The Color of Money 11/3/12 Best Actor 1986
I am a huge Paul Newman fan, love him. It has nothing to do with him being from Shaker Heights, Ohio, or went to Kenyon College in Ohio (although it doesn't hurt). In so many of his roles, he doesn't even seem like he’s acting, he really is Hud, George Gibbs, Cool Hand Luke and Fast Eddie Felson from the Color of Money. I don’t think I was avoiding this movie, exactly, but I never really had it on my ‘I have to see this’ list either. I enjoyed it, the soundtrack is fabulous, done by Robbie Robertson with some sweet songs by Willie Dixon, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler; Newman is easy to watch and believe as Fast Eddie; I even liked Tom Cruise, although he was probably one of the reasons I didn't see this movie sooner. It always amazes me when I watch a Martin Scorsese movie and someone doesn't get their heads kicked in or blown off. Paul Newman won the Best Actor for his role, and he was super good, but I am not convinced that Dexter Gordon should not have won for his portrayal in ‘Round Midnight’ (watched and reviewed in July 2012). Newman had been overlooked before, so perhaps this was one of those Academy decisions, I don’t know. The Color of Money is the sequel to The Hustler, twenty-five years later; I don’t think you have to see The Hustler first (I've seen it, but don’t remember a whole lot). Fast Eddie was a pool shark who finds Vincent (Tom Cruise) and sees a great opportunity for some first class scamming. They embark on a classic road story, a clashing of styles, and an eventual parting of the ways. The movie features a young Forest Whitaker and John Turturro as pool hustlers. I recommend this movie, especially if you are a Paul Newman fan, like good music in your movies, or just want to relax and not have to ponder the imponderables.
Wall Street, 11/3/12 Best Actor 1987
Not an Oliver Stone or Michael Douglas fan, and after the last few years, I wasn't sure I really needed to see a movie about Wall Street’s greed? Really, it’s in the news every dang day. But I need to relax, it’s just a movie. So, I popped in the library’s DVD and, uh oh it was skipping. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Thank goodness it played on the old laptop. Wall Street, starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen and Martin Sheen was directed by Oliver Stone and set in the financial capital of America. The mid-1980s was a time of greed, insider trading, and all that jazz (the more things change, the more they stay the same), and this focuses on that. Michael Douglas won for Best Actor for his part as Gordon Gekko; I haven’t seen the other movies nominated in that category, so I don’t have an opinion on if he should have won. He was very good and very believable as Gekko, the ruthless takeover king. Charlie Sheen has a massive man crush on him, much to the eventual dismay of his father, played by Martin Sheen. I saw Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps before I saw Wall Street, which was kind of interesting now seeing the original. Watching the movie twenty-five years after its release was fun; the technology seems so archaic now and the historical perspective is educational. Don’t watch this movie if you feel like you’re still in the economic downtown, it will just irritate you. Otherwise, I would say it is a movie to watch and see Charlie Sheen act.
