jeff bridges poll!

i dont know whether to go for best bridges perf. or best movie--hes the best thing in a bunch of mediocre movies

― :) Mrs Edward Cullen XD (max), Sunday, 30 November 2008 15:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

The best American actor of the last 35 years?

Chose Fearless over half a dozen possibilities: Last Picture Show, Fat City, Cutter's Way, Wild Bill, The Contender.

Morbs and I once fantasized about Brokeback Mountain starring a young Dennis Quaid and Bridges.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, 30 November 2008 16:18 (4 years ago) Permalink

^probably watched this film once a year, every year since it came out.

― DavidM, Sunday, 30 November 2008 16:29 (4 years ago) Permalink

This is easy: The Big Lewbowski

I do like him as a baddass liberal president (in The Contender) better than most actors trying on that role, but Bridges and the Dude were made for and ennoble each other. The visionaries, naifs, villains, victims, and opaque blanks in the other movies are a pretty amazing assortment though.

― Pete Scholtes, Sunday, 30 November 2008 23:29 (4 years ago) Permalink

The best American actor of the last 35 years?
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, November 30, 2008 11:18 AM (11 hours ago)

chris walken is pissed

― k3vin k., Monday, 1 December 2008 03:27 (4 years ago) Permalink

used to be super-dreamy. this is difficult!

― horseshoe, Monday, 1 December 2008 03:27 (4 years ago) Permalink

anyway, fucking impossible, so i'm going with the boring choice of Lebowski cuz it's one of my faves ever

― k3vin k., Monday, 1 December 2008 03:27 (4 years ago) Permalink

i really love the fabulous baker boys even though nothing really happens in it.

― horseshoe, Monday, 1 December 2008 03:28 (4 years ago) Permalink

"used to be"??

― dat dude delmar (and what), Monday, 1 December 2008 03:28 (4 years ago) Permalink

― dat dude delmar (and what), Monday, 1 December 2008 03:29 (4 years ago) Permalink

i dunno, the most recent thing i saw him in is Stick It and he finally looks like a dad. not a hot dad; just a dad.

― horseshoe, Monday, 1 December 2008 03:29 (4 years ago) Permalink

one of the best speaking voices.

― horseshoe, Monday, 1 December 2008 03:30 (4 years ago) Permalink

When all those cover stories praised Robert Downey, Jr.'s comeback in Iron Man a few months ago, I was a little pissed that no one mentioned that the movie's also Jeff Bridges' highest grosser.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 1 December 2008 03:31 (4 years ago) Permalink

he looks like billy joel in that iron man picture :-/

― horseshoe, Monday, 1 December 2008 03:40 (4 years ago) Permalink

one of my favorite actors. kind of splits the difference between paul newman and harrison ford (cooler and more detached than ford, shaggier than newman). lebowski ftw, but i voted fearless. could have easily gone for last picture show, baker boys (just watched that again last week), maybe tucker. he's really good in starman. and against all odds too. and jagged edge. never seen american heart, been meaning to for 16 years.

― tipsy mothra, Monday, 1 December 2008 04:06 (4 years ago) Permalink

American Heart is really good. This is a tough poll.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Monday, 1 December 2008 05:20 (4 years ago) Permalink

could have easily gone for last picture show, baker boys (just watched that again last week), maybe tucker. he's really good in starman

this

― gabbneb, Monday, 1 December 2008 05:22 (4 years ago) Permalink

Dude Runner.

― DavidM, Monday, 1 December 2008 17:21 (4 years ago) Permalink

short list:

The Last Picture Show
Fat City
Cutter's Way
Starman
Tucker
American Heart
Wild Bill

― Dr Morbius, Monday, 1 December 2008 17:35 (4 years ago) Permalink

Never seen American Heart.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 1 December 2008 17:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

he's also funnier in Hearts of the West and Nadine than in you-know-what.

― Dr Morbius, Monday, 1 December 2008 17:37 (4 years ago) Permalink

max takes out Hearts of the West and Rancho Deluxe & leaves in THE LAST UNICORN

― Dr Morbius, Monday, 1 December 2008 17:39 (4 years ago) Permalink

(hint: always drop the recent crapola and voiceovers)

― Dr Morbius, Monday, 1 December 2008 17:40 (4 years ago) Permalink

hint: no

― :) Mrs Edward Cullen XD (max), Monday, 1 December 2008 17:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

then just watch Rancho Deluxe.

