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Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

AfterHours — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 19:51:11 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/27/2018 23:51

bobbyb5 wrote:

A few months ago the user badseed had a thread about ensemble, and I put this list up. If I was to make a new one it would probably be pretty much the same as this one, So... I don't think ALL of them are great, but a lot of them are. Basically it's just ones that I like a lot, for one reason or another.

Gosford Park
Nashville
Grand Hotel
A Wedding
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
H.E.A.L.T.H.
The Exterminating Angel
Best in Show
Traffic
Smile. (1975)
Welcome to LA
Who's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
Boogie Nights
After Hours
The VIPs. (1963)
Separate Tables
Once Upon a Time in America
Kansas City
It's a Mad Mad Mad World
Death on the Nile
And then there were none. (1945)
Godfather Part 2
Bugsy Malone (1974)
American Graffiti
The Poseidon Adventure (1973)
Dinner at Eight
MASH
Trouble in Mind
Pret a Porter
Wonderland. (1999)
Catch-22
What's Up, Doc?
The Chase (1966)
The Towering Inferno
The Long Riders
Platoon
Voyage of the Damned
The Last Picture Show
The Player
Earthquake
The Moderns
The Russians are Coming The Russians are Coming

Very interesting selections! Right off the bat I would say Last Picture Show, American Graffiti, Godfather Pt 2, Once Upon a Time in America, Boogie Nights, After Hours, Exterminating Angel should all be under consideration for this, and perhaps others youve listed too.

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

bobbyb5 — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 12:28:40 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 08/27/2018 16:28

A few months ago the user badseed had a thread about ensemble, and I put this list up. If I was to make a new one it would probably be pretty much the same as this one, So... I don't think ALL of them are great, but a lot of them are. Basically it's just ones that I like a lot, for one reason or another.

Gosford Park
Nashville
Grand Hotel
A Wedding
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
H.E.A.L.T.H.
The Exterminating Angel
Best in Show
Traffic
Smile. (1975)
Welcome to LA
Who's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
Boogie Nights
After Hours
The VIPs. (1963)
Separate Tables
Once Upon a Time in America
Kansas City
It's a Mad Mad Mad World
Death on the Nile
And then there were none. (1945)
Godfather Part 2
Bugsy Malone (1974)
American Graffiti
The Poseidon Adventure (1973)
Dinner at Eight
MASH
Trouble in Mind
Pret a Porter
Wonderland. (1999)
Catch-22
What's Up, Doc?
The Chase (1966)
The Towering Inferno
The Long Riders
Platoon
Voyage of the Damned
The Last Picture Show
The Player
Earthquake
The Moderns
The Russians are Coming The Russians are Coming

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

bobbyb5 — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 12:21:18 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 08/27/2018 16:21

AfterHours wrote:

bobbyb5 wrote:

Besides all the great ones that you guys named, I've always loved all those goofy ones that they used to make like Best in Show, The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming, Airplane, Who's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, Murder by Death, Nasty Habits and all those goofy ones with lots of stars acting stupid. Love those.
Plus, I also like those kind of murder mystery movies with a big huge cast, like all those Agatha Christie ones like Ten Little Indians, Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express and that type of thing.

Yes, good point. Im not sure if any of those can truly touch the likes of Marx Bros Duck Soup, Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be, Kusturica's Underground & Black Cat White Cat, Hawks' Bringing Up Baby, Gilliam's Brazil (or the Python's best), Fellini's 8 1/2, Cat Ballou, Fish Called Wanda, the Coen Bros goofier films...

...but these recent points along from you guys are assisting me to take a closer look at this side of the spectrum

Well, yeah. They're not great movies, but they're great fun. Ha ha.

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

AfterHours — Sun, 26 Aug 2018 00:42:50 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/26/2018 04:42

I thoroughly revised the "criteria" section atop the main list page (first post, first page). It should now clarify my selections a bit more and probably make recommendations easier, if anyone was having difficulty before.

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

AfterHours — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 11:08:43 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/25/2018 15:08

@badseed

Revisited Network. Thank you for the reminder. Definitely worthy and one of the truly great ensembles of the 70s. I'd forgotten just how great Faye Dunaway is in that film -- perhaps the standout among multiple great turns.

