Farewell, Gravitas

Philip Seymour Hoffman very well might have been the greatest movie actor I've ever seen -- and  I've seen a shit-ton of movies.  His appearance in anything elevated it.  He was someone we were gonna believe when whoever he was playing said anything.   He had that presence.  He had gravitas.  Since we got punched yesterday, in thinking of PSH, I tried to think of other actors who've had what he'd been giving us.  I'm not really into comparing things, but I think I had to go back to Orson Wells and Charles Laughton to find anyone like Philip in that way.  Boom, you were with them. you wanted to see what their character would do.   Philip was like that.  The best movies aren't just good, they're fun.  He made them fun by making us believe and taking us along.   I think there are a lot of great actors right now Robert Downey Jr. is great, Matt Damon is, River Phoenix is, Amy Adams is , Jennifer Lawrence is, and there are others who or notably really good these days, too. We are lucky.  But we lost someone rare and irreplaceable yesterday, and movies are going to be less fun without him.

I haven't written much about pop culture on here in a few years, but this made me sad.   I'm grateful for what he gave.