Underrated actors: Titus Welliver

A while back I was watching the Pilot of the new Tv-Series "Touch", and as Titus Welliver's character appeared, I realized this is an actor I really appreciate, although I've never really thought about it much. Here's a man who's appeared in numerous movies and tv-shows, but never really been the star of the movie (please correct me if I'm wrong).



Although never having a huge lead role, I'm always amazed by his intensity, and often find myself loving the characters he plays. Just a few days later, I was watching an old episode of X-Files (well, they're all old by now, but a really, really old one) and there he was again. So here's a list of a few movies/tv-shows he's appeared in that I'd recommend taking a look at. I emphasize that this post is about underrated actors, so my recommandations are solely based on the actors parts in the movies/tv-shows:

Titus Welliver


as Randall Meade in "Touch"

Appeared in two of the episodes, and has been one of the highlights of the show for me so far. Still too early for me to make a verdict of the show on a whole, but love his scenes in it.

as Jimmy O'Phelan in "Sons of Anarchy"



As one of the Irish bad guys in the FX hit show Sons of Anarchy, Titus has probably pissed off a lot of people, but still gotta love the part.

as Officer Jake Lowery in "Brooklyn South"


The first show I can remember him from, this cop-drama from... you guessed it, Brooklyn, was cancelled after one show. Still one of my fave cop shows, though.

as Doug Spinney in "The X-Files: Darkness Falls (Episode 1.19)"



Poor special effects aside, a very good episode of X-Files. One of those episodes I still remembered bits and pieces from still many, many years after watching it for the first time.

Besides these few examples, he's also taken part in a lot of quality stuff, such as "Gone Baby Gone", "The Town", episodes of "Third Watch" and "Life"... He also played the character of Redneck in Bar in the 1990 movie Navy Seals... right.

As a little bonus, here's a clip where Titus is having some fun with Kevin Pollak:



Hopefully this'll be the first of more posts on underrated actors. Stay tuned

Oscar-nominations a few days away...

As the nominations for this years Oscars are drawing closer, here's a look at some of the movies and tv-shows that were in the spotlight at the Golden Globes. Obviously some of those films/actors/actresses will also be among the favorites for nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards.

First of all, Morgan Freeman won the Cecil B. DeMille award, an honorary award given out for outstanding achievement in the entertainment-industry. The man with a voice which will make you believe just about anything he says joins other acclaimed entertainers such as last years winner Robert De Niro, Sean Connery, Clint Eastwood, Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock and Frank Sinatra.

Movies:

The Descendants, starring George Clooney and Shailene Woodley, won the award for the Best Motion Picture (Drama), ahead of movies such as Moneyball, The Help and The Ides of March.




In the category Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) the winner was The Artist, which beat competition from Bridesmaids, 50/50, Midnight in Paris and My Week with Marilyn.



Actors/Actresses:

As actresses go, Meryl Streep is one of the best, and it was no surprise that she took home the award for best actress in a motion picture drama for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in the Iron Lady. She beat one of my personal favorites Glenn Close (nominated for Albert Nobbs), as well as Rooney Mara, Viola Davies and Tilda Swinton. In the award for best actress in a motion picture musical or comedy another favorite of mine, Michelle Williams, won the award for her role in My Week with Marilyn. The other nominees were Jodie Foster, Charlize Theron, Kristen Wiig (!) and Kate Winslet.

George Clooney won the award for best actor in a drama for his performance in The Descendants. He beat the competition from Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender. For his role in The Artist, Jean Dujardin won the award for best actor in a comedy or musical, beating Brendan Gleeson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ryan Gosling (nominated in both categories drama and musical/comedy this year) and Owen Wilson.

The Iranian movie A Seperation (Original title: Jodaeiye Nader az Simin) won the award for Best Foreign Language Film, whereas Martin Scorsese took home the award for Best Director (Hugo).



The awards for best supporting actor and actress went to Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Octavia Spencer (The Help), respectively. Woody Allen won the award for Best Screenplay (Midnight in Paris).


TV:

The competition was very strong for this years award for Best Television Series (Drama), with shows like Boardwalk Empire, Homeland and Game of Thrones. Homeland, starring Damian Lewis and Claire Danes, won the award, and the latter also won the award for Best Actress in a Television Series (Drama). Well-deserved, I might add, as her portrayal of Carrie Mathison was an amazing performance from a talented, and still young, actress. Or is that just me becoming older talking? Kelsey Grammer won the award for Best Actor in a Television Series (Drama) for his character in Boss, beating Damian Lewis, Jeremy Irons, Steve Buscemi and Bryan Cranston.

