Jennifer Lopez thought she deserved an Oscar, or at least a nod, for the obscure film "El Cantante". Focus: What is the greatest unappreciated role/film that you've seen? Who got shafted? Who didn't get the nod that should have? Let's leave out the obvious ones, like Jim Carey in Truman Show. What haven't we seen that we should have?
How is that one "obvious"? It was a good performance as a straight man, and Wikipedia notes that some people thought he would get a nomination. However, Carey was at best only the second best performance in that film, after Ed Harris, if not the third after Natascha McElhone as his love interest. And which one of these nominations do you think should have gone his way? Anyways, this focus needs some revision. Should we focus on actors or movies? And should we focus on films/performances that are little known by casual movie-goers, or simply underrated? I (and probably Crown Royal) could list a bunch of films/performances most people here have never heard of, but that's no fun. Also, let's try to leave out who "should have" received official nominations and awards out of it. Seriously, who the fuck cares? I have no idea if this topic will be interesting, but let me give it a try; Re-Focus:- Focus on actors and actresses in English language films of the last 30 years. What performances that are rarely brought up by casual fans were great? I'll go first; George C. Scott in the remake of 12 Angry Men- Maybe I'm violating my own rules since IMDB notes he won a Golden Globe and Emmy, but this was one of the better roles of the 90s. Scott plays Juror #3, a half-crazed, violent-minded old man who wants to see the accused man executed, as retribution for his own son, who ran away from home. He is caustic towards any juror that disagrees, but also projects a level of congeniality, humor, and wit, all in an effort to get everyone to vote "guilty". His rants and single-minded, insane desire is amazing to watch, and largely make the film.
Focus: What is the greatest unappreciated role/film that you've seen? Who got shafted? Who didn't get the nod that should have? Let's leave out the obvious ones, like Jim Carey in Truman Show. What haven't we seen that we should have?
Most recently, Sam Rockwell was virtually ignored by the major award circuit for his one-man* show in Moon. Having just watched Crazy Heart for the first time yesterday, I can officially that on the merits Rockwell gave a much more impressive performance than 2009 Best Actor Jeff Bridges. That doesn't mean Bridges wouldn't or shouldn't have won (he was a frontrunner for several good reasons), but for Rockwell to be left off the short list of nominees is a shame on the film's producers' effort. *It was a trifecta of acting feats: for most of the movie he had to 1) play more than one character, 2) act without the benefit of another actor in the scene, 3) carry the entire movie himself, a la Tom Hanks in Cast Away.
Philip Baker Hall as Sydney in Paul Thomas Anderson's Hard Eight. Along with The Cooler, this is another dynamic casino drama. As Sydney, he's a polite, sharp old man with a deep courtesy. He's a gambler, but a smart and successful one and is exceptionally street-smart, never fooled by anyone. Hall is an underrated character actor and he's in fine form here as a most appealing old man with a sad, lined face who lights his cigarettes as if he's been smoking in casinos for years. He demonstrates "tricks" to scoring free things in casinos, and they perform the whole scam on camera. I like it when they let the actors actually show you how to get away with something in a movie, and this is the most clever and believable one I've seen. Hall has a great supporting cast in this film, but he's the core of the movie.
Mark Strong in Body of Lies as Hanni Salam. This guy made the movie for me. He didn't just act Jordanian, he was Jordanian. He could have fooled me about his ethnic background because all of his mannerisms were dead on. Most of these you don't see people just pick up but instead they had to have lived in that culture for at least a decade to learn. For example, how he walked, how he spoke when both calm and angry, how he smoked a cigarette etc. were done perfectly. He was also a textbook supporting character helping to strengthen everyone else's role in that movie.
Michael Clarke Duncan for The Green Mile should have shit stomped Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules for Best Supporting Actor in '99.
1. How is that role under-appreciated or underrated? It's one of the most talked about performances of the late 90s, and pretty much made Michael Clarke Duncan's entire career. 2. You're first person I've ever read who thinks that decision was a robbery. Michael Caine is one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, whereas Duncan had a good performance in a juicy role many other actors would have excelled in. Focus- John Malkovich as well as Frances McDormand in Burn after Reading. A great parody film, and among a lot of excellent performances, those two really stand out. McDormand plays this foolish, slightly manic middle aged woman who is hell-bent on finding the funds for plastic surgery, and has this naive and zealous energy towards attaining this goal. All of her ideas about life come from television and movies, and she is completely myopic to what's going on around her. McDormand really made this a hilarious and entertaining character. Malkovich plays a relatively intelligent, alcoholic, bitter asshole who hates idiots and anyone he considers his inferiors. His life spirals downwards throughout the film (as all similar characters in Coen Brothers' films usually do), and his angry, frustrated insults and outrage is really fun to watch.
1. Don't get your panties in a twist because I didn't choose to go with your re-focus. Oh and please enlighten us as to another actor who could fill in for the role of John Coffey, assuming you've actually read the material it's based on. 2. Michael Caine's acting career aside, that character and that movie was shit, he played a ether huffer. You gonna tell me there isn't another grey haired actor who could lay around pretending to huff ether from a surgical mask? At least one other board member I'll decline to name agrees with my assessment so far.
Oh, I forgot about that part of the original focus. Anyways, just about any large black actor would have done fine in that role. His character is a sympathetic gentle giant. How many times have we seen that in movies? Hundreds? It's a brain-dead, piss-easy role where he largely plays himself in real life. What did you find impressive? I've read the original novel (boring; not one of King's better efforts), but don't see what it has to do with anything. I'm no fan of the movie "Cider House Rules", and to a certain extent, I agree with what you wrote above. However, it doesn't make sense to criticize the ease of Caine's role when the one you preferred is even more routine.
Well it doesn't make sense to say that Michael Caine deserved it for a shit role just because he's had an fine acting career of some thirty plus years either. The character of John Coffey was a 7 foot tall, 300 pound swoll ass brotha, you gonna tell me there's an abundance of black actors in Hollywood who could pull that off and be believable. Aside from Ving Rhames I'm drawing blanks.
Also Fred Williamson, Tommy Lister, and Terry Crews if he were popular back then. Really though, the problem is simply that there aren't that many gigantic black dudes in Hollywood to begin with. If we get rid of that one restriction, hundreds of other actors would be just as good. Honestly, look at all of Michael Clarke Duncan's roles since then; he always plays virtually the same character (even as a villain!), with no range, and often does a poor job.
I always felt that Val Kilmer should have at least been nominated for his portrayal of Doc Holliday in Tombstone. I always wondered how Russell Crowe won for his role in "Gladiator" but lost "For a beautiful mind" I know the handicapped thing has been played out because of Dustin Hoffman and Sean Penn but Crowe was remarkable in that film. I forgot Daniel Day Lewis as "Bill The Butcher" in Gangs of New York. I know he can't win every year but I couldn't take my eye's of him in that role. He stole the whole movie. If J-Lo was to get an oscar nod it should have been for her ultra-tough role in "Enough"