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Showing posts with label The Assassination of Jesse James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Assassination of Jesse James. Show all posts
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Take Three: Paul Schneider
Craig here with this week's Take Three.
Take One: Shining bright in the background
Schneider is the epitome of faded rakishness as Charles Armitage Brown, the somewhat disarmingly oily, though tender, poet pal and occasional gooseberry orbiting around both Ben Whishaw’s Keats and Abbie Cornish’s Fanny in Jane Campion's excellent Bright Star (2009). He is the film's third, understated star – his character is a gem of a role for an actor more averse to playing contemporary slackers.
Some found his Scottish accent a bit wavering, but I didn't notice anything odd about it (though it’s possible he may well have watched Billy Connelly clips as practice). The way he instills Brown with a larger-than-life robustness was endearing and playful; it was a sheer pleasure to watch him jauntily thrust himself front and centre into all social situations, talking up his game a mile-a-minute to everyone around him.
Schneider played Brown as a man open to all adventure – someone who wholly encourages the pleasures of the day ahead. But there was a brewing sadness hovering around the edges of his character. An unforeseen and hidden emotion spills out of him at one particularly crucial moment in the film. Schneider masters his line delivery whilst desperately attempting to swallow down a life's worth of sorrow. He was truly amazing in this scene and indeed every minute of his screen time. Just where was that Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, Eh?
Take Two: Not just Like Jesse James.
In addition to main star Brad Pitt The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) was dutifully backed up by a coterie of acting talent from some of today’s best male stock. All the support cast had established fine careers beforehand, but where the likes of Jeremy Renner, Sam Rockwell and Casey Affleck went on to noticeably higher profile leading roles recently (with The Hurt Locker, Moon and The Killer Inside Me respectively), Schneider has continued to graft away in supporting parts (Ditto Jesse James’ other hidden supporting gem Garret Dillahunt). His key role will come. But in the meantime he gets to add his own slice a slippery menace to Andrew Dominik's painterly version of the James myth.
He plays Dick Liddil: Lothario, braggart and rough-hewn gang member – essentially a turn-of-the-century male slut with a holster and a wry glint in his eye. He’s admired by some James gang members, despised by others, but keeps himself in check with wily panache and plenty of arrogant smirks.
His slightly heightened vocal inflections – which give Schneider’s voice a cleverly subtle whiny lilt – are almost sing-song, but insinuating. Schneider displays Dick’s unsettling bravado best in the scene where Ford (Affleck) bathes in a tub outside whilst Dick questions his true intentions, before pointing a gun to his face and saying, “I’ll look you up. I’ll knock on your door, and I’ll be as mad as a hornet. And I will be hard.” His temper and disposition flit between carefree and insidious. It’s a real about-turn from moments where he’s relaxed or turning on the lowly charm – like when he’s seducing his conquests in outhouses. (Oddly, his best work here is often delivered in scenes featuring external WCs.) Schneider seduces us too – and he's the best of a 'bad' bunch.
Take Three: Paul, the real guy?
Schneider’s career emerged alongside director David Gordon Green’s – who cast him in two early shorts (Pleasant Grove, Physical Pinball) and his first two features: 2000's George Washington and 2003’s All the Real Girls. It was his role as Paul, the Southern small town womaniser who flounders in the face of real love (with Zooey Deschanel), in the latter film which thrust him into the indie spotlight and set his career off to a gloriously groovy start. It’s not quite an alt version of the Scorsese & DeNiro-style team-up, but the promise was there.
Schneider's was a role could've easily sailed close to indulgent wallowing – an actor too familiar may have jarred with the film’s overall perfectly parochial tone, an actor too over-rehearsed may have laid it on thick – but Schneider’s rookie affability (a characteristic the actor gladly hasn’t yet lost) and natural ease ensure that Paul’s arc is realistically and affectingly conveyed. The whole film can be seen as a portrait of a guy on the cusp of being a lifelong loser, but who holds off long enough to strive for something else, some kind of miniature personal redemption. It's given simple style and performance assurance by Schneider.
The desire to feel half irritated at Paul’s slovenly, cocksure mannerisms and half intrigued by his wayward, unfocused lifestyle constantly pulls at the audience's sympathies. Paul’s a familiar enough type, who most people have likely met, but Schneider blends together a variety of internal emotions, tics and instances of accurate woeful male heartbreak and lets them out in a surprisingly layered, truthful way. Looking at the film again now, it’s a pleasant surprise just how confident a performance it is. Schneider had the smarts from early on.
