(mark s! hi hope you are well)
― jones (actual), Friday, 24 September 2004 22:16 (nineteen years ago) link
― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Saturday, 25 September 2004 00:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 25 September 2004 00:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― Cripps Pink (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 25 September 2004 01:49 (nineteen years ago) link
Such an unusually 'naturalistic' film; we are not encouraged, in any facile way, to make one simple reading of the events. It's that rare British film which allows you to make your own mind up; a Times article about Finney refers to his curious inability to do 'charm', and the way this film plays with that. To quite remarkable results, really; an antecedent of "Radio On" anyone? There's a comparable ethic to the car journey sequences; though of course, Finney's Bubbles proves rather less anonymous than RO's lead protagonist.
― Tom May (Tom May), Wednesday, 2 February 2005 01:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― dan (dan), Wednesday, 2 February 2005 01:12 (nineteen years ago) link
I ought to watch "The Dresser" again, as Peter Yates is something of a neglected film-maker; no major 'world-view' director, but versatile and with the knack of choosing good projects and executing them beautifully: "Breaking Away", "The Friends of Eddie Coyle".
Does anyone recall much about his performance in those final Dennis Potter series'?
― Tom May (Tom May), Wednesday, 2 February 2005 01:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― lolita corpus (lolitacorpus), Wednesday, 2 February 2005 04:48 (nineteen years ago) link
He was the best thing about those late Potters.
(* - spooky footnote to this self-aggrandising tale: this little nugget of esteem-boosting came up in a late-night phone conversation with PB while I was lodging with a friend in Berkshire. I get off the phone and there on the window sill above the couch-that-is-my-bed is a photo of a young Albert Finney...)
― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Wednesday, 2 February 2005 10:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― Miles Finch, Wednesday, 2 February 2005 10:26 (nineteen years ago) link
BUMP.
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 27 February 2009 16:18 (fifteen years ago) link
under the volcano ftw
― вaсoи клав о́r сaиdy (rent), Friday, 27 February 2009 16:21 (fifteen years ago) link
A good performance in an awful movie.
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 27 February 2009 16:24 (fifteen years ago) link
"how, unless you drink like i do, can you hope to understand the beauty of an old indian woman playing dominoes with a chicken"
― вaсoи клав о́r сaиdy (rent), Friday, 27 February 2009 16:25 (fifteen years ago) link
oh yeah the movie takes some effort
http://img.snlarc.jt.org/caps/impressions/BiHa-Peter%20OI have soiled myself, I have soiled my friends, and I have passed out cold in many unsavory lavatories -- for which I'm very proud. But I am not a pervert. I'm a drunk. I drink, I talk too loud, I knock stuff over...one time, when I was sensationally drunk, Albert Finney and I stole a train! That's the kind of fun we alcoholics like to have!
― вaсoи клав о́r сaиdy (rent), Friday, 27 February 2009 16:31 (fifteen years ago) link
I recently picked up this Oscar trivia book that has breakdowns of the first sixty years of noms and ceremonies. I was surprised to read that the '63 awards were controversial because of the large number of BRITISH nominees. So not only did people (er, critics) object to all the sex stuff in Tom Jones, they were also mad that the Brits were responsible for it. I mean, really?
― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 27 February 2009 23:24 (fifteen years ago) link
I saw 'Two for the Road' the other day. Godawful film. It matters not whether AF is any good acting-wise because the film is desperate for you to side with him. He's a complete dick. It's a kind of achievement I guess.
I would recommend this film, despite being unable to argue against what Miles says.
― Alba, Friday, 8 February 2019 14:18 (five years ago) link
From the other thread: If you've never seen Finney opposite Diane Keaton in Shoot the Moon, you're missing one of the great portrayals of male white privilege.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 8 February 2019 14:25 (five years ago) link
Best on-screen Churchill imo, in 'The Gathering Storm'
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 8 February 2019 14:26 (five years ago) link
A delight opposite Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 8 February 2019 14:28 (five years ago) link
Lots of great stuff from the kitchen sink stuff to Erin to Under the Volcano, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead ... I forgot he was in The Duellists.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 8 February 2019 15:05 (five years ago) link
Fuck a Churchill portrayal tbh.
― Wee boats wobble but they don't fall down (Tom D.), Friday, 8 February 2019 15:26 (five years ago) link
No mention of "Gumshoe" on this thread? Shame!
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3744/12020396385_722d211c02_b.jpg
― Wee boats wobble but they don't fall down (Tom D.), Friday, 8 February 2019 15:38 (five years ago) link
he figured it out:
He never won an Oscar, however, and made a point of not attending the glittering award ceremonies.
“It’s a very long evening and not exactly my idea of a good night out,” Mr. Falk quoted him as saying — “sat there for five fours in a nonsmoking, non-drinking environment.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 8 February 2019 16:13 (five years ago) link
I first saw him in Scrooge (my dad took me to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas show where it premiered), which is a misfire but provided me with an anthem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU6WXCvNGms
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 8 February 2019 18:44 (five years ago) link
Saw him in Art with Tom Courtenay and Ken Stott 20 years ago. Didn't realise till I read the obituary that that was his final stage appearance.
