The "Acting" Thread

[Stadler]

Speaking of 'acting' in a sci-fi movie, I finally watched The Matrix for the first time.    There is a joke there: "you know it's bad when the best acting is Keanu Reeves", but actually, he was pretty good in that.  There is a LOT of dodgy acting, but it isn't from him.

That is normally not my kind of movie, but it's awesome.  And it has aged very well. 

No one will ever confuse Keanu Reeves with Al Pacino or Bryan Cranston, but he seems like a good guy who doesn't take himself too seriously (unlike many other Hollywood stars), so I tend to cut him a lot of slack.  He sticks to what he does well.

I'm actually not sure how I feel about it.   There were things I liked.  There were things I didn't.  Without having seen them yet, I feel like the sequels might be necessary for a full assessment.   Some things seemed really "deep" - that is, well thought out and significant - and some things seemed, well, almost deus ex machina, like they were thrown in at the last minute.  And "deep" is in quotes, because there were some things that were unclear as to their thematic meaning. 

[Adami]

No. The sequels are NOT necessary for a full assessment. Trust me. If you want fluffy entertainment, sure, but the Matrix actually stands alone fine.

[MirrorMask]

No. The sequels are NOT necessary for a full assessment. Trust me. If you want fluffy entertainment, sure, but the Matrix actually stands alone fine.

Indeed.

[axeman90210]

For the record stads (and others), I full recommend Billions for your binge-watching pleasure. Love that show.

[KevShmev]

No. The sequels are NOT necessary for a full assessment. Trust me. If you want fluffy entertainment, sure, but the Matrix actually stands alone fine.

Agreed.  The sequels are kind of a mess, but certainly entertaining, and definitely have some killer scenes (no spoiler, but the car chase scene in the second is awesome).  The first definitely works well as a stand alone, meaning if they had never made sequels, you would have been fine with how it ended.  Back to the Future is similar in that regard.

Oh, and every time I see the original, I face palm every time Neo is talking to Morpheus in the hall after meeting the Oracle.  He takes a bite of the cookie and we hear the crunch.  IT JUST CAME OUT OF THE OVEN!!! No cookie is gonna be that hard to make a crunchy-sound that quickly.

[Zook]

He'd also burn the shit out of his mouth.

[KevShmev]

He'd also burn the shit out of his mouth.

Yeah, but it would be worth it since few things taste as good as a chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven.

[hefdaddy42]

As far as pure acting talent, and seemingly "becoming" a new character on screen (even if it still looks just like him), Stanley Tucci is one of my favorite modern actors.

[Adami]

As far as pure acting talent, and seemingly "becoming" a new character on screen (even if it still looks just like him), Stanley Tucci is one of my favorite modern actors.

I get happy whenever Stanley Tucci shows up in a movie. Dude is so fantastic.

I think the first movie I saw him in, like 25 years ago or something, was Beethoven.

Also, and I say this respectfully, being able to sell an intense love and attraction to Meryl Streep as Julia Childs takes real talent. But when I saw Stanley looking at her and speaking to/about her, man, I just immediately bought their true love.

[hefdaddy42]

As far as pure acting talent, and seemingly "becoming" a new character on screen (even if it still looks just like him), Stanley Tucci is one of my favorite modern actors.

I'm pretty I get happy whenever Stanley Tucci shows up in a movie. Dude is so fantastic.

I think the first movie I saw him in, like 25 years ago or something, was Beethoven.

Also, and I say this respectfully, being able to sell an intense love and attraction to Meryl Streep as Julia Childs takes real talent. But when I saw Stanley looking at her and speaking to/about her, man, I just immediately bought their true love.

Indeed.

[King Postwhore]

Big Night is when he hit my radar.  I love him as an actor.

[gmillerdrake]

As far as pure acting talent, and seemingly "becoming" a new character on screen (even if it still looks just like him), Stanley Tucci is one of my favorite modern actors.

I always thought of Gene Hackman this way as well. Love him when he shows up in movies.....such a good actor. Miss that guy. He just up and retired from acting.

[hefdaddy42]

As far as pure acting talent, and seemingly "becoming" a new character on screen (even if it still looks just like him), Stanley Tucci is one of my favorite modern actors.

I always thought of Gene Hackman this way as well. Love him when he shows up in movies.....such a good actor. Miss that guy. He just up and retired from acting.

I love Hackman as well, but in a ton of his films, especially his later films, I didn't get the impression that he did a lot of real acting.  He just played Gene Hackman all the time.  His characters were remarkably similar.

[Cool Chris]

I always thought of Gene Hackman this way as well. Love him when he shows up in movies.....such a good actor. Miss that guy. He just up and retired from acting.

I love Hackman as well, but in a ton of his films, especially his later films, I didn't get the impression that he did a lot of real acting.  He just played Gene Hackman all the time.  His characters were remarkably similar.

As far as pure acting talent, and seemingly "becoming" a new character on screen (even if it still looks just like him), Stanley Tucci is one of my favorite modern actors.

I always thought of Gene Hackman this way as well. Love him when he shows up in movies.....such a good actor. Miss that guy. He just up and retired from acting.

I love Hackman as well, but in a ton of his films, especially his later films, I didn't get the impression that he did a lot of real acting.  He just played Gene Hackman all the time.  His characters were remarkably similar.

I was thinking the same thing, and if that is one of the reasons he retired. There is probably a common feeling among many actors who have been in the industry for decades that they don't want to end up caricatures of themselves.

[KevShmev]

I probably haven't seen as many Gene Hackman movies as many of you, but Unforgiven is an all-time great performance if you ask me (and standing out that much in a film also starring Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman is damn impressive), and I loved his performance in Get Shorty as well. 

[MoraWintersoul]

I just watched Knives Out because I'm late for everything, and after the first 10 minutes of watching "wacky Daniel Craig with a French Louisiana accent", he just became his character. Really well done. Never thought I'd like him in a movie.

[Cool Chris]

When I first saw Unforgiven, I was on a (bit of an awkward) date and was expecting a spaghetti western type film. Since I didn't get that, I didn't get the film. When I watched it years later, I got it, and have loved it ever since. That said, while Hackman is great in it, I never considered it a standout performance, and thought Nicholson should have won the Oscar.

Looking it up, I see Pacino was nominated for his supporting role of Ricky Roma. And while he shouldn't have won, if he did I wouldn't argue it too much. Which would have given him Oscars for both supporting and lead in the same year.

[Zantera]

I just watched Knives Out because I'm late for everything, and after the first 10 minutes of watching "wacky Daniel Craig with a French Louisiana accent", he just became his character. Really well done. Never thought I'd like him in a movie.

That's funny because for me it was the other way around. I definitely enjoyed Knives Out and it was a fun mystery, but Daniel Craig was hamming it up like a saturday morning cartoon show character and it took me out of it every time.