Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by afilado (A) on September 27, 2008 at 20:30:50

In Reply to: RE: A-man... a fault of mine is a sometimes incautious tendency to posted by tinear on September 27, 2008 at 19:36:03

...DeNiro, Pacino, Nicholson is a feeling I've had for some long time now. There are others.

Occasionally they show flashes of what surely remains in them of their former "glory" but for the most part they have become almost caricatures of themselves, overshadowed by their earlier versions. These guys are generally coasting or posing in these times.

This can be interesting from a cultural point of view but as artists they don't seem capable of inspired work or influence any more. Johnny Depp seems a little infected by this, maybe.

Artists make art. Hitting your marks falls far short of that.

I don't want to hijack the thread but I will report that I walked out of the new DeNiro/Pacino flick. FLICK. In 5 minutes I couldn't stand its cheapness. I haven't seen a new Nicholson film in years for similar reasons.

And, further, no matter one thinks about Brando and his later excesses, he never, in my opinion, lost his willingness to experiment, to improvise, to walk the tightrope with whatever his demons would allow him to bring to a performance. I think he was singularly damaged by his reflections on loss of his youth and beauty.