― Alba, Friday, 8 February 2019 20:51 (five years ago) link
I saw Art in NYC 1998 with Alan Alda and Alfred Molina.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 8 February 2019 20:52 (five years ago) link
my first Finney flick was Miller's Crossing, like many around my age I imagine. 1990 was the ultimate gangster film year: GoodFellas, Godfather 3, King of New York, The Krays, State of Grace, Men of Respect, I guess you could even throw in The Freshman if you want. Miller's Crossing was obv imo not better than GoodFellas, few films are. But it was a very crucial film in my self-education in movies of that time. And Albert Finney is so good, that role could have been extremely hammy in other hands but he's so good as a soft-hearted lug who's also very dangerous and instinctive, beyond all appearances. He's believable at both, and believable that both could be qualities the same guy could easily possess.
― omar little, Friday, 8 February 2019 21:04 (five years ago) link
in a way, the love for Miller's Crossing is even more mind-boggling to me than Big Lebowski
(caveat: i haven't seen it in almost 30 years)
i mean, Cagney and those guys did it better
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 8 February 2019 21:46 (five years ago) link
never saw Cagney pop a homie in his foot from under a bed and finish him with one to the dome, then slide down and off a roof, and spin around and catch the second guy unawares through the second floor window from ground level and make him do the red charleston with a tommy gun.
― omar little, Friday, 8 February 2019 21:57 (five years ago) link
of course not saying i think MC is better than the Cagney films, it's its own thing.
― omar little, Friday, 8 February 2019 21:58 (five years ago) link
the problem is i don't remember any of that MC stuff
Shoot the Moon seems hard to see now
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 8 February 2019 22:17 (five years ago) link
DVD available on Netflix as of two hours ago.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 8 February 2019 22:22 (five years ago) link
"Fuck a Churchill portrayal tbh."
this one is just as bollox as you'd expect in its tone/writing as a bbc/hbo jobbie, but it has Ronnie Barker + Vanessa Redgrave in it as well!
― calzino, Friday, 8 February 2019 23:12 (five years ago) link
oh yeah Reinhold from Berlin Alexanderplatz is in it as well.
― calzino, Friday, 8 February 2019 23:27 (five years ago) link
I still agree with your original sentiment though, but enjoyed this one because of the cast.
― calzino, Friday, 8 February 2019 23:30 (five years ago) link
Vanessa Redgrave
Is she better than Gary Oldman or Bob Hoskins?
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 8 February 2019 23:36 (five years ago) link
she plays his wife, but yes in every sense!
― calzino, Friday, 8 February 2019 23:37 (five years ago) link
https://youtu.be/kDfvxJUxL10
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 9 February 2019 00:28 (five years ago) link
roundup
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6193-albert-finney-the-reluctant-star
Finney was a unique actor, although it was his fate to be compared, wonderingly, to other people. Ken Tynan famously reeled away from Finney’s Rada graduation show calling the teenager a new Spencer Tracy. Later in his theatrical career, he was dubbed a new Olivier. I would say that he was Britain’s Jean Gabin. But none of that is quite right. He was a brilliant and utterly distinctive actor, deeply rooted in a theatrical tradition but capable of naturalistic performances, a product of Britain’s vital new “kitchen-sink” cinema. And as a producer, Finney gave early breaks to Tony Scott and Stephen Frears, helped get Lindsay Anderson’s If… off the ground, and was a driving force behind Mike Leigh’s first feature, Bleak Moments.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/feb/08/albert-finney-an-almighty-physical-screen-presence
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 9 February 2019 01:39 (five years ago) link
That's about right: part of what made him underrated was the inability to fit him into any acting school of the last sixty years.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 9 February 2019 01:56 (five years ago) link
Dan Callahan praised the scene in Shoot the Moon I mentioned in the obit thread. Lovely conclusion:
There is the feeling at his death that we should have had more of him, somehow, more films like “Two for the Road” and “Shoot the Moon,” but those two movies about marriage will define his legacy as one of the finest, most upsetting, and most beguiling actors of his time. His charm was sometimes his harsh lack of charm, or withholding of charm and easy answers. Finney could have had a lucrative Hollywood career after “Tom Jones,” but he chose life and the rigors of the theater instead, most of the time. He loved horses, beautiful women, and a good drink or three. His youthful smile brought Audrey Hepburn to new life, and his doubts deepened the testing dramatic parts that he took on screen in the 1980s. Thinking about his work, I keep fastening on the moment when Finney looks at Hepburn on the beach in “Two for the Road” and says, “Too late, they cried, too late!” before giving her an enveloping kiss as Henry Mancini’s theme music swells on the soundtrack. Albert Finney. Too late, they cried, too late!
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 9 February 2019 02:02 (five years ago) link
My own obit.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 9 February 2019 02:47 (five years ago) link
This thread doesn't seem to even mention Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, which I believe was his breakout performance, unless there is a broken image upthread.
