Day 1: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Posted in2017 Actor Spotlights Classics

Day 1: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Welcome back for the second monthly Spotlight Series from ItsJustAwesome.com! This week, to honor his birthday on May 31st, we'll be reviewing 7 essential films starring everybody's favorite outlaw: the inimitable Clint Eastwood. Kicking things off in style, today we'll be discussing one of Eastwood's most iconic roles in the Sergio Leone classic, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (1966). The Good, the Bad & the Ugly is the third, and arguably the most famous, installment in Leone's "Man with No Name" trilogy. Throughout the trilogy, Eastwood's character is never named-- he is identified only by nicknames others have given him. In…
Day 6: Last Tango in Paris (1972)
Posted in2017 Actor Spotlights Classics

Day 6: Last Tango in Paris (1972)

Welcome back! For Day 6 of our Marlon Brando spotlight series, we'll be talking about the racy, NC-17 film from director Bernardo Bertolucci: Last Tango in Paris (1972). You may be wondering why a movie we've named as one of Brando's 7 most essential would garner a measly two-star rating from me (which is a fair question). In my defense, I found this film is incredibly difficult to rate. I think it deserves to be included in the list for its sheer infamy, and because Brando's acting really does sear itself onto the back of your brain here. AND YET. I have…
Day 4: On the Waterfront (1954)
Posted in2017 Actor Spotlights Classics

Day 4: On the Waterfront (1954)

Welcome back for Day 4 of our Marlon Brando spotlight series! Today we'll be talking about one of my favorite movies, the film that earned Brando his first Oscar win: Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954). I waxed on about the merits of A Streetcar Named Desire in Day 1 (another Kazan/Brando pairing--clearly they knew how to complement each other's strengths) and Waterfront is just as good, albeit for different reasons. In a role completely different from the hot-headed Stanley Kowalski, Brando's Terry Malloy is quiet, introspective, and only fights when he's pushed to his limits. Malloy is a former boxer, and was…