Favorite Performances

[Zola]

7 minutes ago, coppersin said:

Tom Hanks, correct?

oops! Hastily corrected 😳

[VCRTracking]

Tom Hanks at the end of CAPTAIN PHILLIPS.

[Danny Franks]

I still think the quintessential Tom Hanks performance is in Sleepless in Seattle. It's not showy or award-worthy, it's not a faithful depiction of a historical figure, it's not weighty with drama. It's just... charming. He plays a bereaved husband, a loving but frustrated dad and a man yearning for love, and does them all perfectly, with humour as well as pathos.

He's done so many, far more important movies since then, and I love a lot of them. But Sleepless in Seattle is Tom Hanks at his Tom Hanksiest.

Edited July 16, 2020 by Danny Franks

[VCRTracking]

10 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

I still think the quintessential Tom Hanks performance is in Sleepless in Seattle. It's not showy or award-worthy, it's not a faithful depiction of a historical figure, it's not weighty with drama. It's just... charming. He plays a bereaved husband, a loving but frustrated dad and a man yearning for love, and does them all perfectly, with humour as well as pathos.

He's done so many, far more important movies since then, and I love a lot of them. But Sleepless in Seattle is Tom Hanks at his Tom Hanksiest.

Here's a funny story Hanks told on Graham Norton concerning the movie:

 

 

[katha]

Nicole Kidman in "The Others". She's chilling in that and I always admire about her that she doesn't have a problem playing unlikable and cold characters. 

Al Pacino in the first and second Godfather movie. He's often been such a ham in the years since, but the restraint of these performances is masterful. He's surrounded by mostly louder performances, but manages to convey the authority of Michael and how scary he's becoming with very sparse effects.

Adam Driver in "Paterson". I have seldom seen something like that put to screen tbh. He has barely any dialogue throughout the film, nothing much happens plot-wise. It's just stillness and reaction shots, mostly. And yet he conveys a whole inner life, relationships, strokes of a biography of the character. 

[Ohiopirate02]

14 hours ago, katha said:

Al Pacino in the first and second Godfather movie. He's often been such a ham in the years since, but the restraint of these performances is masterful. He's surrounded by mostly louder performances, but manages to convey the authority of Michael and how scary he's becoming with very sparse effects.

Adam Driver in "Paterson". I have seldom seen something like that put to screen tbh. He has barely any dialogue throughout the film, nothing much happens plot-wise. It's just stillness and reaction shots, mostly. And yet he conveys a whole inner life, relationships, strokes of a biography of the character. 

When it comes to the Godfather movies, John Cazale gives my favorite performance.  He is so good at showing Fredo to be the bumbling middle brother, and if you look closely you can see his discontent growing throughout the first film.  And then you get Part II where you can also tell early on Fredo is up to something culminating in that scene in Cuba.  He also broke my heart in the set up to his death scene.  

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Kate Hudson in Almost Famous.  

Patrick Fugit, Roger Ebert, myself, and many more fell for her.  What a peppy, naughty, warm, and smart portrayal.

Probably the most famous scene in the movie is her reaction to the fact she had been lost in a poker bet to a different band.  "What kind of beer?"

If anyone wants to say that another actor in that movie is a favorite performance, they would get no argument from moi.  

[Blergh]

Sharon Warren' s performance as Ray Charles's mother the  struggling, overworked but powerful  Aretha in Ray was phenomenal. The scene in which her now-blind young son cries for help for her to lead him to where he needs to go while she silently but tearfully stays quiet so he has no choice but to attempt to make it from Point A to Point B using his other senses was unforgettable especially at the very end when he DOES manage to do it and she makes the tiniest sound. She was nominated for quite a few nominations (but no Oscars) for this debut movie performance in 2004- yet she has only been in one other movie Glory Road (2006) since then and appears to have quit the film industry altogether. AFIAK, she's still living but what Miss Warren has been doing since, I have no idea! 

[shoregirl]

5 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

Kate Hudson in Almost Famous.  

Patrick Fugit, Roger Ebert, myself, and many more fell for her.  What a peppy, naughty, warm, and smart portrayal.

Probably the most famous scene in the movie is her reaction to the fact she had been lost in a poker bet to a different band.  "What kind of beer?"

If anyone wants to say that another actor in that movie is a favorite performance, they would get no argument from moi.  

