Sunday, January 3, 2010

Top Ten (Male Actors ) of the DECADE. ( most consistent anyway)

1. Phillip Seymour Hoffman (deserves the title as most profound, most consistent actor of the decade) - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, The Savages, Capote, Doubt, Charlie Wilson's War, Synecdoche - New York (hated hated hated the movie but admired the performance still)

2. Sean Penn - The Assassination of Richard Nixon (too disturbing for most but quite comforting to me and my brother), Milk, Mystic River.
3. Daniel Day Lewis - There Will Be Blood, Gangs of New York, Nine.
4. Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain, The Dark Knight, Monster's Ball.
5. Viggo Mortensen - The History of Violence, Eastern Promises, The Road
6. George Clooney - Up in the Air, Michael Clayton, Burn After Reading.
7. Tom Wilkenson - In The Bedroom, (TV films but so amazing) Recount & Normal.
8. Ben Kinsley - Sexy Beast, The House of Sand and Fog, You Kill Me, Elegy.
9. Matt Damon - The Informant, The Departed, Invictus.
10. Michael Shannon - Bug, Revolutionary Road, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.

*** Honorees: Forrest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland. Leonardo DiCaprio - The Departed, Revolutionary Road, Gangs of New York. Russell Crowe - Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind ( Then after this one - he went from actor to egoistical movie star) Paul Giamatti - Sideways, American Splendor. Jeff Daniaels - The Squid and The Whale, Michael Douglas - Wonder Boys. Liam Neeson - Kinsey, Taken. Peter Sarsgard (should never do PR - comes off as an arrogant jerk) - Shattered Glass, An Education, Kinsey.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Top Ten (Female Actors ) Performances of the DECADE.

Difficult - God knows, I love my girls!

1. Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose ( The clear standout performance of the decade.)
2. Laura Linney - The Savages / You Can Count on Me / The Squid and The Whale
3. Kate Winslet - Little Children/ The Reader
4. Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada / Julie & Julia
5. Dame Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
6. Amy Adams - Junebug / Doubt / Enchanted
7. Renee Zellweger - Bridget Jones's Diary / Chicago
8. Marcia Gay Harden - Pollack / Mystic River / The Dead Girl
9. Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone / Capote
10. Sissy Spacek - In The Bedroom

Sunday, March 15, 2009

TOP TEN - walking away from EXPLOSION performances.

It's become common film trope or even cliche', but when it's good it always works.
That unflinching, steely interior resolve of a tough character that could care less about dying. He's got other, more important things on his mind...
Like:
1. Robert Duvall -  as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgrove in Apocalypse Now. He was the first (I believe; the original - Godfather of 'the walk away from bombs, explosions, gunfire and possible death' to ride the perfect wave with his new blonde surfer buddy, Sam Bottoms.)
2. Javier Bardam - as Anton Chugirh in No Country for Old Men. Overused at this point. But when it's done right. You can actually make it'll virginal again. 
3. Heath Ledger - as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Just when you thought Javier was going to put this puppy to bed once and for all. Heath came and made it all his own...again. In the unforgettable hospital explosion scene with Heath in Nurse Drag walking out like he had been up all weekend with the boys from the White Party - great stuff. 
4. Tom Berenger-  as Sergeant Barnes in Platoon. Tough a nails. One of the great tough guy performances. Only enhanced by his ability to walk upright while the VietCong are firing all around him. He walks right over two buried land-minds and doesn't bat a scared eyelash. I think I'm in love.
5. George Clooney (New BFF) and Quentin Tarantino (deformed head & crack head) as The Gecko brothers in From Dusk Til Dawn. Fun twist on the genre of walking away from flames as they bicker away like schoolgirls.
6. George Clooney in Syrianna. Don't really remember his character's name but I know he gained a shitload of weight, won the oscar and nearly broke his neck ...and had that one great scene where he walked away from an explosion.
7. Antonio Bandaras and Salme Hayek  in Desperado. It just looks hot when both of them our doing the same thing. Guilty ultra cheeseball factor even after that first viewing but still somehow works. Both in their latino-never-lose-my-accent-aren't-I sexy prime.
8. Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard. Not quite steely resolve. More like fed-up and pissed but gave us a couple ultimate tag lines of the 80's "Yippee-ki-yayh mother f**ker" and "Welcome to the Party..."
9. Jackass - poking fun at the explosion cliche and sequels in their Jackass: The Movie, Son of Jackass 2063
10. Con Air. Desperately searching now to finish out my list. But I did like how everyone reacted except for the fantastic John Malcovich ("Little Johnny Mal-co-pee") as Cryrus the 'Virus'.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Top Ten Sport Films - Scott