One of my personal favorites, Modern Family, won the award for Best Television Series (Comedy or Musical), and although I'd like to see Ty Burrell win the award every year for his portrayal of Phil Dunphy, the awards for best actor/actress in this category went to Laura Dern (Enlightened) and Matt Leblanc (Episodes).

Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) won the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, which is funny, because the name of the award is basically longer then the man himself.


On Tuesday the nominations for the Academy Awards will be released, and I'll be back with an update as soon as I can following that event.

Characters

Movies and tv-shows need a lot working for them in order to become something to remember. A good story, funny moments, shocking moments, twists are just some of the different ingredients that can make us remember a certain movie, tv-show (or even just one specific tv-episode). Very often, though, the characters can make or break a movie or tv-show. From Robert De Niro's portrayal of the young Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, through George Wendt's Norm in Cheers and all the way to Colin Firth's oscar-winning role in The King's Speech, characters have amazed us.

Characters can be intriguing in many ways; their complexity, their mannerism, simplicity, actions, figure of speech, dialogue etc. Very often the "bad guys" have taken the limelight, understandably so considering they are often equipped with both a complexity challenging the viewer's own morality as well as dark humour, witty dialogue and other intriguing qualities.

We all have our favorites, and I have many. Here are some of mine (with emphasis on some), and feel free to hit me up with yours!


Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II - played by Robert De Niro



Portraying the young Vito Corleone after Marlon Brando had immortalized the role in The Godfather Part I was always going to be a differcult task. Robert De Niro nailed it. Vito Corleone was one of thos quiet gangsters, whom did everything for his family. Never lost it, and always seemed to have the answer. His revenge in Italy on the mafioso who killed his father and brother is an amazing scene.

Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting in Gangs of New York - played by Daniel Day-Lewis

Never before has anyone sounded as cool as he did saying "Whoopsy-daisy". The character is well-written, well-acted... it's amazing to see The Butcher's different moods, especially in the scene where he sits talking to Amsterdam (DiCaprio) wrapped in an American flag

Amélie in Amélie - played by Audrey Tautou



Great heart, charming and the scene where she guides the blind man is as beautiful as a film-scene can be.

Alfredo in Cinema Paradiso - played by Philippe Noiret



Who wouldn't like to have this guy as an extra grandfather? A friend of mine suggested I dressed up as Alfredo for Halloween.. maybe one day I will.

Lars in Lars and the Real Girl - played by Ryan Gosling

Socially inept, this character is both tragic and hilarious. The comic aspect of his character is very well written, though, which makes this movie a very touching depiction of the life of a person deeply challenged on how to interact with the outside world. The "flower-throwing"-scene is one of the funniest scenes I've seen, with just about all the elements of it's comedy spot on.

Omar Little in The Wire - played by Michael K. Williams



One of the best characters in a tv-show, Omar Little was the homosexual gangster strolling around the hood armed with a shotgun and a love for whistling. How's that for a twist on the stereotypical tv-gangster?

Josh Lyman in The West Wing - played by Bradley Whitford

Together with other amazing characters from the show (Toby Ziegler, Leo McGarry and C.J. Cregg), Josh Lyman made this tv-show one of the best tv-shows ever. I've never been a fan of quick dialogue, but these characters made it work.

Phil Dunphy in Modern Family - played by Ty Burrell



One of the funniest characters in a sitcom these days, Phil is the dad who tries a little bit too hard to be the cool dad. Funny on so many levels. His lines are incredible, but Ty Burrell has to be given a lot of credit cause his delivery is brilliant.

Javier Rodriguez in Traffic - played by Benicio Del Toro

Breakthrough performance for Benicio Del Toro, and not without a reason. Javier is one of the most likable characters in this movie, add to that the amusing scene in the pool. Don Cheadle's character is also a great one in Traffic.

Mario Ruoppolo in Il Postino - played by Massimo Troisi



This rather slow character is introduced to us through a conversation with his father where he takes the term "beat around the bush" to a new level. The simplicity of his mind is both funny and beautiful. Troisi died just after finishing the movie, having gone against the doctor's advice on not shooting the film.