She is so good in Almost Famous.

[Danny Franks]

On 7/19/2020 at 8:05 AM, Lonesome Rhodes said:

Kate Hudson in Almost Famous.  

Patrick Fugit, Roger Ebert, myself, and many more fell for her.  What a peppy, naughty, warm, and smart portrayal.

Probably the most famous scene in the movie is her reaction to the fact she had been lost in a poker bet to a different band.  "What kind of beer?"

If anyone wants to say that another actor in that movie is a favorite performance, they would get no argument from moi.  

Mine, earlier in this thread, was Billy Crudup. I find him to be such a convincing 70s rockstar in that movie - charming, charismatic, slightly seedy and disreputable. It's as easy to see why both William and Penny fell for him as it is to see why both guys fell for Penny.

Hell, Jason Lee is great in it too. And Frances McDormand. And Zooey Deschanel and Philip Seymour Hoffman have really memorable, magnetic supporting roles (Seymour Hoffman gets some of the best lines in the entire movie).

That film deserves a lot more love than it tends to get. It's such a great watch.

Edited July 20, 2020 by Danny Franks

[VCRTracking]

"Misery" is where Kathy Bates deservedly gets the most praise and I also like her in "Dolores Claiborne" which I recently watched, but my favorite performance of hers is in "Primary Colors".

[kiddo82]

Been rewatching the Hunger Games series.  Elizabeth Banks and Stanley Tucci are still money.  Banks gets to bring a real depth to Effie as she goes from oblivious, low level bureaucrat to showing genuine care and concern for her friends/team.  And she does it all while in Effie's persona.  Tucci, on the other hand, does Caesar's enthusiastic reality show host veneer so well that I almost fall for it before I'm like, "Nope.  Insincere propaganda jackass."   

Edited July 26, 2020 by kiddo82

[Spartan Girl]

In honor of Olivia de Havilland I feel like I should pick my favorite of her roles but it's hard to choose. I'm gonna give it a three way tie between The Heiress, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and of course Melanie in Gone With the Wind.

[Wiendish Fitch]

47 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

In honor of Olivia de Havilland I feel like I should pick my favorite of her roles but it's hard to choose. I'm gonna give it a three way tie between The Heiress, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and of course Melanie in Gone With the Wind.

I agree, Spartan Girl. Definitely her trifecta.

If I may, I'd like to chime in with some other great performances by the wonderful Miss Livvie:

The Strawberry Blonde: As Amy, the lovably brash feminist who shocks (but then charms) James Cagney, de Havilland proves that sometimes good girls can have all the fun and the best lines!

In This Our Life: The movie's kind of trashy and overwrought, but de Havilland plays Bette Davis's "plain" (yeah, yeah, I know) sister with dignity, warmth, and humor. 

My Cousin Rachel: Probably one of the darkest, most enigmatic roles she ever played, as a possible murderess the young Richard Burton falls for.

The Snake Pit: Yeah, it's Hollywood's idea of how psychology and mental illness work, and it will probably elicit groans, but de Havilland is incredibly memorable as mental patient Virginia.

Captain Blood: Her first film with Errol Flynn, playing spirited love interest Arabella. I still can't get over that she was a teenager when she made this!

Edited July 26, 2020 by Wiendish Fitch

[kiddo82]

I'll always have a soft spot for To Each Their Own.  The look of sheer content on her face at the end brings a tear to my eye.

[Wiendish Fitch]

11 minutes ago, kiddo82 said:

I'll always have a soft spot for To Each Their Own.  The look of sheer content on her face at the end brings a tear to my eye.

I wish they'd release that one on blu ray already. It's sappy, but in the best possible way.

[kiddo82]

2 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I wish they'd release that one on blu ray already. It's sappy, but in the best possible way.

Haha.  Agree.  But it feels so earned so it works on me.

[Spartan Girl]

My favorite part in her Maid Marian performance is when the Merry Men raid their party, and Robin's sitting next to her devouring his meal while asking why isn't she eating. She gives him the perfect the stink-eye and said he was making her lose her appetite. But when she slowly warms up to him, she starts taking theses delicate ladylike bites of her meat, and he lets out his booming laugh.

[VCRTracking]

I love in the tournament scene how everyone knows it's a trap. EVERYONE.

