Now that I live in the stix, I wait for films that I NEED to see. And I wait. Longer. Longer than that, even. My eyes have been on Capote since October, and I have been rather obsessed with witnessing Philip Seymour Hoffman’s performance. Two weeks ago, it happened. And the man transfixed me and transformed me while he morphed into Truman Capote. I have been saying it for years, and I will say it again…Philip Seymour Hoffman is the absolute best working actor today.
Please allow me to highlight my favorite P.S.H. transformations, in no particular order.
-Brian Mahoney, in the dark and incredible depiction of a gambler’s fall from grace in Owning Mahoney.
– Spike Lee’s 25th Hour…that song in the club towards the end is hittin’ hard, too
– Love Liza – just see it. Huffing. And model planes. Scarring. Mentally. Awesome.
– Punch Drunk Love. Something about this film…
– Lester Bangs. Come on. He ROCKS Almost Famous. What a great film.
– Mamet’s State and Main. Superb.
– Talented Mr. Ripley, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, as Phil Parma, the house nurse with depth, FLAWLESS, The Big Lebowski…and on, and on, and on.
I haven’t seen all of his roles, but the sprinkle of some of the most enjoyable and hand crafted films over the past decade above will be worth revisiting. In fact, I am going to add all of these to my Netflix account now, in celebration of Hoffman’s upcoming Oscar win.