The Sheila Variations

I'll try not to make this too long. I have been very busy, and I am just catching up with some of your recent posts. In your post about Jodie Foster and Contact, you spoke about "actor-y" performances or moments, and you mention it again here. Obviously, I am not an actor, and I don't know much about acting technique or method, but, as a human being, I know what real people are like. I recognize when an actor seems like a real person, and when they seem like someone portraying a real person. There is an effortlessness and calm in a real person being themselves. On the flip side, it is often easy to sense a tension in actors who are "busy" being their character. I see a certain posturing at times in Jodie Foster's work, for example. You described it well in your post about Contact. Don't get me wrong, I think she is a fine actress, and I have enjoyed many of her performances and movies. However, most of the performances that have really stuck with me, or deeply moved me, over the years have been ones in which it was impossible or difficult to sense any tension, or effort, or actor-y moments in the performance. The actor and the character have become one. Marlon Brando is an actor who almost always seemed perfectly calm in his affect. In some of his later performances he sometimes seemed like a caricature of himself, but he has some roles where he IS the person he is portraying. Off the top of my head, Robert Duval is another actor who has the quality I am describing. I have seen so many of his movies that I am familiar with some repeated gestures--a certain way he laughs to himself, the way he tilts his head,etc. that reveal the actor under the character, but he has had some incredible moments wherein he becomes that which he is portraying. There are many places in Tender Mercies like that--the scene where he is going to the feed store, and the younger musicians are talking to him about recording with them is an example. That effortlessness and calm in the character is as it is in real life. I know Duval is acting, but its as if he just being. Anyway, I know exactly what you are saying about Eric Bana, although I am not familiar with him. I dislike it when an actor's obvious efforts take me out of a movie--when I am completely aware that he or she is a performer in the middle of a performance. One interesting thing is how little some great actors seem to be doing when they are at their best. Like the superstars in sports or any other pursuit, they make it look easy--but it sure as hell isn't.

dbw - I think you've hit the nail on the head. God, Tender Mercies ... what an amazing acting job, and yes - it sure doesn't feel like acting to me. It seems like he is just being. He is not judging the character, it's not like he wants us to like him or hate him, he is just being that guy.

This is one of the reasons why I think movie stars are idiots when they reveal too much about who they are personally. Some of it is inevitable - if you're a big star, then the audience is curious about you - but you lose SO MUCH if you become a "personality" ... because then the audiences have a harder time just believing that you are whatever character you are trying to portray.

Jodie Foster - although I've mentioned the problems I have with her acting at some points - maintains such a level of privacy around who she really is - that it's much easier for audiences to just accept her. As the tough chick in The Accused, as the scientist in Contact ... she doesn't muddy up our response to her with a bunch of personal stuff.

Cary Grant was hugely private and he's the biggest star we've probably ever had. He didn't want the real-life person to get in the way of audiences accepting him as the character in the movie.

Actors are idiots who don't get this. They truly are.

Robert Duval is someone who gets this. I don't know shit about that guy. Not really. Same with Meryl Streep. I know she has 4 kids and I know her husband is a sculptor. That's pretty much it. So when she's in a movie, even though she's a huge star, I can just settle in and see the character she's portraying.

But also: some of this has to do with talent.

I don't know anything about Eric Bana. But I can tell from his portrayal of Hoot that he has a ton of talent.

That was one of the things I loved about BHD - not only was it not a "star" movie, but I honestly didn't recognize most of the stars when I saw them. While I don't follow Hollywood much (it's not, like, music, maaan), normally I'd be able to say "That's Tom Sizemore, that's Orlando Bloom, that's Josh Hartnett..." - I actually had to go to the credits to figure out which character Ewan MacGregor played. (The only two I actually recognized were Zeljko Ivanek, who seemed exactly like he did on "Homicide", and Ron Eldard, who is Ron Eldard, for crying out loud).

Point being that it seemed like everyone checked their egoes at the door, which was kind of refreshing.

Ewan's American accent was a bit dodgy, I have to say. :)

I've always had a big crush on Ron Eldard. From his ER days. I loved his character on ER. Again, though - I have no idea if Ron Eldard is like that guy, or what. I just liked his portrayal of that paramedic. He seemed really real.

