You know what got better reviews and made more money? X-MEN FIRST CLASS, with Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy, any of whom can carry a movie single-handed. You know who else was in it? January Jones.
Man, my first thought on opening this thread was “Has Andie MacDowell been in any great movies?” How did she keep getting A-list work? Was she just really good friends with everyone behind the scenes?
I thought there were a number of scenes in Magnolia where he quite adequately filled the role of a blundering, sweaty cop, whether he was reciting self-improvement mantras in his car, or, at the end of his rope while frantically scampering up a rainy hillside in search of his gun, or one of the film’s high-tension points for me - where he and Melora Walters are at her doorstep, and the way they communicate the uncommunicated, in their sheer desperation - quite galvanizing for this viewer, anyway.
Hard-pressed to think of any film where JCR sucked, IMO.
Despite his earnest, august, measured performance, I was still expecting Ryan Oneal in Barry Lyndon to suddenly break out in some antic, bewildered reaction to an awkward situation in the vein of What’s Up Doc? I wish I could’ve seen past that to take him more seriously, and to his credit that he’d venture there in the first place, but the optics sure didn’t work for me.
I thought Diner wasn’t bad, but Steven Gutenberg atrociously was. If I wanna watch some perpetually incredulous shmuck, saying and regarding everything with eyes agog, I’ll pass instead, actually. I’d like to borrow that thing from Anton Chigurh to use on SG.
Though he was popular at the time, David Hemmings in Close Up was problematic for me. Yeah I get it that he was supposed to be a snarky-hipster-photographer-on-the-go sort of shtick, but to this hombre he was an unwatchable, poncey, not-even-remotely-cool-as-he-deludes-himself-to-be shitheel. I would’ve preferred Terence Stamp or Jon Finch (too Shakespearean?) being cast for that.
I always thought the part should have been played by Marilyn Monroe, rather than totally-inappropriate Hepburn. Then I discovered that Truman Capote himself had preferred Monroe.
I think you mean Blow-Up, definitely an odd movie which is overrated in my opinion, but it was the first time I ever thought of Vanessa Redgrave being sexy.
I much preferred Hemmings in Barbarella.
Conducting in the 18th century was not like conducting today. Most of the time he wouldn’t have been waving his arms at all; he’d be leading from the keyboard or violin. And some artistic license is allowed here, since the point was to portray him as an immature goofball (which he kind of was).
I wonder about this every time I see her. Even her commercials for face creams are terrible.
I have an unexplained fondness for Fraser, even though pretty much every film I’ve seen him in has been popcorn-munching fare at best (the Mummy series) and truly execrable at worst (Encino Man, Bedazzled). I even liked Monkeybone. But I’d be hard-pressed to name a “truly great film” he’s been in. I’ll have to check out School Ties, I guess.
I agree with a lot of what’s been said here (Andie McDowell, you need to be checked for termites honey), some not so much- Keanu has stunk up his share of films but I thought he was perfect in The Devil’s Advocate. No, I think the most fitting answer here would be Ms. Anne Baxter’s titular role in All About Eve. I first saw this movie when I was about 8 and even at that young age the suckiness was glaring. That breathy, melodramatic way she delivers her lines is so annoying it is beyond my comprehension how she was nominated for an Academy Award. Is she supposed to be annoying and transparent? I realize that we’re meant to discover how manipulative she is but she is never convincing as innocent for one minute. Nor likable, yet everyone falls all over themselves to help her (except the brilliant Thelma Ritter who sees through her from the beginning).
:smack: thanks - I blew that one up.
yeah I preferred DH’s comic turn in Barbarella too.
Going back to a crummy example, DH in The Love Machine was hilariously god-awfully fraught with shittiness. Then again the film was a bit cruddy too.
So no mention yet of Andie MacDowell always showing way too much forehead?
poor Andie
Is her forehead still big I hadn’t noticed
I love Anna Faris’ role. I think Sofia Coppola said the role was inspired by Cameron Diaz, and Faris absolutely nails her vapidness.
It isn’t so much her forehead is big, it’s her face is so tiny–tiny eyes, nose and mouth all squinched together in the middle of that vast expanse of pan. That’s why she has so much hair and it’s her best feature (and gets her all those ads): she’s trying to balance out the rest of her massive noggin.
My contribution: Chris Rock in Dogma. Great movie, but Rock brought little to it aside from the “BECAUSE I’M A BLACK MAN!” routine that he always does.
Shelley Duvall in The Shining. After the first scene, I wanted to kill her, too.
She was perfect as Olive Oyl.
She is Olive Oyl.
Fair point.
While there were issues with GF3, many would have been overlooked if Winona Ryder had played the role of Mary.
GRAVITY could have been a great movie. The special effects were incredible, but the “acting” of Sandra Bullock was atrocious. It seemed all we heard from her was heavy breathing.
I’m not even sure how it ended as we shut it off early.
This immensely gigantic Monty Python fan found no humour in Micheal Palin’s chronic stutterer role in A Fish Called Wanda.
(maybe when he muttered “REEEEEEEE-VENGE” while driving the bulldozer, near the end, but other than that…)
Thank you. I mean, how can you take a role like Emma Frost a.k.a. The White Queen and cast someone with all the sex appeal of a moldy bologna sandwich? I cannot stand January Jones. Why this woman gets work is beyond me.
F/X is one of my favorite movies, but I have to stifle cringes every time his assistant played by Martha Gehman shows up. Every line she reads (calling it “acting” is an insult to the profession) is like a lead brick to the skull. Truly awful. :smack: