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I can't recognize "bad acting" on film.

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P

Pedrito

Member
Most professional actors are at least somewhat talented so it's rare to see really bad acting in a hollywood movie or popular tv show. Even a guy like Ben Affleck, who's supposed to be an awful actor according to some, is more than adequate.

The really bad acting is found in shitty (but awesome) movies like The Room or Birdemic, or during cameos by non-actors. One that comes to mind is Brett Favre in There's something about Mary.
 
Sub_Level

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Watch the Dark Knight Rises op. There's a female character who dies at the end (won't spoil who) and in that scene you will learn what bad acting is.
 
C

Carcetti

Member
Most of the time I can immerse myself into a the story so much that I can look past bad acting until the movie is actually over. Also, I don't seem to care how 'worn' the actor is. If I'm watching a Tom Cruise film, I don't ever think 'That's Cruise' until afterwards.

There are some exceptions, but they have to be Denise Richards bad to break my concentration. Or Jeremy Irons in Dungeons & Dragons bad.
 
K

Kentpaul

When keepin it real goes wrong. Very, very wrong.
Dr.Acula said:
Luke Wilson. Samuel L. Jackson. Are... Phoning It In!
Click to expand...

Spot on video. I can't watch any there films made after the 70s due to it.

Carcetti said:
Most of the time I can immerse myself into a the story so much that I can look past bad acting until the movie is actually over. Also, I don't seem to care how 'worn' the actor is. If I'm watching a Tom Cruise film, I don't ever think 'That's Cruise' until afterwards.

There are some exceptions, but they have to be Denise Richards bad to break my concentration. Or Jeremy Irons in Dungeons & Dragons bad.
Click to expand...

What about when cruise does his sprint he does in every film ?
 
A

AllIsOneIsNone

Banned
I wish I had this problem. I'm way to picky with acting; if you can't maintain suspension of disbelief in a movie I get bored really fast.
 
T

ToxicAdam

Member
Nathan Muir said:
Not everyone in GAF is in that boat, but some certainly are. Example: Some people in GAF are convinced the Rock can act. I don't know how many times in the last month I've read something along the lines of "The Rock carries any movie he's in. He's great." This sort of judgement is quite worrisome.
Click to expand...

Hollywood action stars are different. They are just playing heightened versions of themselves repeatedly. Guys like John Wayne, Stallone, Swartzenegger, Bruce Willis, etc. The threshold for their believability is much lower than a dramatic or comedic actor.
 
R

RedSwirl

Junior Member
I don't either, at least not acting that a lot of GAF might consider "bad." I'm just not that good a judge. Maybe it's because I don't watch as many movies as a lot of people. Nothing bugs me about the acting in the Star Wars prequels for instance.

There are times when I can recognize excellent acting though, the biggest two examples being Ben Kingsly in Ghandi and Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland.
 
C

ChosenPredator

Banned
Eidan said:
The Rock has been serviceable to good in every role I've seen him in. Can you give examples of this poor acting you're talking about?
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yeah, i've never seen the rock do any sort of bad acting, i think some people got it out for him because he's a former wrestler, lol.
 
K

Kentpaul

When keepin it real goes wrong. Very, very wrong.
AllIsOneIsNone said:
I wish I had this problem. I'm way to picky with acting; if you can't maintain suspension of disbelief in a movie I get bored really fast.
Click to expand...

Get into the B 80s horror on netflix, Should spark your interest back up in film .
 
C

Carcetti

Member
Kentpaul said:
Spot on video. I can't watch any there films made after the 70s due to it.



What about when cruise does his sprint he does in every film ?
Click to expand...

I can see it if he does it in a Youtube clip or someone is pointing it out, otherwise I just forget he ever did it before.
 
E

Eidan

Member
A lot of people seem to only think acting is good if the actor is drastically changing their voice and mannerisms. Daniel Day Lewis or bust.
 
