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Post by ronnierocketago on May 27, 2008 3:11:30 GMT
Sydney Pollack (1934-2008)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood filmmaker Sydney Pollack, who won Academy Awards for directing and producing the epic romance "Out of Africa," died on Monday after a battle with cancer, his spokeswoman said.
Pollack, who also earned praise for his occasional work in front of the camera, was 73.
Spokeswoman Leslee Dart told Reuters he died at his home in the coastal Los Angeles suburb of Pacific Palisades at about 5 p.m. local time, surrounded by his family.
He was diagnosed with cancer about 10 months ago, she said, adding that doctors were never able to determine the primary source of the disease.
Pollack's other notable films included "Tootsie" and "The Way We Were." He is survived by his wife and two daughters. Services will be private, Dart said.Always thought he was a much better actor than director, but now I'll probably Netflix his THE YAKUZA, a flick I've been meaning to see for several years.
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Post by Mike Sullivan on May 27, 2008 3:16:43 GMT
Fucking A. Was just watching "Husbands and Wives" and "Eyes Wide Shut" this evening.
Great actor. Pretty good director. A shame.
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RNL
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Post by RNL on May 27, 2008 3:25:28 GMT
1. The Firm (1993) 5/10 2. Tootsie (1982) 4/10
I'm pretty sure I walked out on Random Hearts.
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Post by Mike Sullivan on May 27, 2008 5:00:01 GMT
Three Days of Condor is one of the great espionage thrillers. He had occasional moments of brilliance in him, really. Great example is in the mediocre film, "The Interpreter", during a race to save a public bus from blowing up on the streets of New York. True tension found there. He could make passable fare, and good comedies.
Great in "Husbands and Wives" though. Easily his best role.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on May 27, 2008 13:49:08 GMT
Damn, last night I only read the last post in this thread. I didn't realize he passed away. He looked like he was near the end in "Michael Clayton", even if that was just his character.
Rest in peace to a great actor and director.
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Post by ronnierocketago on May 27, 2008 16:00:42 GMT
Ole Roger Ebert put up his own piece on Pollack: "In Memory: Sydney Pollack " May 26, 2008 By Roger Ebert Sydney Pollack, who directed some of the best mainstream films of the last 40 years and acted in some of the others, is dead at 73. He died Monday of cancer at home, in Pacific Palisades, according to a friend. Born in 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana, the son of Russian immigrants, Pollack was encouraged to try acting by his high school drama teacher in South Bend. "From almost the first time I stepped on a stage," he told me, "I knew that was what I wanted to do." He went to New York to study acting under the famed teacher Sandy Meisner, taught acting at Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse, moved into television, and stepped behind the camera. Although his main occupation from the 1960s on would be directing, he never lost his love for acting, and had more credits (30) as an actor than as a director (21). He had top billing in Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives," and most recently was seen as the powerful, authoritative head of the law firm in "Michael Clayton," and in "Made of Honor" playing Patrick Dempsey's multi-divorced wealthy magnate of a father. A tall, handsome, immediately charismatic man, he was a director most actors loved to work with, because when he talked to them about acting he knew what he was talking about. He and Robert Redford were each other's favorite director and actor, working together seven times. Indeed, in "This Property is Condemned" (1966), he was instrumental in establishing Redford as a star. “I am not a visual innovator," Pollack told me shortly before the release of his "Out of Africa," (1985), which won seven Oscars, including best picture and best director, and was nominated for four more. "I haven’t broken any new ground in the form of a film. My strength is with actors. I think I’m good at working with them to get the best performances, at seeing what it is that they have and that the story needs.” To mention the titles of some of his films is to stir smiles, affection, nostalgia, respect: The Depression-era drama "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1969); the epic Western "Jeremiah Johnson" (1972); the Redford-Streisand love story "The Way We Were" (1973); the CIA thriller "Three Days of the Condor" (1975); Robert Mitchum against Japanese mobsters in "The Yakuza" (1975), Redford and Jane