Greatest actress ever?
Notice the question mark I put? Because the answer is a resounding "no"!
sharegreatest first name maybe, leelee?
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MovieChat Forums > Leelee Sobieski Discussion > Greatest actress ever?
Why you gotta be so mean lately?
shareLet's be realistic, does anyone really think she's the greatest actress ever?
shareNo. I'm just wondering why you would make a post about it though? I mean she doesn't act any more. It just seemed mean spirited to bring up something someone has done in the past and then to say how you don't think they did it well. I mean if she was still acting, or had won multiple awards then maybe I might be able to understand. I guess I just don't see the point of insulting people just to insult them?
shareJust having some fun with it. She's not going to read this. If I tagged her on Twitter I would agree that would be uncalled for.
shareI don't mean to sound like a grumpy old woman or anything, I just think that there is so much negativity on here all the time, that even if she doesn't read it, it's just more ugliness. Maybe I need another vacation from here again.
shareEverybody needs more vacation, I think.
shareThere's negativity everywhere, but I'm not directing this at any user.. I only direct it to a mediocre actress who's not going to read it.
shareI get that, and I'm not bashing you or anything. I think you know I rather like you as a fellow poster, I'm just trying to understand what you get out of it, or why it should matter if you know the person, or if they are going to read it?
Why be mean?
Working the haunt this year was really eye opening as to how people have no respect whatsoever for other people. I'm not just talking rude, I'm talking physical assaults. I've worked with the public in one facet or another for 30 years, and the nastiness that is coming out these days is like nothing I've seen before. Perhaps it's time to go back to the old stand by of "if you can't say something nice, maybe don't say anything at all"
I mean, this is a movie site. I don't think it's all going to be positive. I don't believe bad actors should be given a pass just to be nice.
I saw her on the trending page and thought I should have fun with her mediocre acting ability.
Again, why say anything?
I get it's a movie site, I get that we can talk about actors', and actresses' abilities. The post itself was mean spirited. You even said that if she read it it would be mean. You could have commented, without being mean. That's all I'm trying to say.
But where's the fun if I just had a post that said "Not a good actress" as a topic?
shareWhere's the fun in insulting others? I am going to leave this now as we are friends and I don't want to fight.
shareI DON'T UNDERSTAND YOUR FUN OR THE POST...AS LEELEE IS A VERY GOOD ACTOR WITH A LIMITED RESUME.
shareIf I did a post that said "what are your 5 worst actors?", it wouldn't be that interesting and no one would think it was uncalled for. I thought that I'd make it look like my post was a legitimate questio , but then pull a 180 when you click it.
shareI GET IT...BUT I LIKE LEELEE AND IT'S MY TIME OF THE MONTH.
share1. This is a very weird post.
2. There's no such thing as "greatest" in an arts category, although it's fun to think about.
3. While I wouldn't say Sobieski is the greatest, she was a really great actress and I love her work. I think she's retired now.
THIS^
shareIndeed there are greatest in the arts-- The Beatles are the greatest rock/pop band of all time. Stanley Kubrick is the greatest director of all time. Those are just two off the top of my head.
shareI LOVE THE BEATLES BUT THEY AREN'T IN MY TOP FIVE AND PERSONALLY I DISLIKE KUBRICK'S FILMS FOR THE MOST PART...YOU HAVE GREATESTS...THE WORLD AS A UNIT DOES NOT.
shareRock-pop and the Beatles didn't crack your top five? You don't like Kubrick's films? You've got unique taste.
I am curious: who's rocking out your top five, and which Kubrick films (if any) do you enjoy? What is it about his movies you don't like?
MY TOP FIVE IS ECLECTIC...
THE ALKALINE TRIO
MEAT LOAF
WARREN ZEVON
EELS
CAKE/PIXIES...UNSURE WHICH ONE.
KUBRICK FILMS FEEL PRETENTIOUS AND KIND OF BORING TO ME...FULL METAL JACKET BEING MY FAVORITE OF HIS WORK,PARTICULARILY THE D'ONOFRIO AND BALDWIN CHARACTERS.
I haven't heard of The Alkaline Trio or Eels, but I'll check them out.
Cake I've heard *of*, but I haven't heard the band itself.
Warren Zevon is one of the most underrated songwriters of all-time, if not the number one most underrated. That was one brilliant wordsmith. He wasn't afraid to have fun (Werewolves of London), or go completely daffy (Mr. Bad Example, Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner), where most songwriters only stick to the serious stuff. No sense of irony. Of course, Zevon could whip most others at the serious, too (Keep Me In Your Heart, Don't Let Us Get Sick). Can't fault you there.
Plus, he penned my favourite opening couplet to any song: "I went home with the waitress, the way I always do/ how was I to know she was with the Russians, too?"
I was going on "groups", though, so I wasn't thinking of Zevon or other "single" acts like David Bowie, Tom Waits, or Bob Dylan.