I remember seeing Zeljko Ivanek on Broadway years and years ago in Brighton Beach Memoirs with Matthew Broderick. I've never forgotten his performance. Marvelous actor.

Yeah - no egos in Black Hawk Down - really refreshing. A true ensemble work.

I was a soldier when I watched the movie. So, my perspective was skewed. The two best war movies of recent years I've seen were Saving Private Ryan and We Were Soldiers.

I'll explain. First of all, the events surrounding Black Hawk Down (FYI, the real life helicopter wasn't a Black Hawk, it was a Pave Hawk) were so emotional and scarring to those of us in my generation of soldier, the events are permanently burned into our memories. The soldiers being drug through the streets ... it was one of the biggest let downs in recent U.S. Army history. I haven't watched the movie in a while, and Eric Bana's performance doesn't stick out in my mind. Jeremy Piven's does ... thought he was excellent. I guess my biggest problem was Ewan McGregor's character. It was just so contrived. Definitely rubbed me the wrong way.

The movie also didn't seem to play out real. I agree that the book was better -- so much better. It grabbed you and put you into the events. The movie didn't allow you to experience the events the way the book does. You really feel like a fourth person outsider.

Ryan and Soldiers, to me, put you in the action and you feel what they guys on the screen are going through. I guess the depth of character portayal didn't matter as much to me as the realism of the movie as a whole.

I had similar problems with Rules of Engagement. A good movie, but from a military perspective, you don't ever feel a part of the movie.

Just my point of view.

Cullen - I feel like I'm the only person in the world who thought Saving Private Ryan pretty much sucked, except for the first half hour. That's okay - I don't mind being alone in my opinion - it's happened before. (Ahem. Forrest Gump. Ahem.) I thought Tom Hanks was pretty much awash in self-regard, especially during that monologue about how many men he had lost. Didn't like him at all.

I thought Barry Pepper was the best thing in that movie. I really forgot I was watching a movie when I watched him. He seemed like a real guy to me.

And you write: "I guess the depth of character portayal didn't matter as much to me as the realism of the movie as a whole."

I agree with that. But I do think that if you have shallow acting going on, or egotistical acting, or somehow acting that is self-conscious - then it can pull you out of the "realism of the movie". That was my problem with Ryan. It was mainly Hanks' fault, in my opinion - all the guys under him gave much better performances, I think. Hanks just seemed like an actor, wearing a soldier suit.

I enjoy reading your comments, and those of the others who post here. You and everyone post your opinions and attitudes without being critical of others, and it's cool.

It's hard for me to understand how someone doesn't see Ryan as a powerful movie ... I guess that's why there are so many different popsicle flavors. Different strokes for different strokes, etc..

That said, I've known others who didn't like Ryan and I tormented them relentlessly.

cullen - hahahaha Believe me, I have also been tormented by Ryan lovers. It's like saying, "I don't like the Beatles". People get UPSET with you.

But that was NOTHING compared to the Forrest Gump lovers. I said, "I didn't like the movie." And they acted as though I had said, "I think that little puppies should be drowned with no mercy while we laugh with glee on the shoreline."

Your post reminded me of a Saturday Night Live when Danny Devito hosted. It was back when Mike Myers was still on the show and he had the skit where he played a young British boy who like to draw. Devito played a boy who was visiting him because Myers' daddy lost a lot of money in Vegas.

They were talking about Santa Claus and Devito drew a picture of someone dressed as Santa Claus who had been shot and he says, "'Cause daddy says, 'Sometimes Santa's gotta get whacked.'"

So, sometimes puppies' gotta get whacked, seemed appropriate.

I, too, dislike Saving Private Ryan for similar reasons to yours red. Outside of the craftsmanship of the first 20 minutes, (and I still have objections here!) the rest of the movie seemed like a WWII-era made cliche! Canned moments, Hanks' posturing...ugh! I knew I didn't like it when I was watching it in the theatre for the first time, and the squad is reduced to actoresque squabbling, I thought, "Oh Hanks is going to tell them his Big Secret now to end their childish yelling." I hate when you can guess pretty easily what the next scene will be. Big budgets do not excuse bad writing.

cullen - hahahahaha

Just want to make clear, too - that I did think that the first half hour of Ryan is probably the most brutal awful amazing piece of war film-making I've ever seen - Hats off to everyone involved (including the Irish Army, who were all the extras in that scene - whoo-hoo!!)

