DVD Giveaway: Richard Shepard's I KNEW IT WAS YOU

[cdnchris]

Enter to win Oscilloscope Laboratories newest DVD release of Richard Shepard’s I KNEW IT WAS YOU: REDISCOVERING JOHN CAZALE.

This 40-minute documentary illuminates the life and career of stage / screen actor John Cazale, whose work in only five films garnered Academy Award nominations for each.

Special Features on the DVD include:

- All new feature length audio commentary with director Richard Shepard.
- Al Pacino – extended interview.
- Israel Horovitz – extended interview.
- The American Way (1962, prod/dir. Marvin Starkman, scrwrit. Bob Feinberg) – a rare, offbeat short film tweaking American institutions and starring a young John Cazale.
- The Box (1969, dir. Marvin Starkman) – Cazale, who had an interest in photography, is featured behind the camera as director of photography in this early short film.

Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories:

As I KNEW IT WAS YOU portrays John Cazale as an adept actor underappreciated in his day, who would you say is the most underappreciated actor working in contemporary American cinema? Please limit responses to three sentences max and one response per user. A winner will be announced via this thread Friday, November 12th, so check back!
Please post your response in this thread. Thread will be open until 9pm (PST) Wednesday November 10th.



Link

[wllm995]

Sounds like a worthwhile release about a little known actor!

My vote goes to :-$

[knives]

It's hard to say who is the most 'underrated' of the contemporary actors as finally characters are getting their due. Some films are even managing to be sold on them. There's really three actors who come to mind for me. Greta Gerwig who simply hasn't had the opportunity for stardom yet, Nic Cage who despite carrying the card of the great screen persona now that Price is dead seems universally loathed, and Sam Rockwell who seems to have his own little cult going but with no true respect from the larger community. Of the three I'm not sure who deserves the most appreciation compared to what they have now, but if I had to choose it would have to be Rockwell who has put in the years and is always a unique presence that raises even the worst of what he's in. If an actor should be judged by how well they do in the crap they're in he shines even more than Cage who allows crap to be entertaining. Rockwell though can make it good, lifting the whole enterprise.

[Tom Hagen]

Peter Sarsgaard: a worthy heir to Cazale's character acting genius and a master of projecting quiet contemplativeness, plaintive lust, and seething contempt.

[swo17]

Clifton Collins Jr.: I don't know that he's necessarily the heir to Cazale's legacy, but he's an incredible actor with a real skill for inhabiting the roles he plays, making strong impressions even with smaller characters in things like Traffic, the TV series Thief, Capote, Sunshine Cleaning, Extract, etc. You might walk away from one of his films wondering who it was that gave that great performance, only to realize after looking it up that you've seen him before in other things. This is a really refreshing and elusive quality for an actor to have, when so many big name movie stars seem to make a living out of essentially playing themselves over and over again.

[scorsetinogilliam]

I would say that currently Michael Shannon is one of the most underrated actors. His work in My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? is alone enough to warrant some awards. Plus he is the lynchpin for the film Revolutionary Road.

[willoneill]

Garret Dillahunt: He can imhabit almost any kind of role, whether stoic, funny, skeazy or just plain eveil, yet isn't so chameleon-like that you don't realize it's him. And yet I've never heard of him starring in anything, and even his supporting roles are smaller ones rather then larger ones.

[Alphonse Doinel]

My vote goes to Harry Dean Stanton, who instantly makes whatever I'm watching better.

In terms of young actors, I think Jeremy Davies is headed towards a career as 'that guy'.

[Shogo36]

I think Nic Cage and Michael Shannon are great answers but for me an actor who remains under-appreciated and even more, under used, is Ryan Gosling. Earlier on he was considered a possible Brando but for the most part, his status has dropped despite the fact that his performances in Lars and The Real Girl and especially Half-Nelson are top notch. Blue Valentine is apparently getting quite a bit of buzz, but his work, even in rather mediocre films like Fracture single-handedly makes them worth watching.

[perkizitore]

M. Emmet Walsh:
For five decades, in nearly 200 film roles, Mr. Walsh has lit the screen and stolen the scene, opposite such cinematic heavy-weights as Pacino, Denzel, Bigfoot, Nicolas Cage, Harrison Ford, the critters from "Critters," Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, the whale from "Free Willy 2," Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Carrot Top.