[VCRTracking]

On 7/19/2020 at 12:05 AM, Lonesome Rhodes said:

Kate Hudson in Almost Famous.  

Patrick Fugit, Roger Ebert, myself, and many more fell for her.  What a peppy, naughty, warm, and smart portrayal.

Probably the most famous scene in the movie is her reaction to the fact she had been lost in a poker bet to a different band.  "What kind of beer?"

If anyone wants to say that another actor in that movie is a favorite performance, they would get no argument from moi.  

 

On 7/19/2020 at 5:55 AM, shoregirl said:

She is so good in Almost Famous.

 

On 7/20/2020 at 9:00 AM, Danny Franks said:

Mine, earlier in this thread, was Billy Crudup. I find him to be such a convincing 70s rockstar in that movie - charming, charismatic, slightly seedy and disreputable. It's as easy to see why both William and Penny fell for him as it is to see why both guys fell for Penny.

Hell, Jason Lee is great in it too. And Frances McDormand. And Zooey Deschanel and Philip Seymour Hoffman have really memorable, magnetic supporting roles (Seymour Hoffman gets some of the best lines in the entire movie).

That film deserves a lot more love than it tends to get. It's such a great watch.

And just last week:

 

 

 

[Nordly Beaumont]

Michael Stuhlbarg in the Coen Brothers movie, A Serious Man. I'm a fan of the Coen Brothers and A Serious Man is one I watch over and over (maybe I should take the advice given in the movie "Accept the mystery" - but I keep trying to figure out what every little thing means!) Michael Stuhlbarg is brilliant in it. He conveys so much with slight changes in the way he purses his lips, widening his eyes just a bit, a little raise of his eyebrows. It's just a great performance.

Simon Helberg and Fred Melamed are also great in very small roles.

[VCRTracking]

My favorite performance of Robert Redford is Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park".

 

 

 

 

 

[vb68]

My favorite Robert Redford movie is probably Jeremiah Johnson.

Edited September 23, 2020 by vb68

[kiddo82]

Been binging the Scream movies all weekend.  I don't know if Roger Jackson ever really gets the credit he deserves for his voice work in that series.  So sinister but not over the top.  

 

And speaking of 90s teen slasher movies, I think Sarah Michelle Gellar steals I Know What You Did Last Summer ("No, he used scissors, asshole.") and makes the most out of every frame she's in in Scream 2.  I think (a) it's because her face is so emotive and (b) she really is one of the best criers around.  She says so much without saying anything at all, especially in the build up to her chase scene in Scream 2.  And again, in a genre that can lend itself to a lot of scenery chewing, it never feels like it's too much.   

Edited October 26, 2020 by kiddo82

[proserpina65]

On ‎07‎/‎16‎/‎2020 at 5:19 AM, Danny Franks said:

I still think the quintessential Tom Hanks performance is in Sleepless in Seattle. It's not showy or award-worthy, it's not a faithful depiction of a historical figure, it's not weighty with drama. It's just... charming. He plays a bereaved husband, a loving but frustrated dad and a man yearning for love, and does them all perfectly, with humour as well as pathos.

He's done so many, far more important movies since then, and I love a lot of them. But Sleepless in Seattle is Tom Hanks at his Tom Hanksiest.

Which is probably why I avoided anything with Tom Hanks for ages, because I hated Sleepless in Seattle, and don't really like him at his Tom Hanksiest.  I preferred his early comedic performances (like Splash and Bachelor Party) or some of his more recent non-Hanksy roles.

On ‎07‎/‎16‎/‎2020 at 10:31 PM, katha said:

Nicole Kidman in "The Others". She's chilling in that and I always admire about her that she doesn't have a problem playing unlikable and cold characters. 

That's the performance she should've won an Oscar for.

[kiddo82]

I wouldn't consider myself the biggest Potter Head even though I have seen all the movies.  However, whenever someone brings up the latest season of the Crown (which I don't watch but I know the cast) my initial reaction is always "I'm scared of Imedla Staunton."  I think that says a lot about the impression her Umbridge left on me.

[BlueSkies]

Chazz Palminteri in A Bronx Tale 

[kiddo82]

Both Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson in Her.  She does everything with only her voice and he does so much with just his facial expressions.  It's really a remarkable contrast.  And they have so much effing chemistry that it's unfathomable to me that not only were they never together playing off each while shooting, she recorded her lines after the movie was finished.  Both of these performances deserved nominations and I never tire of them.

