"What Would U Say Is Philip Seymour Hoffman's Greatest Performance/Movie?"
I'm torn between Scottie, Father Flynn, Truman Capote or Lancaster Dodd with shout-outs to the way he made smaller/less-weighty material into tour-de-force/unforgettable-turns such as Scent Of A Woman, Big Lebowski, Along Came Polly and even Art Howe in Moneyball (which I was sure he couldn't pull off when I first heard it, still don't love that movie though).
As far as best overall film, I'm a big fan of The Master, he/Joaquin/PTA are all at the peak of their powers on that one.
But Boogie Nights and even 25th Hour are probably more re-watchable for rainy-day entertainment.
5. "you know that's the one major movie of his that I don't think I saw" In response to Reply # 1
I'm not even sure why but I think it had something to do with me suffering from some sort of Damon exhaustion by that 99/00 for a stretch (with the overpraised Private Ryan then Dogma & Bagger Vance somewhere in there too).
But I later have come to hear from people I trust it's one of his best and that Hoffman's great in it so I'm just hoping to catch it on cable one of these days.
7. "He out acts both of the leads by miles and in the process" In response to Reply # 5
manages to make their characters convincing. All the while hiding behind the oh you know I'm just another actor they needed to make this movie innocence.
It's been weird coming to terms with his passing because there was an honesty about him and his acting which I'm coming to understand was from a real place (in the best ones isn't it always) which makes the voyeuristic nature of my relationshipt o his work... not so easy.
I also happened to sit near him recently during a screening of Nosfaratu. There's no real story there, I didn't feel lie he was approachable and really wouldn't have had anything to say. But you know how you watch a movie and you have a feel for a character that you know that if they were real and in the room with you you'd recognize that feel as them. He had that. Like carrying the weight of his characters on his shoulders, come to find out it was likely the weight of his own demons.
8. "yeah, I gotta admit that his passing sorta let me know how little I knew" In response to Reply # 7
about his actual life. I knew he had kids, or at least that sounds vaguely familiar, however I really didn't have any idea he was wrestling with all these pathos in his personal life although seldom can an actor this good traveling in the emotional terrain he did not be channelling that power from someplace.
However for the most part, more than any other major acting figure I can think of from the past 20 years or so, he was just a consummate 'actor' to me who could disappear into whatever role I was watching him in most of the time.
Even the great, non-Hollywood types like Joaquin Phoenix or Daniel Day-Lewis, I can still on some level *feel* them acting and can see their process while Hoffman to me that never really occurred to even look for because it just felt so natural.
I'm hoping that doesn't change now that he's passed but at the same time like you I sorta do feel a bit more obligated to look into it and learn a bit about him, hope that doesn't spoil it for me which sounds selfish but I also get the feeling that a dude this good at his craft who I didn't know personally would very much prefer to be principally remembered for that rather than the other stuff.
dula dibiasi Member since Apr 05th 2004 21925 posts
Sat Feb-08-14 03:49 PM
36. "oh stop. damon's fucking great in that. his best performance imo." In response to Reply # 7
as good as PSH was -- "tommy... how's the peeping? tommytommytommytommytommy" -- i can't agree that he out acted matt "by miles"
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it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes
That movie felt like a weak Farrelly Brothers imitation & I could have cared less about anything between Stiller and Aniston but those two cleaned up in that flick and saved it, making it the kind of movie if you see part of it on TNT when they're in it you're at least staying through until the next commercial break.
But yeah, that movie was a waste of time. Figures that I saw it in the theater was a chick who was also a waste of time. Always had the worst taste in films. Went out with her for far too longs, and maybe saw two movies that were worth anything.
30. "I think that was the moment I realized he was special " In response to Reply # 2
at the time I had only known him for his serious roles in Punch Drunk Love, COld Mountain, Patch Adams and other dramas (hadn't seen Lebowski just yet)
but ALong Came Polly showed that dude had RANGE. There's very few actors who transcend genres like he did.
3. "Best role is damn near impossible." In response to Reply # 0
But my personal favorite movie is Boogie Nights or Almost Famous. For a more major, starring role type of thing...I think Owning Mahoney is a tour de force.
4. "yeah, after I made this post the fact that I didn't list Almost Famous" In response to Reply # 3
occurred to me & gave me that pang of 'WTF? How did you miss that?'.
