James Frazier: film critic, writer, and hired goon. Co-founder and editor of CriticSpeak.com
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
17
!
5
comments:
tony
said...
i liked him in american beauty, but thats probably just because i liked american beauty. i thought he fit that role pretty well. i agree that he isn't the best actor, but i by no means hate him. he may be unremarkable, but he is at least pretty stable as far as actors go.
He certainly is stable, though not in a way I appreciate! I'd actually like to talk to someone who would argue that he is among the top 10 actors to grace the screen, and could back this view up with detailed citation of his performances, techniques, etc. I leave myself open to the possibility that I could warm up to him and his performances, but for now, not so much.
I've only seen 3.5 movies staring Kevin Spacey that I can remember: L.A. Confidential, K-Pax, Ordinary Decent Criminal, and half of the movie Se7en.
I really liked L.A. Confidential and Spacey's part didn't warrant much more than his usual monotone acting style, so you could chalk that one up to good casting I suppose. Also in Se7en his role demanded a monotone performance in order to correctly portray the incredibly cold-blooded heartless serial killer that he was playing. (More good casting?)
In K-Pax I saw that he actually had a pretty good emotional range, like when Jeff Bridges' character, a psychologist, is regressing this "Prot" character played by Spacey, and Spacey is actually pretty good at acting like a young child or an emotionally disturbed teen-ager.
I was impressed enough with this performance that I blindly chose a movie, on which I had read no reviews or seen no trailers, simply because Spacey was playing the main character, which was Ordinary Decent Criminal. He plays the part of an Irish professional theif with 2 wives (the two women are sisters and are perfectly OK with being married to the same man). And his character loves to steal simply for the satisfaction of knowing that he is the best and can steal things that are really hard to steal. I wasn't too impressed with this movie. And his was again the regular "I'm so cool" monotone character, so you may be right about that. I don't know what an Irish accent should sound like so I am guessing his accent was good.
The bottom line is, I haven't seen enough movies with Kevin Spacey so I have no strong opinion about him, though I would say that Denzel Washington or Brad Pitt are better actors. I did learn not to pick movies based on the actors in them.
As for being of a minority opinion, I have some experience with being in a minory opinion. My whole life seems to consist of me being the minority opinion partly due to the fact that my dad is from another country, that I was raised in a minority religion familiy in a realtively conservative little mid-western town. Then, as I got older, preferring computers and math to football or baseball is considered to be blasphemy by most people's standards. Then as a college student preferring the (usually) wholesome nature of childrens cartoons to the always cliche and blatantly sexual nature of reality TV was also "crazy" by most people's standards. Those are the hilights and I can list several more examples....
I have found that being the minority is usually a good thing. Some times, like in professional settings (business or university), it is better to try to do things the usual way. Disagreement is acceptable, but don't become stubborn when decicive action is required. Usually, the majority-rule, time-tested ways of thinking are the way to go.
But when it comes to anything else in life, being the minority opinion can be quite tough at times. Its enough to make you hate the majority people. Sometimes I question whether or not I am right. But that is why being a minorty opinion is good. It forces you to question yourself, and then you learn, and then you become a better person.
Being in the majority opinoin makes it is very easy to forget why you believe in the opinions you keep. You may even find yourself jumping on a minority opinion without first questioning whether or not the majority is correct.
But then again, lets never forget that the majority opinion is the majority for a reason, and usually its a good reason. Majority opinions aren't founded just becayse "people are stupid." If I find myself in the minority view, I make it a point to try and learn and understand why the majority thinks the way they do. Especially the history and circumstances behind the formation of the public opinion.
Well, this is getting way too long. Let me just finish by saying, I can definitely sympathize with you.
5 comments:
i liked him in american beauty, but thats probably just because i liked american beauty. i thought he fit that role pretty well. i agree that he isn't the best actor, but i by no means hate him. he may be unremarkable, but he is at least pretty stable as far as actors go.
He certainly is stable, though not in a way I appreciate! I'd actually like to talk to someone who would argue that he is among the top 10 actors to grace the screen, and could back this view up with detailed citation of his performances, techniques, etc. I leave myself open to the possibility that I could warm up to him and his performances, but for now, not so much.
I've only seen 3.5 movies staring Kevin Spacey that I can remember: L.A. Confidential, K-Pax, Ordinary Decent Criminal, and half of the movie Se7en.
I really liked L.A. Confidential and Spacey's part didn't warrant much more than his usual monotone acting style, so you could chalk that one up to good casting I suppose. Also in Se7en his role demanded a monotone performance in order to correctly portray the incredibly cold-blooded heartless serial killer that he was playing. (More good casting?)
In K-Pax I saw that he actually had a pretty good emotional range, like when Jeff Bridges' character, a psychologist, is regressing this "Prot" character played by Spacey, and Spacey is actually pretty good at acting like a young child or an emotionally disturbed teen-ager.
I was impressed enough with this performance that I blindly chose a movie, on which I had read no reviews or seen no trailers, simply because Spacey was playing the main character, which was Ordinary Decent Criminal. He plays the part of an Irish professional theif with 2 wives (the two women are sisters and are perfectly OK with being married to the same man). And his character loves to steal simply for the satisfaction of knowing that he is the best and can steal things that are really hard to steal. I wasn't too impressed with this movie. And his was again the regular "I'm so cool" monotone character, so you may be right about that. I don't know what an Irish accent should sound like so I am guessing his accent was good.
The bottom line is, I haven't seen enough movies with Kevin Spacey so I have no strong opinion about him, though I would say that Denzel Washington or Brad Pitt are better actors. I did learn not to pick movies based on the actors in them.
As for being of a minority opinion, I have some experience with being in a minory opinion. My whole life seems to consist of me being the minority opinion partly due to the fact that my dad is from another country, that I was raised in a minority religion familiy in a realtively conservative little mid-western town. Then, as I got older, preferring computers and math to football or baseball is considered to be blasphemy by most people's standards. Then as a college student preferring the (usually) wholesome nature of childrens cartoons to the always cliche and blatantly sexual nature of reality TV was also "crazy" by most people's standards. Those are the hilights and I can list several more examples....
I have found that being the minority is usually a good thing. Some times, like in professional settings (business or university), it is better to try to do things the usual way. Disagreement is acceptable, but don't become stubborn when decicive action is required. Usually, the majority-rule, time-tested ways of thinking are the way to go.
But when it comes to anything else in life, being the minority opinion can be quite tough at times. Its enough to make you hate the majority people. Sometimes I question whether or not I am right. But that is why being a minorty opinion is good. It forces you to question yourself, and then you learn, and then you become a better person.
Being in the majority opinoin makes it is very easy to forget why you believe in the opinions you keep. You may even find yourself jumping on a minority opinion without first questioning whether or not the majority is correct.
But then again, lets never forget that the majority opinion is the majority for a reason, and usually its a good reason. Majority opinions aren't founded just becayse "people are stupid." If I find myself in the minority view, I make it a point to try and learn and understand why the majority thinks the way they do. Especially the history and circumstances behind the formation of the public opinion.
Well, this is getting way too long. Let me just finish by saying, I can definitely sympathize with you.
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