Speaking of performances I never tire of:

Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny.  Comedy doesn't always age well but this performance still hits every single time.

Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina.  The way she uses her body in that role never ceases to impress me.  Her Oscar may say "The Danish Girl", but for me, it's 100% for this performance.

Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction.  That dialogue just drips from his mouth like he was born saying it and he is effortlessly cool.

Andy Serkis in the LoTR trilogy:  Gollum is such a presence in the films that I think it's easy to forget there is an actual person giving the performance.  Then I realize the physicality and the voice work and the tippy top level of emotions that Serkis brings, sometimes flipping in an instant, and I'm just in awe of him. 

Too soon to say definitivly because I've only seen Everything Everything All At Once one time but I still find myself thinking about Stephanie Hsu in that movie and all the emotional gymnastics she had to deliver.  I really hope she keeps getting roles worthy of her talent.

Edited November 23, 2022 by kiddo82

[andromeda331]

On 11/22/2022 at 4:29 AM, kiddo82 said:

Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny.  Comedy doesn't always age well but this performance still hits every single time.

Marisa Tomei was so incredible in that movie. I love Lisa so much. She was cool, funny and very supportive. Lisa and Vinny are my favorite couple that fights a lot but also uses that as foreplay. Except for that one scene towards the end they were both very supportive of each other. When Vinny hears about mud in the tires he immediately asks Lisa if she's ever heard of it because he knows she knows so much about cars and when he finds out she got stiffed playing pool he goes to collect. Lisa helps him throughout the movie from reading the law book, to bailing him out and I love her testimony. It's so well done. Even the judge ends up having a crush on her.

[BlueSkies]

1 hour ago, andromeda331 said:

Marisa Tomei was so incredible in that movie. I love Lisa so much. She was cool, funny and very supportive. Lisa and Vinny are my favorite couple that fights a lot but also uses that as foreplay. Except for that one scene towards the end they were both very supportive of each other. When Vinny hears about mud in the tires he immediately asks Lisa if she's ever heard of it because he knows she knows so much about cars and when he finds out she got stiffed playing pool he goes to collect. Lisa helps him throughout the movie from reading the law book, to bailing him out and I love her testimony. It's so well done. Even the judge ends up having a crush on her.

Todd Rundgren was always one of my favorite artists.  When he got interviewed once about not being in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame he said awards shows in general are a joke and he brought up Marisa winning an Oscar for an example.

I kind of agree with his general premise but really Todd 😡!  That was a bad example to bring up.  One of the few times I thought the oscars got it right.  

[Ohiopirate02]

On 11/25/2022 at 4:36 PM, BlueSkies said:

Todd Rundgren was always one of my favorite artists.  When he got interviewed once about not being in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame he said awards shows in general are a joke and he brought up Marisa winning an Oscar for an example.

I kind of agree with his general premise but really Todd 😡!  That was a bad example to bring up.  One of the few times I thought the oscars got it right.  

I remember that for years a rumor went around saying Jack Palance read the wrong name and someone else was supposed to win that Best Supporting Actress Oscar and the Academy somehow just ran with it.  The list of actresses nominated was stacked with Vanessa Redgrave, Joan Plowright, Judy Davis and Miranda Richardson; so I'm guessing one of those ladies was supposed to win and not the brash American doing a comedic role in a movie directed by the guy who brought us Clue and Nuns on the Run.  Classism at its finest.

[BlueSkies]

11 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I remember that for years a rumor went around saying Jack Palance read the wrong name and someone else was supposed to win that Best Supporting Actress Oscar and the Academy somehow just ran with it.  The list of actresses nominated was stacked with Vanessa Redgrave, Joan Plowright, Judy Davis and Miranda Richardson; so I'm guessing one of those ladies was supposed to win and not the brash American doing a comedic role in a movie directed by the guy who brought us Clue and Nuns on the Run.  Classism at its finest.

None of these other performances you named were memorable at all imo.  Marisa deserved it 

[Irlandesa]

I think she won because we know what happens when the wrong winner is announced. It gets fixed.

