SAG Awards
“The Coens are freaky little people, and they made a freaky little movie…whether you like the ending or not.” — the close of Josh Brolin‘s acceptance speech after the No Country for Old Men gang won the Best Cast award at the finale of tonight’s Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Other winners: Best Actor — Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood (a reserved and eloquent acceptance speech that primarily paid tribute to Heath Ledger); Best Actress — Julie Christie, Away From Her; Best Supporting Actor — Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men; Best Supporting Actress — Ruby Dee, American Gangster (hey…what happened to the Cate Blanchett vs. Amy Ryan contest?); Best Stunt Ensemble — The Bourne Ultimatum.
Does Brolin not understand the studio system? But great speech nonetheless.
Speaking of Heath Ledger tributes — Day-Lewis was touching — here’s a very moving article written in Newsweek by Christopher Nolan.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/105580
I don’t get the consensus on Javier Bardem. DON’T GET ME WRONG. He was great in that film. It just seems that people are more in love with the character, or that is, the idea of that character than they are with the performance. He couldn’t have played him any better, for sure. But it just seems as though the Anton character was (intentionally) one-dimensional. He was a soulless killer. Menacing, cool, single-minded.
The current line-up of supporting actors is one of the best in years. Bardem’s characterization put the whammy on me, too…it’s just that I think that Affleck, Wilkenson, Hoffman and particularly Holbrook turned in much deeper and brilliant realized performances.
Alright, let me have it.
I’m with you, Walter.
For me, it’s Affleck who seems to stick out of the pack. Probably because his isn’t really a supporting performance at all; he’s the flat-out lead of TAOJJBTCRF. (That really does look retarded abbreviated)
Loved that Ruby Dee won…say what you will, but the other women have either won before (Cate) or will have chances way into the future.
As for Bardem: I didn’t get that his role was THAT great, I mean the man only spoke like 5 words….”do you see me?” (Lol) and drove up and down the highway.
Strange.
Bardem was so great in NCFOM, everything he did to shape that character – even little lines and mannerisms like when the old guy goes to put the coin in his pocket.
Plus I like that he reminds me of a cross between Gerard Depardieu and Al Pacino – I like that combo.
Give him the gold – one of the most memorable screen characters ever.
How many times did Brolin pick his nose? Man, somebody should have tied his arms behind his back…that was hard to watch.
Poor Ruby Dee – her acceptance speech fell flat, and with it her chances of Oscar gold are slipping away…
“I like that he reminds me of a cross between Gerard Depardieu and Al Pacino.” -jjgittes.
Genius.
But he’s the Best Supporting Character. He doesn’t need to have a fantastic story arc. We don’t need to discover that deep inside he’s a softie who really wants to spend the rest of his days making wine in France and painting portraits of children. He’s an f’n machine. He let us see that he won’t flinch. He’s a flesh and bones Terminator who won’t betray his prime directive. He reminds us that some human-monsters don’t have warm fuzzy edges like Tony Soprano. Sometimes they are pure nasty animals like Marlo.
And when did being more than 1-D ever hurt a best supporting winner? They gave it to Cate over Virginia Madsen. They gave it to Renee for her Granny Clampett impersonation.
Do wonder what Werner Herzog thinks of the role.
Far as the ending of No Country – it worked for me. Did people want Tommy Lee to be giving the “it’s all right, the killer is dead” speech? it did remind me of one basic truth about life – Your Mother-In-Law’s big yap never leads to anything good.
Christian,
I would guess that you were pleased with Charles Durning’s lifetime achievement award, since you are a “Whorehouse” fan (not that there’s anything wrong with that.)
I was beyond pleased. I missed the show tho, did they include at least a clip of him doing the sidestep?
Surprised no-one mentioned that Brolin was a bit on the drunk side …
Might explain the ‘freaky little people’ comment.
Didn’t see the show either, would hope they included a sidestep clip. He was also great that same year, in “Tootsie” where he was touching as a good man in love with Dustin. Since PT isn’t really my real name, though, I can admit that I liked Durning best as Doc Hopper in “The Muppet Movie” (followed closely by his coach in “North Dallas Forty”).
“Loved that Ruby Dee won…say what you will, but the other women have either won before (Cate) or will have chances way into the future.”
Ok then – I will say what I will. It’s a decent performance in a nothing part in a mediocre movie. There’s probably about twenty other actresses that could have done it just as well.
Mark you’re pathetic. You cannot tell me that the last scene where she confronts Denzel and actually slaps him — Whoa! wasn’t a powerful scene. When she’s running up the hill — hey, that’s a 83 y.o. woman running up the hill. I was awestruck whenever she was on screen.
Hang on a sec now, how and why am I pathetic?
Yes, I can say that it wasn’t a powerful scene because 1) you could see it coming a mile away and 2) it felt pretty much exactly like what it was – the “big scary gangster who’s still not quite as tough as his kindly but tough old mama” moment, the kind that are designed to win Oscars for the actresses that get them but otherwise have no impact anywhere else in the movie.
Oh, but that’s right, she ran up a hill at her age – better give her the Oscar for that.
Dee’s got a great body of work and is is a legend in her own right, but neither the role or the movie were up to her talents.
And calling me “pathetic” doesn’t make you any more right for thinking otherwise.
I love it when you guys get all tough and riled up, savagely typing away, clicking that post button extra hard. Fuck yeah.
The character is decent if cold, but that is the point. I respect Bardem as an actor quite a bit and love his work.
jjgittes’ description was amusing.