― Dr Morbius, Monday, 1 December 2008 17:49 (4 years ago) Permalink

no

― :) Mrs Edward Cullen XD (max), Monday, 1 December 2008 17:51 (4 years ago) Permalink

W'happen, someone steal your inauguration minicamper?

Jeff looked bloated and coked up in Kong '76.

― Dr Morbius, Monday, 1 December 2008 17:53 (4 years ago) Permalink

W'happen, someone steal your inauguration minicamper?

i think he's taking a boxcar

― gabbneb, Monday, 1 December 2008 17:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― System, Thursday, 1 January 2009 00:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

Finally saw The Last Picture Show since this thread started, and what an amazing erotic movie--except Bridges hasnone of it! His sexuality is so non-aggressive or traditional in film that maybe it's been neglected.

― Pete Scholtes, Thursday, 1 January 2009 18:07 (4 years ago) Permalink

yeah this poll is impossible. He is a great actor and has played like every character, even though a lot of times its "jeff bridges as a ___", it doesn't matter -- cause its Jeff fuckin' Bridges!!! That said, I have to vote for Tron, because I have vote for Kevin Flynn, my inner 10 year old would hate me if I didn't.

― Viceroy, Thursday, 1 January 2009 19:59 (4 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― System, Friday, 2 January 2009 00:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

Tron in second!

― Abbott of the Trapezoid Monks (Abbott), Friday, 2 January 2009 00:03 (4 years ago) Permalink

woah wait Jeff Bridges is in Tron? I have vivid memories of that film, and that face belongs to Jeff Daniels...

― Merdeyeux, Friday, 2 January 2009 04:04 (4 years ago) Permalink

and that, folks, is how eyewitnesses have put thousands of people in jail for crimes they didn't commit

― TOMBOT, Friday, 2 January 2009 04:18 (4 years ago) Permalink

Tron is no crime!

― Abbott of the Trapezoid Monks (Abbott), Friday, 2 January 2009 05:52 (4 years ago) Permalink

I saw him on Rollins' show a couple of years ago. He talked about Moondog and how he wouldn't be averse to playing him. . . .

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Friday, 2 January 2009 08:02 (4 years ago) Permalink

another five years or so and he'll be able to!

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 2 January 2009 10:16 (4 years ago) Permalink

next Bridges poll w/ all '70s films so Lebowski and Tron can fuck right off

― Dr Morbius, Friday, 2 January 2009 17:56 (4 years ago) Permalink

Lebowski is a truly great performance (and I saw that as a skeptic of the film at large), but Tron in second is some prime ILX/fanboy bullshit.

― Eric H., Friday, 2 January 2009 18:04 (4 years ago) Permalink

this dude is basically the only guy who could get me to sit through a movie about a washed-up country singer and his late in life redemption

― max, Thursday, 19 November 2009 13:57 (3 years ago) Permalink

I'll be seeing that FOR MY CONSIDERATION. didn't you see Rip Torn's washed-up country star movie?

(forgot to do the poll of the films max left out)

― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 19 November 2009 14:16 (3 years ago) Permalink

i clicked to make sure lebowski won and morbs got mad itt. as u were :)

― luol deng (am0n), Thursday, 19 November 2009 15:33 (3 years ago) Permalink

American Heart is some excellent performing, from Bridges and one of those Edwards I always confuse (Norton? Furlong? one of them) Good luck finding it, though.

― Hey Jude, Thursday, 19 November 2009 23:45 (3 years ago) Permalink

Lebowski is excellent, but Fearless is underappreciated, so my vote, if I'd voted, would have gone to it, just as a shout out to a great film and great performance.

― Aimless, Friday, 20 November 2009 05:08 (3 years ago) Permalink

woulda voted last picture show

― Danny Duberstein (hmmmm), Friday, 20 November 2009 07:49 (3 years ago) Permalink

really, watch Cutter's Way

― Feingold/Kaptur 2012 (Dr Morbius), Friday, 20 November 2009 14:52 (3 years ago) Permalink

he could certainly win the Oscar for Crazy Heart, and it wouldn't be a disgrace.

― Feingold/Kaptur 2012 (Dr Morbius), Friday, 4 December 2009 06:40 (3 years ago) Permalink

Can't believe Arlington Road got no votes!! Amazing movie, amazing performance.

― one boob is free with one (daavid), Friday, 4 December 2009 07:41 (3 years ago) Permalink

Glad to have rented Cutter's Way because of this thread, though I don't love it. Feels like a New Orleans movie and a '70s movie even though it's set in Santa Barbara and came out in '81. Too scripty, and the last couple lines are absurd, but great performances go a long way.

