God, she was unbearable, Julian Moore was amazing, but the character she portrayed was so *beep* dumb and whiny, I wanted to punch her in the face so badly.
shareShe was obviously bipolar. Not whiny or dumb.
https://www.gofundme.com/sinnersbible
She was not amazing - unless you think that an ability to cry, whine, screech and yell on cue for an extended length of time constitutes good acting. There is no sense of nuance or reacting to others around her. Its like bad kabuki acting.
This was a BAD performance. Period.
But PTA fans tend to gravitate towards showy, garish, surface, technical gymnastics such as complex tracking shots that are devoid of any further narrative or emotional purpose, so it doesn't surprise me that they also think this is somehow a great performance for the same flawed reasons. After all, they consider Lewis's cartoonish caricature in There Will Be Blood to be among the greatest performances of all time. (Bwahahaha!)
And yes, I've been around plenty of bipolar and depressed people, and this performance doesn't ring true at all.
Here is further proof - video below of Moore giving the exact same Magnolia performance in a different setting context. Its much easier to see just how badly comical it all is (even if one can still be impressed with a technical ability to cry on cue - something that has nothing to do with good acting itself when its divorced from a worthy context).
This performance below isn't given in a different EMOTIONAL context. It is actually exactly the same - purely random and in furtherance of just trying to impress an audience of how much 'emoting' is going on. Acting for the sake of acting. Emoting for the sake of emoting. Nothing more.
However, it is admittedly given in a different SETTING context - a random emotional outburst directed at a New York bystander on the street rather than a pharmacist.
Try to get through this without laughing! Bwahahaha! Though why PTA fans would think this is funny without also recognizing why her exact same performance in Magnolia is equally funny continues to amaze me.
https://youtu.be/lsfoKkBdVnI
Seems to me that you are just a mindless PTA hater...not much better than being a fanboy
shareYeah because Billy on the Street is SUCH a good source. I notice you haven't replied to my comment on your post on the shortcuts thread or the other one that showed you movies older than shortcuts that had multiple protagonists. What's the matter, got proven wrong and have no comebacks? I also notice you don't post on anything but PT Anderson boards. I really suggest you get a life. SERIOUSLY. Do you like, actually think about anything besides PT Anderson? Do you get up in the morning and think about how much you hate PT Anderson? Do you eat a breakfast of eggs and PT Anderson sucks? Do you take a shower with PT Anderson sucks soap?
Hate to break it to you, but PT Anderson is very successful and you're not.
SERIOUSLY man, seek mental help. If you think about PT Anderson enough to post about how much you hate him every day that's like Mark David Chapman obsession. You need to see a shrink IMMEDIATELY.
https://www.gofundme.com/sinnersbible
I think that scene is hilarious, but not because Julianne Moore is laughably bad in it. The scene is shot to show Julianne's perspective (the pharmacist's voice distorting, time seeming to slow, claustrophobic close up shots). From this point of view, the scene is incredibly serious. However, when you think about what's actually happening from an objective, less drug addled point of view, it's clear that the situation is not menacing or dramatic at all. The pharmacist is trying to kill time and avoid awkward silence by joking around with Julianne harmlessly and she completely blows up at him. For no reason. She's over reacting because the whole point of the scene is that the character is overreacting! Throughout the entire movie she is completely out of touch with reality due to being on the pharmaceutical equivalent of a long island iced tea and doing insane irrational things. That came through in Julianne's performance to me. Of course this character is not going to react to others around her or have any sense of nuance! She is in her own world.
Also, you can't tell me that you derive no pleasure from watching Julianne Moore's character tell someone to "SUCK MY DICK"! It's laugh out loud funny and I can't help but feel like it's supposed to be.
I'll be the Debbie Downer here. Any pharmacy employee whose idea of "killing time" is to joke around about "throwing a great party" with drugs prescribed to treat depression and panic disorder, not to mention a painkiller used as a last resort to relieve the suffering of the terminally ill, should be kicked out the back door of said pharmacy on his ass. She let those jerks off easy.
shareyes
shareIt was amazing acting. Full stop.
shareAgree with the OP. I so loved Julianne Moore's performance in Boogie Nights. I couldn't believe how bad her acting was in Magnolia. Like night and day.
shareThe only scene I had a problem with Julianne Moore was the one at the pharmacy. "Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on both of you."
shareWRONG! That was a great scene in the pharmacy
shareThe scene itself was great, but she overacted it.
shareShe was manic and frantic. It was perfect. Go watch a different movie maybe
shareLame response. Watching a different movie because of a performance in one scene is absolutely ridiculous. Just because she was manic and frantic, that doesn't mean she can't over act it.
shareI mean if you want to set things exactly how thei are in everyday life, this isn't the movie for you.
shareAnd yet I didn't complain about raining frogs so your comment is irrelevant.
shareThe fact that you thought that Moore was over doing it but didn't mention raining frogs or the bizarre tv game show, or the over the topacting of Macy or any of the other unrealistic things in the movie - well, maybe you just dont like redheads
shareMoore was good except for that once specific scene.
sharePTA seems to have had a penchant (not seen in his newest film, Licorice Pizza) to let some of his characters scream and yell and caterwaul to the point where either you (1) love it as an example of great method acting or (2) hate it as self-indulgent hysterics.
Magnolia has TWO such characters(but then it has two of every character it seems): Julianne Moore and Melora Waters. Boy do they scream and cry and kvetch. The actresses go to town and I didn't much enjoy it(though their characters have their reasons.)
But back up a film: in "Boogie NIghts," Mark Wahlberg's borderline psychotic mother ALSO screams and yells at him insanely.
Or move forward a film. Punch Drunk Love. Both Adam Sandler and PSH get "classic" MALE yelling scenes.(Sandler on the phone from Hawaii to his sister; PSH when Sandler calls him at his crooked business) ..apart for awhile but then face to face, right at each other.
Bottom line: PTA really likes --or liked -- to let his actors and actresses scream and yell. I can't say I much like it, but its more "fun" when the men do it.
And nobody does it in Licorice Pizza...well, Alana Haim to her parents and sisters in one scene, I guess, but it feels real and its entertaining, not aggravating.
Maybe we can attribute it to PTA's cocaine years.
sharethe movie would benefit with her scenes cut down dramatically
share