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

AfterHours — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 15:53:42 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/24/2018 19:53

^^^ The above applies to all selections of course. In short, the very top are the most potent collaborations of "creativity" and "degree/significance of emotional/conceptual expression of the performances". Below this will tend to be performances that excell more in one of these factors over the other. I havent decided where the "cut off" point will be.

All recommendations are and have been appreciated. Even those that dont make my list often get me to consider an aspect to my selections that I should look into more!

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

AfterHours — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 15:39:54 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/24/2018 19:39

badseed wrote:

Network! Don't know how I forgot that. Should be near the very top IMO.

Yes, me too, it is among my next revisits. Though undoubtedly a great film, the only hurdle it might face (for me) in reaching at or near the very top is "creativity/originality". Its far from "un-original" but it no doubt borrows a bit from the likes of Face in a Crowd and Meet John Doe (in performance and themes) ... which may limit its sense of conviction (not necessarily a lot, but some...) relative to something with similar "degree" of expressed effort but drawn from a more singular well of inspiration (which palpably strengthens the impact and depth of such effort -- often more evident over the long run such as in repeat viewings/upon closer evaluations).

Ive had the film rated as high as 7.9/10 before (so not out of the question it could make that leap again) but when I last revisited it (now 7.3) I do remember some diminishing returns (relative to earlier viewings) due, fundamentally, to the above phenomena (practical and applicable to all art in my experience).

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

AfterHours — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 15:25:04 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/24/2018 19:25

bobbyb5 wrote:

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

bobbyb5 — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 06:45:33 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 08/24/2018 10:45

Besides all the great ones that you guys named, I've always loved all those goofy ones that they used to make like Best in Show, The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming, Airplane, Who's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, Murder by Death, Nasty Habits and all those goofy ones with lots of stars acting stupid. Love those.
Plus, I also like those kind of murder mystery movies with a big huge cast, like all those Agatha Christie ones like Ten Little Indians, Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express and that type of thing.

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

badseed — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 01:20:37 GMT

Author: badseed

Posted: 08/24/2018 05:20

Network! Don't know how I forgot that. Should be near the very top IMO.

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

AfterHours — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 12:50:34 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/23/2018 16:50

SquishypuffDave wrote:

Network
Doubt
Fargo
Secrets & Lies
The Big Lebowski

Thank you, all excellent selections. Network and Big Lebowski -- especially -- have the best shot among them.

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

SquishypuffDave — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 07:42:51 GMT

Author: SquishypuffDave

Posted: 08/23/2018 11:42

Network
Doubt
Fargo
Secrets & Lies
The Big Lebowski

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

AfterHours — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 02:37:55 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/23/2018 06:37

badseed wrote:

What about stuff like The Great Escape and The Dirty Dozen, or Fast Times at Ridgmont High and Dazed and Confused? I know these types of films generally aren't discussed in this conversation so just bringing them up. In the action/war/prison films many of the actors, from the megastars to the character actors were at the top of their game. In particular had John Cassavetes not persued independent filmmaking I'm sure his work in Dirty Dozen (even more than Rosemarys Baby) would have led to great success as a top Hollywood actor. And in the teen comedies, the mostly unknown (at the time) actors seemed to really be their characters, as opposed to the unrelatable and over the top caricatures of stereotypes we've seen in the last 20 years.

Excellent points all around (as always). I will need to revisit all those films -- been years for all of them and Id all but forgotten needing to revisit Fast Times before your mentioning it here! Perhaps Love Exposure is the epitome of such "teen" comedies (though it also practically merges every genre ... ever?) ... and perhaps their absurd breaking point (maybe too far past the sort of thing youre suggesting?). I will have to take the teen comedy into closer consideration including those you mention. One that comes to mind is Peggy Sue Got Married (a mini masterpiece of the genre which is also quite moving). Acting wise, Nic Cage is f-ing priceless and Kathleen Turner is exceptional ... You may notice that the selections have been gradually branching out further into including less "drama-centric" acting (but just as potent in their own genres) such as the absurdities of Fellini, Brazil, Underground, La Dolce Vita, and the mesmerizing and stupefying, masterfully spontaneous, naturalistic, naive and dead pan turns of Badlands ... no doubt films like Duck Soup and Lubitsch's best deserve strong consideration ... and other great comedies/satires

