In Reply to: LOL! I listed Hirsch because I thought.... posted by afilado on December 16, 2009 at 15:20:07:
to carry it further to "all."
"Brothers" I didn't feel was great, but very good. An actor has a persona, a natural aura and earthiness, which are possessed in different measures. Hollywood has taken to promoting boyish actors. It's a fact. From Tom Cruise forward, strong, powerful leading men just don't seem to appear. Nicholas Cage is the exception, but Nic is ironic in most of his roles.
We must disagree about Thomsen. He is in the "less is more" Scandinavian emotional tradition, like Max von Sydow. I don't feel shifting eyes nervously, inventing facial movements, squinting, and the other common tricks of American film actors particularly are interesting. Most Europeans eschew such exaggerations.
Anyhow, I don't think "Brothers" or "Open Hearts" are classic cinema or "Best of Decade" but I do think they're both very good, that the performances are magnificent, and that Bier should be rated a tad higher than you think because of her subject matter: it's harder to deal with topics NO one likes to think about; there is a built-in hostility to having someone make us look at such brutality, cruelty which is visited in "common" life as opposed to the rather unbelievable stuff that happens in the horror, thriller genres.
There also is the vast chasm of melodrama which Bier must side-step, no mean accomplishment.
In the end, we can't agree very much. Robert Downey, Jr., Johnny Depp, Clooney, Pitt all have personalities which they cannot transcend for their roles, i.e. they aren't good enough actors. To take one rather extreme example of an American actor with a larger-than-life personality that could: Marlon Brando. He had the character actor's ability to leave himself behind.
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Follow Ups
- Afilado, I said "young actors." For goodness' sake. But I am happy - tinear 08:10:12 12/17/09 (18)
- "Young actors"...... - afilado 09:26:06 12/17/09 (16)
- The Danes I mentioned are 30s NOW but they made the movies - tinear 10:42:27 12/17/09 (15)
- All these ........ - afilado 14:58:41 12/17/09 (0)
- Don't mean to be unfair....... - afilado 12:14:35 12/17/09 (13)
- Age: well, one cannot speak meaningfully of - tinear 12:55:27 12/17/09 (6)
- Wrong on so many of your own .... - afilado 14:13:30 12/17/09 (5)
- I spelled out "cutesie" by defining their elements in two American actors, - tinear 14:58:48 12/17/09 (4)
- Disappointing performance, Tin - afilado 15:30:53 12/17/09 (3)
- Afilado, I think we need to co-counsel. - tinear 16:33:51 12/17/09 (2)
- LOL! Legal or psychological? nt. - afilado 19:12:45 12/17/09 (1)
- Social. It's been "the thing" here in Eugene for ages. Usually, it's counter-culture - tinear 19:33:04 12/17/09 (0)
- RE: Don't mean to be unfair....... - sjb 12:36:20 12/17/09 (5)
- At some point, you should post a disclaimer saying you have to stand up for all these - tinear 13:00:45 12/17/09 (4)
- LOL. - sjb 16:25:26 12/17/09 (3)
- Well, don't be obtuse. If you have a problem with an Outside issue, - tinear 19:30:40 12/17/09 (2)
- Speaking of obtuse - sjb 00:27:50 12/18/09 (1)
- It's piling on with nothing to add and you linked an "Outside" post. Keep digging - tinear 07:51:30 12/18/09 (0)
- Sadly, I omitted Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, and Morgan - tinear 08:21:04 12/17/09 (0)