Judgement At Nuremburg (1961).
Timeless concepts, eternal questions of legality and morality. All discussed, weighed and then answered in the final scene of the movie, with devastating clarity and simplicity.
And for a bonus, a movie with not a single bad — or even mediocre — performance: all brilliant, and worthy of every accolade that has come by since.
Like most people, I suspect, I was saddened to hear of the death of actor Gene Hackman a couple of days back. I know he retired from acting well over a decade ago, but his career was so long, and featured such brilliant roles that he deserves to be in any pantheon of great actors. He might even be the best.
While his forte was dramatic roles, he showed an unexpected flair for comedic ones too, and some of his best performances were when he combined the two.
So my question for the day: What are your 5 favorite Gene Hackman performances? (list is here)
Mine:
Honorable mentions (next five, any of which could have been in the top 5): The French Connection (Popeye Doyle), Bonnie & Clyde (Buck Barrow) Under Suspicion (Henry Hearst), Hoosiers (Coach Dale) and The Royal Tenenbaums (Royal Tenenbaum).
Honestly, considering that Hackman’s career spanned sixty-odd years, I could have picked yet another five quite easily; and it was absolute hell to pick only a Top 5.
I’ve seen pretty much all his movies, and I’m trying to think of a bad performance. Can’t. (Some of the movies stank — see Target, above — but that’s not his fault.) I have several Hackman movies on DVD, and I think I’ll watch a couple tomorrow.
Random thought: he had the worst hair of any actor, ever. Yet he still turned in brilliant performances regardless.
R.I.P. Gene, and thanks for all of them.
For what it’s worth, John Nolte agrees with me, more or less.
As Mr. Free Market reminds me:
Hey, what am I: chopped liver? I mean, I haven’t sent any rockets into orbit, but I bet I’ve sent a lot more lead downrange, and got a lot more people to do the same than ol’ Elon ever has…
And if I may be so bold:
We transplanted African-Americans all do our bit for our adopted country, in our own way.
For those interested in joining me for the above, here are the details.
So far, about half a dozen people have expressed interest in said activity, so I’m going to reserve about four or five lanes when I go over there later today.
Please note the rules for the range, as per the above link.
Also, we may do a festive brunch / lunch afterwards, depending on interest.
Triggered by this article (“Brits wish they’d seen these top 25 historical events”), I thought I’d put together my own list of historical events I’d like to have witnessed firsthand. (I know, I wrote a similar post a while back, but times have changed.) They are in no specific order of preference.
Your choices (any number up to 25) in Comments.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” fans have expressed outrage that Amazon Prime cut a crucial scene from the beloved Christmas classic.
An abridged version of the 1946 film has been edited to leave out a scene that many consider the most important in the movie, which follows the character of businessman George Bailey as he considers taking his own life.
The scene in question, known as the ‘Pottersville scene,’ sees George wish that he had never been born before his guardian angel reminds him that he needs to earn ‘his angel wings.’
In the original version of the movie, George tells the angel that he believes he is worth more dead than alive. The angel then tells George that he does not know all he has done in his life, before showing him a version of a grim world where he never existed.
That’s when George realizes he has a wonderful life and has positively impacted his loved ones, who he is desperate to get back to as the film comes to a resolution.
But in the abridged version of the film on Prime, the moment where the angel tells George he has to earn his wings abruptly cuts to George happily running through the streets after he’s reconciled with his own life — without including what led him to his newfound acceptance.
…and harking back to the title of this post: this is why I have bought and continue to acquire the DVDs of all my favorite movies (Casablanca, 1984, It Happened One Night, all the Fred/Ginger movies, etc.) and I have a backup multi-format DVD player in case my new one ever breaks.
That way, nobody (e.g. Amazon) can ever take them away from me or “abridge” them. Just who the fucking hell do they think they are? The Pope who had all Michelangelo’s nude works defaced by painting over the women’s pudenda?
Fuck ’em all, and the nanny horse they rode in on.
Bastards.