Fonda in "The Electric Horseman" (1979); Paul Newman as the maligned son of a gangster in "Absence of Malice" (1981); hungry actor Dustin Hoffman in drag in "Tootsie" (1982), Redford with Meryl Streep in "Out of Africa" (1985); Tom Cruise as a lawyer in "The Firm" (1993). When I invited the great cinematographer Owen Roizman to join me in analyzing a film using the shot-by-shot approach at the Hawaii Film Festival, he choose Pollack's "Havana," pointing out the director's instinct for compositions that helped underline the point of a scene. Instead of discussing the film's visuals as representing what he himself did, Roizman often said things like, "Look how Sydney handles this." Although he got on well with most actors, he had well-publicized differences with Dustin Hoffman during "Tootsie," for which they both got Oscar nominations. They actually acted together in the movie, with Pollack playing his dubious agent, and Hoffman a desperate actor who says he can play tall, he can play short, and "nobody does vegetables like me. I did an evening of vegetables off-Broadway. I did the best tomato, the best cucumber -- I did an endive salad that knocked the critics on their ass." Hoffman persuaded Pollack that he should cast himself in the role, and they worked on the scene together. "I think it benefitted from the experiences both of us have had in that situation," Pollack smiled. He is survived by his wife since 1958, Claire, and two of their three children, Rachel and Rebecca. A son, Steven, died in an airplane crash in 1993. rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080526/PEOPLE/289171214
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Omar
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Post by Omar on May 27, 2008 16:36:06 GMT
Pollack was also the replacement director for one of my favorite films, "The Swimmer" (1968), taking over when Frank Perry quit. I don't think he had much of creative impact on the film, but it is very underrated. I've only seen two of his real films: 1. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) 2. The Interpreter (2005) I REALLY want to see "The Yakuza".
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Post by pizzaboy on May 27, 2008 16:38:12 GMT
Great actor, above average director. He was great on WILL AND GRACE, as Will's father. Although, suddenly killing him off with one episode to go in the series was tacky and self serving.
As far as adaptations go, THE FIRM was pretty good for about two thirds of the film. It went off the beam during the closing 45 minutes.
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RNL
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Post by RNL on May 27, 2008 16:41:17 GMT
I can hardly remember The Firm, to be honest. It's all muddled up in my head with The Client and I find any attempt to think about it drifts across onto The Devil's Advocate.
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Post by Mike Sullivan on May 27, 2008 18:18:28 GMT
Pollack really made an impression in his acting roles, too.
I would say he really was a great part of "Michael Clayton". He gave this refined yet gritty role real depth.
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Post by pizzaboy on May 27, 2008 18:54:31 GMT
For me, and I'd love Capo's input here, I thought Pollack was one of the high points of THE SOPRANOS Season 6, Part II. He and Vincent Curatola (Johnny Sack), had a great chemistry together.
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RNL
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Post by RNL on May 27, 2008 19:00:48 GMT
I love his performance in Eyes Wide Shut. He makes the disappointing revelation scene compelling despite itself.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on May 27, 2008 19:44:39 GMT
For me, and I'd love Capo's input here, I thought Pollack was one of the high points of THE SOPRANOS Season 6, Part II. He and Vincent Curatola (Johnny Sack), had a great chemistry together. Yeah, he brings an assured presence to any role. That role is especially ironic, given that he offers Sack hope regarding his cancer.
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RNL
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Post by RNL on May 27, 2008 20:49:44 GMT
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Post by Kino on May 27, 2008 22:37:14 GMT
This Property is Condemned They Shoot Horses, Don't They Jeremiah Johnson The Way We Were The Yakuza Three Days of the Condor Absence of Malice Tootsie Out of Africa The Firm Sketches of Frank Gehry Great actor, too. I'd choose Husbands and Wives as his best work in that capacity. Awesome, too, in Changing Lanes, EWS, The Sopranos, Tootsie, and Michael Clayton.
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Post by Anasazie on Nov 20, 2008 7:45:34 GMT
1. The Firm (1993) 5/10
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