Three more key films for the taking: George Washington (2000), Elizabethtown (2005), Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
Today: Paul Schneider
Take One: Shining bright in the background
Schneider is the epitome of faded rakishness as Charles Armitage Brown, the somewhat disarmingly oily, though tender, poet pal and occasional gooseberry orbiting around both Ben Whishaw’s Keats and Abbie Cornish’s Fanny in Jane Campion's excellent Bright Star (2009). He is the film's third, understated star – his character is a gem of a role for an actor more averse to playing contemporary slackers.
Fanny on his mind. Schneider as Brown in Bright Star
Some found his Scottish accent a bit wavering, but I didn't notice anything odd about it (though it’s possible he may well have watched Billy Connelly clips as practice). The way he instills Brown with a larger-than-life robustness was endearing and playful; it was a sheer pleasure to watch him jauntily thrust himself front and centre into all social situations, talking up his game a mile-a-minute to everyone around him.
Schneider played Brown as a man open to all adventure – someone who wholly encourages the pleasures of the day ahead. But there was a brewing sadness hovering around the edges of his character. An unforeseen and hidden emotion spills out of him at one particularly crucial moment in the film. Schneider masters his line delivery whilst desperately attempting to swallow down a life's worth of sorrow. He was truly amazing in this scene and indeed every minute of his screen time. Just where was that Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, Eh?
Take Two: Not just Like Jesse James.
In addition to main star Brad Pitt The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) was dutifully backed up by a coterie of acting talent from some of today’s best male stock. All the support cast had established fine careers beforehand, but where the likes of Jeremy Renner, Sam Rockwell and Casey Affleck went on to noticeably higher profile leading roles recently (with The Hurt Locker, Moon and The Killer Inside Me respectively), Schneider has continued to graft away in supporting parts (Ditto Jesse James’ other hidden supporting gem Garret Dillahunt). His key role will come. But in the meantime he gets to add his own slice a slippery menace to Andrew Dominik's painterly version of the James myth.
He plays Dick Liddil: Lothario, braggart and rough-hewn gang member – essentially a turn-of-the-century male slut with a holster and a wry glint in his eye. He’s admired by some James gang members, despised by others, but keeps himself in check with wily panache and plenty of arrogant smirks.
The gang's all here: Schneider - second from left, top row.
His slightly heightened vocal inflections – which give Schneider’s voice a cleverly subtle whiny lilt – are almost sing-song, but insinuating. Schneider displays Dick’s unsettling bravado best in the scene where Ford (Affleck) bathes in a tub outside whilst Dick questions his true intentions, before pointing a gun to his face and saying, “I’ll look you up. I’ll knock on your door, and I’ll be as mad as a hornet. And I will be hard.” His temper and disposition flit between carefree and insidious. It’s a real about-turn from moments where he’s relaxed or turning on the lowly charm – like when he’s seducing his conquests in outhouses. (Oddly, his best work here is often delivered in scenes featuring external WCs.) Schneider seduces us too – and he's the best of a 'bad' bunch.
Take Three: Paul, the real guy?
Schneider’s career emerged alongside director David Gordon Green’s – who cast him in two early shorts (Pleasant Grove, Physical Pinball) and his first two features: 2000's George Washington and 2003’s All the Real Girls. It was his role as Paul, the Southern small town womaniser who flounders in the face of real love (with Zooey Deschanel), in the latter film which thrust him into the indie spotlight and set his career off to a gloriously groovy start. It’s not quite an alt version of the Scorsese & DeNiro-style team-up, but the promise was there.
Schneider and Zooey Deschanel apart in All the Real Girls
Schneider's was a role could've easily sailed close to indulgent wallowing – an actor too familiar may have jarred with the film’s overall perfectly parochial tone, an actor too over-rehearsed may have laid it on thick – but Schneider’s rookie affability (a characteristic the actor gladly hasn’t yet lost) and natural ease ensure that Paul’s arc is realistically and affectingly conveyed. The whole film can be seen as a portrait of a guy on the cusp of being a lifelong loser, but who holds off long enough to strive for something else, some kind of miniature personal redemption. It's given simple style and performance assurance by Schneider.
