Best Acting Scenes.... EVER! - by Scots Taffer
Aja on 7/3/2008 at 04:08
That scene Scots linked to was the one that made me a Lynch devotee, after only seeing one movie plus Mulholland Drive up to that point. Something about the vibe you mention (and I'll agree it's more feel than narrative) just resonates with me. The penultimate scene with the old people is so horrifying that I still get tense, and I've seen it more than a few times. Hell, the 2-second shot in the limo at the very beginning is eerie as anything, and it's all constructed from elements so subtle that I'm convinced few filmmakers besides Lynch could create that sort of atmosphere.
But back on track: this thread is making me realize that I haven't seen a great deal of really good acting...
Tocky on 7/3/2008 at 04:26
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
I don't like Blue Velvet, at all. It's just too much that's wrong with the world.
But but there was the obviously fake robin tweeting outside the window to let you know everything was right in the world at the end. What twaddle.
The only dialogue I can think of at the moment is Dustin Hoffman saying, "my life had just been saved by the violent murder of my best friend by my mortal enemy, sometimes life is just too confusing to go on living it" in Little Big Man. That doesn't exactly fit here but I like it.
It would take me hours to download this stuff but you have me interested in Requiem now.
Scots Taffer on 7/3/2008 at 04:33
I realise that most of my choices feature dialogue heavily, because from my own personal favouritism I like how dialogue informs character when it's written well but that doesn't mean that you have to think of examples solely to do with dialogue.
For example, Ko0k's scene is a great choice for simply the cumulative expression of the actors involved to create a magnificent tension. A similar situation occurs in the train station scene in The Untouchables, you know it's coming but not when and it's that slow steady build that in part is contributed by the actors but is often owned by the directors, scorers and cinematographers more often than not.
piano-sam on 7/3/2008 at 04:38
Maybe your are not alone in your proclivity for dialogue?
Scots Taffer on 7/3/2008 at 04:50
Quote Posted by piano-sam
Maybe your are not alone in your proclivity for dialogue?
I recognise that, I just didn't want people to think they could only post speeches. If I was posting speeches I'd be all over it with (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI) Alec Baldwin's from Glengarry Glen Ross. :D
I love when he says "Are they all here? I'm going anyway...", he's all pumped up and ready to spit. Great scene.
Fafhrd on 7/3/2008 at 07:04
In The Fountain when Izzy flatlines, and Tommy just breaks comes immediately to mind.
Simon Pegg's breakdown in Shaun of the Dead when he finds out his mum's been bitten.
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: The murder of Ed Miller The look on Garrett Dillahunt's face when Jesse drops behind and tells him to keep going. He conveys perfectly that, definition of a rube that he is, he knows what's coming and he's powerless to stop it. There's also a scene at the end where Sam Rockwell (playing Charlie Ford playing Jesse James) perfectly assumes all the mannerisms that Brad Pitt had been using as Jesse during a reenactment of the titular act that, couple of seconds that it was, just kind of blew my mind.
Thirith on 7/3/2008 at 07:48
Quote Posted by Fafhrd
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford:
The murder of Ed Miller The look on Garrett Dillahunt's face when Jesse drops behind and tells him to keep going. He conveys perfectly that, definition of a rube that he is, he knows what's coming and he's powerless to stop it. There's also a scene at the end where Sam Rockwell (playing Charlie Ford playing Jesse James) perfectly assumes all the mannerisms that Brad Pitt had been using as Jesse during a reenactment of the titular act that, couple of seconds that it was, just kind of blew my mind.
I'd like to second, third, fourth and quite possibly fifth these two. Garrett Dillahunt is amazing anyway; just compare his Jack McCall and his Francis Walcott in seasons 1 and 2 of
Deadwood. He actually makes the double casting work.
And Sam Rockwell's scene towards the end of
TAOJJBTCRF is made better by having him act the part twice, so you see the development: at the beginning, his (that is, the character's) acting is utter crap, the sort of thing you get in the worst amateur productions. And then, over time, something changes. And I'd slightly disagree with you on Rockwell assuming Pitt's mannerisms - there is that, but there is also a deep loathing for what he and Robert have done that's there at the same time. Jesse James didn't have that loathing; with him, there was more a kind of resignation and even welcoming of what's about to happen. But however you interpret the acting, it's strong as hell.