1. Rocky
2. Slap Shot
3. Eight Men Out
4. Brian's Song
5. Bull Durham
6. Cobb
7. Heaven Can Wait
8. Seabiscuit
9. Kingpin
10. Hoosiers

Top Ten Sport Films - Scott

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Top Ten Supporting Actress, Comedy - Scott

(Finally)

1. Maureen O'Sullivan - Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Catherine O'Hara - For Your Condsideration
(One - Two Irish Punch)
3. Dianne Wiest - Hannah and Her Sisters
4. Kathy Bates - About Schmidt / Primary Colors
5. Angelica Houston - Crimes and Misdemeanors
6. Meryl Streep - Adaptation
7. Hope Davis - The Weather Man
8. Liza Minnelli - Arthur
9. Julie Haggarty - Lost in America (22...22!)
10. Wanda Sykes - Clerks 2 ( Sometimes I need to talk to my brother before he posts)

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Top Ten Directors - Mike

1. Woody Allen
2. Mike Nichols
3. Sidney Lumet
4. Martin Scorsese
5. Robert Altman
(tie.) Elia Kazan
6. Stephen Frears
7. Sydney Pollack
8. Ang Lee
9. Ridley Scott
10. Clint Eastwood, Francis Ford Coppola

Top Ten Directors - Scott

1. Woody Allen ( Come on...some duds...The man's a genius!)
2. Sidney Lumet
3. Martin Scorsese
4. Ang Lee
5. Alexander Payne
6. Stanley Kubrick ( Don't believe in God, but God rest his soul)
7. Christopher Guest
8. Clint Eastwood
9. Sydney Pollack
10. Robert Redford

Top Ten Supporting Actress, Drama - Scott

1. Shohreh Aghdashloo - House of Sand and Fog
2. Glenn Close - The World According to Garp
3. Cate Blachett - The Aviator
4. Susan Peretz as "Angie" - Dog Day Afternoon
5. Juliette Lewis - Kalifornia
6. Pam Grier - Fort Apachee, The Bronx
7. Phyllis Somerville - Little Children
8. Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Machinist
9. Kim Bassinger - 8 Mile
10. Laura Linney - Kinsey

Top Ten Movie Endings - Scott

1. ...And Justice for All
2. Little Miss Sunshine
3. American Beauty
4. Rocky
5. Gladiator
6. Heaven Can Wait
7. One Flew Over the Cockoo's Next
8. Dog Day Afternoon
9. The Verdict
10. Taxi Driver

Friday, September 21, 2007

Top Ten Best Movie Endings - Mike

( Just the last few moments.)

1. Kramer vs. Kramer (Seemed real, inspired and improvised. Raw emotions - really smart ending. That's how I would have done it. You wanted just one more scene - but no. It's as it should be, Dustin's no teeth smile to his former wife, elevator shuts. He got his son.)

2. The History of Violence (David Cronenberg’s sly, brilliant merger of a revenge fantasy and an essay on the American Dream has an appropriately messy, provocative ending. So much going on in their faces. The whole journey, what do we do now?, and the little girl was genius. How much we all need to believe in 'the fantasy of family'.)