Schneider and Zooey Deschanel together in All the Real Girls
The desire to feel half irritated at Paul’s slovenly, cocksure mannerisms and half intrigued by his wayward, unfocused lifestyle constantly pulls at the audience's sympathies. Paul’s a familiar enough type, who most people have likely met, but Schneider blends together a variety of internal emotions, tics and instances of accurate woeful male heartbreak and lets them out in a surprisingly layered, truthful way. Looking at the film again now, it’s a pleasant surprise just how confident a performance it is. Schneider had the smarts from early on.
Three more key films for the taking: George Washington (2000), Elizabethtown (2005), Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Robert Gives Thanks
I love slow movies. Really slow. For the longest time I thought everyone else considered that word to signify the worst in movies. Slow meant bad enough to put you to sleep. I love movies that put me to sleep. I’ve a whole collection of movies that I can pop in the DVD player whenever I can’t sleep and they’ll do the trick. If we can agree that music peaceful enough to put you to sleep can still be great, why not movies?So this year I’m thankful for slow movies. But I’m also thankful for others who love them, because together we inspire filmmakers to keep making them. Great modern films like Goodbye, Solo and The Assassination of Jesse James..., and The Band’s Visit and Silent Light.
I’m thankful that cinema hasn’t been completely overrun by the desire to make anything but “boring” when too often films that are poetic, relaxing, serene, and contemplative are given that most terrible of labels.
I’m also thankful for Studio Ghibli, Charlie Chaplin, Mumbecore films, Faye Wong in Wong Kar Wai movies, Maria Falconetti , Charlie Kaufman, the masculinity of John Huston, the Iranian New Wave, Max Von Sydow (who looks like my grandfather), Fellini in the 1980’s, everything that comes out of Werner Herzog’s mouth, the modern Documentary movement, Louise Brooks and her hair, and Jude Law’s last line in A.I. “I am, I was!”
Monday, September 3, 2007
Notes from Venice - Day 5/6
Boyd from European Films here, reporting on the ongoing Venice Film FestivalMood: tired
Weather: hot but cloudy
Films seen: Cassandra's Dream, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Nines, La graine et le mulet, Un baiser - s'il vous plaît, The Darjeeling Limited, Hotel Chevalier
Gripe of the day: Brad Pitt's sunglasses
People currently on the same square mile of earth as I am: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Adrien Brody, Bill Murray, Todd Haynes, Richard Gere, Jason Schwartzman, Tim Burton, Joan Chen, Toni Servillo, Terence Howard, Sam Shepard
Last night the Venice Film Festival hosted the gala premieres of two films that had the boys and girls lining the red carpet screaming their lungs out: Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream with Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford with Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt, who graced the red carpet with Angelina Jolie. (During the latter film's premiere I was in another building half a mile away and I could still hear the deafening screams floating into the room on the gentle sea breeze. "Oh! It must be half past nine," I thought.)
Earlier yesterday, Brad Pitt's sunglasses caused an uproar with attending photographers when during a photo opportunity for accredited picture-takers he refused to take his sunglasses off and then maliciously passed them on to Casey Affleck before he could have his mug shot taken. A voluntary photography boycott seemed to be in the air for the evening premiere, but things had apparently calmed down by then, as photographers clicked away like mad when the Royal Couple also known as Brangelina finally walked down the red carpet.
So what about the movies? The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (full review) is a magnificent motion picture that will appeal more to the fans of Terence Malick than those of Clint Eastwood. In my review I compared it to both Zodiac and a suspension bridge in that it stars of with a violent episode before going into calmer (read: character psychology) waters and then arriving at the titular act of violence that must certainly rank with the most exciting scenes of the year. How director Andrew Dominik succeeds in making the killing of a man cleaning a picture on a wall so exciting you will have to see for yourself, though a clear mixture of cunning mise-en-scene and a slow build-up that only a 155-minute picture can afford must at least be partially held responsible.
