Q&A: Australian Greats, Leading Men, and Camera Muses
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at 10:34PM It's time for reader questions. Here are 10 recently asked I'm opting to answer tonight. Join the conversation in the comments.
INQUIRER: Who do you believe is more worthy of an acting Oscar between Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Johnny Depp, and who do you think is more likely to win one?
This would surprise anyone unfamiliar with the site but Brad Pitt towers over the other two. He's among my all time favorite movie stars. But you've crafted a tricky question because all three men have loyal camps that they've earned. Cruise is the most consistent, always laser focused on Doing His Job in whichever movie. Depp is the most inspired when he's inspired but he's also the laziest. It seems impossible to imagine now but people did not want him to play Pirates like he played it. The studio was concerned. What is he doing? Now people hire him to for Depp shtick and that's what he gives to the point of self parody! Pitt is the most uneven actor among the three but he's also the most endearing, has the best taste, has aged superbly with his talent, and has evolved the most. Years ago I felt certain that all three would eventually be crowned but it's hard to picture now. If any one of them does a moving hit drama when he's an old codger though perhaps he'll get a career achievement prize. If none of them ever win competitively I'd wager that Brad Pitt is the most likely to get an Honorary Oscar.
This might be as good a time as any to tell you (warn you?) that April will be ACTOR MONTH here at the blog. We talk about actresses so much that it's time for a wee curveball. Any requests?
TABITHA: Why do female movie stars now largely seem to be in their 20's or 60's? There seems to be a resistance to embrace middle-aged stars (apart from Sandra Bullock or Charlize Theron).
I blame this phenomenon entirely on sexism and the patriarchy. It's intrinsically tied to the "Last F***able Day" phenomenon that Amy Schumer named so brilliantly. I think once an actress has passed that threshold of straight men being "ewww she's AGING -- how dare she?" and is now just an older person, who for better or for worse are often desexualized in art, it's easier for people to just enjoy their acting again. That's my 100% correct theory. It's also harder for female stars to age because a huge percentage of them are famous in part because of exceptional beauty which is not necessarily true (certainly not percentage wise!) with their male counterparts.
KEVIN: if you put Meryl on a strict diet of auteurs, who would you pair her with for her next 3 films?
Let's begin by reteaming her with Spike Jonze since Adaptation is one of her more daring and atypical performances. To keep her on her toes I'd definitely pair her with a true artist maverick with a lack of preciousness about Great Actors so let's say Steve McQueen (also because I find this so impossible to imagine). And while I know it's cruel to suggest that anyone work with David O. Russell, I'd love to see her put through his ringer because Streep too often directs herself. Plus his movies are very well acted -- all the actors have to truly fight for dominance rather than having the movie handed to them -- and she's great at comedy.
PEDRO: How do you know that a movie's editing is good? Do you ever think of what is left in the cutting room floor of a movie?
I do but since that's so unknowable mostly I think about what's left on screen, the pacing of the movie as a whole as well as the rhythms of the scenes which are determined by not just the acting but the punctuation (which I would argue is what the editing can be) and the moments where cutting from one image to the next is thrilling for the juxtaposition.
DAN: Bradford Young just finished capturing Michelle Pfeiffer on film in "Beat-Up Little Seagull". Can you remember the first film that left you mesmerized by the combination of an actress's image, and how the cinematographer brought her to light?
This moment changed my life."This was just a moment in the woods.. Our moment. Shimmering and lovely and sad."I heart Bradford Young so hard but that's not what this question is about.
Funny you should mention La Pfeiffer. My answer is Ladyhawke (1985). Cinematography by Vittorio Storaro. It took me awhile as a baby movie nerd to understand that so much of an actors appeal is the combo of their innate gifts and the artists behind the scenes who understand / amplify / challenge / complicate those gifts. But around 1985 I started thinking of these things and it was actually the first time I ever paid attention to cinematography (see also: our recent interview with Ed Lachmann wherein we talk 1985 briefly). I guess you could say that Michelle Pfeiffer was my gateway drug to cinematographers (if not to costume designers and other crafts) because by the time Tequila Sunrise (1988) and Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) hit, I was watching the credits to see who shot her. It was Conrad L Hall and Michael Ballhaus, respectively, and they were both Oscar nominated for doing so.
P.S. Ballhaus was ROBBED at the Oscars. Where is his Honorary Oscar, damnit ?!?!?
JEFF: You've spoken in the past about your dislike for narration in movies, a view with which I normally agree. That being said, do any movies come to mind in which you thought the narration was actually an asset to the film?
Allow me to clarify that I don't think any storytelling device is bad or good, it's just how you use it. And sometimes a device is so overused that I wish to never see it again like the dread "hours earlier" after a shocking opening scene in a tv show. If I never see that again before I die I will think the Showrunner up in Heaven or whoever put the kabosh on it. My issue with narration is that very few filmmakers do it well and it is, for the most part, a device borrowed from stage and literature and not in its essence cinematic. Every once in awhile someone does it well though. I remember Drug Store Cowboy's being effective. And I l-o-v-e Alec Baldwin's narration of The Royal Tenenbaums which Michael once praised incisively right here.
