Author |
Message |
|
billyweeds |
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:06 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
I didn't recognize him at first in The Town, since he'd lost so much weight (presumably through the cancer that finally took him). All I did at first was think, "Who is this fucking great actor who suddenly makes the whole movie look even worse than it looked already?" Then I realized, "Oh, duh, Pete Postlethwaite giving a great performance. What else is new?" Boy, did he ever make that character evil! Did you ever want to see him taken out! (Of course, not for real. Sad news.) |
|
|
Back to top |
|
bartist |
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:09 am |
|
|
Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6954
Location: Black Hills
|
Quote: Oh damn. He was Robert's dying father in Inception, too. I remember him especially as the conductor of the colliery band in Brassed Off!.
He was great in Brassed Off!! (second exclamation point is mine) Too bad most US filmgoers will remember him as the big game hunter in the Jurassic Park movie. |
_________________ He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
|
Back to top |
|
marantzo |
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:13 am |
|
|
Guest
|
I remember him most vividly in The Usual Suspects. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
billyweeds |
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:15 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
marantzo wrote: I remember him most vividly in The Usual Suspects.
That's the one referenced in the headline of his obit in the NYTimes. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
jeremy |
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:17 pm |
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
|
The first time I came across Pete Postletwhaite was in Brassed Off. Rightly, he never felt the need to lose his northern accent, but perhaps because of this it took a while for me to appreciate his true talent - my southern prejudice had pigeon-holed him as a type of actor peculiar to Britian - the gruff, northerner who tells effete southerners how it is. He was of course much more than this caricature. Like many British actors who cut their teeth on the stage, British TV or small films, he came to Hollywood's attention very late in his career. As with Judi Dench and Ian Mckellen, this can be both a missed opportunity and a blessing in disguise; they come to film as fully-formed actors who are neither in thrall of the medium or the milieu.
Though it was something of a surprise - it always seems somewhat arbitray and therefore hard to predict which Britsh actors Hollywood will decide to pluck from relative obscurity - it was good that America could see what I couldn't. I think Baz Luhrman's Rome + Juliet (which, for some reason, I saw before The Usual Supects ) was the first American film that I remember saying to myself, "Hey, isn't that the guy from Brassed-off ; what's he doing there?" Though an unshowy and unselfish actor, Pete Postlethwaite could bring a hard to define depth to any scene, something more than gravitas. He could draw you into the film. It was no wonder he became such a go to guy for many directors.
[A quick review of his filmography brings up a host of good films such as The Last Of The Mohicans that included Pete Postlethwaite, but about whose performance I have little or no recollection. This may be a testament to his acting being all about the part and always hitting the right notes.] |
Last edited by jeremy on Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:55 pm; edited 1 time in total _________________ I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
|
Back to top |
|
jeremy |
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:35 pm |
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
|
From today's Guardian, Christopher Hitchens on tea:
Quote: Christopher Hitchens may, in his words, be "shackled to my own corpse" – the great polemicist was diagnosed with throat cancer last year – but he still cares about the little things in life. Over the weekend, he penned a 1,000-word treatise for the American website Slate entitled How To Make a Decent Cup of Tea.
According to Hitch, it is "virtually impossible in the United States" – his home for the last 30 years – "to get a cup or pot of tea that tastes remotely as it ought to". Hitch's main gripe is that Americans seem to offer only cups of tepid water, with teabags served separately. Tea drunk like this, he says, is not worthy of the name – and is "best thrown away".
But all is not lost. Nothing if not constructive, Hitchens has provided us with a list of guiding principles, which, if followed closely, will surely revive the art of tea-making in the US. The most important of these is making sure that boiling water is added to the teabags. "Grasp only this, and you hold the root of the matter." Next, Hitch insists that your teapot be pre-warmed – and that your mug be cylindrical. As for milk, "use the least creamy type or the tea will acquire a sickly taste. And do not put the milk in the cup first."
As Hitchens himself acknowledges, his analysis places him within a canon of tea-based literature that dates back to George Orwell. But though Hitch is broadly in agreement with Orwell's take on tea, the pair do deviate on some crucial matters. Hitch feels that Orwell's preference for china teapots and "Indian or Ceylonese" tealeaf is outmoded. And while Orwell argues that it is "misguided" to add sugar, for Hitch, "brown sugar or honey are, I believe, permissible and sometimes necessary".