Sydney Fife in I Love You, Man - played by Jason Segel

The axe-man to Peter Klaven's bass-slapping in the movie that defined bromance. Sydney's lines, appearance and behaviour is all great fun, although one might not want the dude to spring a surprise-speech at your Wedding...

Chuck in Forgetting Sarah Marshall - played by Paul Rudd



Although a very small role, this character is funny in all off his scenes as the surf-instructor with a "slight" drug-problem. "You sound like you're from LAN-DAAAN!"



As mentioned, these are just a few of my favorites, and there are plenty of others I could have included, such as a few characters from tv-shows like The Shield, Sopranos, Band of Brothers, Mad Men, Six Feet Under as well as from the movies...

How about you? Agree/disagree? Any favorites of your own?

A passenger far from home

Finally Lisa Hannigan has released her sophomore album, the follow-up to the wonderful Sea Sew. She's been writing the album from late 2009 throughout 2010. I thought the first album was a masterpiece, and Passenger, the new release does not disappoint.

The favorite tune so far is the hauntingly beautiful Home, including lyrics as such:

And oh, every lie we told,
is written in stone
Every lie we wrote in our bones

And hold on, there's nothing to pack,
we know we're not coming back

First official video out is Knots, a more up-tempo tune from the wonderful Irish artist:




Another great tune from the album is the low-key Paper House:




Next song, the title track Passenger, has been featured in this blog before, but deserves a re-post. Live-version from 2009.




Next tune really speaks volumes of how Lisa's voice can make you feel she's in the same room as you while listening to her. Here is the wonderful Safe Travels (Don't Die):
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Bonus - from the making of the album:




For some of her stuff from the debut-album, check out this old post:

http://frodevincenzo.blogspot.com/2011/04/damien-and-lisa.html

Spread love is the Brooklyn way...

A little trip down memory lane again. Topic of the day: Hip hop Classics from the 90's


It's impossible to NOT include this first song. Sorry about the poor quality on the video. I remember sitting between the two towers in NYC back in... 98-ish maybe, when a police-officer walked by dropping a few lines from this tune... ah, the memories:


Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy




Can't do a post on this subject without the Wu-Tang Clan, and here's one of my first fave rap-tunes...


Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M.




I have to include two more Wu-related tunes:


Method Man - All I Need




Ghostface Killah (feat. Mary J. Blige) - All That I Got is You




Anyone remember Lost Boyz? Well, here's an old classic...

Lost Boyz - Renee




Tupac could've had a dozen of songs here, but just one this time:

Tupac - Keep Ya Head Up



... and now to something completely different... who can forget this classic?

Luniz - I got 5 on it




Last tune out.. an odd favorite, maybe

Nine - Whutcha Want

Femmina Alfa

My love for Italy is no big secret. The culture, the history, Roma, the beaches, the people, the language, the football (AS Roma) etc. I've also heard my share of Italian music through the years, most notably Gianna Nannini, who I basically grew up listening to.

This next artist however, is someone I recently became aware of, after a friend of mine (who again had her recommended from another friend) told me to check her out. I've had the following songs on repeat basically ever since. Seriously.

Baby K is the name of the artist, and... well, now it's my turn to recommend her tunes to you. Rap has had it's ups and downs lately, and to me this is definitely one of the ups. Great beats, wonderfully built up tunes, great flow. Enjoy!


Baby K - Femmina Alfa




Baby K - Primo Round




Baby K - In Piedi




Baby K - Una su un millione




Baby K - Sole

Autumn

It's mid-September, and summer is over. In all honosty, it never really seemed to be present here in Norway this year, at least not for a duration of time. These last couple of weeks have given me plenty of time to sit inside looking out... Being sick is mostly just a pain the... well, throat in my case, but there is also something quite swell about sitting inside when the rain is falling down HARD on the outside.

Here are a couple of songs that'll make sure that autumn isn't as dark and depressing as it can be...


Bon Iver - Skinny Love - Painfully beautiful




Bon Iver - Re:stacks




Bon Iver - Flume




Ray LaMontagne - You Are the Best Thing





Ray LaMontagne - Let it be Me




Ray LaMontagne - Meg White - Yes, it's the Meg White from White Stripes


Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights




Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Moth - Live version




The Avett Brothers - Murder in the City




Bon Iver - Perth




Dave Matthews - The Stone





Hope you enjoy!