Pitt is in fine form, though at 40+ he looks a bit wrinkly for 34-year-old James (even Pitt gets older, yikes!) and Affleck is truly great, looking at the serious possibility he might get an acting nomination at the Oscars before his older brother Ben. People voting in the technical categories will also love this film, which looks absolutely stunning (gorgeous cinematography? check. great production design? check. period costumes. check! lovely make-up and hair? check) and also features a great, sombre score from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. The film seems to be too artistically inclined and too long to go for a Best Picture win, but it could turn out to go home with most Oscars a la Memoirs of a Geisha a few years back, simply because it is a stunning production all the way and could win a heap of statuettes in those categories.Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream (cast pictured above, courtesy of Fabrizio Maltese) is a funny case. Just a couple of weeks ago I reviewed the new Chabrol film La fille coupée en deux (The Girl Cut in Two), explaining that the two filmmakers both had a glory period that belongs to the past in common, as well as the fact that they seem unable to live without making movies and still churn out one a year of varying quality. As such, Allen made something of come-back with his extremely well-received Match Point, and, I wrote, Chabrol's latest could be considered his Match Point, a "deliciously dark and well-observed tale that marks a fine return to form."
Imagine my surprise when I saw Cassandra's Dream, which feels like a Chabrol film transplanted to London as directed by an American (which it is). Is there some mutual cross-pollination going on between the two directors? Coincidence or not, the latest films from both masters premiered yesterday one after the other in Venice. A full review of Cassandra's Dream is forthcoming, but let's just say for the moment that it's pretty dark and pretty funny, and again reminds everyone why this character actor will never go out of business.
(A not unimportant note on the Chabrol: Ludivine Sagnier becomes not only prettier by the day but is also clearly growing as an actress. Plus, Benoît Magimel is irresistible as a slimy, fey and delusional heir with too much money and not enough good manners.)
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Notes from Venice - Day 0
Thanks to Nathaniel for his graceful intro!For those unfamiliar with me and my site european-films.net: nice to virtually meet you all. I'm Boyd, a kid with a movie tic trapped in a 27-year-old's body. I've been writing about film since Salma Hayek was robbed of an Oscar. Over at european-films.net I cover European films (duh!) and also cover all the major films (European and otherwise) that play at the major European film festivals, which means I travel in circles from Berlin to Cannes to Venice to Berlin each year. It's a tough job but someone's got to do it!
Venice is actually my favorite festival because of its special place on the calender (the first true Oscar launchpad), the nice climate, great food and (not unimportant) their great taste in movies. I mean, they gave Brokeback Mountain the Golden Lion just two years ago. And check out their track record: Monsoon Wedding, Trois Couleurs: Bleu, Belle de Jour, Last Year at Marienbad, Aparajito, Rashomon... these are all considered classics.
The Venice Film Festival will in fact celebrate its 75th anniversary this year -- take that Cannes, which celebrated its 60th b-day in May -- but its 2007 edition is only the 64th time the festival takes place. The festival is part of a much larger cultural organization called the Biennale, which, as the name indicates, organizes (or at least used to organize) cultural events every other year.
So, the 64th/75th anniversary edition will kick off on Wednesday with the world premiere of Atonement, Joe Wright's follow-up to his much lauded debut Pride & Prejudice. I've already had a sneak peek a couple of weeks ago and I can tell you that the movie, an adaptation of the eponymous bestseller by Ian McEwan, will likely be a big awards contender. It is not a flawless masterpiece, but as romances go, it is pretty heartbreaking and unforgettable.
The couple played by Keira Knightley and James McAvoy will have entire multiplexes fumbling for the Kleenexes in the dark and will leave Oscar-voters little choice but nominate them again (Knightley) or for the first time (McAvoy, who was shamelessly overlooked for his work on The Last King of Scotland). Read my full Atonement review here.
Something possibly even more fun than guessing Oscar nominees and winners is guessing the gay characters and/or elements in the recently announced line-up of the Queer Lion Award, a new prize at the Venice Film Festival that will award a film that "accurately portrays homosexual characters or themes". Who is playing gay? Most of the films listed are
not particularly explicit about the gay angle in the material released so far. Could it be Brad Pitt? Casey Affleck? Owen Wilson? Adrien Brody? Michael Caine? Jude Law? Or perhaps a lovely foreign-accented man such as Bruno Todeschini, Benoît Magimel, Sami Bouajila or Daniel Wu?US films on the Queer Lion contenders list are four: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford with Pitt and Affleck; Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited with Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman and the indie flicks Speed of Life (Superheroes) from Ed Radtke, a juvenile delinquent drama, and the road trip movie Searchers 2.0 from Alex Cox. Law and Caine co-star in the Kenneth Branagh's UK remake of 1972's Sleuth, which also starred Caine.
Start your guesses/wish lists for possible gay characters in the comments, and I'll be checking in from Wednesday on to tell you all about it.
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