Philip Seymour Hoffman, Film Log Next Stop Wonderland., Hope Davis Daisy Kenyon, female sensibility?

Hope Davis was a discovery and made a new admirer in me because she could be the beautiful cool intelligent blonde like she is in Next Stop Wonderland , in every film The way that Jen Anniston is in every movie she makes wearing mini-skirts and her long blonde hair. So Hope Davis is Very attractive and blonde in NSW
but she has hid her looks in disguises almost (American Splendor). And I love her in one of my all time favorite movies About Schmidt. And is she in what else? something where she played the kind of up tight upper crust Mother. Any way the film had a gyno-centric pov. (Yes POV is not that obscure of a term. Mr. Amazon..) And I can't think of a better term. what about the terms and meanings of female POV or a female sensibility? ? And yes Jane Austen did that. Really came through in Sense and Sensibility. I wrote about this female sensibility previously. But gyno-centric is what I am going to call it. HA HA Oh guess what--the American New Wave is the title given the Film makers of the 90s not the film makers of the 70s. I thought I hear Leonard Maltin using that term to describe the 70s films. I saw it on one of those---maybe that Laslo Kovacks docu./tribute

PSH is in this Next Stop Wonderland and loved his supporting role. I kept thinking Sean would never return in the film and he does unexpectedly and it is a refreshing surprise. We see him in 3 major scenes I think--that includes the scene where he is on tape. so if you are on tape are you really in the film? lol
And well I guess the storytellers were telling us the Brazillian easily replaced her so Erin made the right decision with the Plumber/marine biologist.
This film reminded me of the other film I am watching: Daisy Kenyon. starring Joan Crawford, Dana Andrews, Henry Fonda. d. Otto Preminger--Peter Bogdonavitch: Are you familiar with Otto Preminger? Daisy Kenyon was also about a woman who had a choice. Was able to have a choice due to beauty, sex appeal, intelligence independence of thought and "breeding" or class. And she was a career woman Her role was so FAb. esp. when the scene where she is in bed talking to her daughter and lounging on the bed where the chauffeur is getting dressed. At first we just see a man in the background getting dressed. One with a nice body. Then the last frame shows him kissing Erin's Mother in what is clearly a chauffeurs uniform!!!!!
Next Stop Wonderland. had and element of class with the Mother. Was the Mother, Holland Taylor some kind of Modeling agent? I have Owning Mahoney to watch next.
And there was class in the Dana Andrews character in DK. According to the commentator Foster Hirsch. 1) The element of class distinction comparing the two.--2) both were women who had the "luxury" of a choice. 3) both had attractive suitors.

Film Log Doubt PSH

Doubt with the great Streep and the great PSH.

Before the Devil Knows You are Dead, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Sidney Lumet of Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, and many more directed this film. It was clearly about the family dynamic and the brothers' dynamic and the place of each brother in the family with the sister being a perepheral figure. And it was about psychology of it all. I knew that before I watched the commentary track Lumet and cast and producers discuss the changes Sidney made to the original screenplay. His idea to make them brothers instead of colleagues at work was a master stroke. Lumet emphasize the melodrama of it. The story is a tragedy on a grand scale and one of those things which occasionally happens in real life and make the headlines. But are not that uncommon, certainly there are plenty of murder shows on TV
Lumet took the story and turned it into his story of a family melodrama. Not a suspense crime thriller altho. that was what the original story called for.
Andy goes psycho and kills a bunch of people. Both brothers have complete mental breakdowns. Who could live after such a thing happened? Their life spirals downhill in a spectacular way, taking people with them.. And It works because of the performances and a master storyteller in Lumet. The over-the top Andy is restrained through most of the film and then just blows it. Done by PSHit is completely convincing and restrained. Would have to ask PSH if he gained weight for the role.
Lumet picks all the right camera angles. I guess we would have to credit the DP for this. For example: Andy comes home and doesn't see Gina for several seconds, but we see her head and her POV but it's not exactly from her POV. That is a great example.
PSH shows us acting range in this character: We see him barely hanging on to a demeanor of social civility. His at work life is "increasingly strange." Andy snorts heroin right before a meeting, and then spaces out at the meeting. Increasingly strange behavior at work is how we would classify it. LOL sorry for the LOL I had to convey it someway.
This character's arc is that by the end of the film he has committed a massacre along with the crime of robbery. The scene with the heroin dealer's death is brutal and visually stunning with the whole setting of the apt. its furnishings and the character himself.
PSH is key in this scene and held the whole film together. His is the performance that stands out.
What is the usage of the title cards in this film? Structure? Is this how it is structured? The way the title cards are introduced is a visual movement of images. A way of story telling. The Title cards are a way of story telling.

Philip Seymour Hoffman. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Philip Seymour Hoffman. One of the best American actors. Yes, because he is an award winning actor, He won the Oscar for Capote, and is very famous for that. Obviously. He has done so many unforgettable supporting roles too, they are among his best: Doubt, Cold Mountain, Almost Famous, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love. All well known films. Undoubtedly he get loads of scripts and is in great demand by mainstream Hollywood.
This is not the only way we see Hoffman's great acting range and eclectic choices. But it is in much smaller, really, really independent, very character driven pieces that makes him all the more outstanding.
Films like The Savages and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead are two of the lesser known films for PSH. They are two I want to review for you. BTDKYD is one I didn't think much of, that it was that great, when I first saw it. Part of it was the low-budget music soundtrack, which came across as a bit cheesy I thought. Lumet, the director, made the budget sacrifice for the music, I imagine. Lumet directed this movie at age 83. Should be arriving soon. Let's get this post up and then I will review the movie next week. PSH has the lead role, a very tragic one at that. A tragic story, that I like much better now upon reflection. Let's see what the weeks viewing will bring.