ShogunRua wrote:What is the focus for this topic, Stewie? Discussing our own favorite current actors, or your's? (Adams and Gyllenhaal)
You pretty much answered that in your response. Good job.
Amy Adams has always struck me as highly forgettable. I have seen her in three movies (Her, Catch me if you Can, and Drop Dead Gorgeous) and not only was there nothing memorable about her performances to the point where I forget she played those roles, I have to struggle to even remember what Adams looked like in each one. She is impressively milquetoast and generic.
Adam's breakout role was in
Enchanted where she took a throwaway character and achieved notice by actually doing something with it. I think she probably benefited a lot, and turned in great performances, by working with Meryl Streep in
Julie and Julia and especially
Doubt. She was excellent in
The Master along with the others of the excellent cast, but in a dumb movie. She was the outstanding title character in
Her, but I think you were so busy disliking the movie you missed it. Jennifer Lawrence drew a lot of attention in
American Hustle, but Adams made that movie IMNTBHO, and she was anything but generic. (Renner, who is also one of my favorites, showed he could also do non-action in that movie.) Adams looks to be having another excellent roll in
Big Eyes this December.
We seem to be, or have become, at opposites much more often than not. No accounting for taste etc. As for CMIYC and DDG, I only saw the forgettable former and they were both small rolls--the latter being her first movie.
I will reserve judgment on Jake Gyllenhaal. Hated him in Donnie Darko, but that might be because I disliked that stupid fucking flick so much. The only other movie I've seen him in was City Slickers, which he was in at the age of 10.
Try one of the other examples I mentioned, especially
End of Watch. BTW, Michael Peña has gotta be the most likeable person in Hollywood. I'd call him Mr. Congeniality but that could be interpreted as a slam I s'pose.
In terms of my own favorite modern-day actors, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jeremy Renner, and Jon Hamm among the men. Kate Winslet among the women.
Jon Hamm? Mostly small or inconsequential stuff so far. I did like him in the small part of High Roller in
Sucker Punch. As for both Kate and DDL, they are great in their range, but not terribly versatile. Renner is being marginalized for some reason. His was my favorite Bourne, but he appears to be at odds with Matt Damon who allows as how he might deign to do another one, but without Renner (sniff). Too much competition, not high enough on the A-list, not liberal, not gay, what?
) that the golden age of movies was an earlier time such as the '40s or '70s, making such a through-the-years discussion pointless.