3. Hannah and Her Sisters ( Perfect, just perfect. Not so much cause Woody can reproduce - Diane Weists' magical delivery "I'm pregnant".)

4. Private Benjamin (Goldies face - beaming and then throws up her veil into the wind. Her face goes through a big ( beginning - middle and end) transformation and every moment is crystal clear - and shiny. Underneath, it's her commenting on and playing up her persona, but then it's so much more. It's a very pro-feminists piece of film-making. And then there she goes walking off into an unknown  future...a better world - without marriage.)

5. The Verdict (She's calling him - Galvin won the case and has the girl desperate on the other end. He got his balls back!)

6. Ordinary People ( Gets me every time. It's big melodrama words but the men are two of the best actors having a very real moment and the camera pulls back, music plays - it's pure cinema poetry and I have no problem with Robert Redford winning the OSCAR over Marty)

7. Silence of the Lambs ( Every frame of the film was perfect. I can't believe how many times I've watched this movie. It still holds up like brand new. It all leads up to that sweet ending of Hannibal following this ultimate next meal - it's scary and witty - and we're all rooting for him - love it! Changed the way we see movie hero's. This ending almost doesn't fit into the tone of the movie before - but it's still so good.)

8. Working Girl ( Ironic and insightful and inspiring all at once - it's a great moment. Joan Cucsak leaps to her feet "She did it! - She got out!" then that terrific score and music by Carly Simon "Let the River Run!" camera pulls back fast - Melanie turns her body perfectly in the chair of her new office. Camera pulls out of the building - we see many offices - hundreds. Women movin' on up! Being upwardly mobile, and power hungry, but what's it all mean? Smart director.)

9. Fargo - (Cinema, especially recent cinema, isn't known for its portrayals of happy marriages -- especially not in crime movies. But the last scene in this Coen brothers masterpiece doesn't involve any blood, bullets, or double-crosses. It just shows the Gundersons, Marge (Frances McDormand) and Norm (John Carroll Lynch), sitting in bed. He tells her that his painting is going to put on a three-cent stamp, she tells him how great that is, and the emotional core that has been developing throughout the film is suddenly sitting right in front of us.)

10. Rocky - (As Bill Conte's score soars in the background, a bloodied Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) and a hat less Adrian (Talia Shire) finally proclaim their love for one another. And in the distant background, a ring announcer tells a frenzied crowd that our hero has actually lost the fight that held us captive for an entire final act. In one dramatic move, two shy nobodies find their hearts and nothing else matters.)

Honorable Mentions -  No Country for Old MenThe Usual Suspects, Memento, The Spanish Prisoner, Before Sunset, Postcards From the Edge (used to hate it - now I love it), The Color Purple ( Beautiful silhouette of 'Mister' moving through the field with the reunited sisters doing their childhood clap), Shakespeare in Love ( What can I say - I'm a sucker for women walking off alone), Tootsie, 9 to 5, All That Jazz, The Birds, Some Like it Hot, Jacob's Ladder (whole movie a brief hallucination before dying - fabulous) & Little Miss Sunshine ( Gives one hope that good movies are still possible).

Top Ten Great Performances in Not-so-great / Bad Movies - Mike

Top Ten Performances ( Men and Women) in 'Not-so-great' / Bad Movies.

1. Peter O'Toole - The Stunt Man
2. Tom Hanks - Philadelphia
3. Jodie Foster - The Brave One / The Accused and Nell ( Nell is embarrassingly bad. I laughed throughout. Like TV Movie of the Week ala 70's bad...Wild-child girl has to go to court...how stupid is this? But God does Jodie commit)
4. Jessica Lange - Rob Roy ( accent feels a tad off but her emotion is genius as always)
5. Al Pacino - ...And Justive For All (Movie couldn't decide what it wanted to be...)
6. Johnny Depp - That first lame ass Pirate Movie.
7. Diane Keaton - Somethings Got to Give
8. Christian Bale - Pick a movie, any movie.
9. Charlize Theron & Frances McDormand - North Country. 
10. Catherine O'Hara - The Mighty Wind & For Your Consideration (Taking advantage of all the worked he poured into Best in Show and Guffman. These two were stinkers.)