― Pete Scholtes, Monday, 27 December 2010 14:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

"too scripty"

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Monday, 27 December 2010 14:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

Didn't care much for Cutter's Way either, which I watched for the first time a few months ago. Didn't it have some kind of troubled history in getting a release?

― clemenza, Monday, 27 December 2010 15:02 (2 years ago) Permalink

From wiki:

United Artists did not like the ambiguity in what was then titled Cutter and Bone. When U.A. executives David Field and Claire Townsend, the film's biggest supporters, left for 20th Century Fox, the studio felt that they would get no credit if the film succeeded and no responsibility if it failed and so there was no interest in it. Cutter and Bone became a victim of internal politics. U.A. senior domestic sales and marketing vice president Jerry Esbin saw the film and decided that it did not have any commercial possibilities. Passer did not see his film with a paying audience until the Houston International Film Festival many weeks later. He said in an interview, "They didn't do any research. I was supposed to have two previews with a paying audience. It was in my contract."

United Artists spent a meager $63,000 on promotion for the film's release in New York City, New York, in late March 1981. There all three daily papers and the three major network critics gave Cutter and Bone negative reviews. Vincent Canby in The New York Times wrote, "It's the sort of picture that never wants to concede what it's about. It is, however, enchanted by the sound of its own dialogue, which is vivid without being informative or even amusing on any level." The studio was so shocked by the negative reviews that it planned to pull the film after only a week.Unbeknownst to them, the next week Richard Schickel in Time, David Ansen in Newsweek, and New York City's weekly newspapers would write glowing reviews. Ansen wrote, "Under Passer's sensitive direction, Heard gives his best film performance: he's funny and abrasive and mad, but you see the self-awareness eating him up inside."

The positive reviews prompted United Artists to give Cutter and Bone to its United Artists Classics division, whch changed the film's title to Cutter's Way (thinking that the original title would be mistaken by audiences for a comedy about surgeons) and entered it into a number of film festivals. At Houston, Texas' Third International Film Festival it won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor (John Heard). A week later, it was given the closing feature slot at the Seattle International Film Festival. With a new ad campaign, Cutter's Way reopened in the summer of 1981 in Seattle, Washington; Los Angeles, California; Boston, Massachusetts; and New York City, New York. Passer was bitter about the experience, commenting in an interview, "You can assassinate movies as you can assassinate people. I think UA murdered the film. Or at least they tried to murder it."

Yay for Houston!

― Your cousin, Marvin Cobain (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 27 December 2010 15:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

On a related note, steven Bach mentioned in Final Cut (the Heaven's Gate book) that CW was one of the first films U.A. mother henned after the Cimino fiasco (insisting on daily screenings of the rushes, constant reports from the set etc.)

― Your cousin, Marvin Cobain (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 27 December 2010 15:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

Bridges >>>> Heard in Cutter's Way

― Gus Van Sotosyn (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 27 December 2010 19:35 (2 years ago) Permalink

Truthfully, Heard was what bothered me most in Cutter's Way--and usually I like him.

Feel sorry for anybody who tried to get a film made in the aftermath of Heaven's Gate.

― clemenza, Monday, 27 December 2010 19:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

Love him.

Watched Crazy Heart recently which wasn't very good overall but he was excellent.

― ENBB, Monday, 27 December 2010 22:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

How did Thunderbolt and Lightfoot not get a single vote?

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Monday, 27 December 2010 22:41 (2 years ago) Permalink

nowhere as bad as max leaving off Hearts of the West and Rancho Deluxe

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 28 December 2010 00:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

the motherfucking LAST PICTURE SHOW got no votes, and it's what put him on the map.

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 28 December 2010 00:37 (2 years ago) Permalink

Tangentially related in my mind, I guess because it's the same year as Rancho Deluxe (which I've never seen): I've been trying to find a copy of 92 in the Shade forever. The best that I can do is a $60 VHS on Amazon. Think I'll pass, Amazon.

― clemenza, Tuesday, 28 December 2010 00:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

― THX THO... (Nicole), Tuesday, 28 December 2010 00:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

The American Success Company aka Success now streaming:

http://williamrichert.com/movies/success/watch-restored-success-streaming-complete-uncut/

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 23 January 2011 04:54 (2 years ago) Permalink

"the motherfucking LAST PICTURE SHOW got no votes, and it's what put him on the map."

