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[Acting!] Tell me what moves you!
Romantic Undead
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Registered User regular
Hi guys!
So I was musing about movies and feeling nostalgic when the thought occurred to me: Why do I remember some movies and shows so well, and others not at all? I mean, "every story's been told" am I right? So why do some particular movies, that we've already seen, draw us back to them over and over? Why do I feel compelled to re-visit a show or movie that I've already seen, when I could be experiencing something new instead?
The answer may seem obvious, but I came to the conclusion that, while direction and storytelling are, of course, huge contributors, it's performance that gets re-played in my head over and over, keeping pieces of media fresh in my mind, where I find myself thinking about them when I feel nostalgic, and desiring to go watch a movie I've seen over and over again.
So I pose the question to you guys, what are some of your favorite Acting Performances of all time? And I don't just mean "ALL of movie X". I'm talking about particular scenes in where you just watched the performance and really found yourself mesmerized by a performance, or so sympathetic to a character that you forget for a moment you're watching a piece of fiction?
This is a thread for showcasing specific instances of great acting! Not limited to films, though @Elki might be cross if you start posting Wrestling clips :P If you're able to provide a clip of the scene you're talking about, then bonus! Feel free to provide context to why a piece in particular appeals to you too! While I'm sure oscar-baiting dramas are going to feature in this thread, I'd love to see examples of great acting in other genres as well. Here are a couple of my favorites that have really stuck with me
Here are a few of my favorites to get us started.
#1 Linda Hamilton: Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
This scene has stuck with me since I first saw this movie in theaters, and is one of the main scenes I point to as a counter argument when people say "Action movies are supposed to be dumb".
To set the scene: I am an impressionable 12 year old. I had heard about the Terminator but, at this time, have not yet had a chance to see the first film. T2 was my introduction to the franchise. Just before this scene takes place, I am introduced to Sarah Connor, and right away I notice that this isn't a kind of woman I've really seen before. This woman is well... AWESOME! I just finished watching her doing pull-ups on a sideways bedframe, be subjected to a disgusting display of sexual harassment, then proceed to outsmart, evade and kick the ass of an entire group of grown men (and 1 woman). HOLY SHIT. Then, just as we think she's made good her escape:
https://youtu.be/KTCEWAraUzI
The transition from pumped-up, ass kicking Sarah Connor to pleading victim is so (purposefully) jarring as to just make you stop and stare. Remember, I hadn't seen T1, and by now we know the T-800 is the good guy, so why the heck is she so terrified? WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED? I was already invested in this movie from the get-go, but this scene was so shocking, from an acting standpoint, that it ensconced in me a love for this franchise that endures to this day, despite its many (many) shortcomings.
#2 Geoffrey Rush: Les Miserables (1998)
I was already in love with the musical production of Les Mis by this time, so when this movie came out, the theater geek in me had to see it. Although not an adaptation of the musical, and missing a lot of elements from the source material, this movie still featured some great talent such as Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean and Uma Thurman as Fantine. I like to highlight this scene because I relate to it on some level, and it's so short and it conveys so much in such a short moment. For those of you not familiar: Geoffrey Rush plays Inspecteur Javert, who has been pursuing escaped convict Jean Valjean since the movie's onset. For some time, Valjean had suspected that the Mayor of the small town where he was posted was, in fact, Valjean using an assumed identity. He's right, of course, but the small town so loves the Mayor that they refuse to entertain his suspicions, which he pursues up to the point where he puts his very career on the line. Eventually, he is informed that a "Valjean" has been arrested and is to stand trial. Doubting himself for the first time, Javert is crushed to learn he may have been wrong. However, the real Valjean, unable to deal with the guilt of allowing another man to take the blame for his crimes, reveals himself at the false Valjean's tribunal.
In this short clip, we see Javert get the news that he was right all along. Despite the fact that Javert is the antagonist in this story, his small clip makes him so... SO relatable to me:
https://youtu.be/iH-IifdFfto
#3 Breakdown of a Scene: Anthony Hopkins: Westworld (Season 1).
I know not everyone is a fan of Westworld, but I really like this clip by Nerdwriter because it does a wonderful job of breaking down one of Sir Hopkin's scenes in the show. If you've got 8 minutes, please consider a watch:
https://youtu.be/4kSGkGKwp9U
So what about you guys? Tell me about your favorite scenes in film, TV, theatre, even Radio or Audiobook! Be specific, break it down, tell us how the scene affected you personally!
