| Author |
Message |
|
| bartist |
 Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:18 am |
 |
|
|
Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
|
| It's funny, but I think of Hoffman as an actor who is fairly kinetic, quite adept at using his whole body, so the "acts with his nose" doesn't make sense to me. Ha ha, what a way to spark a discussion, Marc! |
_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
|
| Back to top |
 
|
| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:40 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
|
Someone pooped in the punch bowl again.
I think DeNiro has given more really great performances than Hoffman, if only by virtue of having worked so much with Scorsese. |
_________________
I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
|
| Back to top |
|
| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:51 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
|
I find it hard to rank such talents. Strawdogs, Billy Bathgate, Lenny, Little Big Man, Sleepers....Hoffman has gotten more offbeat and quirky roles, as well as his big Oscar-fodder stuff.
Interesting that both have found downtime in Fockers movies. |
_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:51 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
whiskeypriest wrote: Someone pooped in the punch bowl again.
I think DeNiro has given more really great performances than Hoffman, if only by virtue of having worked so much with Scorsese.
De Niro's great performances, however, are all more or less the same performance with variations. Almost every time De N strays from his comfort zone the results are competent but bland (Everybody's Fine), worse (Godsend, Meet the Parents), or horrible (Analyze That).
I will give you Midnight Run, but that was just a more comic riff on the usual De Niro gangster character.
Hoffman, OTOH, has done everything from outrageous comedy (Tootsie) to human dramedy (Kramer v.K., Last Chance Harvey) to action thriller (Outbreak) to Straight Time (the superb, criminally neglected black comedy I neglected to include earlier; it's perhaps H's greatest perf of them all). Hoffman is inarguably (except, I guess, by Marc) a great actor. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:06 am |
|
|
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
|
I'm in camp Jeremy.
Hoffman used to seem actory and annoying (a certain smugness), but I like some of his latter day roles where he seems looser and .... better. |
_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| shannon |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:38 am |
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 1628
Location: NC
|
Hoffman > De Niro, though neither one of them seem to be trying anymore.
Re: The Conspirator. It seems funny to be using spoiler alerts for historical events. Just sayin'.
Joe - I thought I sent you a private message, but I guess it didn't get sent because it's not showing up in my outbox. I need your email address. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:43 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
| I agree it's kinda weird to use spoiler alerts for history, but the Mary Surratt case is something I for one was relatively clueless about, so I appreciate it. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:58 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
|
| I'll admit to finding Hoffman somewhat mannered in Midnight Cowboy, but I like the performance, and I like him generally. |
_________________
You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
|
| Back to top |
|
| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 10:06 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
"I agree it's kinda weird to use spoiler alerts for history, but the Mary Surratt case is something I for one was relatively clueless about, so I appreciate it"
Did anyone on here know the case of Mary Surrat? I certainly didn't, but I'm not a Yankee.
I saw Straight Time at a screening by a friend of mine who was a movie distributor (or whatever you call them). Hoffman was very good and the movie was also. I was surprised when it hit the theatres and quickly disappeared. I also saw Julia at a screening and thought it was a sappy piece of crap. It ended up being a big success and won Oscars which were definitely not deserved. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| knox |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 11:19 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1246
Location: St. Louis
|
Hadn't heard of the Mary Surrat case, so spoilers were definitely there, in terms of potential to remove a bit of uncertainty as to who hangs.
Hoffman -- Jeremy may be right, that he was a little puffed up in some early roles, but I've liked him in just about everything. It's hard for me to tell when someone is being too "actorly" - vs. just being a film whose style invites actors to play it a little larger. Dustin said in an interview that he liked to create characters who are like the people who come to see movies, rather than like the people they would like to be. So, perhaps a Barton Finkish quest for the common man.... |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Marj |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:52 pm |
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
|
| Sometime ago, and I think before PC's there were some conspiracy theories involving people like Stanton and Mudd - the doctor that was kidnapped to treat Booth. It was at this time that I heard of Mary Surrat, but only as a boarding house owner. It's amazing to me that I did not know more, especially considering all the other info floating around at the time. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| carrobin |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:54 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
|
| I'm also a Hoffman fan. I even liked "Wag the Dog." |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Marj |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:57 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
|
| I disagree with all of DeNiro's performances are the same. Look at the Jake La Motta, and then The King of Comedy. I also have to add Everybody's Fine as one of his more nuanced performances. If you haven't seen it, you should. It could break your heart, but he makes it worth it. |
Last edited by Marj on Wed Aug 31, 2011 1:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
| Marj |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 1:01 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
|
carrobin wrote: I'm also a Hoffman fan. I even liked "Wag the Dog."
I liked it too. And I also don't think one must be a fan of only one. Both actor's are from similar schools of acting. Beyond that it's really a matter of taste.
Boy, Billy, you and I are really differing today. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:46 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
|
Watched The Awful Truth (1937) for the first time. Most of it grated on me. It's a simple but fine enough premise for a screwball comedy. Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are separated due to suspicions on both ends, but they have to wait 60 days before the court will approve the divorce. During that time, they squabble and proceed to wreck each other's new romances.
But it's really poorly scripted with groan-inducing contrived gags unsubtly hammered home.
Every hackneyed gag is repeated at least three times for a rather deadening effect. It seemed like comedy for those very slow on the uptake. Cary Grant tries to be winning, and Dunne has an assortment of hairdos and weird outfits which nearly distract from the shopworn antics. After a while the only thing that kept my attention was the occasional poor edits. |
_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
