz i missed it.

[thomasgaffney]

I must have missed it as well, Blue, because I only saw the first French Connection myself and was waiting for Kirk reply to your post.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Yeah, I know you're being serious, but it always disconcerts me whenever I try to tell people how incredible the middle section is of this film, and they go "Oh I haven't seen it. I guess I'll see it straight away - based on your ravings about it. Whatever".

It just bores me. Especially when I made sure my mates saw it when it was last on BBC1.

The following day when I asked them about it, hoping to have a real excited talk about the Cold Turkey section, they just turned round and banged on and on and on about some other film they watched on ITV instead, totally ignoring my ravings about the 2nd act.

I was like, "Oh fuck you, you self concerned gentleman."

Now, I'm not digging at you guys, but please, do me a favour and just see it, so I don't have to waste my breath and energy.

Put it this way. Don't expect a miraculous bit of cinema from what I have said. The first act is OK, nothing special. Then all of a sudden it just becomes a totally different film, goes straight into another dimension when something bad happens to Popeye Doyle and Heroin. It is a horrible and agonising mental and physical struggle for Popeye as we are taken into his Hell and pain as he tries to cope with the addiction.

What happens is harrowing, and though I really hate to bang on about how great an actor is in a film, as I think it's beside the point in a way, (I PREFER to rave about how great the experience was, to go through the character's journey - because of the actor obviously.), I have to say that I've never seen him this brilliant before.

It's incredibly raw, loud, realistically harrowing piece of acting. I haven't seen him be so 'out there' like this. It's similar to the things that you'd see Robert de Niro or Harvey Keitel do.

Now please, I think that you can get this for a fiver or cheaper at the HMV sale, or buy a FC1/FC2 back to back, DVD.

[bluebottle]

Ok, I know what to do.

[thomasgaffney]

Now please, I think that you can get this for a fiver or cheaoer at the HMV sale

Uh, what's the equivalent of a cheaoer in Earth money?

EDIT - I see that it was just a typo on Kirk's part, since corrected. Sorry, Kirk!

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Oh, now I see you've corrected yourself after I just did.

Now I gotta edit my Evil Angry Icon.


Bollox, can't be bothered.

I bet you're gonna watch it and come back here and call me a gentleman, and say that it was nowhere near as good as I said it is.

This is what happens when you don't see something. Everyone else hypes it up for ya, then you end up dissapointed.


It's your own fault.

[buster00]

I think I've got one...it's not quite as deep as, say, Popeye Doyle's smack addiction, but it always struck me as a "they're not acting" moment:

_Wayne's World_. Wayne and Garth are lying on the hood of the car trying to be "young philosophers," remember? And Garth asks Wayne something like, "Did you used to think Bugs Bunny was hot when he dressed up like a girl bunny?"

When Mike Myers started CRACKING UP LAUGHING, it just didn't seem like it was in the script.

[Pacino86845]

Nice call, buster00. I hadn't even considered comedic situations, but that is totally a classic moment, now that you mention it!

[minstrel]

This might be a bit off topic, but there are times when it looks like something goes wrong but the actors just stay in character and go with it.

In "Nixon", there's a scene in the Oval Office with Anthony Hopkins and David Hyde Pierce (I think), and as they're leaving, Hopkins goes to open a door and the doorknob comes off in his hand. He says something like "This place is a shambles" and then bangs on the door yelling for someone to, like, let the President of the United States out of his office.

That may have been scripted, but it always looked to me like the set carpenters just kinda screwed up and the doorknob wasn't supposed to come off. Hopkins handled it very well, though.

[Shane]

along this topic

I hear that the end of Apocalypse now was 90% improvised and was never scripted.

does anyone know how true that is?

[vicious_bastard]

Richard E. Grant was sober throughout the filming of Withnail & I amazingly. He is teetotal. I read somewhere that the director got him pissed once in private to prepare for the part and he was soon violently sick and went to sleep. Far from the lighter fuel downing maniac we see in the movie.

[Alex DeLarge]

How about Jake Gyllenhal in basicly all of Jarhead. What an intense role.
Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke when he cracks and is forced to dig that hole in the ground.
Richard Dreyfuss as Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind when he starts rippin apart his lawn to build the huge model.

[ThisIsTheGirl]

along this topic

I hear that the end of Apocalypse now was 90% improvised and was never scripted.

does anyone know how true that is?