So I was musing about movies and feeling nostalgic when the thought occurred to me: Why do I remember some movies and shows so well, and others not at all? I mean, "every story's been told" am I right? So why do some particular movies, that we've already seen, draw us back to them over and over? Why do I feel compelled to re-visit a show or movie that I've already seen, when I could be experiencing something new instead?
The answer may seem obvious, but I came to the conclusion that, while direction and storytelling are, of course, huge contributors, it's performance that gets re-played in my head over and over, keeping pieces of media fresh in my mind, where I find myself thinking about them when I feel nostalgic, and desiring to go watch a movie I've seen over and over again.
So I pose the question to you guys, what are some of your favorite Acting Performances of all time? And I don't just mean "ALL of movie X". I'm talking about particular scenes in where you just watched the performance and really found yourself mesmerized by a performance, or so sympathetic to a character that you forget for a moment you're watching a piece of fiction?
This is a thread for showcasing specific instances of great acting! Not limited to films, though @Elki might be cross if you start posting Wrestling clips :P If you're able to provide a clip of the scene you're talking about, then bonus! Feel free to provide context to why a piece in particular appeals to you too! While I'm sure oscar-baiting dramas are going to feature in this thread, I'd love to see examples of great acting in other genres as well. Here are a couple of my favorites that have really stuck with me
Here are a few of my favorites to get us started.
#1 Linda Hamilton: Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
This scene has stuck with me since I first saw this movie in theaters, and is one of the main scenes I point to as a counter argument when people say "Action movies are supposed to be dumb".
To set the scene: I am an impressionable 12 year old. I had heard about the Terminator but, at this time, have not yet had a chance to see the first film. T2 was my introduction to the franchise. Just before this scene takes place, I am introduced to Sarah Connor, and right away I notice that this isn't a kind of woman I've really seen before. This woman is well... AWESOME! I just finished watching her doing pull-ups on a sideways bedframe, be subjected to a disgusting display of sexual harassment, then proceed to outsmart, evade and kick the ass of an entire group of grown men (and 1 woman). HOLY SHIT. Then, just as we think she's made good her escape:
https://youtu.be/KTCEWAraUzIThe transition from pumped-up, ass kicking Sarah Connor to pleading victim is so (purposefully) jarring as to just make you stop and stare. Remember, I hadn't seen T1, and by now we know the T-800 is the good guy, so why the heck is she so terrified? WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED? I was already invested in this movie from the get-go, but this scene was so shocking, from an acting standpoint, that it ensconced in me a love for this franchise that endures to this day, despite its many (many) shortcomings.
#2 Geoffrey Rush: Les Miserables (1998)
I was already in love with the musical production of Les Mis by this time, so when this movie came out, the theater geek in me had to see it. Although not an adaptation of the musical, and missing a lot of elements from the source material, this movie still featured some great talent such as Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean and Uma Thurman as Fantine. I like to highlight this scene because I relate to it on some level, and it's so short and it conveys so much in such a short moment. For those of you not familiar: Geoffrey Rush plays Inspecteur Javert, who has been pursuing escaped convict Jean Valjean since the movie's onset. For some time, Valjean had suspected that the Mayor of the small town where he was posted was, in fact, Valjean using an assumed identity. He's right, of course, but the small town so loves the Mayor that they refuse to entertain his suspicions, which he pursues up to the point where he puts his very career on the line. Eventually, he is informed that a "Valjean" has been arrested and is to stand trial. Doubting himself for the first time, Javert is crushed to learn he may have been wrong. However, the real Valjean, unable to deal with the guilt of allowing another man to take the blame for his crimes, reveals himself at the false Valjean's tribunal.
In this short clip, we see Javert get the news that he was right all along. Despite the fact that Javert is the antagonist in this story, his small clip makes him so... SO relatable to me:
https://youtu.be/iH-IifdFfto#3 Breakdown of a Scene: Anthony Hopkins: Westworld (Season 1).
I know not everyone is a fan of Westworld, but I really like this clip by Nerdwriter because it does a wonderful job of breaking down one of Sir Hopkin's scenes in the show. If you've got 8 minutes, please consider a watch:
https://youtu.be/4kSGkGKwp9USo what about you guys? Tell me about your favorite scenes in film, TV, theatre, even Radio or Audiobook! Be specific, break it down, tell us how the scene affected you personally!
