Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Cruel_Sandwich
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/30/05
#1Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 2:38pm
One that pops immediately to mind is Billy Bob Thornton's work in SLING BLADE. This goes beyond just "good acting". This is a complete transformation. Everything about that movie is just so spectacular, but Thornton's performance is in its own stratosphere. He is a god in that film.
The monologue at the beginning...*chills*
Anyone else have a similar favorite performance?
purpleprince101
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
#2re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 2:40pmI don't know that it would really take my breath away but one of my favorite performances is Kathy Bates in Misery.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#2re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 2:41pm
"Don't be fooled in I should chuckle
like heyenas in a zoo.
It's just the gas,
It's got me high.
But don't let that fact deceive you
any moment I could die."
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
#3re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 3:04pm
Al Pacino and Robert de Niro in Godfather II
#4re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 3:22pm
Judy Garland in A STAR IS BORN.
I talk about this film a lot and how Judy is simply stunning in it. In my opinion there aren't many female performances that revival Judy in this film. Of course the musical numbers are sublime and "Born In A Trunk" simply smashing, but Judy's acting throughout is awe-inspiring. One of my favorite moments is when Judy is in the car with Norman and she talks of how roller-waitressing at some burger joint was an all time low and how she would never do that again, no matter how bad times were. Her performace surely takes my breath away =)
#5re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 3:37pm
Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice
Bette Davis in All About Eve and Jezebel
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard
They're the only times I can think of being completely in awe while watching a movie, so fantastic.
Theatre is a safe place to do the unsafe things that need to be done.
-John Patrick Shanley
#6re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 3:39pm
Glenda Jackson made a movie in the early 1980's about the British poet Stevie Smith called, "Stevie." She played the part onstage in London and the film is little more than the play filmed. It, like the play, takes place in her memory and in the apartment that she shared with her maiden aunt, played by Mona Washburne.
They are both incredible. As are the two other men in the show, I can't remember who they are at the moment.
The absolute crime is that Glenda Jackson was not eligible for an Oscar for it. The film got screened in Los Angles one night a year or so before it finally found a distributor. Because it got shown that one time, when it got released, it couldn't not be nominated.
"A coherent existance after so many years of muddle" - Desiree' Armfelt, A Little Night Music
"Life keeps happening everyday, Say Yes" - 70, Girls, 70
"Life is what you do while you're waiting to die" - Zorba
RadiGal2
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/07
#7re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:00pm
Elizabeth Shue and Nicolas Cage both gave breath-taking in Leaving Las Vegas. Elizabeth perhaps more so that Cage, she was absolutely magnificent, she is truly underrated and an exceptional talent.
Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting. Enough said.
John Goodman in Barton Fink was truly exceptional.
On a slightly different note Chris Rock in Never Scared truly left me awed. He was always 'funny', but wow. There was no doubt after that show that he has truly evolved into one of the smartest, most clever truly gifts stand up comedians of all-time. I am impressed with the level of sheer comedic, timing, social commentary and satirical genius he has ascended to since his first HBO special.
"I'm a one-eyed Mormon Democrat from conservative Arizona, and you can't have a higher handicap than that."
~The ever-great and fabulous Morris K. Udall.
Updated On: 4/29/07 at 04:00 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#8re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:02pm
Billy Bob was great in that movie. Did a fantastic job
.
#9re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:05pm
natalie wood in splendor in the grass and love with the proper stranger.
truly underrated and it's sad to know she isn't regarded with the likes of taylor, hepburn or even monroe because i think she was just as talented as they were.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#10re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:27pm
"Billy Bob was great in that movie."
Another BRILLIANT post, Amanda!
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#11re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:30pmI was just making a comment on Biily Bob. Not being sarcastic.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#12re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:33pm
Did I say anything about HOW you said it?
No.
I was commenting on your brilliant thoughts about Billy Bob being in 'that movie'.
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
#13re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:37pmthis isn't from a movie, but i was compleatly blown away by "the circle of life" in the stage version of the lion king
Less is more
Ugly is beautiful
"My brother plays a drag queen... and I'm surprised he looks as good as he does in drag." - Adam Rapp
"thanks, abba. now i'll forever have an image of you as a tattoed hardcore straightedge grrl savaging people in the mosh pit." - papalovesmambo
"Yeah Abba. All the filthy crap you spew out there on those boards. I for one, am equally shocked. :-P" - AnnaK
Ugly is beautiful
"My brother plays a drag queen... and I'm surprised he looks as good as he does in drag." - Adam Rapp
"thanks, abba. now i'll forever have an image of you as a tattoed hardcore straightedge grrl savaging people in the mosh pit." - papalovesmambo
"Yeah Abba. All the filthy crap you spew out there on those boards. I for one, am equally shocked. :-P" - AnnaK
#14re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:42pm
Judy Garland performing "Smile"
Ella Fitzgerald performing "How High The Moon"
Wrong, sir. Wrong! Under section 37B of the contract signed by him, it states quite clearly that all offers shall become null and void if - and you can read it for yourself in this photostatic copy - "I, the undersigned, shall forfeit all rights, privileges, and licenses herein and herein contained," et cetera, et cetera..."Fax mentis incendium gloria cultum," et cetera, et cetera..."Memo bis punitor delicatum"! It's all there, black and white, clear as crystal! You stole fizzy lifting drinks. You bumped into the ceiling which now has to be washed and sterilized, so you get nothing! You lose! Good day sir!