― Only a Factory URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 February 2019 02:52 (five years ago) link
But of course Alfred mentions it right away.
And says Tom Jones was the breakthrough.
― Only a Factory URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 February 2019 02:54 (five years ago) link
In America it was. SNASM's British impact, of course, we know.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 9 February 2019 03:02 (five years ago) link
Of course
― Only a Factory URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 February 2019 03:15 (five years ago) link
watched Gumshoe tonight: had not known that Frears had made any features before the '80s, and then it turned out that was his only one for another 13 years!
the film doesn't have the tonal confidence of Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid or Brick, but it's better than the former, probably.
― The Very Fugly Caterpillar (sic), Saturday, 9 February 2019 08:50 (five years ago) link
A DJ on WFMU semi-joked recently, before playing The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry," that "As with 98% of bands, their first song was their best song." So say Finney to me, and I think of SN&SM.
So among the British '60s guys, only Caine, Courtenay and Connery left?
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 9 February 2019 13:18 (five years ago) link
First thing I thought of was the last line of the opening scene of that, which I posted on the Rolling Obit thread, although I forgot the first word as is often the case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJAeb0wiQjA
― Only a Factory URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 February 2019 13:39 (five years ago) link
Terence Stamp is still here
― Josefa, Saturday, 9 February 2019 13:47 (five years ago) link
yes, right
the women, it's Julie Christie (the other Julie was in a different realm). The other key women were Rachel Roberts and Rita Tushingham.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 9 February 2019 13:59 (five years ago) link
yeah, Charlotte Rampling was a bit younger than them and Glenda Jackson was older but didn't break out in film till Women in Love
― Josefa, Saturday, 9 February 2019 14:30 (five years ago) link
yes, Mirren and Dench didn't really get going til the '70s.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 9 February 2019 14:37 (five years ago) link
Can't forget Rachel Roberts being on The Tony Randall Show. Her bio is pretty sad. Sometimes confuse her with Wendy Craig.
Never "got" Rita Tushingham.
Weren't Caine and Finney roommates at one point? I know they were at least drinking buddies.
― Only a Factory URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 February 2019 14:39 (five years ago) link
A DJ on WFMU semi-joked recently, before playing The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry," that "As with 98% of bands, their first song was their best song." So say Finney to me, and I think of SN&SM.Boys Don’t Cry was their third song, so I’m afraid you must switch your allegiance to Tom Jones
― The Very Fugly Caterpillar (sic), Saturday, 9 February 2019 16:09 (five years ago) link
first hit?
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 9 February 2019 16:10 (five years ago) link
Lol Tolhurst book seems really good
― Only a Factory URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 February 2019 16:12 (five years ago) link
Caine and Stamp were roommates/ buddies, not Caine and Finney.
― Wee boats wobble but they don't fall down (Tom D.), Saturday, 9 February 2019 16:24 (five years ago) link
... they might have been drinking buddies though.
it's hard to say who wasn't a drinking buddy of Caine's.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 9 February 2019 16:25 (five years ago) link
Albert looked like he was partial to a tipple.
― Wee boats wobble but they don't fall down (Tom D.), Saturday, 9 February 2019 16:31 (five years ago) link
not on the O'Toole level, reportedly (who could be?)
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 9 February 2019 16:34 (five years ago) link
malcolm macdowell is still active (tho he didn't really get started till 68: his scenes in poor cow ended on the cutting room floor)
dench was BIG on-stage in the 60s (RSC in particular) but not on-screen yet
― mark s, Saturday, 9 February 2019 16:42 (five years ago) link
I was kinda zeroing in on the Angry Young Men (or Brit new wave, to the extent there was one... McDowell emerged a decade after that started).
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 9 February 2019 16:44 (five years ago) link
and obviously cinema more than the theatre
really had forgotten about or didn't know the Finney connections with Anderson and Leigh.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 9 February 2019 16:45 (five years ago) link
never forget: https://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/1143-3.jpg
― mark s, Saturday, 9 February 2019 16:46 (five years ago) link
first hit?Reached #99 in Australia, did not chart in the UK or US.
― The Very Fugly Caterpillar (sic), Saturday, 9 February 2019 17:00 (five years ago) link
― Only a Factory URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 February 2019 19:54 (five years ago) link
Shoot the Moon, what an extraordinary movie. Astonishing performances across the board. Such emotional intensity without ever becoming maudlin or ridiculous. Ordinary People is a joke compared to this movie. I kept thinking of Bergman throughout - the water, the clouds, the piano refrain, the emphasis on faces, but mostly how it sustains such a high emotional pitch without ever veering into pretension or sentimentality. It's unlike any other American domestic drama of its time I can think of.
― flappy bird, Sunday, 24 February 2019 06:48 (five years ago) link
and the kids!
― a Stalin Stale Ale for me, please (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 24 February 2019 07:33 (five years ago) link
I watched Shoot the Moon again last night recovering from a 24-hour stomach bug. Really, I almost threw up again.
― stuffing your suit pockets with cold, stale chicken tende (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 15 December 2023 19:46 (three months ago) link