About ten years ago, I used to regularly read and comment on a baseball(!) site. Conversations went pretty far afield, if you'll abide the pun, and one member of the community consistently mentioned that he did not consider Donald Sutherland a good actor, that MASH was his only good movie and it was mostly carried by Gould.
I share this not because I agree with it--to the contrary--but because I think it's weird how often I think of it.
The only thing I'll add about Sutherland is I've long held that one of the things that make him compelling is he's so interesting-looking. Really, what a unique face.
Also (and possibly related): I think Foghorn Leghorn is hilarious. I'm dying to know what physical characteristics are widely shared across Fog Leg Fandom.
As a college professor, I can't tell you how many times I've tried to tell students something important as they shuffled out of class, and ended with: "Listen. I'm not joking. This is my job."
Sutherland as the aptly named fascist Atilla Mellanchini in Bertolucci's "1900" was his most chilling. What a rare talent! He stood out even among the stellar international cast.
Colette, you are absolutely right! I saw 1900 as a college student and I was blown away. I'm now 67 and I can say that not a single year has passed since I was 20 that I haven't thought about that movie and especially the role performed by Donald Sutherland.
I’ve never bought t-shirts or the like that were related to tv or movies. Heck, I didn’t even have Star Wars t-shirts, and I was 12 (the Golden Age of science fiction) when it came out.
DVDs and blu-rays though. I have the complete Looney Tunes (including the problematic ones) on dvd. Discovered recently that my Babylon 5 DVDs won’t play on blu-ray players. I thought it was the player, which died after a power glitch, but the new player wouldn’t play them either. Plays all the other DVDs I’ve thrown at it so something weird with those discs.
I had a heck of a time getting the new player. Only a couple models still being made.
Yes, the Private Snafu films, which were training films for GIs, featured racist caricatures, sexist caricatures, and digs at homosexuality (an instructor for the stupid Private was called the “Technical Fairy” - a miniature marine with a cigar stub, combat boots, unshaven, flying with wings and wearing a tutu). All of the shorts are on YouTube.
Nope. Just old. The first batch of widescreen. They played on the dvd player I had in the 90’s. The now dead lg player wouldn’t recognize them, the new Sony said they might not be finalized.
Could be bit rot. I’ve heard that some DVDs of that vintage have issues.
Ordinary People, MASH, The Dirty Dozen. What a range! I never understood why he did not receive a nomination for Ordinary People! Here's one online comment: Sutherland would finally have his moment when he received an honorary Oscar in 2017, a sort of recognition that underscores how talented a performer he was. While honoring him when he got his Oscar, his “Hunger Games” co-star Jennifer Lawrence marveled at the fact he was never nominated when she introduced him
It’s crazy to think just a decade ago even people that didn’t watch House of Cards knew the names Frank Underwood & Zoe Barnes. I think House of Cards was the show that opened the floodgates for Netflix originals, far more than Orange is the New Black.
It was a lesser role but I really thought he was fantastic as the drunken disbarred brilliant civil rights lawyer Lucien Wilbanks in A Time to Kill. Interestingly his son Kiefer was in that film too playing chillingly the racist villain.
I know the Zoe Barnes show! But then I've only watched 4 or 5 streaming shows in their entirety - very rarely do I find a show interesting enough to stick with until the end.
Donald Sutherland’s performance in Ordinary People is one of the top acting performances I've ever seen. Whatever he did to embody and project grief through each scene is extraordinary.
I don't know. Netflix might be onto something here. My 20-something son has purchased every Stranger Things T-shirt he can find and worn them until they fade and fall apart. He would go to these new Netflix houses if they were nearby. He also loves the movies of Jeff Nichols.
Interesting that Bunch should repeatedly insert his politics into an obituary, declaiming Stone's efforts to broaden ken of the Kennedy kill. With so many insertions, he is obligated to flesh out why. But hey, this is the new Hollywood.
Agreed. Kelly's Heroes is an underappreciated movie. In addition to Sutherland's "Negative Waves" dialogues with Gavin MacLeod, the Spaghetti Western parody with Sutherland, Clint Eastwood, and Telly Savalas facing off with the tank is hilarious.
Totally agree. Who else but Sutherland could conjure up a 1960s hippy character twenty years before time in a WW2 setting? The winning scene when he chides his driver Moriarty (Gavin MacLeod) for coming up with all those negative waves...
About ten years ago, I used to regularly read and comment on a baseball(!) site. Conversations went pretty far afield, if you'll abide the pun, and one member of the community consistently mentioned that he did not consider Donald Sutherland a good actor, that MASH was his only good movie and it was mostly carried by Gould.
I share this not because I agree with it--to the contrary--but because I think it's weird how often I think of it.
The only thing I'll add about Sutherland is I've long held that one of the things that make him compelling is he's so interesting-looking. Really, what a unique face.
