Friday, April 3, 2009
Film Performance Review 3rd Quarter
You are required to watch at least ( 2 ) film acting performances from my list of Best Acting Performances. Below write ( 2 ) well-thought out, detailed reviews of each film acting performance. Make sure to discuss character, commitment to the role, acting techniques, overall actor's approach (emotional, physical, psychological
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Wow! I'm the first post! Do I get a prize?! Um so you said I could comment on two shows rather than two movie performances so that is what I am going to do. The first show I want to comment on is Curtains at Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts. I am actually working on this show as a spotlight operator sometimes but mainly as a member of the crew backstage. The show itself is such a great show and I absolutely love it. It is a murder mystery musical that is bassically about "show people". The produciton staged at Smithtown is one of the best productions I have ever seen or been apart of there. I did not see it on Broadway, so I don't really have much to compare it to, but I still think they did a phenomenal job. The acting performance that I really want to note is that of Mary Ellin Kurtz who plays one of the leading ladies in this show. I absolutely love her! She is fantastic. Her commitment to a role that is difficult both acting and singing wise was unbelieveable. She plays a Broadway producer who eventually is responsible for one of the murders committed in the play. She plays the character with such "omph" and drive and she captures you from the minute she walks on stage. She is a stong, powerful, and influential woman who has a lot to say and knows what she is talking about. It amazed me to watch her sing, dance, and act with such drive and commitment. Her performance was mesmorizing. I also want to comment on the performances on the ensemble. It has been said that the most difficult acting is when you are asked to play a character very close to yourself. This show is about actors and actresses and the actors that make up the ensmble of the show at Smithtown actually make up the ensemble of the show trying to be brought to Broadway in Curtains. I think they did such a phenomenal job commiting to their characters that they chose and really showing that they were actors. Never once did they look or act like themselves, becuase they were so emotionally and physically connected to the characters. This was the case even though the characters they were playing were so closely related to themselves and their own psychological and emotional ways. I thought the show was well done and performances were given with commitment and full emotional, physical, and psychological connection.
The second show I am going to comment on is a show titled "I am my Own Wife" which is a one-man show that stars Jeff Sanzel at Theater Three. I have always thought of him as a really amazing and admirable actor and director, but seeing him in this show really pushed those feelings over the edge. First of all, he played literally over 35 different characters. Never once did you see the transition from diffrent chracters as difficult or a challenge. He was able to create this clear different characters will ease. They seemed to almost flow from his body and you could see the clear emotional, physical, and psychological changes and commitments made for each character, a different one for each one he embodied. He clearly embodied every character he played, from head to toe. Physically he had different ways about him for each one and emotionally and psychologically you could tell that he was fully connected to the piece and the moment he was in on stage at all times. This show, by the way, is about a man who lived as a woman during the Holocaust and how she escaped the genocide and death at the hands of the Nazis. This is a really powerful and moving story and a big undertaking to take on, but Jeff did it with such ease and naturality that he made it seem like such a small task. Another thing I want to comment on is how he memorized his lines. The show was bassically a two hour monologue of just him speaking. He never once stopped to think of a line, never once flubbed a word, and always allowed the words to flow out of him, naturally, as if the character he was portraying was actually saying them. He also had nothing but himself and a few pieces of furniture to play off of in the scene which is a hard and duanting task but he did it so easliy and commited to who he was one hundred percent of the time. There was never a question of which character he was playing becuase he did such an amazing job of committing to each character and giving them life up on stage. This was such a great show and I think everyone should go to see it as well as Curtains!