M. Emmet Walsh has made such a terrific lifelong contribution to cinema that one-time fat film critic Roger Ebert set forth "The Stanton-Walsh Rule," pronouncing that "no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad."

Since establishing that rule, Ebert has lost 500 pounds of excess body fat and saved his marriage.

Just imagine what a little bit of M. Emmet Walsh could do for you.

[coenfan11]

With top quality acting, directing, writing, producing and even an editing credit Tim Blake Nelson has my nod. The work that he put into pegging the character of Delmar in "O Brother Where Art Thou" is also present in everything he's touched since. As an actor he possesses the talent that will someday qualify him to be known as a great contributor to today's cinema.

[Proteus]

Although she's been in everything from modest budget indies to major sci-fi blockbusters, I've been surprised to find few people are aware of the phenomenal effect Samantha Morton has upon every film she's worked. Her recent work in Synecdoche, NY and Mister Lonely are astonishing transformations of a very typical girl-next-door role - providing so much depth to her leading men, while her work in Code 46, Movern Callar, and In America show her to be entirely capable of carrying a plot, or an entire film, in the wake of her character. Although very up-front in nearly every scene, in the movie-goer's mind, she often fades in memory, because the effect of her work makes the movie memorable, rather than her performance in it.

[colinr0380]

This isn't related to the contest but have you seen Samantha Morton's TV film The Unloved yet Proteus? It's quite a nice piece of work, showing a child taken into care from her perspective.

[Proteus]

This isn't related to the contest but have you seen Samantha Morton's TV film The Unloved yet Proteus? It's quite a nice piece of work, showing a child taken into care from her perspective.

No, but it sounds quite interesting, and I'm glad to see her taking the reins - when it's available on Netflix, I'll be among the first to get a hold of it. Thanks for the recommendation!

[criterionoop]

For me, the most underrated actress is Gena Rowlands. I know that it is a cardinal sin in the cinephile world to have the audacity to say that Gena Rowlands is underrated, yet she never seemed to achieve that star power outside of her husband's films (which were often times vehicles to showcase her brilliance. I find this a pity because even watching her in something as trivial as Skeleton Key, you can see her commitment to the roles that she plays and the dedication she has to her craft.

[knives]

I know that it is a cardinal sin in the cinephile world to have the audacity to say that Gena Rowlands is underrated

When did that become so? I don't think I've ever heard a bad thing uttered about her acting.

[domino harvey]

How can Samantha Morton be underrated if she's twice been nominated for an Oscar?

[Proteus]

How can Samantha Morton be underrated if she's twice been nominated for an Oscar?

Well, I meant underappreciated as in underappreciated (and largely unknown) by the public, not the Academy. Though I suppose if she'd won, I would have disqualified her.

[Close The Door, Raymond]

Where would LUIS GUZMAN be without Paul Thomas Anderson OR rather where would Paul Thomas Anderson be without Luis Guzman? His performances in multiple P.T. films (Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love) made them better with Guzman's signature spontaneous acting style, filled with humanity, humor and a singularly characteristic laid-back innocence. Steven Soderbergh gave him larger supporting roles (not so much in Out of Sight, but more so in The Limey and Traffic) that revealed Guzman's wider range playing dramatic characters, but Hollywood's appreciation (or rather under-appreciation) for this fine Puerto Rican-American actor has lately seen him in such dreary multiplex time-wasters like Old Dogs and Yes Man.

[Professor Wagstaff]

He's still very early in his film career, but Michael Fassbender is becoming one of the dramatically compelling actors working today. He was a standout in the Inglourious Basterds cast, and took on the hefty lead role in Hunger with great intelligence and courage, a daunting performance for any actor. For me, his work in Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank only solidifies my opinion that he is an actor to watch.

[cdnchris]

Congratulations to Close The Door, Raymond on winning a free copy of I KNEW IT WAS YOU courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories! Thanks to everyone else for entering, and you can find I KNEW IT WAS YOU in stores now.

http://www.oscilloscope.net/shop/view_f ... &r=gallery" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;