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Top Ten Men in Musicals

1. Robert Preston – The Music Man , Victor/Victoria (love my gays)
1. Roy Shrieder – All that Jazz (not great singing but brilliant acting)
2. James Cagney – Yankee Doodle Dandy
3. Joey Grey – Cabaret
4. John Cameron Mitchell – Hedwig and the Angry Inch
5. Joaquin Phoenix – Walk the Line
6. Charles Durning – The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (brief but brilliant)
7. Treat Williams – Hair
8. Richard Gere – Chicago
9. Rex Harrison – My Fair Lady
10. Christopher Plummer – The Sound of Music,
tie with only one... Ewan McGregor - Moulin Rouge

Top Ten Females in a Musical

(very difficult - they could all be number #1)

1. Barbra Streisand – Funny Girl
2. Sissy Spacek – Coal Miner’s Daughter
3. Diana Ross – Lady Sings the Blues
4. Bette Midler – The Rose (May be my favorite)
5. Liza Minnelli - Caberet
6. Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line
7. Michelle Pfeiffer - The Fabulous Baker Boys
8. Julie Andrews – Victor/Victoria
9. Dolly Parton - The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ('Guilty Pleasure' as charged)
9. Catherine Zeta Jones– Chicago
10. Nicole Kidman – Moulin Rouge
tie: Natalie Wood – West Side Story, Julie Andrews – Mary Poppins/ Sound of Music, Renee Zellweger – Chicago (mainly for the puppet scene - other scenes she just looked hungry and on blow)

Top Ten Movie Lines - Mike

1. "Could you not breath so hard" . Geraldine Page - Interiors

2. "...I especially loved the part of the mother character, just a boozy old flirt with a foul mouth..." - Maureen O'Sullivan - Hannah and Her Sisters

3. "...I hate April, she's pushy..." . Diane Wiest - Hannah and Her Sisters

4. " ... I understand. It's just while people are here. It's all right my darling. It's nothing, it's painful, but not important. I'm leaving, the freak, the monster is leaving" . Nathan Lane - Birdcage

5. "Fucking men...Don't defend your sex! Your great til you start to show your age...Then they want a newer model..." (puff) Judy Davis - Husbands and Wives

6. "George George George George...It's Michael Dorsey your favorite client...Yes...swear to God...Last time you got me a job it was a tomato". Dustin Hoffman - Tootsie

7. "Instant gratification takes too long" . Meryl Streep - Postcards From The Edge

8. "I never heard of her" . Jennifer Tilly - Bullets over Broadway

"Who's She?...I need a drink..." Diane Weist - Bullets over Broadway

9. "Did you know your Aunt Kissy is staying with us now?" Sam Wanamaker - Private Benjamin ( partly due to the Barbara Barrie reaction shot)

10. "...No...That's it!...Thank you for answering my question." - Olympia Dukakis - Moonstruck

"We both got what we settled for..." - Susan Surandon - ( a tad dramatic but true) - Thelma & Louise

"Do you ...enjoy...being an actor?" (So non-plussed, bored, stalling for time. She just threw-it-away brilliantly) Catherine Keener - Being John Malcovich

" ...and being so sensitive he feels to need to do things most men don't..like the need to suck dick." Queen Latifha - Living Out Loud

Top Ten Movie Lines - Scott

( Make 'em personal)

1. "Keep em coming sweets...I got a long drive ahead". Bill Murray - Kingpin

2. Are you in my class? "I am today". Sean Penn - Fast Times at Ridgemount High

3. "Let's just say...I Like you a lot". Michael Caine - Alfie

4. "This non-person...this haircut that passes for a man". Maureen O'Sullivan - Hannah and Her Sisters