N

Nathan Muir

Member
Emarv said:
The next jump is obviously Nick Cage's Nouveau Shamanic
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A genuinely brilliant actor who has unfortunately chosen so many terrible roles in recent times due to his major financial problems. He's one of the most innovative and daring actors alive.

I'm not kidding, by the way. People tend to flame me when I defend him, but if you've seen his earlier films then you cannot deny the power of his acting. Also, it's often overshadowed by the bad press on him, but numerous well-respected individuals have continued to praise him in spite of the criticism (Roger Ebert and Meryll Streep, to name a few).
 
E

Emarv

Member
Great character actors largely go overlooked because they're not flashy or upfront. But without them, movies would be so much worse.
 
E

efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
Eidan said:
A lot of people seem to only think acting is good if the actor is drastically changing their voice and mannerisms. Daniel Day Lewis or bust.
Click to expand...

honest question: how many of Hollywood's top actors are genuinely talented at what they do, and how many are just really interesting people you enjoy watching being slight variations of themselves on the screen?
 
M

Moon Boots

Banned
Eidan said:
A lot of people seem to only think acting is good if the actor is drastically changing their voice and mannerisms. Daniel Day Lewis or bust.
Click to expand...

DDL is a great mimic, but I find his performances often lack the emotional depth and dramatic weight that, say, de Niro and Pacino excelled in, back in the day. I think you could also easily argue he's often a scenery chewer - just look at the baptism scene in TWBB. I think that's a product of his tendency to choose scripts that let him do something "showy", or interesting to him personally. Yet even as showy actors go, I'd say the best work of Klaus Kinski with Herzog eclipses DDL, as there was often a subtlety happening beneath the more obvious physical and vocal mannerisms. Compare his Dracula with DDL in TWBB, and there's simply no contest, IMO.
 
E

Emarv

Member
gumby_trucker said:
honest question: how many of Hollywood's top actors are genuinely talented at what they do, and how many are just really interesting people you enjoy watching being slight variations of themselves on the screen?
Click to expand...

I feel like it's a mix. There are lots of talented people up top as there are just "stars", while what we might call B-listers have tons of unshown talent and are just waiting for the moment to escape the wannabe "stars". Take someone like Bryan Cranston, who was just waiting for the right role, or anybody else who shot to acclaim so quickly, while many "he's-so-hot-right-now stars" fade away so quickly.
 
Y

Yado

Member
I can't recognise it either unless it's a low budget film. I usually blame terrible scenes on poor writing/directing.
 
I

inky

Member
Sub_Level said:
Watch the Dark Knight Rises op. There's a female character who dies at the end (won't spoil who) and in that scene you will learn what bad acting is.
Click to expand...

She is a good actress. A lot of bad acting -like that scene- is entirely due to bad directing or leaving it in the final thing when it should've been gone in editing. That was entirely Nolan's fault, as it was letting Bale do his stupid Batman voice.
...

Some actors are good when given some breathing room and being natural, some others basically need a director that tells them exactly what to do, when to move and how to speak all the time.
 
A

AllIsOneIsNone

Banned
Sub_Level said:
Watch the Dark Knight Rises op. There's a female character who dies at the end (won't spoil who) and in that scene you will learn what bad acting is.
Click to expand...

Oh god, watched that the other day.

The way her eyes close and head dramatically slumps down after her last words...just astoundingly bad.
 
Jesus Carbomb

Jesus Carbomb

From Water into Guinness
jZ1B6DJ.jpg
 
E

efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
Emarv said:
I feel like it's a mix. There are lots of talented people up top as there are just "stars", while what we might call B-listers have tons of unshown talent and are just waiting for the moment to escape the wannabe "stars". Take someone like Bryan Cranston, who was just waiting for the right role, or anybody else who shot to acclaim so quickly, while many "he's-so-hot-right-now stars" fade away so quickly.
Click to expand...

I've always loved Bryan Cranston, ever since the days of Malcolm in the Middle, so I was extremely pleased to see him become the star of such a great show.