Okay so I am second to comment and as we all know Jake first is the worst, second is the best. Sorry to burst that bubble for you haha. Anyway, the first movie I wanted to review was The Duchess starring Keira Knightley as The Duchess of Devonshire. She gave an absoloutley outstanding performance! Don't listen to some of the critics who went on about how it wasn't 100% true to how Georgiana (Keira Knightley) lived her life because it was perfect as is. I was a bit skeptical at first because sometimes period movies like that an be a little long and boring but this was wonderful. Keira Knightley was spellbinding, she had me wanting the movie to go on for another two hours. She really got into the character and I cried countless times throughout the movie because I felt so sucked in to the character and her life and I felt the pain of her husband cheating on her, having to be separated from my children, loving someone I can never have, and having my best friend betray me, even though I've never really gone through any of these to the extremes or at all. The costumes were so over the top it was crazy. I couldn't wait for the next scene to see what each of the characters would be wearing. Keira Knightley had on the largest wig I have ever seen at one point, but she pulled it off very gracefully. The score and the directing were wonderful as was the rest of the cast! Dominic Cooper was great! Go see the movie now! You won't be sorry! :]
For my second movie I want to review Milk with Sean Penn. It was a wonderful film and should have won the Oscar for best picture over Slumdog Millionaire..but I won't get started on that incase some people liked it. I loved Sean Penns perfomace, as well as James Franco who was Seans "Lover". The movie itself was about Sean Penn portraying Harvey Milk a political activist, who also happened to be gay. This played a large role in the movie because at the time it was not accepted to be gay in a community. Sean Penn gave an overwhelming performance and how he managed to get into the character is beyond me seeing as he is not even a little similar to Harvey Milk. I won't ruin the ending, even though it's ruined about two minutes in, but I cried. I also laughed and cried a lot throughout the film though, but I really pulled for Harvey to win the election that he ran in multiple times and I felt his losses as well as his victories. It was a wonderful movie, and I'm so glad that Sean Penn won best actor!
Victoria Betz
The first movie I watched was Repo! The Genetic Opera. In actuality, Repo! is a musical that is not very well known and only people on the inside who found it know, and they spread it and share it. The movie stares Alexa Vega as the main girl, Shiloh, Sarah Brightman as Blind Mag, a side character, and Paris Hilton, as Amber Sweet (a character whose face falls off in the end) and Terrence Zdunich, the creator himself, as the Graverobber. The musical is extremely extremely violent and ridiculously graphic as well as filled with more sexual innuendos than I can count. The movie has won an award for having the most songs in it. There are 64 songs total and the movie is only about an hour and a half (which means there is virtually next to NO talking in the entire movie.) The acting performance I'd really like to note was that of the creator himself. Terrence Zdunich is a genius. Not only did he -star- in the movie, but he both wrote and composed the entire thing as well. That in itself takes amazing skill. His character, the Graverobber is a mysterious drug-dealer and also the 'bard' of the tale. So while he himself is not actively in the show, he often would show up at key points with key information. He had immense presence when on the screen. His character was completely compelling and forced people to watch him. You have to get into the mindset of someone really twisted to play such a character. I mean, it's illegal to rob graves for the drug stored in peoples brains, and yet he does it at the very beginning, screaming things at the top of his lungs (GRAVVVEESS!) in the middle of a graveyard with the police chasing after him. To play someone that psychotic well takes a lot of skill and he was just so much fun to follow. Very very talented man.
The other movie I watched was The Night Listener with Robin Williams. I think you might know of this or have heard of it Sunny, so I dun really wanna explain it, because the more I explain the more spoilers I give away. So let me just explain Williams' character. He played this radio talk show host who would tell stories on a late night radio, and he would always get these... requests from this boy. After a turn of events he ends up having phone conversations with the boy, then another thing comes up and he doubts the reality of the boys existence, and so he goes to find him. There is a lot of emotional turmoil going on in this performance and William's pulled off an amazing job. He seemed so very concerned with the boys health and with everything that has to do with him. There was a lot of desperation in the storyline and he brought it out really well in his character. It was just really depressing the way things went. Robin Williams just has a really good way of expressing himself and doing like radio readings. He's a spectacular actor.
one film i would like to talk about i unfortunately didn't see the entire movie, but from what i saw it was more than enough. we watched a good chunk of schindler's list in social studies. the performance i would like to review is no specific person, but everyone in the film. after seeing it i was literally stunned! it was mind boggling to me how good the actors were. at times it was almost as if it were a documentary, that's how real they were acting. it really was almost someone with a camera just filming real people go about theire lives. the way they all spoke to eachother, the way the moved, even the people who were just extra's, like i said it was just absolutely mind boggling how real they all were. i cant emphasize it enough. it really was breathtaking.
another movie i saw from the list (although it was a while ago) was sophies choice. the performance i'd like to comment on is obviously like glamorous meryl!!! as usual she steals the movie in my opinion. i loved her choices physically. you could really tell she thought long and hard about how she wanted to portray this woman. i loved her intensity and i especially love how different she makes her voice. it sounds almost like its not even her. it's great how her emotions come through so well even when she's speaking another language. naturally, she deservingly won an oscar for this part. LOVE HER!
