Friday, February 7, 2014

Paying Respects

Austin paid his respects earlier this week:

The first time I saw a performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman, it changed my life. What a tremendous talent. - AUS10

It makes you wonder what performance Austin was talking about?

 Doubt it was Hoffman's big screen start in Scent of a Woman  or from Twister.  But wonder if it was his turn as the painfully awkward, sexually repressed boom operator Scotty J in Boogie Nights.  Not only it was a moment that transformed him from an actor to a star, but it help elevate the film.


It is one of the most famous scenes of the film, period— when he makes a clumsy pass at  Mark Wahlberg’s character, Dirk Diggler, at a New Year’s Eve party in 1979.

"The party is the turning point of the film, the moment the good times start drying up, and beneath their surface lies dread. Hoffman’s scene is our first glimpse of failure, the gathering nightmare of dreams not coming true. It’s one sustained cringe, from the reveal of the Corvette to the rebuffed kiss to the lingering shot of Scotty in the car, alone, sobbing 'I’m a fucking idiot' as Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band’s 'Do Your Thing' rises in the background."

A powerful scene for everyone in the audience, the moment of vulnerability and risk,  but even more so for a 17 yr  in 1997.


Jake joined Michelle today at Phillips Seymour Hoffman's funeral.


Now it becomes apparent that Jake returned to NY earlier in the week for the funeral. 



 And to be a good friend to Michelle, who appears to be taking this passing particularly hard.  No doubt memories of Heath's passing came flooding back and coupled with the empathy she has for Hoffman's partner and their 3 children.




When unexpected and sudden deaths of our contemporaries happen it makes everyone ask that question - what if it had happen to me?  Reassessing where you are in your life and what would happen to your family, friends, and those you love.


Olympics for ALL Moment:

Google spreading the message with their doodle.




12 comments:

Facebook said...

Wallie Mason · 17 followers
14 hours ago ·

You know you are at the West Hollywood DMV when the clerk is friendly, tells you that you look great today, and he has a personally autographed movie poster for the Prince of Persia hanging in his cubicle that says: "Love to my friends at the Hollywood DMV, Jake Gyllenhaal." LOL


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6 people like this.

Ria Pua Nelson: that is one friendly DMV
14 hours ago ·

Michael Hall: Only in in Hollywood,babe. Plus you get to take more than one photo pick and choose.
8 hours ago ·

long hair? said...

Didn't know Jake was sporting a ponytail. Wonder if it's for a role.

idk said...

"Saying nothing when Heath died and then being photographed with his beard and her two kids (the height of the kind of phoniness that Heath despised) was really a slap in the face to their friendship. Attending Hoffman's funeral with Michelle is maybe his way of trying to make amends for bad judgement in the past."

Not only did he say nothing but he went to none of Heath’s memorials. That imo is a sign they weren't as friendly as their PR tried to make us think when they were promoting BBM. I think that if Jake had cared some about Heath like his camp had us believe he would've at least paid his respects to him by attending one of the three or four services held for Heath and Reeke wouldn't have stopped him. After all Heath was an important costar and supposed friend.

That said, I don't see what one has to do with the other. PSH was PSH and Heath was Heath. How does going to PSH's funeral with Heath's ex girlfriend equal to making amends for his behavior toward Heath after he died? I'm not sure Jake attended the funeral "with" Michelle though. She arrived with an older woman. They probably just met there and left together, the woman left with them too.

the real m said...

Such a sad situation. I can remember that scene from Boogie Nights like I just saw the film moments ago because Hoffman was so memorable.

E-V-E-R-E-S-T said...

long hair? said...
Didn't know Jake was sporting a ponytail. Wonder if it's for a role.


Yes. I guess you don't read much about Jake then?

Looked like he was with Michelle to me said...

I'm not sure Jake attended the funeral "with" Michelle though. She arrived with an older woman. They probably just met there and left together, the woman left with them too.

If you believe the pictorial coverage of IHJ with their immoderate 70+ photos, you would think that Michelle and Jake were fused together at the hip.

prairiegirl said...

Clam it, E-V-E-R-E-S-T, and take your snark back with you to your roost.

prairiegirl said...

I'm sorry, but if you look at social media within the past several days, there has been a sudden resurgence of Jake, Heath & Michelle pictures. From where and why is that even coming up at this time? The gratuitous amount of pictures on IHJ of this funeral attendance is eyebrow raising.

The sympathy and attention is misplaced. This funeral day was not the time nor place for cameras to make it about Michelle Williams and memories of Heath. It wasn't.

Little attention paid to the real-time grieving girlfriend and children, who remained hidden away this past week.

Kind of like how a girl knows not to wear white at a wedding, funerals are to pay your respects to the family or close friends of the deceased, not to refocus on your own past losses.

And since Jake was in his "home" city with access to what should be an extensive winter wardrobe, it might have been a nice gesture had he worn some nice slacks instead of blue jeans and big snow boots.

When unexpected and sudden deaths of our contemporaries happen it makes everyone ask that question - what if it had happen to me? Reassessing where you are in your life and what would happen to your family, friends, and those you love.

But I get that and totally agree on the impact. I just question the large amount of photos on this particular appearance.

london tb said...

PSH is a big loss. RIP.

prairiegirl said...

That scene from Boogie Nights sounds excruciating. I've not seen it.

Special K said...

I think the reason that there were so many pictures is that so many paparazzi where there covering the funeral. It wasn't one photographer taking all those picture but a group of photographers competing to get pictures that would get bought and picked up.

Washington Post said...

The Justice Department on Monday will instruct all of its employees across the country, for the first time, to give lawful same-sex marriages sweeping equal protection under the law in every program it administers, from courthouse proceedings to prison visits to the compensation of surviving spouses of public safety officers.

In a new policy memo, the department will spell out the rights of same-sex couples, including the right to decline to give testimony that might incriminate their spouses, even if their marriages are not recognized in the state where the couple lives.

Under the Justice policy, federal inmates in same-sex marriages will also be entitled to the same rights and privileges as inmates in opposite-sex marriages, including visitation by a spouse, escorted trips to attend a spouse’s funeral, correspondence with a spouse, and compassionate release or reduction in sentence based on the incapacitation of an inmate’s spouse.

In addition, an inmate in a same-sex marriage can be furloughed to be present during a crisis involving a spouse. In bankruptcy cases, same-sex married couples will be eligible to file for bankruptcy jointly. Domestic support obligations will include debts, such as alimony, owed to a former same-sex spouse. Certain debts to same-sex spouses or former spouses should be excepted from discharge.

“This means that, in every courthouse, in every proceeding, and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States — they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections, and rights as opposite-sex marriages under federal law,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is expected to say in a speech Saturday night at the Human Rights Campaign’s Greater New York Gala at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, where he will announce the new policy.