FOREVER1267: Who was your favorite among Charlie's Angels?
I was a "Kelly" man even though outside of the confines of that show I have no feelings about Charlie's pet angel Jaclyn Smith. But if you mean the movies I was in ditzy Cameron Diaz's corner.
P.S. please everyone read the recent surprise Charlie's Angels post. I worked hard on it and I think it's fun.
BAM BAM: Where is streaming and virtual reality taking the movies? Will actors and movie stars become increasingly less important or unique as entertainment becomes designed for the quick buck and/or presentation on various platforms/gadgets?
I'm not sure I understand the question or perhaps it's a lot of interconnected questions. People have been saying the movies and movie stars are over for as long as I've been alive but they somehow survive. But as for virtual reality this makes me think of games and I have to admit I think the videogame industry has already ruined one genre of movie (the action genre) because so often movies don't even try to disguise that they're planning their video game tie ins during storyboarding and screenwriting, Gods of Egypt being the most hilariously shameless recent example. There is not a movie on this planet I am less interested in seeing than Hardcore Henry which appears to be a feature length movie about watching someone else play a video game which is the most boring thing to do in real life and doing it in the cinema won't make it any less so.
EZ: What is your favourite Australian film?
Hmmm. Define Australian film. I'll have to answer this question as "favorite Australian film outside of the filmographies of Baz Luhrmann and George Miller...and Jane Campion if you're counting New Zealand co-productions" because otherwise it'd be all too weighted in their favor.
Hugo Weaving and Russell Crowe in Proof (1991)
Sullivan Stapleton and Jacki Weaver in the great Animal Kingdom (2010)
My seven favorites other than films by those filmmakers are, in reverse chronological order: The Babadook (2014), Animal Kingdom (2010), The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994), Proof, (1991), Flirting (1990), Careful He Might Hear You (1983), and Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). And, because I'm not sure why you're asking (for recommendations?), here are a handful more that I think are well worth seeing even if I don't love them as much: Mary and Max (2009), Jindabyne (2006), Japanese Story (2003), Muriel's Wedding (1994), The Sum of Us (1994) and A Cry in the Dark (1988).
CASH: What's your favorite movie to watch on a sick day?
I'm not really big on rewatching movies outside of the movie theater. But since this question keeps being asked I will assume everyone watches movies on their sick days? But if I turn on the TV at all I tend to empty the DVR but occassionally only a musical will do. Anything Gene Kelly or Judy Garland will do.
So that's my answers this week kids. I'd love to hear your take on some of these questions too. Particularly your favorite Australian film, the first time you noticed how a cinematographer was shooting an actor, and whether you think Cruise, Pitt or Depp will ever win a competitive acting Oscar -- there definitely doesn't seem to be any sustained "overdue" fervor for them like there has been for DiCaprio for years.
Reader Comments (55)
Excellent choices on Aussie films, but I'm pleased some of the comments have already added Lantana to the list. Such a brilliant film. Picnic at Hanging Rock would probably be my favourite. The Sum of Us was hugely important to me as a young Aussie gay boy just coming out. Muriel's Wedding somehow manages to be joyfully camp, darkly subversive and utterly heartbreaking (poor Betty Heslop).
Something on most interesting men actors of Downtown Abbey, maybe profiles or interviews. The gay butler actor is breaking my heart. Yes, dingo movie. Beautifully shot and acted. Compl captures Australia.
So many of my fave Aussie movies have been named already so I won't mention them again. Here are a few more ...
WALKABOUT British director Nic Roeg shot this in Australia and apparently he has always thought of it as his best movie. So weirdly, poetically Australian. Features a wonderful first appearance by indigenous actor David Gulpilil, which leads me to ...
THE LAST WAVE & THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY Two of Peter Weir's lesser known movies but both excellent in different ways.
And STARSTRUCK. Not many people seem to have seen this but it's the film Gillian Armstrong made after My Brilliant Career, and it's not what people expected from her at all. It's an early 80s New Wave musical that features, among other things, two stoned gay guys floating around on a rooftop pool in Sydney while beefy lifeguards do some kind of weird Busby Berkeley routine and then wrestle inflatable sharks.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2peffXk_ux4
It's odd and funny and a lot of fun, and I've loved it since I was a little kid.
I'm not a huge Michelle Pfeiffer fan, but the first time I noticed a cinematographer was when Ballhaus was shooting her, too - namely, when he shot her for The Age of Innocence. That movie is exquisitely filmed. The next film that called attention to its cinematography for me was Quiz Show, which was shot by Ballhaus the next year. (Please feature Ralph Fiennes for Actor Month, I think he's the best we have.) Ballhaus is really, really due an honorary Oscar at this point.
Oh and also, not directed by Miller but another one produced by him ...
THE YEAR MY VOICE BROKE A tragic, rural, coming of age love story with a very, very young Noah Taylor and Ben Mendelsohn.
GHOSTS OF THE CIVIL DEAD A tough, bleak prison movie and the first collaboration between John Hillcoat and Nick Cave.
THE CLUB Great film based on a well known play but probably won't make much sense to non-Australians as it's a comedy about Australian Rules football.