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This incredible piece of work from Sean Connery in Robin And Marian. He's an old man, weary and sore, his ideals mostly destroyed but in his heart he still yearns to be a hero. He's telling Marian about his time in the crusades, and the horrors he saw there and in which he took part. Marian asks him why he went along with it when he knew it was wrong and Connery's reaction is a moment of breathtaking simplicity and skill: "He was my king." In the hands of most other actors they'd make it a plaintive plea for understanding, or say it like they were under duress, or say it like it was a point of honour, that in serving they held on to their nobility, however misguided. But Connery is having none of that: Robin Hood is, at heart, a simple man. Not stupid, but simple. Loyalty, heroism, action following thought. He says Richard was his king as though it was an unchangeable fact of life, that obeying him was what he did because no other option was even conceivable, which lends him an air of genuine tragedy. It's a beautiful movie full of wonderful moments of high quality acting like this, but this is my favourite. Though the moment Robert Shaw says "Not dead yet" to Connery ranks pretty highly as well.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Trying to convince two incarnations of his best friend / arch nemesis to stay with him to protect some farmers from their impending doom. He's already fatally injured, gonna die soon, there's no way out, but he's still trying to help and it's very good and maybe makes me tear up.
This one is blocked for me, I’m in Canada, but I’m pretty sure I know the clip
Nearly all of the lines are identical. But they brought a different approach to the scene, and it projects a different aura for each actor. You can say one is "better" or "worse", maybe, but I think they both did a fantastic job, and it shows that even with the same writing, the same lines, a good actor brings something to the table that fundamentally transforms those lines and makes it more than just the sum of "Actor + Writer".
EDIT: The SAME scene in the movie version of "Fences" by Denzel Washington is also different, too!
I love juxtapositions like this! It really emphasizes the point I was making in the OP. Directing, writing, scene-setting, world-building, editing, all vitally important to storytelling, but the actual performances can sometimes be overlooked! Often when discussing entertainment we'll say something like "man, I feel so-and-so would have fit this role better", but it just goes to show that it isn't always as simple as picking the actor that looks the closest to how you think that character ought to look.
In your example I couldn't help but notice the difference in gravitas in each scene. JEJ's version was menacing, while while Denzel was practically fippant (also interesting to note how the audience reacted in each clip).
Thanks so much for the clips!
the one that jumps to mind right away is Vincent Dnofrio's Kingpin in DD s02. When Matt Murdock is in the prison talking to Kingpin, and he just ABSOLUTELY loses his shit.
Its one of teh rare time i felt actual fear during a show. Not empathetic fear, actual fear. Even for a split second.
It was brilliant.
First time I thought to myself that Simon Pegg was really giving it all in a scene.
This scene gives me goosebumps every time I watch it.
Particularly knowing that Mandy Patinkin had lost his father to cancer and was internalizing the six-fingered man as the cancer that took his father’s life.
“I want my father back, you son of a bitch.”
Chills.
When Metcalf drops off her daughter at the airport to go to college in New York, she's so mad she doesn't say anything to her. She drives away and the shot stays on her face and you see how the regret comes over her and turns into desperation to turn around and see her daughter one more time. Painful to watch but so good!
When Ronan leaves the hospital and goes to the church. You can see on her face what she's thinking, at least I could - my empathy organ is overgrown it's true so maybe I just love picking up what people are putting down. But anyway, she's showing, with no words at all, that she's homesick, that she misses her mom, that she wants to talk to her, and you can read it all on her face before she makes the phone call.
The below scene is a spoiler for the show, I guess, but rest assured that if you haven't been watching the show, it won't make any goddamn sense. (Half of that show makes no goddamn sense even if you ARE watching, though.)
She doesn't show up until halfway through the clip, but she is a force of nature every second she's in it. It's shot as a silent film, too, so she has to communicate everything through body language and facial expression.
(at work with no audio, so I hope this one doesnt have commentary spoken all over it)
How anyone can say his lines with a straight face is beyond me. It may not move me like Shakespeare, but damned if it isn't the greatest comedic performance ever given
As a parent this scene always gets me. Interstellar spoilers
Plus it gives me an excuse to post this:
Knowing that he's a recovering alcoholic that dealt with both substance abuse and depression before seeking treatment 2 years prior to shooting The World's End makes that scene even more real.
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Furiosa is hanging on to Max. She's just been stabbed. She's bleeding out and her arm harness is breaking. Immortan Joe just took one of her girls and she sees him drive off.
And she just gives this look of pure white hot rage. I get chills every time I see it.
She sees Slit coming from behind and just goes into attack mode. The whole sequence is incredible but that look. That look.
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