Diary entries forCapote
Capote
Rewatch w/ commentary by Hoffman and dir. Bennett Miller. Repeatedly heart caught up in my throat by Hoffman talking about difficult days on set, or lack of confidence with the role as a whole, enamored with everyone else in the cast, and the director more than once rejecting this self-deprecating with a "You're so great here" or "you did good, Phil". The moment where Truman is buying baby food in the grocery store and spots the kid in cowboy garb-- kid contorts his face, holds the toy gun awkwardly, tongue hanging out, and Hoffman in mild awe with a breathless "Incredible". It's wild to think when this movie came out I would have been more familiar with Catherine Keener from her mascot groupie character in Death To Smoochy.
Capote
This movie was boring, sorry. I didn’t know that much about Capote but upon research he was a very interesting man with an even more interesting story, especially leading up to his death. So why Bennett Miller in 2015 decided to release a film about one of the more uninteresting parts of Capotes life, and make it even more uninteresting is beyond me. The movie felt slow even on 2x speed. 2 stars for PSH. A movie is an ensemble, more than its actor, so he carries this film, but not very far.
Capote
God I miss PSH
Capote
Second Chance theater hits another home run here. I saw this once in high school and just didn’t give it the attention it deserved. This is an excellent picture with an all time performance from Phil Hoffman who, in my opinion, deserves to be in the conversation with Pacino, DeNiro, Denzel, DDL, etc as one of the all time acting greats. Also where is Bennett Miller? We’re past due on another excellent piece of filmmaking from him.
Capote
I've come to a revelation recently. That all my years spent reading, I've held Truman Capote in high regard. Perhaps stylistically. Perhaps of the people and anecdotes he mixed together like gin and tonics, quick fixes during a time where, much like Didion's Run River, people drink too much and it's too hot and everyone has such fabulous names. But all I've read was Summer Crossings, and perhaps a few short stories that have blown over in memory. The last Capote book I skimmed through was orange, with a cute hand drawn cover of dogs, perhaps his own. Hilton Als wrote the foreword, and even then I don't remember if it was with the utmost bland praise. But to see PSH portray him brought chills down my spine to the very accuracy of the mannerisms, the mere performance, and, if anything, that carried the strange and dud pacing of the film. It painted him ugly. But I mean, I couldn't blame him for his upbringing and the mansions he frequented in New York nights only to come to an SRO at the YMCA (is that correct?). I touched In Cold Blood. The first few pages, and I need to go back to it. I dismissed it because it was not in taste at the time. But with my recent pick up of Joan Didion, I forget he was a part of the movement that made New Journalism a shattering way to write about the real world. And I miss that. Immensely. Is this as real as a depiction we're ever gonna get of Capote? Done so handsomely by a grand actor?
