This is a heads-up for fans of Philip Seymour Hoffman and of acting. David Denby has a well-written, thoughtful piece on Hoffman at the New Yorker:
Like many actors, he worked from the outside, and then moved in. First the surface: the bulk and the big head were a constant, obviously, but he was able to do wonders with a slight lifting of the chin, or a canting of his head backward, or a shift in the register of his voice. Thinking of his performances, you realize he was a master of tempo.... Often he spoke very slowly, with long, spaced pauses. Much more than most actors, he controlled the flow of time in his movies, and directors must have realized that he knew what he was doing, because you see Hoffman’s command again and again.
... When we lose a dramatic actor like Heath Ledger, he’s not likely to be replaced. And the same is true for a man in his forties like Hoffman. His death leaves an enormous hole that big-studio Hollywood has no commercial reason to fill. It will take the independent cinema years to find his equal.
Fortunately, the influence of independent film on Hollywood has grown over in the past couple of decades.