Also (and possibly related): I think Foghorn Leghorn is hilarious. I'm dying to know what physical characteristics are widely shared across Fog Leg Fandom.
As a college professor, I can't tell you how many times I've tried to tell students something important as they shuffled out of class, and ended with: "Listen. I'm not joking. This is my job."
Sutherland as the aptly named fascist Atilla Mellanchini in Bertolucci's "1900" was his most chilling. What a rare talent! He stood out even among the stellar international cast.
Colette, you are absolutely right! I saw 1900 as a college student and I was blown away. I'm now 67 and I can say that not a single year has passed since I was 20 that I haven't thought about that movie and especially the role performed by Donald Sutherland.
I’ve never bought t-shirts or the like that were related to tv or movies. Heck, I didn’t even have Star Wars t-shirts, and I was 12 (the Golden Age of science fiction) when it came out.
DVDs and blu-rays though. I have the complete Looney Tunes (including the problematic ones) on dvd. Discovered recently that my Babylon 5 DVDs won’t play on blu-ray players. I thought it was the player, which died after a power glitch, but the new player wouldn’t play them either. Plays all the other DVDs I’ve thrown at it so something weird with those discs.
I had a heck of a time getting the new player. Only a couple models still being made.
What are the "problematic" Looney Tunes?
Some of the WW2 cartoons , I think 5, which were very racist. There are another 10 or so that were never released on dvd.
Yes, the Private Snafu films, which were training films for GIs, featured racist caricatures, sexist caricatures, and digs at homosexuality (an instructor for the stupid Private was called the “Technical Fairy” - a miniature marine with a cigar stub, combat boots, unshaven, flying with wings and wearing a tutu). All of the shorts are on YouTube.
are they out-of-region discs?
Nope. Just old. The first batch of widescreen. They played on the dvd player I had in the 90’s. The now dead lg player wouldn’t recognize them, the new Sony said they might not be finalized.
Could be bit rot. I’ve heard that some DVDs of that vintage have issues.
The DVDs were bought in the early 200s, the player was from the 90’s.
I hadn’t watched JFK, so I searched for the clip with Donald Sutherland. Here it is:
https://youtu.be/GSw9sjqYK_I?si=xVbnWXa3S8nc1InL
Ordinary People, MASH, The Dirty Dozen. What a range! I never understood why he did not receive a nomination for Ordinary People! Here's one online comment: Sutherland would finally have his moment when he received an honorary Oscar in 2017, a sort of recognition that underscores how talented a performer he was. While honoring him when he got his Oscar, his “Hunger Games” co-star Jennifer Lawrence marveled at the fact he was never nominated when she introduced him
It’s crazy to think just a decade ago even people that didn’t watch House of Cards knew the names Frank Underwood & Zoe Barnes. I think House of Cards was the show that opened the floodgates for Netflix originals, far more than Orange is the New Black.
It was a lesser role but I really thought he was fantastic as the drunken disbarred brilliant civil rights lawyer Lucien Wilbanks in A Time to Kill. Interestingly his son Kiefer was in that film too playing chillingly the racist villain.
I know the Zoe Barnes show! But then I've only watched 4 or 5 streaming shows in their entirety - very rarely do I find a show interesting enough to stick with until the end.
RIP Donald. Fabulous actor.
Donald Sutherland’s performance in Ordinary People is one of the top acting performances I've ever seen. Whatever he did to embody and project grief through each scene is extraordinary.
Totally agree, Donald. He was underappreciated in that movie too. One of my favorites.
I don't know. Netflix might be onto something here. My 20-something son has purchased every Stranger Things T-shirt he can find and worn them until they fade and fall apart. He would go to these new Netflix houses if they were nearby. He also loves the movies of Jeff Nichols.
Interesting that Bunch should repeatedly insert his politics into an obituary, declaiming Stone's efforts to broaden ken of the Kennedy kill. With so many insertions, he is obligated to flesh out why. But hey, this is the new Hollywood.
I can assure you, I am obliged to do nothing of the sort!
Donald Sutherland's performance of Oddball in Kelly's Hero's is the one that will always stick with me.
Agreed. Kelly's Heroes is an underappreciated movie. In addition to Sutherland's "Negative Waves" dialogues with Gavin MacLeod, the Spaghetti Western parody with Sutherland, Clint Eastwood, and Telly Savalas facing off with the tank is hilarious.
Absolutely. The screenplay was written by Troy Kennedy Martin (who also wrote Edge of Darkness).
My boat was named Positive Waves as an ode to Oddball.
Totally agree. Who else but Sutherland could conjure up a 1960s hippy character twenty years before time in a WW2 setting? The winning scene when he chides his driver Moriarty (Gavin MacLeod) for coming up with all those negative waves...
Naming that character Moriarty was also a small inspiration.