5. "...that was a very convincing dragon you should be proud". Will Farrell - Starsky and Hutch

6. " ...I tried to fart and a little shit came out...I Shart'd..." Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Along Came Polly

7. "I just thought she was a raging alcoholic". Jim Carrey - Dumb and Dumber

8. "You can't trust something that bleeds for five days and doesn't die". Herbert Garrison - South Park bigger longer and uncut

9. "if I was a fag I could get laid on the subway...Come on Captain! Stay with me..." Vince Vaughn - Made

10. Where's Momma's TV set? "I SMOKED it!" Samuel Jackson - Jungle Fever

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Top Ten Female, Classic (Comedy and Drama) - Mike

Female Classical Performances – Signature Roles (from the beginning of film to 1968)

1. Vivian Leigh – A Streetcar Named Desire
1. Bette Davis – All About Eve
2. Katherine Hepburn – The Lion and Winter
3. Gloria Swanson – Sunset Blvd.
4. Olivia deHavilland – The Heiress
5. Katherine Hepburn – African Queen
6. Geraldine Page – Sweet Bird of Youth
7. Anne Bancroft – The Graduate
8. Elizabeth Taylor – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
9. Geraldine Page – Summer and Smoke
10. Joanne Woodward – Three Faces of Eve
tie: Audrey Hepburn – Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Debroah Kerr –From Here to Eternity, Elizabeth Taylor – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Kim Stanley – Séance on a Wet Afternoon.

Top Ten Male, Classic (Comedy & Drama) - Mike

Male Classic performances – Signature Roles (Beginning of Film to 1968)

1. Marlon Brando – A Streetcar Named Desire ( Changed acting forever)
2. Peter O’Toole - Lawrence of Arabia
3. Marolon Brando – On The Waterfront
4. James Cagney – Yankee Doodle Dandy
5. Spencer Tracy – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Mom's fav.)
6. Gregory Peck – To Kill a Mockingbird
7. Paul Scofield – A Man of All Seasons
8. Paul Newman – The Hustler / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
9. Richard Burton – Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?
10. Michael Caine – Alfie? ( my brother's fav!)
Jack Lemmon – Some Like it Hot, Humphrey Bogart – Casablanca, Clark Gable – Gone with the Wind, Laurence Olivier – Hamlet, James Stewart – Rear Window.

Top Ten Child Performances - Mike

Top Ten Child Performances ( Under 17)

1. Mary Badham - To Kill A Mockingbird
2. Tatum O’Neal – Paper Moon
3. Justin Henry – Kramer vs. Kramer
4. Abigal Breslin – Little Miss Sunshine
5. Haley Joel Osmond – The Sixth Sense
6. Quinn Cummings – The Goodbye Girl
7. Jodie Foster – Taxi Driver
8. Juliette Lewis – Cape Fear
9. Kiesha Castle Hughes – Whale Rider
10. Linda Blair – The Exorcist, Reese Witherspoon – The Man and The Moon.

Top Ten Supporting Female, Comedy - Mike

1. Dianne Wiest – Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Judy Davis - Husbands and Wives
3. Eileen Brennan – Private Benjamin
4. Dianne Wiest –Bullets over Broadway
5. Maggie Smith – California Suite
6. Shirley McLaine – Postcards from the Edge
7. Madeline Kahn – Paper Moon / Blazing Saddles.
8. Kathy Bates – Primary Colors
9. Teri Garr – Tootsie
9. tie for ninth and moving up quick Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada
10. Females in BEST in SHOW – Parker Posey, Catherine O’Hara, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge.
tie: Olympia Dukakis – Moonstruck, Joan Hackett – Only When I Laugh, Leslie Ann Warren – Victor /Victoria, Dyan Cannon - Heaven Can Wait, fuck so many….my new fav. Barbara Barrie – Breaking Away / Private Benjamin ( It's really a cameo but her in those sunglasses and wiping down Goldie's coat just kills me.)