SHELLEY DUVALL

Love love love her.

Whenever I see her I think of fish. I think of fish when I see Susan Sarandon too.

Fish. Okay. Is there a particular kind of fish you think of? Bass? Grouper? Red snapper?

I’ll tell you, that’s how great an actor Duvall is — she really is a fish!

Love her in many films, but absolutely hate her in that horrible, unbearable Brewster McCloud.

Olive Oil?

As Susan Sarandon is of Welsh descent, she must be a Gwyniad (Coregonus pennantii) from Lake Bala

No, that looks more like Shelley Duvall.

Is this the real Justin Vicari…I presume from the profile, yes.
Thanks so much for the topic. I just saw a screening of THE SHINING last night, great crowd, sat in the front row, movie’s perfect. And Shelley Duvall is great in it, whatever Kubrick said about her.

really? shelley duvall? love? her?

There’s a lot to love. How could Kubrick have been so tough on her- 127 takes!?- and she was great in Three Women too.

multi-talented, TV series producer.

Say it loud!

But she’s so unbelievable anorexic it scares me.

She’s just such a natural woman — not perfect, not overly sexy — just very real, self-effacing at times, but with a core dignity. For the most part Altman brought out her true personality (L.A. Joan in Nashville is a departure somewhat), whereas Kubrick was intent on stripping away that dignity. Although she maintains it in the end. She refuses to let Jack push her to the point where she would kill him, for instance. She never completely gives up hope that things will suddenly go back to normal. It’s our hope, too, as the audience.

Maybe the most undervalued actress in Hollywood in recent times—Altman and even Kubrick really appreciated her and that fortunately assures that all real cineastes will place her in the top rung.

It’s odd that after the first 80s, she wasn’t offered good films anymore… practically.

She’s the greatest thing ever. Faerie Tale Theater? Three Women Popeye?? What is NOT to love, honestly!?

Boy she’s good in Three Women. It takes an extraordinary actress to stand up to Sissy Spacek, and Duvall does it with flying colors. Goddamn.

She was also great in Annie Hall by Woody Allen.

REPORTER
(Looking down at him)
I hope you don’t mind that I took so long
to finish.

ALVY
(Sighing)
Oh, no, no, don’t be … tsch … don’t
be silly. You know,
(Yawning)
I’m startin’ it-I’m startin’ to get some
feeling back in my jaw now.

REPORTER
Oh, sex with you is really a kafkaesque
experience.

ALVY
Oh, tsch, thank you. H’m.

REPORTER
I mean that as a compliment.

Her performance sells The Shining. Had she not delivered that hysteria, that terror, that sense of having been pushed just this side of complete breakdown, I’m not sure if the film would have worked. It would have been creepy, yes, but she’s the audience’s window into the picture, and man, does she make you feel it.

And I love Popeye and I don’t care what you think about that.

Now I have “He’s Large” stuck in my head. Thank you, Justin Vicari.

“Brewster McCloud” is brilliant. It was her first acting job. She had actually been working as a tour guide in the Astrodome.

“Three Women” is Altman’s masterpiece and her performance in it is as uncanny as Maria Casares in “Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne.”

Yeah, David, that’s what I was trying to get at — she can sometimes appear as “more than a woman,” a meta-woman. And at the same time self-effacing. I feel like she must practice transcendental meditation and have reached a very high level, like near invisibility.

lol, you’re welcome, Josh. Well, the only way to get it out is to go to the very next Karaoke night and belt it out!

Love her.

I love her too. Especially THIEVES LIKE US. That’s a forgotten film, for you. In a thread devoted to her, the film that has her best performance is not even mentioned.

This is all I really need to say.

I do not like her. I just can’t stand looking at her. Yes, that’s a very un-cinephile thing to say, but I feel the same way about Kirsten Dunst. Some people I just don’t like to look at for an extended period of time.

Maybe it’s all this bravado swimming through me. :(

Well, your bravado leads you to attack a woman, who never did anything to you, lol. Quite a proud moment, I should say. :)

Oh no, don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate her as a person. I don’t hate anyone. I just don’t like her on screen. I can meet her (or Kirsten Dunst) and have a riveting conversation, but I don’t want her on my silver screen.