"Give me the water, Eli!"

Paul Thomas Anderson's brilliant There Will Be Blood has been coming on FX recently. I put it on one day during the baptism scene, where Eli forces Daniel Plainview to admit he "abandoned his son." If you've seen the film, you'll remember that the majority of the scene consists of a long close-up of Daniel Day Lewis. Watching Daniel Day Lewis' towering performance here is a pleasure, and Paul Thomas Anderson made an ingenius decision presenting the scene in this way.

This got me thinking of the best male leading performances of the 21st century.

10. Will Farrel, Anchorman
In my opinion, Will Farrel's performance as Ron Burgundy is one of the iconic comedic performances of all time, and deserves to recognized as a great acting achievement. There is something to be said about acting as relentlessly entertaining as this.

9. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Synecdoche, New York
Hoffman's has been one of the most lauded actors of the 21st century, and has no shortage of accolades to show for it, including an Academy Award for his portrayal of Truman Capote in Capote. He's also been recognized for his performances in Doubt, Charlie Wilson's War, and The Savages, but he received little attention for his stunning turn in Charlie Kaufman's unsurprisingly mindbending Synecdoche, New York. It's a huge credit to his abilities that he made this role so memorable. In the film, his character is constantly searching for answers and existential meaning to the point that he himself is a mystery. But Hoffman imbues him with a visceral emotional life.

8. Gene Hackman, The Royal Tenenbaums
Another unforgettable comedic performance from one of the greatest actors of all time. Hackman perfectly realizes Royal Tenenbaum's crusty, self-possessed dimensions, but it's how he evokes Tenenbaum's vulnerable, human core that makes the role so incredible.

7. Paul Giamatti, American Splendor
Although some may prefer his affecting work in Sideways, I'll take Giamatti's portrayal of Harvey Pekar any day of the week. From the spot-on voice to the perpetually misanthropic face, Giamatti owns this role.

6. Daniel Day Lewis, Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York was a flawed film, but it was not the fault of Daniel Day Lewis, who is blisteringly great as Bill the Butcher. His ability to play-up's Bill's insatiable violence appetite for violence as well his full-on humanity is astounding.

5. Christian Bale, American Psycho
To turn a psychopathic killer into a compelling human figure is not easy; some actors have excelled at it, creating indelible cinematic characters, while others have simply churned out caricatures. In Patrick Bateman, Christian Bale portrays perhaps the most galvanizing serial killer character ever.

4. Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
When I first saw The Wrestler, I was wowed by Rourke's performance, but I still felt that Sean Penn's utterly heartrending turn as Harvey Milk was better. I've since watched both films again, and not only do I think Rourke's performance is better, but I think it's one of the best in recent memory. Rourke loses all emotional inhibition in this role and provides as clear into a person's soul as any actor has done in some time.

3. Tom Wilkinson, In the Bedroom
In 2001, Denzel Washington won best actor at the Academy Awards with his ultra-hyperbolic, one-dimensional villian in Training Day. Since that time, I've heard little of the film or the performance--though both were solid--because you can't get anything from a one-note performance after the first viewing. Tom Wilkinson's turn in In the Bedroom on the other hand is anything but one-note. His multi-layered portrayal of a parent grieving the loss of his murdered son is nothing short of devastating.

2. Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood
I think I've said all there is to say about Daniel Day Lewis' incomparable talents in this film.

1. Ralph Fiennes, The Constant Gardener
This performance could just as easily be at the top of a "Most Underrated Performances List", but dare-I-say, that would be underrating it. In this film, Ralph Fiennes does a very difficult job: playing a weak character. His Justin Quayle is a mild-mannered British diplomat investigating the death of his activist wife. We witness his transformation from a timid yes man to a man willing to do anything to expose his wife's killers. It's a stunning feat and Ralph Fiennes takes us through Justin's transformation with unequaled subtlety and emotional command.

Fright Night Redux

As you may or may not know, I'm a huge fan of Tom Holland's 1985 cult horror classic Fright Night. In fact, I'm fairly certain that I like this movie more than any person on the planet ever has. In my opinion, it's an extraordinarily well crafted and immensely entertaining film.

