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Thread: I Am Legend 2 (film) - Will "slappy" Smith returns...

  1. #31
    Zombie Flesh Eater EvilNed's Avatar
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    Point taken! Let's just agree to disagree.
    Last edited by EvilNed; 21-Sep-2023 at 08:05 PM. Reason: fdsfs

  2. #32
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    None of the three actors in question are particularly good actors, even if they all have their appeal at certain times.

    Heston only ever played himself, no matter what role he was in, whether that was Moses in 'The Ten Commandments', Michelangelo in 'The Agony and the Ecstasy' or Taylor in 'Planet of the Apes'. He was a guy who was essentially a brand and used his brand well in the movies he appeared in, but every character he played was pretty interchangeable. The man had no range to speak of, but in the vehicles he chose or that were chosen for him he didn't really need it. He's typical of the generic Hollywood leading man of a particular era.

    Price was an actor of extremely limited talent, but managed to find himself in a niche, largely due to Roger Corman who made him a household name in the AIP horror pictures. He was a character actor before, during and after his starring roles and you knew exactly what you were going to get when you saw Vincent Price on the bill. Price's voice and delivery accounted for a lot of the man's appeal and he wasn't afraid to do camp silliness when it was required...and it was often required of him. But without the Corman roles, Price would have probably sunk into history and be forgotten today. His output pre 1960, were mostly support roles (usually the villain) and his starring roles were only coming via horror, which was considered the lesser of the movie world. But, like Heston, Price was always Price because he couldn't do anything else.

    Smith, for the most part, plays Will Smith from 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air' to smacking Chris Rock in the mouth. People keep referencing 'Ali' as an example of his "range" (I haven't seen it myself), but outside of that movie he's just playing Will Smith. But playing Muhammad Ali would be rather easy if you can manage to emulate Ali, who was a very distinctive personality already on display for you. If you can do a relatively accurate copy of his mannerisms and voice patterns then you've got him and there's a ton of impressionists who have pulled that off because he was so unique. But, really, in anything that I've seen him in he's just been a version of himself.

    Out of the three of them I, personally. get the most enjoyment out of Vincent because he's a man I grew up watching on late night TV. He was also a guy who simply embraced what he had and made it his own and he seemed to not take himself or his profession too seriously, which is always admirable in my book. And that luxuriously creepy voice is so associated with horror of a particular time and place. He is, however, in the Ha'penny place when put up against the likes of other horror icons of the period such as Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee.

    I grew up watching Charlton Heston, too, in things like 'Ben-Hur', but with Heston it was always the films themselves that I was watching as opposed to him in the films. Those epics could have had a lot of other leading men in the Heston role and I don't think much would have changed at all. Heston is that leading man archetype of 50's conservative America. Always right, tough, and on the side of good. It's an easy role to play with little in the way of any kind of challenge and while he did it well, there's nothing really to write home about in any of his performances.

    Will Smith? Well, simply put, I never cared for him and, frankly, he can be downright annoying at times.
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  3. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by shootemindehead View Post
    Will Smith? Well, simply put, I never cared for him and, frankly, he can be downright annoying at times.
    Well, that part I can agree with at least.

    Lots of actors are only really good at playing a certain niche of characters. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood are some other examples. Yet they were wildly popular and happened to star in some of my favorite movies of all time. Clint Eastwood tried to do some other types of characters but IMO, failed miserably. The Bridges Of Madison County and White Hunter Black Heart were a few of those times, and both were complete DOG SHIT.
    Last edited by beat_truck; 23-Sep-2023 at 02:31 AM. Reason: reason

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by beat_truck View Post
    Well, that part I can agree with at least.

    Lots of actors are only really good at playing a certain niche of characters. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood are some other examples. Yet they were wildly popular and happened to star in some of my favorite movies of all time. Clint Eastwood tried to do some other types of characters but IMO, failed miserably. The Bridges Of Madison County and White Hunter Black Heart were a few of those times, and both were complete DOG SHIT.
    Also Charles Bronson. They usually played "tough guys" because, well, they did a great job at it and got typecast. When you wanted a tough cowboy, soldier, cop, "vigilante", hitman, working-class-hero, etc., you knocked on John Wayne's, Clint Eastwood's and Charles Bronson's doors. They were great at that.

    But saying that Vincent Price and Charlton Heston weren't good actors and always played "the same character" is quite silly. The comedic tongue-in-cheek villain Price played on Batman, for example, is quite different from the dark, sinister, depraved, Satanist villain he played in Masque of the Red Death. He did a great job on both very different characters. And he continued to do so in other movies and TV shows. Vincent did such stuff so well, that you can hardly imagine anyone else getting away with saying such a ridiculous line as "The funk of 40,000 years" and you loving it!