I think it's very true. Not just the end either - a lot of that movie is improvised. Coppola's experiences while making it are almost as interesting as the film itself! If you can, you should watch Hearts of Darkness, the documentary that was filmed simultaneously with Apocalypse Now

[havocSchultz]

jeff bridges in the big lebowski... he was The dude... and John goodman actually in Lebowski as well... just seemed like a perfect fit... and i enjoyed Depp in Fear and Loathing... him and Del Toro felt so effortless in that movie...

[Pudie]

Ellen Burstyn in Requiem. I'd say from about the crazy fridge scene on I pretty much forgot I was watching a movie and seeing her get worse and worse was just hard to stomach.

[Seppuku]

Ed Norton in American History X...The man wasn't acting.

[Seppuku]

At least until he got to that phoney rehabilitation section, that required some dramatic chops.

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

The Big Three leads inna Jaws, eh? Shaw, Scheider, anna Dreyfus, they alla inna the top form, no? Iffa you watch a the documentary onna the latest DVD release, a lot of a the footage onna the boat was a not a so much a the acting, eh?

[vicious_bastard]

along this topic

I hear that the end of Apocalypse now was 90% improvised and was never scripted.

does anyone know how true that is?

I think it's very true. Not just the end either - a lot of that movie is improvised. Coppola's experiences while making it are almost as interesting as the film itself! If you can, you should watch Hearts of Darkness, the documentary that was filmed simultaneously with Apocalypse Now

Hopper confessed to having spent the whole shoot in the jungle on acid, didn't he? I'm sure a lot the craziness has been exaggerated over time.

Pudie - good call. I mentioned Burstyn earlier. Makes me squirm.

[The Ginger Man]

I just saw Touch of Evil for the first time today. And man, Orson Welles....wow. Impressed me so much, I had to resurrect this topic.

[Maceox]

Anthony Hopkins..dont know when but the camera lingers on just his eyes no dialogue verbally..but those eyes, those eyes.

[Maceox]

Julianne Moore in Magnolia when she falls in love with her husband just as he is dying. Also doctor office and pharmacy scene.


Phillip Seymore Hoffman in the movie he did with Dinero where he played a transvestite. Remarkable.

[DanielSan]

Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider. Her crying speech scene at the school assembly - Wow.

[Vegeta]

Nathen Lane in "The Bird Cage"... if I didn't know better he would have convinced me he was really Dumbledore!

[Vegeta]

The Big Three leads inna Jaws, eh? Shaw, Scheider, anna Dreyfus, they alla inna the top form, no? Iffa you watch a the documentary onna the latest DVD release, a lot of a the footage onna the boat was a not a so much a the acting, eh?

Yeah Shaw was apparently completely smashed the entire filming. He definetly didn't have a problem with the whole "old salt" thing.

[ThisIsTheGirl]

I think I've got one...it's not quite as deep as, say, Popeye Doyle's smack addiction, but it always struck me as a "they're not acting" moment:

_Wayne's World_. Wayne and Garth are lying on the hood of the car trying to be "young philosophers," remember? And Garth asks Wayne something like, "Did you used to think Bugs Bunny was hot when he dressed up like a girl bunny?"

When Mike Myers started CRACKING UP LAUGHING, it just didn't seem like it was in the script.

Um, dunno if you're out there right now, Buster. But there was one of those annoying "100 best comedy films" TV shows on the other day, and they spoke about this moment. It IS completely real laughter. Totally improvised. Apparently, it was the last thing they shot that day, and everyone was really tired. Good call!

[austenandrews]

Seo-woo Eun as the little girl in the Korean spook flick Phone. If you've seen the film, you know exactly what I mean.

[Nachokoolaid]

How about Jake Gyllenhal in basicly all of Jarhead. What an intense role.
Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke when he cracks and is forced to dig that hole in the ground.
Richard Dreyfuss as Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind when he starts rippin apart his lawn to build the huge model.

I was going to mention Jake in Jarhead. I saw a couple of interviews afterwards, and it scared me a bit, because he seemed to be losing his mind filming that movie. In one scene, they say he really started to crack.

And in terms of real, that scene in The Usual Suspects where they all have to read "Give the the keys you fucking cocksucker" and you feel that the guys were bonding. That was real. it wasn't written like that in the script at all, and they were laughing and "wasted" the whole day. Looking at the dailies, Singer said that you could see the actors bonding on screen, so they didn't reshoot, and left it like it was.

[Nachokoolaid]

The Big Three leads inna Jaws, eh? Shaw, Scheider, anna Dreyfus, they alla inna the top form, no? Iffa you watch a the documentary onna the latest DVD release, a lot of a the footage onna the boat was a not a so much a the acting, eh?