But even then, I can't tell you if he's an amazing actor or if he's just a really good fit for the character. Granted, I only watched the first season so maybe his versatility becomes more apparent later on.
 
D

DeaconKnowledge

Member
I think there are more examples of bad writing then acting.

Star Wars prequels for example. I think Hayden Christiansen was pretty good considering the shit lines that Lucas fed...well all of the actors.
 
A

AlimNassor

Banned
Theres 2 types of bad actors:

Good bad actors: They can't act and just play themselves in every movie, but, are still entertaining and often carry the movie. I.E. Arnold, The Rock, Willis, etc

Bad Bad actors: The kind that aren't entertaining and are just plain bad.

Nathan Muir said:
Not everyone in GAF is in that boat, but some certainly are. Example: Some people in GAF are convinced the Rock can act. I don't know how many times in the last month I've read something along the lines of "The Rock carries any movie he's in. He's great." This sort of judgement is quite worrisome.
Click to expand...

The Rock can't act. The Rock plays himself in every movie or everything he does.
 
E

Eidan

Member
gumby_trucker said:
honest question: how many of Hollywood's top actors are genuinely talented at what they do, and how many are just really interesting people you enjoy watching being slight variations of themselves on the screen?
Click to expand...

I find the "being themselves" criticism to be a tired complaint. The important thing for me is that an actor properly convey the emotions needed for any given scene, allowing me to better empathize with the characters. Tom Cruise is often labeled as someone who is just "playing himself", but can anyone say he's a terrible actor after seeing something like Magnolia?
 
I

inky

Member
IISANDERII said:
Watch her in Xmen.
Click to expand...

This is a great example. It's like she doesn't understand her role, what kind of movie she is in or how to deliver her lines. No amounts of good direction would change those things.

You could also make the argument that she shouldn't have been cast in the first place (she was obviously there due to her looks), which is also true, but that is terrible acting.
 
D

Discotheque

Banned
Eidan said:
I find the "being themselves" criticism to be a tired complaint. The important thing for me is that an actor properly convey the emotions needed for any given scene, allowing me to better empathize with the characters. Tom Cruise is often labeled as someone who is just "playing himself", but can anyone say he's a terrible actor after seeing something like Magnolia?
Click to expand...

Tom Cruise is a great actor. But holy shit his roles are boring as fuck now. Take a look at his imdb. Nothing of interest in the horizon. Whether he's "playing himself" or not, it definitely looks like he's playing one character for the next few years
 
Andrew Korenchkin

Andrew Korenchkin

Member
Quality of acting is subjective, I guess. They're are people who think Daniel-Day Lewis is a bad actor. Hell, an internet pal on another message board I frequent thought The Last of Us contained Lifetime channel acting.
 
D

Dead

well not really...yet
Discotheque said:
Tom Cruise is a great actor. But holy shit his roles are boring as fuck now. Take a look at his imdb. Nothing of interest in the horizon. Whether he's "playing himself" or not, it definitely looks like he's playing one character for the next few years
Click to expand...
Tom Cruise's main criteria for a movie script is that his character be named Jack. That's it.
 
T

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
inky said:
This is a great example. It's like she doesn't understand her role, what kind of movie she is in or how to deliver her lines. No amounts of good direction would change those things.
Click to expand...

?
Did you watch a documentary on the Star Wars prequels and decide that's what directing is?
 
M

Moon Boots

Banned
Seanspeed said:
Watch anything from before 1980.
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Ridiculous. Pacino, de Niro, and Brando ALONE did much of their best work before this, not to mention other significant actors - Orson Welles, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, etc. And outside America, acting has been "modern" for far longer. Watch Toshiro Mifune in "High and Low", or Setsuko Hara in "Early Summer", or von Stroheim in "Grand Illusion". Methinks you don't actually KNOW what good acting is and simply prefer the contemporary style.
 
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