I can't think of a Kubrick I didn't enjoy. Dr. Strangelove had me in stitches, 2001 is still a benchmark for "hard" sci-fi (I kind of think of it as the metre-stick for that "cerebral sci-fi" branch, the more fantastical sci-fi being head-ed up by "Star Wars"). Yeah, I just like his work. To each their own, though.
shareOK..DR.STRANGELOVE IS AWESOME...I WILL GIVE YOU THAT....HONESTLY,2001 AND STAR WARS BOTH BORE ME.
shareI've known a few people who think 2001 is awesome, and even a couple who are bored by Star Wars, although they are rare, and you're the first to not care much for either.
If your main problem with Kubrick is pretentiousness, maybe the comedic nature of Dr. Strangelove gives it enough irony to let some of that "this-movie-is-special!" vibe?
Given my love of the group and their place in music history, even laying aside their masterful song-craft, it's hard to argue the Beatles, but oftentimes I find myself more of a Stones person. Other people argue Queen or Led Zeppelin.
As for directors, I think Kurosawa was better, and there are plenty of other masters on-par with Kubrick, too.
It's almost a paradox for me. I know there are good pieces of art and bad pieces of art. One need only watch The Room, Spider-man, and 2001: A Space Odyssey to see three clearly different levels of filmmaking. Yet, while I agree that there are undeniable "better" movies, it's hard for me to commit to a "best" because it becomes difficult to parse what that means. Is Lord of the Rings better than Life of Brian? Based on what criteria could you tell?
So, I agree that there are levels, but "Number one"? How can you tell? Germane to this discussion, who's the best actress of all-time? Why?
One of my favourite guitar players of all time is Roy Buchanan. There's a lovely clip of him where somebody in the audience yells that he's number one, and his response is, "There's no such thing as number one, but thank you for thinking it."
Did you ever see the Joan of Arc mini-series she did?
shareThat was the first time I had heard of her, and yes, she was awesome in it. I really liked the whole show, but she was particularly impressive. I can't remember if I'd seen her before that series, but it's the first I knew her name.
shareI still remember watching it back when it first came out. I ended up buying it on DVD and still have the DVD to this day. It's a great mini-series and she was a good choice for the role.
Honestly, that is the only role of hers that I care about. The only other one I can even remember is The Glass House and that was a forgettable movie.
I should find it and watch it again; it's really good.
I've seen parts of The Glass House, but not the whole thing. Yes, it's forgettable. I only vaguely remember it. I've seen Eyes Wide Shut. She's good in that one, but it's a very small role. I saw the Hercules miniseries, but it was really bad.
I've heard good things about My First Mister, but I haven't seen it.
Honestly, looking at her filmography is kinda disappointing. She hasn't been in very many films, the ones that she has been in that are notable, she's usually a small role, or it's an indie film that never got traction. It's not surprising she quit.
YES!...MY FIRST MISTER...I AM AN IDIOT...I COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT FLICK...I LOVE THAT MOVIE....LEELEE AND ALBERT BROOKS WORK VERY WELL TOGETHER.
shareWell as I said, I still have the Joan of Arc DVD. I should make a point to watch it soon.
I actually remember that time as being something of a golden age for TV mini-series and movies. I remember right around that time the Merlin mini-series with Sam Neil also aired. And TNT made Pirates of Silicon Valley and the Patrick Stewart redition of A Christmas Carol, both of which were quite good.
BTW speaking of Joan of Arc, here's something kind of random for you: Did you know that Mark Twain of all people wrote a Joan of Arc novel? Strange but true.
Bang-on! That was the awesome mini-series era. I remember it well. As it petered out, the mini-series that were produced got really awful, for for a time, they were really great - almost film-quality, and in some ways were a precursor to the current era of binge-oriented streaming TV.
I loved Merlin. Still do. There was a great Alice in Wonderland miniseries, a pretty good Odyssey, Gulliver's Travels - great stuff.
One of the best was a miniseries of Ivanhoe that I keep meaning to track down and rewatch as well...
The made-for-TV productions of that era were definitely trying to reach higher than most of their predecessors and it seemed that the networks had, for some reason, decided to be a little more ambitious. They weren't quite theatrical-quality but you could tell they were really making an effort and putting the money in.
I've seen clips from Alice and Odyssey but haven't watched all of either. I may seek out Odyssey at some point and check it out. I remember there also being a Moby Dick mini-series with Patrick Stewart around the same time.
I've heard of the Ivanhoe adaptation but have never seen it. I'd like to do that. It does seem like that could be interesting.
Even though production quality is better than ever now, and we're getting all sorts of things to watch from the networks and various streaming services, it seems like no one is trying to make the epics and the classics like they were during that period in the late 90s.
Do check out the Ivanhoe one if you get a chance; it's superb. The love triangle is handled really well, the performances are marvellous - it's great.
I agree with you 100% on your assessment of "then vs. now" in terms of ambitious TV shows, yet these epics aren't being tackled. I have a theory that the Epic might be too "sincere" for today's age. Think about the MCU; we like our operas to be jokey these days.
I'm not the only one? SHE'S THE BEST!
shareShe's has greatest boob?
shareDid someone say she is the greatest actress ever? Or is you asking this question just an original way of stating your disdain of her acting ?
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