Shit, I was just about to edit my post and add this one. Good call.

[Retardo_Montalban]

I thought Jim Carrey in "Man on the Moon" was spot on.
He was only overshadowed by Danny Devito. That man disapears in his roles. He made the Penguin work in Batman REturns. He's also such a total loser in "Throw Mama From the Train" that you can't help but feel empathetic to him, even though he supposedly murdered a complete stranger and is plotting to kill his own mother. I think I cried when he was showing Larry his coin collection. Shit Goddamned, he also directed that one too.

[Neo Zeed]

Was the Monster's Ball sex scene real? I think so!

[MiltonWaddams]

Now just what was so bad with Garden State?

uh.. it's a sack of shit? i tried to like it, i don't mind zach braff, and natalie portman is adorable, but fuck, that movie is stupid.

even though your girlfriend is fucked up, you can find comfort in the fact that you can be fucked up together, cry in the rain more, pussies. ugh that movie makes me angry. try to akwardly jam some quirky bullshit into the 20-minutes-of-story-stretched-out-into-90.

[Nachokoolaid]

I thought Jim Carrey in "Man on the Moon" was spot on.
He was only overshadowed by Danny Devito. That man disapears in his roles. He made the Penguin work in Batman REturns. He's also such a total loser in "Throw Mama From the Train" that you can't help but feel empathetic to him, even though he supposedly murdered a complete stranger and is plotting to kill his own mother. I think I cried when he was showing Larry his coin collection. Shit Goddamned, he also directed that one too.

You're forgetting Devito's best role, and that's in One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest. He was great in that, and totally believable as a mental case.

[Nachokoolaid]

Was the Monster's Ball sex scene real? I think so!

Me and my buddies would say that all the time. That damn Billy Bob!!!

[Neo Zeed]

Was the Monster's Ball sex scene real? I think so!

Me and my buddies would say that all the time. That damn Billy Bob!!!

There's a part where you catch Billy Bob's sack (yeah, I know), and when Halle's is riding him, it moves when she moves. It looked pretty damn sure to me like penetration. But you can check for yourself...(But if you don't wanna search around for Billy's sack, I completely understand..of course Halle's ass is right next to it so...)

So he's bagged Angelina & Halle. What's next? Billy Bob's goes latina with Jessica Alba then swings around to Italy with Moinca Belluci? This guy's a pimp .....

[Alex DeLarge]

Tom Cruise in Born on the 4th of July. I just finished watching it... wow.. amazing performance.

[Seppuku]

Max Shreck in Nosferatu.

[Brocktune]

this one might be kind of lame, but i thought of steve martin in "the jerk". specifically, his duet on the beach with bernadette peters. like, here is this character who is a complete dunce, but you totally believe it. you also see the sensitive side to him, which makes you very sympathetic to the character. then all of a sudden there is this moment where he isnt so much of an idiot anymore. there is just pure emotion between him and her. but just for a moment. then we are thrust back into the real world where he is a loveable moron. but that one scene where they sing that song together. well, ill be dipped if that dont make a little lump in my throat when i watch it.

Speaking of John Hurt: The Elephant Man. Wow.

Yeah, good one. I watched that on herb, and I literally didn't know what to do when that guy was beating him in the schoolroom/lab(?). Dunno if it was the black and white and the use of oppresive Lynch sound, but I'm sure Hurts performance must have helped. Yeah... very intense.

good call, dudes. the elephant man is so amazingly performed by all involved. but the part at the end where he (merrick) is thanking anne bancroft and all that. wow. sometimes i cant even sit through that flick because i get so fucking emotional.

Gary Oldman in Sid and Nancy. Actor? What actor? Thought it was the real thing.

same here.
the man is a fucking genius. i am always crowing to unlistening ears about what a talent he is.

Danny DeVito anna Christopher Lloyd inna the One Who Flew Over a the Cuckoo's Nest, eh? Both of a those putzes, they have a become a the charicatures of a themselves over a the years, eh? Anna goddamn it I should a know!

lets not forget brad dourif. he is another chameleon, much like oldman. he just becomes his character. in the season 1 finale of deadwood, he was simply amazing. same thing goes for Ian McShane. as al swearengen. every episode he is awesome, but in that season 1 finale he was unreal. seriously, he and this show restored my faith in television.

oh, one more before i go...
takashi shimura in "ikiru"
breathtaking