[DearEvette]

My husband and I were talking about what makes a performance great for you and I said it was when an actor + role was a revelatory in some way.  Maybe it was an actor that I had previously ignored and this one made me notice or they bodied the role so hard that I could never see anyone else in it.

For me here are a few:

Rita Heyworth in Gilda - she was so smart and hard and witty in that role.  I didnt notice anyone else in the movie.

Ditto with Jane Greer in Out of the Past.  Holy man her character was a viper and she acted rings around Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum.

Both Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire were perfection.  She of course was at her wise-cracking, fast talking, tough girl best and he was against type as a nerdy professor. Such a fun movie.  The remake with Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo, A Song is Born, is also worth a watch.

A bit more modern---

Angela Bassett whom I've always liked, but made me sit up and really notice her as Tina Turner of course but then she delivered a second knock out and really surprising performance as Mace, the bad ass BFF of Ralph Fiennes in Strange Days totally underrated movie.

Denzel Washington as Malcom X is one of my hands down favorite performances ever!  Before it had come out I had a taken a class called Malcolm Speaks and it was all about the speeches of Malcom X and as part of the class we had to  listen to them.  Sidebar: the man was so charismatic and his speeches were a thing of literary beauty.  Anyway, what impressed me so much about Denzel was how he got the cadence of Malcolm's voice intonations just right.  It was perfect.

Debi Morgan in Eve's Bayou.  A criminally underrated performance in a criminally underrated movie.  By all rights she should have at least gotten an oscar nom for it. 

[andromeda331]

On 11/26/2022 at 3:08 PM, BlueSkies said:

None of these other performances you named were memorable at all imo.  Marisa deserved it 

Marisa really did deserve it. She was fantastic in that movie.

Edited November 28, 2022 by andromeda331

[proserpina65]

23 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Debi Morgan in Eve's Bayou.  A criminally underrated performance in a criminally underrated movie.  By all rights she should have at least gotten an oscar nom for it. 

I finally watched Eve's Bayou after wanting to for years.  It's a fantastic movie, and yes, Debi Morgan's performance was a standout in a group of great performances.

[kiddo82]

On 11/27/2022 at 12:54 PM, DearEvette said:

My husband and I were talking about what makes a performance great for you and I said it was when an actor + role was a revelatory in some way.  Maybe it was an actor that I had previously ignored and this one made me notice or they bodied the role so hard that I could never see anyone else in it.

Yeah, I don't even know what my own criteria is but I know it when I see it.  Sometimes I get it right away and sometimes I need multiple viewings.  But like you said it's usually a performance where I can't help but take notice of someone or a performance that I can't get out of my head for a substantial length of time.  And degree of difficulty weighs in also.  Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada for example.  Not only is she incredibly good in her own right but she is as equally good in her role as Ms Streep is in hers.  I think she should have easily gotten nominated for that performance. (I also would have nominated her for Mary Poppins.  She was that good but the movie itself was a bit of a let down so I get it.)

[BlueSkies]

Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall in Falling Down 

[kiddo82]

On 11/26/2022 at 4:56 PM, Ohiopirate02 said:

I remember that for years a rumor went around saying Jack Palance read the wrong name and someone else was supposed to win that Best Supporting Actress Oscar and the Academy somehow just ran with it.  The list of actresses nominated was stacked with Vanessa Redgrave, Joan Plowright, Judy Davis and Miranda Richardson; so I'm guessing one of those ladies was supposed to win and not the brash American doing a comedic role in a movie directed by the guy who brought us Clue and Nuns on the Run.  Classism at its finest.

I kind of hate the argument that Oscar votes should be prescient.  Landscapes change over time and it's so easy to have hindsight as to what has and hasn't held up over the years.  Even with the best of faith voting it's a snapshot of a moment, not necessarily what people are going to look back on 5, 10, 30 plus years down the line.  That said, and this shouldn't be the be all and end all but it is a factor, no one remembers those other performances and everyone to this day remembers Mona Lisa Vito.  Every inch of that statue is deserved.  

[proserpina65]

On 12/1/2022 at 6:00 AM, kiddo82 said:

no one remembers those other performances and everyone to this day remembers Mona Lisa Vito.

I wouldn't say no one remembers any of those performances.  I loved Enchanted April and think Joan Plowright was magnificent in it.  I also fully believe Marissa Tomei deserved that Oscar.