When I found out that there was a remake planned for 2011, I didn't react with much enthusiasm. Don't get me wrong... I'm not some Fright Night fundamentalist, who thinks even the thought of a remake is blasphemy, but I immediately suspected it would be at the least a mediocre film.

It could very well be a bad film, but I'm becoming increasingly interested in it. For starters, it's being directed by Craig Gillespie, who also helmed the acclaimed Lars and the Real Girl (of course, he also directed the significantly less acclaimed Mr. Woodcock); and the film was being written by Marti Noxon, a writer for Mad Men.

The casting looks solid as well. Anton Yelchin will be playing Charlie Brewster and although I'm not in awe of his talents, he could be right for this part. In addition, Christopher Mintz-Plasse is playing Evil Ed, Imogen Poots from 28 Weeks Later is playing Amy, Toni Collette is playing Charlie's mom, and David Tennant of Doctor Who fame is playing Peter Vincent.

But the best casting choice by far has been for the enigmatic vampire neighbor Jerry Dandridge:

COLIN FARREL.

Listen, by no means do I think casting Colin Farrel guarantees success, but I when I saw this casting decision it instantly made sense to me. I think he could be very successful in this role.

I read a review on the script, and I must admit the new plot does seem contrived. It involves Charlie becoming a newly popular high school student and alienating his friends. Peter Vincent is no longer a cheesy television personality, but is instead a Las Vegas showman of sorts? What?

We'll see.

Early thoughts on LSU

I saw the results of LSU's spring game on the university's website and I really don't know what to think of the upcoming season. The team has been inconsistent ever since the 2007 Championship. I chalked up 2008's disappointing campaign to the obvious reason: no Ryan Perriloux, but although we improved in 2009, particularly on defense, things weren't much better. In fact, in terms of the running game things were worse. At times, Jordan Jefferson acquitted himself well at the quarterback position, at others I was actually wondering if Jarret Lee wouldn't be a better starter. This was mainly when Jefferson was getting sacked constantly because he never got rid of the ball under pressure--say what you will about Lee, but he was never shy about getting rid of the ball.

So, one would think that Jordan Jefferson would be coming into this season the best he's ever been. Here are his numbers from the spring game: 8 of 23 for 94 yards and an interception. That doesn't look like improvement to me, and this is a SPRING GAME! I have to say, though, I am more optimistic about our running game this year. Steven Ridley will probably be a good go-to guy and apparently Michael Ford has the skills to get a lot of touches as a redshirt freshman. Also, Russel Shephard did more in this spring game than it seemed he did all of last season (what exactly was the thinking on removing Shephard's redshirt and then using him so little!)

As much as I don't know what to make of LSU next year, I think the SEC West in general is just as unpredictable. Alabama will obviously great, but just how much better will Arkansas and Auburn me.

Some say Les Miles might be on the hotseat and I agree, and I just don't know if the current coaching arrangement is going to get LSU to the SEC championship game. For one, after last year's abysmal offensive showing why wasn't Gary Crowton fired? The team did bring Florida wide receiver's coach Billy Gonzales to be the "passing game coordinator", but I am much less heartened by this news than others. I don't know think bringing the wide receiver's coach from Florida is going to be a large enough move to get our offense where it needs to be.

That being said, I think the defense this year may be as good as it's been in a very long time. All the pieces are in place for us to be a real lock-down unit. And let's be honest, for as inconsistent as LSU was last year, they still won 9 games in the regular season. It stands to reason that if we're improved, that our record will improve. There is one problem: We're playing a top ten schedule this year, with games against North Carolina and West Virginia out of conference. Also, we have to go to Florida, Auburn, and Arkansas. Luckily, we get Alabama at home. And that game is perhaps the real test. No amount of coach shuffling is going to matter if LSU can't beat Alabama (as we haven't for the last two years, though the games have been close). Alabama has clearly replaced LSU as the preeminent team in the SEC West and I have a feeling Nick Saban is going to keep them there for a while. Now whether or not Alabama is forced to share the SEC West is up to LSU, and possibly Auburn (hell, possibly Arkansas). It isn't a good sign that Alabama has gone undefeated against the SEC West for the last two years. I absolutely believe we can beat Alabama (we almost did it in 2008 with our worst team in years).

