[lbo-talk] Why the best actors are British

[Tayssir John Gabbour]

On 2/23/07, Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu> wrote:
> This is of course not to imply that all American cinematography consists of
> shallow cliff hangers and tear jerkers, albeit a great deal of it does.  Of
> the top of my head I can think of a handful truly superb world class films
> produced here: e.g. Alexander Payne's _About Schmidt_ Jim Jarmusch's _Dead
> Man_, Todd Haynes's _Far from Heaven_, Sofia Coppola's _Lost in Translation_
> or Godfrey Reggio's _Koyaanisqatsi_.  But there is something to be said
> about the propensity of the American culture to be overly emotional,
> in-your-face evocative, and shying away from philosophy and introspection.

Personally, I suspect that has to do more with the mainstream film
industry's needs. US actors like Jim Carrey and Will Smith may seem
kitsch, but try films like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and
"Six Degrees of Separation." Not too sappy, if I recall correctly.

Or Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in "Fight Club."

And I say that as someone who doesn't care that much about movies, in general...

Tayssir