And forty years later I still don't like it much.

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Sunday, 23 January 2011 16:00 (2 years ago) Permalink

That Bridges documentary on PBS was fun, what I saw of it, especially John Goodman cracking up describing the marmot scene in Lebowski, which somehow makes the scene funnier.

― Pete Scholtes, Sunday, 23 January 2011 22:54 (2 years ago) Permalink

Really wish "Jeff'd" was a show - dude's rolodex must be huge

― da croupier, Sunday, 23 January 2011 23:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

finally saw American Heart--that is a bleak fucking movie.

― horseshoe, Tuesday, 19 April 2011 04:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

i watched King Kong this week which is kind of dumb but Bridges is awesome in it

― gr8080, Tuesday, 19 April 2011 05:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

stick it deserved some votes

― ─►.butt.tko (Lamp), Tuesday, 19 April 2011 05:54 (2 years ago) Permalink

sad Bad Company didn't get any - really underrated movie imo

― cum dude (Princess TamTam), Tuesday, 19 April 2011 06:28 (2 years ago) Permalink

tried watching bridges kong recently, couldn't get more than 15 mins into it - too much grodin

― cum dude (Princess TamTam), Tuesday, 19 April 2011 06:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

i just pretended charles grodin was actually burt reynolds

― gr8080, Tuesday, 19 April 2011 06:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

like too much Grodin is a possible thing. (see The Heartbreak Kid, the good one)

― your generation appalls me (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 19 April 2011 07:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

for some reason i watched kpax last week. and i know now why it was probably omitted from this list

― if you wanna gamble, take that shit to vegas (Ste), Tuesday, 19 April 2011 08:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

Meanwhile...

JEFF BRIDGES SIGNS WITH BLUE NOTE RECORDS/EMI MUSIC GROUP

OSCAR-WINNING ACTOR AND MUSICIAN IS RECORDING HIS MAJOR-LABEL DEBUT ALBUM WITH OSCAR- AND GRAMMY-AWARD WINNING PRODUCER AND CRAZY HEART COLLABORATOR T-BONE BURNETT

BRIDGES APPEARS ON THE COVER OF ESQUIRE MAGAZINE’S MAY MUSIC ISSUE (SEE BELOW)

April 19th, 2011 — New York, NY — Having earned an Academy Award for “Best Actor” for his portrayal of a grizzled former country music legend in the 2009 film Crazy Heart, actor and musician Jeff Bridges has signed a recording deal with EMI’s Blue Note Records, which will release his major-label debut album in late summer.

Inspired by their collaboration on Crazy Heart, Bridges has chosen to record the album with his long-time friend, the multiple-Grammy Award-winning songwriter, musician, and producer T-Bone Burnett, who is known for his work with Allison Krauss and Robert Plant, Elton John and Leon Russell, and the Grammy-winning soundtracks to O Brother, Where Are Thou? and Walk the Line. Bridges and Burnett met more than 30 years ago when Kris Kristofferson introduced them during the filming of the 1980 motion picture Heaven’s Gate. The relationship has continued over the years as Burnett selected the songs that appeared on the soundtrack to the 1998 film The Big Lebowski, starring Bridges, as well as co-writing several songs for the soundtrack to Crazy Heart, including “The Weary Kind,” which earned Burnett his second Oscar nomination and first win (along with songwriter Ryan Bingham) for “Best Original Song.”

Bridges’ album for Blue Note is an organic extension and culmination of his personal, professional, and now musical friendship with Burnett. As Bridges told the Santa Barbara Independent: “It’s a relationship that’s really inflamed my music.” Burnett has assembled a number of his key repertory players to perform on Bridges’ album, including Keefus Ciancia, Mark Ribot, Dennis Crouch, and Jay Bellerose, and guest vocalists Rosanne Cash, Sam Phillips,
and Benji Hughes. Bridges will contribute several of his own compositions as well as perform material by a collection of world-class songwriters, including Burnett’s Crazy Heart collaborators the late Stephen Bruton and John Goodwin, as well as Greg Brown, Bo Ramsey, Tom Waits, and others. More details will be announced in the coming months.

Bridges is fueled by a life-long passion for music, as can be seen on the PBS American Masters program that aired in January 2011 (watch the piece here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/jeff-bridges-the-dude-abides/watch-the-full-film/1771/). Next month, the guitar-playing thespian appears on the May cover of Esquire Magazine’s music issue, which hits newsstands on April 26th.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 19 April 2011 13:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

― gr8080, Wednesday, 20 April 2011 06:00 (2 years ago) Permalink

Boy, is he terrific in American Heart. Wish Edward Furlong was up to the challenge.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 26 May 2011 21:54 (1 year ago) Permalink

Anybody checking out the Jeff Bridges season at the BFI? I'm seeing Fat City tonight.

