Saturday, September 27, 2008

Paul Newman, 1925 -2008

Paul Newman Dies at 83

Good man, good work, will be missed.

Okay, I do have more to say:

He was saddled with a resemblance to Brando in his youth but evenutally moved on to his own distinct persona; he was difficult to take seriously thanks to his prettiness and likability, but managed to make people forget one (at least long enough to make em realize he was good), learned to use the latter in unsettling ways (Hud being I think the best example, Hudsucker being the latest). He managed to work with some great directors (Hitchcock, Altman, Scorsese), but arguably did his best work with low-key craftsmen.

Torn Curtain, The Hudsucker Proxy, Absence of Malice, Buffalo Bill and the Indians his movies with Martin Ritt (Hud, The Long Hot Summer), with Richard Brooks (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth), and my favorite, with Robert Rossen in The Hustler. Him I'll miss.

2 comments:

Visual Velocity said...

An icon who will surely be missed.

Quentin Tarantado said...

Roy Scheider, Arthur C. Clarke, and last year, it was Bergman and Antonioni. I'm reeling from all these deaths of my heroes. I want to check up on everyone whose work I treasure. Is Woody Allen alive? Is Miyazaki? Who's next? It's leaving me a little paranoid. I think the feeling of being old started when they hired Daniel Craig as Bond and I realized he's younger than I am. Pretty soon the Pope will be younger than me, assuming I live long enough. Wow, is this what my grandpa went through? Pretty soon, I WILL be a grandpa.