CEO's: Cunts Entrenched in Oil

I found out today that BP CEO Tony Hayward was so busy trying to correct his company's colossal fuck-up in the gulf that he had attended a yacht race. Apparently, corporate elitists are either too pathologically self-obsessed or simply too stupid to understand how callous they really act.

I might be able to tolerate Hayward's shocking insensitivity if it wasn't so clear that he and his company were still doing business as usual. Case in point: Hayward's testimony to Congress. Stonewalling, pure and simple. Based on his testimony, he's either the most inept ceo in the oil industry--a possibility I'm more than willing to entertain--or BP made a calculated decision to obstruct any congressional investigation in the oil spill and the disaster on the rig itself. Either way, it's indefensible.

Let's be honest though, the congressional interrogation of BP is most likely little more than a obligatory hand-wringing. Firm regulatory standards need to be established and enforced admisitration to administration. The reason why prior to this spill oil companies were allowed to do anything in the gulf is because there has been no continuity of environmental or energy police. Another reason that comes to mind is that the oil industry has economically handcuffed the people of the gulf coastal region. This is why Mary Landrieu doesn't have the guts to stand up to BP. And I don't mean by demanding they pay for their own mistake. I mean by demanding they cease oil production until it is verifiably clear that their drilling standards are safe. As long as senators like Landrieu are financially tied to the oil industry, real regulatory progress will be dificult.

Joe Carnahan Has No Clothes

Just to clarify, the title of this blogpost is a reference to "The Emperor has no clothes", but I would never call Joe Carnhan the emperor. Let me explain.

I recently saw Joe Carnhan's The A-Team, and while it wasn't terrible I couldn't help but thinking, "What happenned to the serious filmmaker in Joe Carnahan? The one who made Narc?"

It's becoming increasingly clear that Narc was just Carnahan's prestige bid so he could make action fluff like the A-Team and the visceral mess that was Smokin' Aces. After watching the A-Team, it occured to me that he's a grittier, American Guy Ritchie--and I don't mean that in a good way.

There are other filmmakers I can think of who have not delivered on their promise.

The first one that comes to mind is Richard Kelly. Obviously, I think Donnie Darko is a great film. It's original in both tone and content and is superbly well-made. Southland Tales is... not. There have been many theories as to why Southland Tales was such a failure. Yes, the film was packed with too many ambitious ideas for its own good. But that's a cop-out, as if one is trying to say that somewhere in Southland Tales is a good film. There isn't. It's cryptic, time-travel-themed plotlines could never rise above their own muck, and at the end of the day the casting was adventurous to a fault. I haven't seen The Box but I didn't hear good things.

Terry George is another filmmaker in this vein. Remember Hotel Rwanda? That was a terrific film. Brilliantly acted and with directed with great sincerity by George. What happenned with Reservation Road, a hopelessly muddled domestic drama that at the end of day was a collection of tragic cliches.

At this point, it's almost redundant to mention the Wachowski Brothers, but I will. Why? Because the Matrix is more than just a great film. It's a mindbending, groundbreaking, visually dazzling, transcendent sci-fi action film and one of my favorite of all time. The two sequels on the other hand are bad. Just bad. To say the series lacks a satisfying conclusion is beyond understatement. To put it simply, the Wachowski Brothers became too mired in the fathomless depth of the questions their films raised, the Matrix Reloaded and Reservations was the result.

Finally, there's Sam Mendez. This may surprise some people, but I haven't been impressed by Sam Mendez' post-American Beauty career. Road to Perdition was high on production value, but startlingly low on compelling characters; Jarhead was a mess of post-modern ideas on warfare that never led to anything. And I have to say, I didn't love Revolutionary Road. It was HIGHLY STAGEY--and by that I mean theater-like to a fault--and the themes were trite. Oddly enough, his best film since American Beauty may be the very entertaining Away We Go (and I certainly didn't think that was perfect).