  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by beat_truck View Post
    Well, that part I can agree with at least.

    Lots of actors are only really good at playing a certain niche of characters. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood are some other examples. Yet they were wildly popular and happened to star in some of my favorite movies of all time. Clint Eastwood tried to do some other types of characters but IMO, failed miserably. The Bridges Of Madison County and White Hunter Black Heart were a few of those times, and both were complete DOG SHIT.
    The Bridges of Madison County is one of Clint Eastwood's best films, and best roles.

    Anyway, I agree with shootem on Vinny Price and Heston. They're just... themselves. All the time.
    And I like it that way.
    Last edited by EvilNed; 23-Sep-2023 at 06:41 AM. Reason: fds

  6. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by EvilNed View Post
    The Bridges of Madison County is one of Clint Eastwood's best films, and best roles.
    Now I KNOW you are on some hardcore drugs.

    I barely made it through that movie. It felt like an absolute eternity. I think I'd just about rather gouge my eyes out than watch it again.

    Two And A Half Men got it right. Charlie walked in while Alan was watching a movie. Charlie asked him what was he watching. Alan responded "A Clint Eastwood movie." Charlie asked which one. Alan said The Bridges of Madison County. Charlie exclaimed "Even Clint Eastwood doesn't think that's a Clint Eastwood movie!".
    Last edited by beat_truck; 23-Sep-2023 at 07:29 AM. Reason: reason

  7. #37
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    Perhaps The Bridges of Maddison County is "a movie with Clint Eastwood" rather than "a Clint Eastwood movie"?

    Also, I would agree that it was a good role for him and something a bit different - a strong turn in general.

    The interesting thing with Eastwood is how he has embraced the stages of his life, and growing older, and put that into his movies - the two big ones in that regard, for me at least, are Unforgiven (superb) and Gran Torino (also really good). The Mule, on the other hand, was kind of awkward and occasionally a bit cringy (but also a bit touching at times - his age has caught up with him now, as it will for all of us).

    Eastwood has had a ballpark to work within, but he's also managed to get different shades out of that niche with different projects. The Dollars Trilogy versus Dirty Harry, for instance, or Escape From Alcatraz, or The Beguiled, or when he was in the two films with Clyde the Orangutan - yes, another tough guy, but also they were populist goofy comedies. He had his various bread and butter pictures like The Rookie or In The Line Of Fire, but he always found a little something different to chew on within those 'classic Clint' margins.

    And who can forget him as a clumsy scientist in Revenge of the Creature?

    However, Eastwood has expressed himself more in the director's chair that necessarily in the actor's shoes, if you will. A significant string to his bow that the others being discussed here haven't really had the benefit of.

  8. #38
    Zombie Flesh Eater EvilNed's Avatar
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    The Bridges of Madison County is generally a very well regarded film. It's both well directed, emotional, tragic and with great performances. You don't have to like it, but it's got a very high average scoring on Letterboxd, imdb and rotten tomatoes.

  9. #39
    Dying beat_truck's Avatar
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    Though the ratings on imdb are usually pretty accurate, but just because something has good ratings doesn't necessarily mean it's good. There are a lot of movies that have won a bunch of awards, yet when I talk to family members or friends, or see people talk about them on the 'net, they think they were awful. And look at movie critics. They'll masturbate over some pretentious piece of crap, yet sneer at movies normal folks enjoy.
    Last edited by beat_truck; 23-Sep-2023 at 06:18 PM. Reason: .

  10. #40
    Zombie Flesh Eater EvilNed's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by beat_truck View Post
    Though the ratings on imdb are usually pretty accurate, but just because something has good ratings doesn't necessarily mean it's good. There are a lot of movies that have won a bunch of awards, yet when I talk to family members or friends, or see people talk about them on the 'net, they think they were awful. And look at movie critics. They'll masturbate over some pretentious piece of crap, yet sneer at movies normal folks enjoy.
    Of course, but this is a highly regarded film. You don't have to like it, but most people do.

  11. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by EvilNed View Post
    Of course, but this is a highly regarded film.
    Go ahead and keep repeating that. It's never going to make me give a fuck.

  12. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by beat_truck View Post
    Go ahead and keep repeating that. It's never going to make me give a fuck.
    Alright, if that's what you want:
    It is a highly regarded film.


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