The first film I watched was Blow. In this movie Johnny Depp takes on the role of a famed drug dealer from the 70's and 80's. Throughout the film the character go through a lot of high points, and just as many low points, during his life. This is something that I think Johnny portrayed very well. Although I personally think Johnny portrayed all of the negative events that occurred during this character's life, much better than the positive ones. For example when he gets busted and sent to prison right before he's supposed to move with his daughter to California, you can really feel how hard that drastic change in his life had hit him. The best of his acting also seemed to come out whenever he would talk about his daughter, and how much he loved her. As great as Johnny's acting was though, at the end of the movie you see a recent photograph of the character that Johnny was portraying, and it really makes you think a lot after the film. It definitely made me realize how glamorized they made this guy's life seem, especially by having someone like Johnny Depp portray him. Overall I think Johnny's acting was great, he did a beautiful job of conveying every emotion that he felt to the audience, and the sense of reality you get after the film just wrapped it up very nicely, and made the entire thing feel complete.
Another film I've recently watched is Rebel Without A Cause. In this movie James Dean plays a troubled teenager, who's simply trying to find his place away from his upper class family. Along the way he befriends two other teens facing similar family problems to that of his own, and they all eventually realize that the problems each of them face aren't as uncommon as they thought. For a 1950's film, I thought James Dean did a pretty good job with the role. The character goes through a lot of emotional stress throughout the film, which I think he was the best at portraying. With that said, I think he still did a fantastic job at portraying all of the other character's aspects as well. Especially the transitions from being confused and stressed, into making it appear that he may have found who he is. The character himself really is an emotional ride, and James performance is very well capped off at the end when one of his friends is shot by the police. The character instantly falls into this traumatic state, and James acting really allowed me to get a feel for how much he cared for his friends. By the end I thought that this wasn't a bad movie, given it's age, and something I'd recommend if you're interested in digging deep into one of the better acting performances from decades ago.
The first film I watched was American History X with the two main characters to watch were Derek Vinyard played by Edward Norton and Danny Vinyard played by Edward Furlong. Norton playing Derek is very synced into his role. Which the most intense moment of his white suppremist role is when he sees three black guys trying to steal his car he shoots them both in anger and curb stomps one and breaks his neck which brings him to jail and learns not everything is what it seems. You see him go threw strong emotions of withdrawal of being a white suppremist when he was raped by one for talking to a black man and how he wanted out so very badly when the principle said
Danny was going threw the same thing. The intensity of it all was the most when Danny dies and Derek is holding him in his arms in the bathroom looking as life has no meaning ever again. Danny played by Furlong shows the influence of Derek by doing what he did and more making the group larger then it already was. He showed no fear to any race that was against him and when he died Danny showed on his face the look of peace finally. Which overall this was a great movie with strong emotions and drama with these characters.
The second film I watched was Fargo with the main characters to look at were William H. Macy as Jerome ‘Jerry’ Lundegaard, Steve Buscemi as Carl Showalter and Peter Stormare as Gaear Grimsrud. Jerry is in a bind with no money so he goes to Carl and Gaear to steal his wife so his farther-in-law will pay the ransom for her and he can keep half the money to pay off his debts. Jerry shows anger at his in-law because he won’t give him money, but had the kidnapping already arranged so he tried to work that out in the end though he faked his sense of fear to his farther-in-law about her gone. He played a sick twisted character to have someone steal his wife, but played it well. Carl is a very talkative fidgety guy who only wants to fulfill his needs and get the job done and gets intense when people die and only wants the money. This leads into Gaear who ends up being a cold blooded murder who feels nothing and shoots people up to handle things which he gets his just desserts when he gets caught by the cop. Before that happens though he puts his partner Carl through the wood chipper to stop anything more from going on and getting away. Overall this was a phenomenal movie with major twists and turns you wouldn’t usually expect.
