James Gandolfini: 1961 — 2013
Jesus Fuckin’ Christ! James Gandolfini died today in Italy of a massive heart attack. He was 51.
I never watched The Sopranos, but he did some incredible movie performances. Who could ever forget his knockdown drag-out fight to the death with Patricia Arquette in True Romance. He was also great in Get Shorty, The Juror, The Man Who Wasn’t There, and Not Fade Away, among others.
His most powerful performance — IMHO — was in one of those short PBS movies. I don’t remember the name of it. He was in a raging drunken stupor and wandered into an empty apartment. I think it was the wrong apartment, but I’m not sure. He was standing in front of a mirror, shouting at himself. At one point he head-butted the mirror, and with blood pouring down his face, continued screaming at the mirror. Anyway, you had to be there. One of the most intense performances I've ever seen.
R.I.P.
Labels: James Gandolfini
posted by Tom Harper @ 5:24 PM
7 Comments:
In Italy eh? I'd say he was "taken care of".
C'mon Tom nothing about Slim Whitman dying at 90 today?
Erik
Tom are you talking about a Whole New Day when he goes into an empty apartment and his wife decides to tell him oh by the way, I want a divorce? Yeah he was brilliant in that. Also he was fantastic in The Mexican as a gay hit man, that kidnapped Julia Robert's character. I keep seeing all these tributes and they are all about his Tony Soprano, which is one of the best characters written for anything ever, but come on, the guy was fantastic in other things too. He just had a new baby last year also, so very young to die.
Gandolfini turned a show about gangsters into something shocking, beautiful and very memorable.
Tom,
Go rent the DVDs of the Sopranos and you will see what you are missing! This is by far his best work. It's gritty, scary, raunchy and weird all at the same time. Granted, the ending sucked, but the series is well worth it.
After the final episodes of the Sopranos, Seinfeld and Lost I'm pretty cynical about anybody ending a series well. One exception was Six Feet Under...the last five minutes of that show should be considered a true work of art.
Erik: LOL. James Gandolfini or Slim Whitman, it was a tough choice.
Jess: Yup, that sounds like the short film I saw. I don't remember the title; it probably wasn't more than 10 or 15 minutes long. God it was intense. I never saw The Mexican. It always sounded good; I might have to add it to our NetFlix queue.
Jim: It sounded like a great show. I don't get HBO.
Lisa G.: Sounds good; I'm sure I'd love it.
Jim: I think Six Feet Under was HBO too. That channel has so many fantastic programs, I'm afraid if we subscribed to it I'd never get off the couch.
Great post Tom, missed he was in TR...great/critical movie. The Mexican was good too. Never watched the Sopranos. The guy was really loved. I liked how Seinfeld ended. A lot. Huge Lost fan, the ending bummed me. Only way to put it. Still thinking about it, so that's a good sign. One generation gets the Bible, another gets Shakespeare, another gets Dickens, we got Lost. The first few minutes of season 2, loved that - perfection. And the Jacob scenes, when we first see the giant feet. I forget..it's a blur. What a show.
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