#15re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 5:37pmJulianne Moore in Far From Heaven
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
AnnaK<3LMIP
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/20/07
#17re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/29/07 at 7:33pm
Every single person, Nazi and victim alike, in Schindler's List.
I gotta say, everytime I see a Meryl Streep movie, I think "Goodness. It's disgusting that someone is this good." I love her. Out of Africa is the best movie ever. Just..ever.
ANNND. Victor Garber in Titanic drives me insane. I'm not that much of a Titanic fan, but the minute that scene happens at the end with Victor Garber at the fireplace..and Kate Winslet comes running in..and the look on his face....at that moment I start crying and I don't stop until two hours later. It's bad.
I mean, Denzel Washington? Gun to my head..of course.
mmajer
Understudy Joined: 4/12/04
#18re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/30/07 at 12:54amBjork in "Dancer In The Dark"
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#19re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/30/07 at 8:39am
Undeniably the best female performance ever captured on film, IMO, is Judy Garland in A STAR IS BORN. She was the essence of sheer brilliance in that film, completely embodying her role from the first frame to the last. It was one of the only performances that I have ever seen, on film, or in any other medium, where I really felt like I was watching some kind of an autobiographical film...it was like Judy Garland didn't even exist for two hours...but Vicki Lester was alive and kicking.
Most recently, my breath was taken away while watching Ryan Gosling's performance in HALF NELSON. It was the best performance of last year and he should have won the Oscar for it. An increasingly difficult and complex role to play with so many contradicting emotions to convey in a real and raw manner, I believed that he was Dan Dunne for the entirety of the movie.
Some recent breathtaking performances that I have seen include:
Charlize Theron, MONSTER
Jennifer Hudson, DREAMGIRLS
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, CAPOTE
and (I know I'm in the minority here): Sandra Bullock, INFAMOUS...I thought INFAMOUS was better and more enjoyable than CAPOTE and Bullock was so captivating as Harper Lee.
#20re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/30/07 at 8:44am
Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream.
F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus.
Ted Levine in Silence of the Lambs.
<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES
Updated On: 4/30/07 at 08:44 AM
#21re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:04am
Meryl Streep's performance in 'Sophie's Choice' is, to me, the greatest screen performance ever given. Stunning, heartbreaking, and breathtaking.
Other breathtaking performances:
Meryl Streep in The French Lieuenant's Woman
Meryl Streep in Out of Africa
Meryl Streep in Ironweed
Meryl Streep in Silkwood
Meryl Streep in Plenty
Meryl Streep in Holocaust
Meryl Streep in Kramer Vs. Kramer
Meryl Streep in A Cry in the Dark
Meryl Streep in Postcards From the Edge
Meryl Streep in The Seagull (Central Park)
Meryl Streep in Defending Your Life
Death Becomes Her
Marvin's Room
Dancing at Lughnasa
One True Thing
Music of the Heart
Adaptation
The Hours
Angels in America
The Devil Wears Prada
Mother Courage (Central Park)
I'm sure I will be blown away by Meryl in:
Mamma Mia
Dirty Tricks
Doubt
As you can tell, I'm a fan of Ms. Streep's.
I killed the boss, you don't think they're gonna fire me over a thing like that!!!!
#22re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/30/07 at 1:53pm
Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot and In the Name of the Father
Adrien Brody in the Pianist
River Phoenix in Running On Empty
Helen Mirren in the Queen
and something about Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness makes me melt.
#23re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/30/07 at 2:04pmKeisha Castle-Hughes - Whale Rider
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
RadiGal2
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/07
#24re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/30/07 at 2:04pm
Oh holy crap. River Phoenix.
How could I neglect each and every one of his performances?
As I watched Last Days -- I kept thinking
a.) Gus Van Sant is beginning to redeem himself...and make gut-wrenching films again.
b.) as good as Michael Pitt was I kept thinking wow. River would have been genius.
My best friend worked on the post-production with Daniel Day Lewis and Jim Sheridan on My Left Foot so I am biased towards that movie and thus did not list it, but I am glad somebody did -- he was incredible. He was also exceptionally good in Gangs of New York.
"I'm a one-eyed Mormon Democrat from conservative Arizona, and you can't have a higher handicap than that."
~The ever-great and fabulous Morris K. Udall.
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#25re: Performances That Take Your Breath Away
Posted: 4/30/07 at 2:24pm
Jane Fonda in KLUTE
John Hurt in anything
Anna Magnani in THE ROSE TATTOO
Marlon Brando in REFLECTIONS OF A GOLDEN EYE
Haven't seen them? Netflix NOW!
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
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