But Hitch's closing remarks are ones that Orwell would surely not quibble with. "Next time you are in a Starbucks or its equivalent and want some tea," he writes, "don't be afraid to decline that hasty cup of hot water with added bag. It's NOT what you asked for." |
_________________ I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
|
Back to top |
|
Earl |
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:58 pm |
|
|
Joined: 09 Jun 2004
Posts: 2621
Location: Houston
|
I agree with every word of what Hitchens said there about tea. He is particularly on point about the boiling water. Put that tea/tea bag in the empty pot/cup first. Then take water that has just been brought to a boil within the past few seconds and pour it over the tea. Absolutely crucial.
The next part, however, is equally important. Let it steep. It isn't coffee. You don't just filter water through it and drink it right away. The tea leaves and the water need two or three minutes to get to know eachother, become acquainted. Please excuse the stereotype, but most Americans don't have the patience for this.
I love tea. |
_________________ "I have a suspicion that you are all mad," said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; "but God forbid that madness should in any way interrupt friendship." |
|
Back to top |
|
Joe Vitus |
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 5:09 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
|
Oddly, I've always loved tea and always made it the way he describes. I'd add that you have to have a china cup. With a pewter cup, the tea just won't taste the same.
I do love coffee better, though. |
_________________ You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
|
Back to top |
|
marantzo |
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 8:22 am |
|
|
Guest
|
Ah, tea. I've always liked tea but am a regular coffee drinker. Three large cups every morning. Cream no sugar. The fact that coffee has double the caffeine of tea is one reason I prefer coffee, but I also like the stronger taste and since I'm in Colombia I have to drink their coffee. If any of you remember last year when I experimented with Coca Tea which is made from Coca leaves and is legal here. I kept increasing the amount I drank until I reached six cups, but no Coca effect whatsoever. Nice tasting tea though. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
whiskeypriest |
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 9:31 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
|
Joe Vitus wrote: Oddly, I've always loved tea and always made it the way he describes. I'd add that you have to have a china cup. With a pewter cup, the tea just won't taste the same.
I do love coffee better, though. You have a pewter cup? Where do you live, Colonial Williamsburg? |
_________________ I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
|
Back to top |
|
bartist |
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 11:45 am |
|
|
Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6954
Location: Black Hills
|
Quote: Next, Hitch insists that your teapot be pre-warmed – and that your mug be cylindrical.
I'm not a handsome man, but my mug is not cylindrical.
Really? The mug should be cylindrical? Doesn't this man have better things to occupy himself, like converting people to atheism?
Earl Grey is a decent beverage, but most teas don't excite me, no matter how long they steep.
With a pewter cup, I think the tea would taste funny and also give you metal poisoning of some kind. |
_________________ He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
|
Back to top |
|
knox |
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 12:14 pm |
|
|
Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1246
Location: St. Louis
|
Coffee is for drinking, tea is for people who like to warm their hands around a cup of tan water. Throwing it into Boston Harbor is not a bad idea.
I think Postlewaite was a Mohican, in LOTM, and did indeed disappear into his role, which is pretty good for an Englishman. I remember him there, and in The Usual Suspects. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
mitty |
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:17 pm |
|
|
Joined: 02 Aug 2004
Posts: 1359
Location: Way Down Yonder.......
|
knox wrote:
I think Postlewaite was a Mohican, in LOTM, and did indeed disappear into his role, which is pretty good for an Englishman. I remember him there, and in The Usual Suspects.
Yes, the one that wanted the younger sister and watched/allowed her to throw herself off of that waterfall/cliff. Amazing actor. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
mitty |
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:19 pm |
|
|
Joined: 02 Aug 2004
Posts: 1359
Location: Way Down Yonder.......
|
Earl wrote: I agree with every word of what Hitchens said there about tea. He is particularly on point about the boiling water. Put that tea/tea bag in the empty pot/cup first. Then take water that has just been brought to a boil within the past few seconds and pour it over the tea. Absolutely crucial.
The next part, however, is equally important. Let it steep. It isn't coffee. You don't just filter water through it and drink it right away. The tea leaves and the water need two or three minutes to get to know eachother, become acquainted. Please excuse the stereotype, but most Americans don't have the patience for this.
I love tea.
Steeping is most important, right after just boiled.
Although I'd have to add that an iron teapot brews just as well as a china pot. I've both. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
Joe Vitus |
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 2:23 pm |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
|
My folks have one of those hot water faucets in the kitchen, you know the kind that instantly give you scalding water? They put the cup under that to make their tea, but I think it tastes terrible. Same in the microwave. You have to boil the water.
And don't pour it in a pewter cup. China. |
_________________ You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
|
Back to top |
|
|