Posted by happylizard at cpe0001023f6f29.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com on December 13, 2002 at 17:48:44:
In Reply to: Response to happylizard from last page... posted by Isis on December 13, 2002 at 15:24:56:
Well, isn't it fairly easy not to buy gossipy magazines or watch gossipy TV shows? People don't generally watch Diane Sawyer or Barbara Walters for hard-hitting, fluffless journalism.
Actually I don't buy those magazines or watch those shows. It IS easy to avoid them.
: True enough...on the other hand, the way the business works, actors get the best roles if they're well-known enough to "open" a movie. It's rare that a studio's gonna throw a big-budget role at an unknown. And a lot depends upon the skill of an actor. I know plenty about Denzel Washington, but he has the ability to transform himself from my expectations, and inhabit a role to the degree that I don't see Denzel the Celebrity, but Malcolm X, or whoever he's playing at the moment.
: Same goes for Meryl, or Brando, or Tom Hanks, any of the greats. They've got recognition value AND the skill to transcend it.
I think you more or less have it right there. Along with Paul Newman, these people have all become recognizable through their talents and roles, NOT by "living in the public eye". I think NOT living in Hollywood or LA and going to a bunch of parties, etc. is a fairly easy way to stay out of the gossip magazines, etc.
: Well, Nicholson is a special case -- he's backed himself into a corner over the years, using the energy of his own persona to fuel roles, rather than carefully picking characters who are very different from each other (as Meryl, Denzel and Tom have) so that he can establish and deepen his range.
: What he needs is a role akin to Robin Williams' in "Insomnia", or Halle Berry's in "Monster's Ball"; something that will play totally against type. That's when famous actors get to stretch their muscle and often, what displays their true skill -- Denzel again, "Training Day", good example. Maybe this movie is that role for Jack, I don't know yet.
Me neither, and I have nothing against his "Jack-ness" as I think it has been mostly appropriate for the parts I've seen him play.I LIKE The Jackness.
Anyhow, I am delighted that SOMETIMES the moronic J-Lo stuff CAN produce intelligent discourse.