OMG, you didn't like Forrest Gump? Shocked, shocked. Actually, I didn't like it much either. Contrived, tedious, a one-joke movie that repeated the joke over and over. Sweet in spots, but mostly saccharine. Also, I must say that I haven't loved Tom Hanks since Bosom Buddies, where I thought he was hilarious. He's just too treacly for my taste.
This puts me seriously outside the mainstream, and that's okay by me.

Red, I love your point about actors blowing it by sharing too much of their personal lives with the general public. So true!

stevie -

Bosom Buddies. Truly a GREAT moment in television. How much did I love that show??? Almost as much as I loved Square Pegs.

My favorite Hanks movie is Big. Dude's a genius in that film. He IS 12 years old. Wonderful. Funny, warm, observant ... love him in that.

I also am a sucker for Splash. :)

stevie -

People have actually sent me irate emails - strangers - about my not liking Forrest Gump.

it is as though I have insulted their religion or something.

I am no big fan of Hanks. I just thought that Ryan was bigger than his performance. And, yeah, Spielberg is great at delivering those contrived moments, but it still plays out as a sum greater than its parts. Not that I'm trying to convince anyone. I mean, good Lord Matt Damon is in the flick and I can't stand him.

My favorite Hanks movie, and one of my all-time all-around favs, is Joe Vs. The Volcano. Love that movie.

Away from cheese and on the subject of powerful, moving films, have you guys seen Crash, yet? Just rented it this weekend and was blown away. It made me cry and I'm such a cynic that no movie has done that to me in a long time.

Agree with you on the Ryan part, Red. I walked out of that movie and said, "Ugh, I will never ever watch that movie again." While some of the realism was amazing, it was a movie that made me ANGRY. I'm still not sure why! But, I do agree on the Hanks part.

And BHD? Bana? HOOOOTTTTT. (sorry, just had to be a little shallow there:) )

red --

What would have made a good Ryan outtake is if in the middle of a huge sweep pan we get up close to the face of one of those Irish Army lads and he turns to the camera and in the thickest brougue possible says, "But what I really want to do is direct."

Wouldn't it be great to have a fantasy outtake reel of your favorite films?

Cullen -

Joe vs. the volcano is one of my favorite movies of all time!!!!

Cullen, I've been dying to see Crash and now that you've recommended it, I will - - - I appreciate also your comments about Ryan and how you saw it through different eyes because of your experience. That's the coolest thing about movies - all art, actually - that the beholder's life informs the experience of beholding.

Back to Hanks - he was execrable in You've Got Mail.
So was Meg Ryan, come to think of it. Of course, they were playing roles that were perfectly done by Margaret Sullavan and Jimmy Stewart in The Shop Around the Corner. I have a love-hate relationship with Nora Ephron.

cullen -

I have not seen Crash - but pretty much everyone who has seen it has said the same thing you did - that it was amazing and painful, etc.

I will put it on the list.

Sheila, i just saw the reconstructed version of "The Big Red One" this weekend on DVD. The new version restores 40 minutes of additional film that Sam Fuller didn't want the studio to cut. i saw the original years ago, and it was okay. But the new version is an epic war movie. Just fantastic. On the bonus CD they talk about how John Wayne was available for the part of the Sergeant, but Fuller wanted Lee Marvin because even though Wayne was great, he carried that star baggage, much like Tom Hanks, i guess.

annika - wow!!! i am going to have to check that out!

I always liked the Big Red One, but my all time favorite John Wayne war movie has to be The Green Berets. Fantastic stuff that.

True story ... I was stationed in Okinawa. One of the civilians there had been Special Forces (green beret, they hate that term, BTW) during Viet Nam. He worked for the security office and was one of the highest "ranking" civilians on the installation.

I didn't get to know him very well, but he was the kind of personality that everyone on post "knew." His death was a shock to most as many of us didn't even know he was sick. Even those who worked right next to him.

He was married to an Okinawan. I believe he was interred there. We held a memorial service for him in our chapel, and I don't think anyone on our small post wasn't at that ceremony.

