"aaron bergstrom" Discussed on Filmspotting
"That's all he's long for. I guarantee you the Russell Crowe's maximus is never saying the word hug in Gladiator. And we don't expect any characters to say the word hug. A lot of gladiator type movies. But when he says, all I've ever wanted was to live up to you Caesar, father. You believe him. You really believe the emotional depth of that. I have not seen Gladiator since it came out. What I liked it well enough, but it's interesting how careers have gone in terms of the stars and so forth. The reason I would rewatch Gladiator now is to reconsider that Joaquin Phoenix performance. Just in terms of how his career has ascended, Russell Crowe's heads, Russell Crowe has tailed off and you wouldn't think that, yeah, I'm gonna go look at Gladiator again for the acting necessary, but that is what's still intrigues me and maybe I'll have to do a revisit for that. All right, number four for me is Meryl Hess in signs. This is Phoenix in likeable mode in M. Night Shyamalan's alien invasion thriller likeable mode is something he can do and does on occasion. Not very often, however, but it's kind of fun and rewarding when he pulls it out of his toolkit. I also like here how he effortlessly slips into what is essentially an ensemble piece. I mean, Mel Gibson is the lead. Of course, but this is an ensemble drama in a lot of ways and Phoenix comes in to do things. You might not expect to lighten the mood, lighten the movie's edges a little bit. He just has a wonderfully light comic touch and I think it's probably best displayed when he gives the response to Mel Gibson's long soliloquy about miracles or coincidences. This is a Cajun of shyamalan. I think also kind of undercutting himself and being aware of his grendel tendencies with this soliloquy here, but then in comes Phoenix, Meryl has given this whole speech some probably not so deep thought. And he decides he's a miracle man. I was at this party once. I'm always down to the random kidney. She was just sitting there. Looking beautiful. Staring at me. I go to leave him and kiss her. I realize I'm going live off. Side turn. Take out the gum? Stuff in the paper cup next to the sofa. And turn around. Random McKinney throws up all over herself. I knew the second had happened. It was a miracle. I could have been kissing her when she threw up. Meryl is the sort of part that this movie signs didn't really need Meryl, necessarily, but because of Phoenix's performance, now when I think about it, I can't imagine the film without him. You know, just because of the contributions he makes and again, the different vibes he brings to this film. Another fan of this performance is Aaron bergstrom over on Twitter at Aaron bergstrom. He wrote Phoenix's, so often associated with playing weirdos, often dangerous ones. So when I look back at his performance as a well meaning fella like Meryl, I appreciate how good he is at depicting loyalty and bravery. So yeah, maybe a simpler character than some of the others he plays, but he plays it just right. He does very good in that scene, very good in that film. Interesting that we've got back to back choices in which we hear Joaquin Phoenix whispering primarily very, very quietly, different circumstances and Meryl not exactly an evil character. My number four, I've got another weirdo. Definitely one of Joaquin Phoenix's weirdos and you were talking about him in terms of whether he plays characters who are likeable or unlikeable. This is one who I don't even know where to put him on that scale. And it's not because he's got things about him that make him someone that you really respond to favorably and even aspire to be like, that's not the case at all. But he also isn't so bad that you despise him ever either. He's just an immensely flawed character and that character is Leonard creditor in James gray's two lover. So multiple collaborations with James gray, I'm going with his performance as Leonard in two lovers. What a trip down memory lane it was, Josh reminding myself about this film, this performance and the context around it. I had completely forgotten that two lovers, the movie and this performance, were totally overshadowed at the time by the shenanigans surrounding the filming of I'm still here, which would come out two years later. Or actually just a little over a year later in terms of when we reviewed this film two lovers on the show, it was February 27th, 2009, that infamous David Letterman appearance was February 11th, 2009. So this was all in the wake of that. And people were really watching two lovers thinking it was Joaquin Phoenix's swan song from acting. It was supposedly his final performance as an actor because he was retiring to become a rapper. And with all of that, he had apparently completely lost his mind. So here's my hope that after some time off, and I think you're taking a little time off tonight.