Well...Ray took me to a movie (for the first time EVER) and we went to see The Knowing with Nicholas Cage. Basically, I thought it stunk. It was too Sci-fi mixed with crazy religion shiz and so on. It was really weird because I think the writers/producers tried to squeeze two or three stories into one. It was too much to handle because the characters got into a million different situations that it was difficult to understand and remember. The acting was very good and believable though, so i guess it turned out alright. Another movie that I watched was "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf". I know some people think it's the greatest movie ever...whatever. Personally, I didn't find it that great. Elizabeth Taylor is not all she's cracked up to be...I didn't think she was very believable. I felt like she was just reciting lines. That's me personally though...Anyway, the plot of the movie was good (obviously!) and i think the rest of the characters did an okay job. I don't know, maybe i'm crazy, but Richard Burton didn't seem so great either. Maybe it's just an older style of acting that I'm not used to, I just didn't find the characters to be very convincing. oh Well....you better give me an A for this. <3
ok sooooo. The first movie i saw was (those are the same words next to each other but backwards) BENJAMIN BUTTON! freaking awsome. Anyways... so he was born as an old man and his mom died in child birth so his dad freaked out because he was butt ugly and left him on a door step of none other then a old people home...how ironic. So he grows up and as he gets older he really gets younger. So then he falls in love with this little girl because its creepy because he looks old but really there like the same age. So as he gets older she gets younger they meet in the middle have lots of sex she gets pregg he decideds he has to leave because he will become a baby and he doesnt want to burden her. and its awsome.
the second movie is the divine secrets of the yaya sisterhood. It is about a group of older women who have been friends since childhood. Vivy one of the women had a daughter names Sida who moved to New York city and because a broadway writer. A reporter twists a story around of what sida said about her mother and all hell breaks loose. They start to fight and dont talk to each other. The other women come and steal sida and bring her back down south. While she is there in the "yaya's" house she learns a lot about the break down her mother had while Sida was very little. She thought her mother didnt want her, but really she was just over dosing on what her doctor told her was pills to cure drinking. So in the end all is forgiven and they love each other again. It's amazing my favorite movie ever.
A great movie which I recently viewed is Sybil. I am reviewing Sally Field for her amazing performance as Sybil, Peggie, Vicky and all of the other 16 people who she portrayed. (If you don't know, Sybil has MPD and has 16 different personalities all because of her abusive childhood.)Sally Field was able to act well enough for the audience to know which personality she was and what that one personality was feeling at the time: Be it a young girl, a teenager, a boy or any of the other personalities she presented. Her performance allowed for me to personally connect with her as Sybil to the point that I could sympathize for all of her personalities as well. Sally Field is an amazing actress in many of her other famous performances as well, such as the mother in Forest Gump. All I have to say to her is, "Bravo!"
The other movie that I chose to review is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The film received thirteen Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Pitt, and Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson. Personally, I loved Brad Pitt. Not only is he extremelly good looking, but he also knows how to act. If you think about it, it must be pretty damn hard to portray an old man who has the mind of a little boy, and a young boy who has the mind of an old man! Pitt had to change his voice, his body language, his posture and his manner all throughout the movie in order to give off the feeling of his physical age differeing from his mind. Brad Pitt uses his surroudnings (costumes, make-up, environment) to put himself in the position of his character. I can't see it being very hard to learn the posture and body language of elderly people but he might have conducted some research on the topic.
The first film I watched was American History X. The two main characters in the movie were Danny and Derek. Danny was played by Edward Furlong and Derek was played by Edward Norton. The Ed’s did an amazing job. I at first watched this movie because my friends are obsessed with it and I wanted to see why. Now I know why. The acting is phenomenal. The emotional ups and downs seen through the eyes of both characters are fantastic. You can see the true connection the actors have with their characters. It was scary but showed you the reality of the life of a skinhead, prison, and how hard it is to escape your past.
The second film I watched was Marley and Me. I wasn’t going to put this in my film review initially but after watching it and seeing the emotion it got out of me, I had to write about it. I watched this on the plane to Spain over Spring Break. I thought it was just going to be some cheesy comedy. It wasn’t. It starred Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston who were a newly married couple who decided to get a puppy. It goes through the life of the family with the dog and all the changes over the years. The movie showed that no matter how much of a nuisance the dog was he was still family. I’m not going to give away the ending but I’ll just tell you… I balled my eyes out. All my friends on the plane were taking pictures of me. It was embarrassing to say the least. The acting in this movie was amazing. It really touched me. Everything seemed so real and I could relate because I’ve grown up having a dog my whole life.
THAT WAS SHAUNA ON THE LAST ONE BY THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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