At the end of the service, once everyone had said all they had to say, they played an acapella version of "The Ballad of the Green Berets." We had to get special permission from the local prefecture to fire our weapons in 21-gun salute (blanks, of course).

It was poignant. Because even though I didn't know the man very well, everything in the ceremony just felt so true. Even those who, like me, didn't really know him, felt moved. It has something to do with belonging to the brotherhood of soldiers, I guess.

Beautiful. That choked me up a bit.

Annika,

I am a huge war movie buff, and Big Red One has always been one of my favorites.

And I'm alarmed to find out that I didn't know about the restored version! I gotta have it!

Lee Marvin was so amazing in that movie. I can't imagine it with Wayne.

Gotta get it!

Cullen,

Oddly, an old co-worker of mine had been in the 2/75 Rangers during the eighties - in fact, his Ranger platoon leader was one of the Delta captains in the book (although he doesn't turn up in the movie as a defined character).

He had a similar reaction - ate the book up, had some critiques of the movie (but highly recommended it anyway).

Oh Oh Oh---I just rented "Crash" not having any idea what it was about, just knowing someone who thought I would like it. It is the first time I have seen racism in America dealt with in a contemporary and realistic way. Miss Sandra Bullock was good outside of her cutesy/funny adorable thing that has made her a ton of dough but is wearing so very thin.
Its the writing that gets me. A series of separate scenes that start intersecting and running into each other. While there is a car accident, I think the title is really their lives and expectations crashing into each other. No one is a completely good or bad. We all live in the world and we all have ugly generalized thoughts about other people.

I've got to see it.

To be honest, I think the advertising of it turned me off. It sounded like a shoot em up car crash movie - and that's what the posters were as well - and I just don't like those kinds of movies.

I think they really didn't know how to market it ... so they chose that route, which, sadly, made me not go see it.

But then I keep hearing people say it is absolutely amazing, and thought-provoking, and painful - so I definitely must see it.,

Also, Don Cheadle is one of my favorite actors. Period.

The best actor in the whole thing is Michael Pena as the lock installer. Man, I've never seen him in anything, that I remember, but he was amazing. Simply amazing.

So was eveyone else. Cheadle is always good, of course.

Oh, man. That Michael Pena part - just riveting. I think I stopped breathing during his big (no spoilers here!) scene.

Unbelieveable.

You gotta see it, Red.

I was moved by the foreshadow scene. I mean, you knew something was coming because of it, but it was so touching.

I have two little girls, so I identified a lot with it, but man, it was SO impressive.

Sheila, get thee to a store of video rentary!

I will see it this weekend - I can't wait.

I gotta say that since I moved to Austin from Chocago, I just don't have the friends here to get excited about the grittier stuff. Its really gratifying to be able to share, thank you!
PS I rented the Pillow Book based on your recommendation and I loved it!

"That's okay - I don't mind being alone in my opinion - it's happened before. (Ahem. Forrest Gump. Ahem.)"

Not alone. Not alone AT ALL. That movie was obnoxious, sickly-sweet and horribly contrived. But the people just fawning over how wonderful and metaphysically deep it was were WAY worse.

Just my opinion, of course.

I think one of the big things that made BHD great was that there were quite a few people involved in making the movie who had actually been involved in the battle itself. Can't get too much more authenticity than that.

Also the Blackhawk that was shot down giving the movie its name (c/s "Super 61") was a 160th SOAR MH-60L "Velcro Hawk", not an AFSOC MH-60G "Pave Hawk".

CW - I've missed you round these parts. :)

Hm. Could have sworn it was the HH-60G. After a little more looking, you, sir, are correct.

The HH-60G was only an Air Force model then?

Michael Durant's book "In The Company of Heros" is an amazing account of his shoot down and captivity. A must read...

True - the H/MH-60G is an Air Force-only model. Also the Air Force got rid of all of them from the active forces right before 9/11. They are now all in the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard, primarily in Air/Sea Rescue Units (as the HH-60G). I believe there are a few in AF Reserve Special Ops units (as the MH-60G - essentially the same aircraft) at Duke Field Air Reserve Base.

And unfortunately Red, I'm still not around these parts :(