Yeah!

― Davek (davek_00), Thursday, 2 June 2011 17:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

ha, stephen colbert: "it is relaxing just to look at you"

― sexual union prayerbook slam (schlump), Tuesday, 23 August 2011 10:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

It's true!

― ¯\(°_o)/¯ (Nicole), Tuesday, 23 August 2011 12:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

he is p smoking in cutter's way. he looks sorta like michelangelo's david

― and my soul said you can't go there (schlump), Sunday, 18 September 2011 19:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

Took me a week, but I finished Rancho Deluxe. (Music by Jimmy Buffett; I had a pre-cog vision that the Buffett Rule was on its way.) Not good, but if you have a very high tolerance for '70s meandering, not bad either. Wouldn't know how to describe it. After I finished I took a look at the original trailer, wondering how they could possibly try to sell this movie. They didn't have any more of a clue than I would have--the trailer is as puzzling as the film itself. Wish Charlene Dallas had made a few more films.

― clemenza, Tuesday, 20 September 2011 11:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

Jefftro in NYC for max to catch up on (Rancho come n' gone unforch):

http://www.92y.org/Tribeca/Film/Jeff-Bridges.aspx

clemenza, if I read "Took me a week to finish a film" again, there will be consequences.

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 14:31 (11 months ago) Permalink

I'm hopeless at home. Unless it's something completely mindless like Disclosure, or maybe a favourite I know by heart, I just can't finish a film in one night.

― clemenza, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 18:50 (11 months ago) Permalink

Hearts of The West is alotta fun.

― Electro-Shock Rory (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:30 (11 months ago) Permalink

major Young Jeff vehicle showing in Tribeca tonight:

http://www.92y.org/Tribeca/Event/The-Last-American-Hero.aspx

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 11:45 (10 months ago) Permalink

Even better than digital jazz.

― I found him in a Bon Ton ad (Nicole), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 12:19 (10 months ago) Permalink

looking fwd to Hearts of the West tonight, haven't seen it in 30+ years.

http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/hearts-of-the-west-slither

― Pope Rusty I (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 21 February 2013 20:23 (3 months ago) Permalink

unavailable on DVD either

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 21 February 2013 20:28 (3 months ago) Permalink

well yeah that's why im going, w/ a cold

― Pope Rusty I (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 21 February 2013 20:36 (3 months ago) Permalink

You can get a dvdr of HotW from Warner Archive.

― Big Sambola & The Tailspinners (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 21 February 2013 21:15 (3 months ago) Permalink

picture quality could be better, especially since they claim it's been "remeastered"

― Big Sambola & The Tailspinners (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 21 February 2013 21:17 (3 months ago) Permalink

yea, also "rent"/stream-able from amazon for $2.99

― johnny crunch, Thursday, 21 February 2013 21:41 (3 months ago) Permalink

yeah, I don't stream. Saw a decent 35mm print.

Alan Arkin: "You're fired, pissant, fired!"

― Pope Rusty I (Dr Morbius), Friday, 22 February 2013 05:19 (2 months ago) Permalink

whenever i can't figure out what to watch, i watch cutter's way.

― i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Tuesday, 5 March 2013 23:27 (2 months ago) Permalink

only seen it once

― Pope Rusty I (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 6 March 2013 00:57 (2 months ago) Permalink

I watched The Last American Hero the other night for the first time in 30+ years. (It played on TV here regularly through the late '70s.) It's good, but I don't think as good as Kael writes ("The casting, the acting, and the milieu seem effortlessly, inexplicably right"). I think Heart Like a Wheel, where she wasn't especially enthusiastic, is the much better film. I wouldn't doubt that Tarantino's use of "I Got a Name" in Django was partly a nod to The Last American Hero.

― clemenza, Saturday, 4 May 2013 13:08 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

W'happen, someone steal your inauguration minicamper?

― Dr Morbius, Monday, December 1, 2008

― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 May 2013 13:16 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

yeeesh - can't believe someone voted for anything having to do w/ the American remake of The Vanishing (aka Spoorloos!)

― i push more weight than giles corey (Pillbox), Saturday, 4 May 2013 17:14 (2 weeks ago) Permalink