It's probably a movie deemed sappy or even a bit saccharine by the tastemakers but as a lover of music who grew up actually knowing Cameron Crowe's story (which as a teenager was the greatest 'run away to join the circus' true story I'd ever heard or read up to that point) from hours spent reading music-journalism anthologies in my room during long stints of being grounded or at school during Saturday detentions/in-school suspensions, that movie spoke to me and easily allowed me to overcome its sentimentality.
Mostly because at the bottom of it all while Crowe isn't really going to go down as a great auteur or directing giant.......fuck it, he's a kid who was writing for Rolling Stone on 'Houses of the Holy' tour at 14 while the other kids were stuck in school, then later on went onto direct movies like I once dreamed of doing plus wifed the hot sister from Heart.
So at the end of it all this tribute to the magical powers instilled by really fucking loving music felt honest and true to Crowe's own life which is why he made the damn movie.
Hoffman nailed it & added his own thing as well, all reportedly in the throes of being completely sick with the flu and in only three days of shooting.
That's some Stevie-Nicks-in-the-studio-recording-her-full-vocal-for-Dreams-on-one-take-while-covered-in-blankets-underneath-a-humidifier-in-the-corner-to-keep-her-from-shivering-and-sneezing level of making-of-film/music-nerd shit right there.
He steals every scene he's in even if just sitting by himself on the other end of a phone, none more so than this one which probably belongs in his all-time canon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzY2pWrXB_0
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86672 posts
Tue Feb-04-14 02:08 AM
9. "Right. I could narrow it to his five best moments. In no order:" In response to Reply # 3
- entrance in Charlie Wilson's War - finale in Synecdoche, New York - late night phone conversation about being uncool in Almost Famous - the first processing in The Master - "I'm gonna find her, I'm gonna hurt her" in Mission: Impossible 3.
And even then, I'm leaving out classics like Scotty in the car in Boogie Nights, Dean yelling shut up on the phone in Punch Drunk Love, the dolly shot in 25th Hour...
... I've heard his upcoming A Most Wanted Man is among his finest as well.
"what i did to your little friend was... fun. it was fun."
he absolutely killed that.
i tried to find that full scene on youtube a few yrs ago w/ no success. the search terms were still in my autofill when i looked for it again yesterday. also w/ no success.
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it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes
24. "how he stares at Tom when Tom is putting PSH head" In response to Reply # 9
near the engine, builds that moment so well
the way PSH held his body and head, the way he used his frame (especially in the fight scene of MI:III) is a BIG part of what made him so great. he didn't focus all his energy on lines and facial expressions
23. "Exactly why the loss hits so hard " In response to Reply # 15
I don't know if I can think of another actor who melded into characters as well as PSH...with every single role, he was good, if not great. He just made it look effortless, like every role he played was made for him...what a talent.
--------------------------------- <--The drought is over
"have fun reveling in your pettiness tho" (C) Dula summing up 98% of OKS
"I didnt finish a damn thing...matter of fact I jerked off after she left." -Kobe speaking to investigators
33. "my fave role of his was in Magnolia." In response to Reply # 0
2. Happiness. 3. The Master. 4. PunchDrunk Love ( I could watch that scene with him yelling on the phone at Adam Sandler everyday). 5. Before The Devil Knows Your Dead. 6. The Savages. 7. Doubt.
34. "SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHUT SHUT SHUT SHUT SHUT" In response to Reply # 0
SHUT THE FUCK UP... Now...
(next scene)
"Now Fuck off pervert!" "I warned you!" "That's That."
ohh man such a classic sequence of events
PSH was in 3 damn scenes three. Also Sandler channeled some other ass shit for that role. It's him, but all emotionally warped on some serious psychological shit and not just for shits and giggles
dula dibiasi Member since Apr 05th 2004 21925 posts
Sun Feb-16-14 11:47 AM
38. "his 5 best performances imo" In response to Reply # 0
in order
before the devil knows you're dead the master capote owning mahowny magnolia
no real wrong answers to this question tho. you could pick any 5 of his roles at random and have a damn fine list.
what a talent. really wish i could've seen his willy loman, i've heard it was transcendent.
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it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes
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