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News & ArtsFriday, November 9, 2012
Music / Film Has Christopher Walken Ever Been the Emotional Center of a Movie Before?
Posted by Jen Graves on Fri, Nov 9, 2012 at 12:02 PM
- Cheers. Everything is about to fall apart.
I am not an exhaustive resource on Christopher Walken, so please answer the question by telling me that obviously, yes, he was the emotional center in this and that and this. To me it felt notable that he is the emotional center of a movie about Beethoven and entropy and Catherine Keener's pinched face and Imogen Poots's lips and Philip Seymour Hoffman's hairiness that opens this weekend, A Late Quartet. The movie is good. Walken is great in it.
1
He was definitely one of the emotional parts of The Deer Hunter but not the only emotional center in that film.
In my opinion, he was the emotional center in King of New York too.
In my opinion, he was the emotional center in King of New York too.
13
@12: it's Reeve. George Reeves played The Big Blue Schoolboy in a bunch of really shitty serials in the 40s and 50s. While the serials themselves are terrible, Reeves was good. And it was the perfect role for him. Biggest thing he did without the S was as Burt Lancaster's BFF in From Here to Eternity. He wound up killing himself (most likely, the George Reeves conspiracies aren't all completely nuts). So that's how you remember Christopher (paralyzed) Reeve--who toughed out ten years as a C-2 Incomplete Vent-Dependent quadriplegic no-S. George Reeves--who failed to meet the standards of the Hollywood Dream and (probably) did for himself with a Walther PPK--S for suicide.
20
@14 I saw the original theatrical release, which was quashed after two days and sent back for re-chopping. I thought it was awesome, but I'm weird. It didn't just stand the Hollywood western on its head, it slaughtered it in cold blood. It was a grand, historical fiction with the gritty underbelly of a Dickensian landscape. The audience didn't like that one bit. While Walken was clearly a protagonist, the emotional center of that film wasn't in any of the characters, but in the politics and agrarian rivalries of that world.
21
@ 13 - Err, that buzzing sound you hear is @12's post sailing right over your head.....
Whoopsy-doobie!!
Whoopsy-doobie!!
23
Walken was the emotional center of "The Comfort of Strangers". Unfortunately, this is the worst movie ever made.
25
While he wasn't the central character, I would argue that he was the heartbreaking emotional core of Catch Me If You Can.
26
I don't know if you could say he was the emotional center of Scotland P.A. but he was definitely the moral center of that film, him being McDuff and all.
27
Christopher Walken is the emotional center of another new release, Seven Psychopaths. After so many years of playing a caricature of himself, it is great to see Walken really acting again.
28
He was the emotional black hole of Dead Zone. Recovering from brain damage he provided a role model for many a Keanu Reeve role.
29
Just a thought but I'd fucking love to see Walken do a movie with Alan Arkin. Like a way past their prime buddy cop movie. Or as rival lotharios of a retirement community. Or just walking around New York getting into old dude shenanigans while grousing at each other and everything else.
30
@23 no, the worst movie ever made was Dead Zone in which Walken was the emotional center, even if I don't know what the hell y'all mean by Emotional Center.
31
At this point, I'd go see just about anything with Walken in it. Philip Seymour Hoffman too. It was a joy to watch just the trailer for A Late Quartet. I can't wait to see this movie.
32
Came here to mention Scotland PA, which nobody I ever mention it to has seen, but knobtheunicorn beat me to it. "Emotional center" is kind of a squishy concept, especially when it comes to Shakespeare and his interpreters, but the movie is worth noting for his performance alone.
35
@29 You have your wish. Stand-up guys stars Walken, Alan Arkin and Al Pacino (and is pretty damn good.) Sounds like it'll get wide release in January. (I saw it at a film festival last weekend.)
36
I, apparently, am on a wishes granted streak this week. Thanks for the heads up @35, I just watched the trailer and that looks pretty fucking good. I will expect to weep manly, man tears.
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