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Posted: |
Mar 2, 2014 - 6:21 AM
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By: |
Brad Wills
(Member)
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Toby Jones all the way, physically, vocally, and especially in his brilliant capturing of the essence of the fey, soigne Capote. The scene where Capote rushes into a room alone, giddy after his inferred jailhouse sexual encounter with Perry Smith was leagues ahead of any single moment in Hoffman's performance. Plus, Hoffmann always had dirt under his fingernails (yes, I notice details like that), something that the immaculately groomed Capote would have probably deemed abhorrent.
Similarly, I much preferred Mr. Jones as Alfred Hitchcock in HBO's THE GIRL over Anthony Hopkins' grade-school impersonation in HITCH.
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Posted: |
Mar 2, 2014 - 10:04 AM
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By: |
Ralph
(Member)
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Hoffmann always had dirt under his fingernails (yes, I notice details like that), something that the immaculately groomed Capote would have probably deemed abhorrent.
Maybe not. Truman wrote longhand, so the stains could be from pencil (his preferred utensil) or ink.
We know more about Truman than we ever wished we knew, and it’s colored everything, and almost all of the coloring is blackish: Capote the midget fairy as a malicious gossip, as a drunk and drug addict, as a wasted talent. Before he became the N.Y. literati’s biggest little joke, he was its biggest little darling, sought out by minions as an example of liberalism, as every high society dame’s best gay chum. That he was a marvel of a wordsmith wasn’t beside the point, but that point was less appreciated or used than his acid flamboyance as party favor. Obviously, his persona seemed incongruous to his talent; it was indeed his great fortune that a relative few knew who he really was when “In Cold Blood” was published. (The NYT then was always waiting to go at an overt gay writer.) Why two movies about him were made within a year is a matter of superfluity, but “Capote” and “Infamous” are very decent, though maddening to interested viewers because they tell the same basics — how getting involved in the story of the murders and murderers of a Kansas family supposedly altered his life. “Capote” feels very consciously stripped of Truman’s more flagrant affectations, while “Infamous” indulges them; the former contains the Oscar-winning performance by PSH, who’s got the voice down so perfectly that it’s all about breath control and as consequence we watch and listen to the actor too intently, and in the latter, Toby Jones looks like Truman and has his feminine voice squeakiness but the script provides him with a kiss that can’t be confirmed as ever having happened. This last instance counts more than we might otherwise think: Truman was accused in later life of falsifying real scenes, or punching them up with fantasy, especially the aggrandizement of his own sexual attraction. The cautious “Capote” is based on Gerald Clarke’s bio of the same name, with actor Dan Futterman (son of Robin Williams in “The Birdcage”) penning the screenplay and Bennett Miller directing. “Infamous,” written and directed by Douglas McGath, has used George Plimpton’s chatty book of remembrances by some of Truman’s friends, acquaintances and enemies. Clarke’s book is a well-documented read, yet it’s regrettably short of any real insights into what kind of relationship Truman had with The New Yorker’s esteemed editor William Shawn, nor do we get much about how Truman may have personally felt about Perry Smith, one of the murderers chillingly framed in what is regarded as the first and surely the most celebrated of “nonfiction novels.” In “Infamous,” Shawn is minimal as to be nonexistent, but we get Daniel Craig’s Perry as a handsomely dangerous manipulator of Truman’s sexuality. By image, the two movies superficially personify Truman and implicitly suggest that his infamous decline in becoming a living caricature of himself started in Kansas. Perhaps the fall started when Truman fell for the destructive victimization of needing to top himself in order to win the meaningless smooches from parasites he cavorted with; drenched in booze and drugs, he probably could no longer see that “In Cold Blood” is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement.
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I enjoyed both Capote and Infamous very much. However, I'm right on the same page with Brad. Infamous wins my vote for the better of the two. Toby Jones is perfection, and I think Sandra Bullock gave one of her very best performances in the film.
I'm not absolutely certain about your speculation on Philip Seymour Hoffman's dirty fingernails, Ralph. As an artist who's favorite tool happens to be the pencil, I've been producing sketches and finished pencil art for over half a century. Sometimes my fingers are greyed from smudging, but I never had graphite under my fingernails.
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Posted: |
Mar 5, 2014 - 2:42 PM
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By: |
Mark Ford
(Member)
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Toby Jones all the way, physically, vocally, and especially in his brilliant capturing of the essence of the fey, soigne Capote. The scene where Capote rushes into a room alone, giddy after his inferred jailhouse sexual encounter with Perry Smith was leagues ahead of any single moment in Hoffman's performance. Plus, Hoffmann always had dirt under his fingernails (yes, I notice details like that), something that the immaculately groomed Capote would have probably deemed abhorrent.
Similarly, I much preferred Mr. Jones as Alfred Hitchcock in HBO's THE GIRL over Anthony Hopkins' grade-school impersonation in HITCH.
What you sad Brad on Toby's performances in both films. I've been really impressed with all of Toby's performances lately. I would have never known he was Freddie Jones's son since he doesn't look much like him.
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Looking forward to these future roles for Toby-
AS:
J. Edgar Hoover in HOOVER; THE MAN & THE MYTH
Abraham Lincoln in LINCOLN THE LAWYER
Liberace in LIBERACE
Nelson Mandela in FREE SOUTH AFRICA!
Jackie Robinson in CAMPANELLA
Lester Bangs in LIFE AT ROLLING STONE
AHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHH!!!!!!!
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I'm surprised at you, Mr. Marshall!
How could you forget that Toby will also be playing the Iron Sheik in WrestleMania Blues?
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I'm surprised at you, Mr. Marshall!
How could you forget that Toby will also be playing the Iron Sheik in WrestleMania Blues?
No, he can only be cast in biographical roles that have recently been played by other actors.
got it?
I hear he is up for the role of Jordan Belfourt In THE WOLF"S CHILDHOOD
brm
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Looking forward to these future roles for Toby-
AS:
J. Edgar Hoover in HOOVER; THE MAN & THE MYTH
Abraham Lincoln in LINCOLN THE LAWYER
Liberace in LIBERACE
Nelson Mandela in FREE SOUTH AFRICA!
Jackie Robinson in CAMPANELLA
Lester Bangs in LIFE AT ROLLING STONE
AHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHH!!!!!!!
just announced:
Toby Jones will portray physicist Stephen Hawking in an upcoming biopic
No date or title announced
bruce
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