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

badseed — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 22:36:24 GMT

Author: badseed

Posted: 08/23/2018 02:36

What about stuff like The Great Escape and The Dirty Dozen, or Fast Times at Ridgmont High and Dazed and Confused? I know these types of films generally aren't discussed in this conversation so just bringing them up. In the action/war/prison films many of the actors, from the megastars to the character actors were at the top of their game. In particular had John Cassavetes not persued independent filmmaking I'm sure his work in Dirty Dozen (even more than Rosemarys Baby) would have led to great success as a top Hollywood actor. And in the teen comedies, the mostly unknown (at the time) actors seemed to really be their characters, as opposed to the unrelatable and over the top caricatures of stereotypes we've seen in the last 20 years.

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

AfterHours — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:11:46 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/21/2018 21:11

Updated (so far) ... Recent inclusions in bold

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

AfterHours — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 21:38:46 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/12/2018 01:38

jdenny2018 wrote:

I've always thought that Goodfellas was the best ensemble performance ever. Every part, from Robert De Niro to Catherine Scorsese is played magnificently. Plus, it has an all-time soundtrack to boot.
Goodfellas (Soundtrack) by Various Artists

I agree it is superb all around and I will strongly consider adding it 😄

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

jdenny2018 — Mon, 6 Aug 2018 20:26:38 GMT

Author: jdenny2018

Posted: 08/07/2018 00:26

I've always thought that Goodfellas was the best ensemble performance ever. Every part, from Robert De Niro to Catherine Scorsese is played magnificently. Plus, it has an all-time soundtrack to boot.
Goodfellas (Soundtrack) by Various Artists

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

badseed — Mon, 23 Jul 2018 02:15:33 GMT

Author: badseed

Posted: 07/23/2018 06:15

I meant "best" would have been controversial. I thought Nashville was the consensus #1, although MASH might have been 15-20 years ago from what I recall. Didn't someone do a "Let's Rank" or something like that specifically for film directors a few years back? Perhaps that's a series we could revitalize as an easy intermission between our larger lists and Altman would be a good one to do. I really don't know what would win, but if I had to guess, I'd go with Short Cuts. Haha. But the top 5 or 6 would all be pretty close.

Regarding the 90s list I think Breaking the Waves was my #1. So it's not like I'm guaranteeing Short Cuts is gonna be my lifetime favorite of either the decade or director. But I've probably watched it more than any other movie over the last 3 or 4 years so it's there right now.

As for pre-method style and what should be considered along with Casablanca, it is difficult to think of many that can compete with post-Brando. Hitchcock's Lifeboat has gotta be up there.

Clint Eastwood is really underrated when it comes to getting great performances from a wide variety of actors. Mystic River is the most noteworthy mention.

You've got Bergman on there twice already but he could go on there another half dozen times at least.

Also Sidney Lumet. 12 Angry Men, Network, Murder on the Orient Express, Dog Day Afternoon, take your pick.

Basically what I'm getting at is I think certain directors have a way with actors that sets most of their ensembles apart from the rest.

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

CA Dreamin — Sun, 22 Jul 2018 14:40:48 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 07/22/2018 18:40

badseed wrote:

Short Cuts. Best film of the 90s and my personal favorite Robert Altman film

StreetSpirit wrote:

That's a bold claim.

badseed wrote:

I just didn't want to sound repetitive, I could have reversed and said favorite film of the 90s and Altman's best film but that may have been equally controversial.

There's nothing controversial about using the word "favorite" unless it's something bad by consensus. Such as "Fallen Kingdom is my favorite Jurassic movie." = controversial. Altman's best film would be less controversial because it's one director's body of work instead of an entire decade's worth. I do like Short Cuts, though. Great ensemble. Basically a much better Nashville. Best Altman film? I'd rank it somewhere behind The Player and McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Best of the '90s? I'd probably put it the Top 100 in the 75-100 range (if we ever redo the '90s poll).

Re: Best Ensemble Acting Performances in Film History

AfterHours — Sun, 22 Jul 2018 14:16:22 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 07/22/2018 18:16

"Pre method" acting -- including silent era -- can be an art form in itself so I do not necessarily mean such performances are automatically less worthy.