goodbye bob
April 30, 2014 6:07 AM Subscribe
Bob Hoskins, legendary British actor, has died aged 71. He is perhaps best known for his roles in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (clip), Hook (clip), Mona Lisa and The Long Good Friday, where he delivered one of the best movie endings ever.
Excerpt from a 2012 interview with Bob in The Guardian:
Excerpt from a 2012 interview with Bob in The Guardian:
What do you owe your parents?
Confidence. My mum used to say to me, "If somebody doesn't like you, fuck 'em, they've got bad taste."
Who would play you in the film of your life?
Danny DeVito.
What's the worst thing anyone's said to you?
Aren't you Danny DeVito?
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posted by the man of twists and turns at 6:11 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by the man of twists and turns at 6:11 AM on April 30, 2014
I think I'll always remember him as Eddie Valiant, and as the gleefully nasty repairman of Terry Gilliam's Brazil.
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posted by kewb at 6:13 AM on April 30, 2014 [19 favorites]
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posted by kewb at 6:13 AM on April 30, 2014 [19 favorites]
By all accounts Bob was a kind and generous man, as well as being a cracking laugh. He was a staple of my childhood in Hook and Roger Rabbit and I am so sad to be in a world where he isn't. Goodbye, Bob. Thank you for everything.
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posted by fight or flight at 6:13 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by fight or flight at 6:13 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Roger Rabbit: Yeah. Check the probate. Why, my Uncle Thumper had a problem with HIS probate, and he had to take these big pills, and drink lots of water...
Eddie Valiant: Not prostate, you idiot, PROBATE!
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posted by inturnaround at 6:13 AM on April 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
Eddie Valiant: Not prostate, you idiot, PROBATE!
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posted by inturnaround at 6:13 AM on April 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
What a loss. He was always watchable, even in not-so-great films.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:13 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:13 AM on April 30, 2014
Gutted right now. So many childhood memories - our copy of who framed roger rabbit was practically threadbare.
posted by halcyonday at 6:14 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by halcyonday at 6:14 AM on April 30, 2014
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(the Acme portable hole in our hearts)
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:14 AM on April 30, 2014 [41 favorites]
(the Acme portable hole in our hearts)
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:14 AM on April 30, 2014 [41 favorites]
Another notable role was in Pink Floyd's The Wall
posted by I am the Walrus at 6:15 AM on April 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by I am the Walrus at 6:15 AM on April 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
He was always just so good in every role, even when the movie wasn't up to much. He could play anyone from Nikita Khrushchev and Benito Mussolini to some ordinary, kind-hearted schmuck, in any dramatic or comic role. I remember him in Mrs. Henderson Presents ("Oh, you are Jewish."), Enemy at the Gates, Mermaids, Hook, and Felicia's Journey. I really must make a point of checking out more of the movies listed on his IMDB page.
Go in peace, Bob.
posted by orange swan at 6:17 AM on April 30, 2014
Go in peace, Bob.
posted by orange swan at 6:17 AM on April 30, 2014
Also worth watching in Dennis Potter's BBC TV serial Pennies From Heaven. The original, and much darker than the Steve Martin movie that was based on it.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:18 AM on April 30, 2014 [16 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:18 AM on April 30, 2014 [16 favorites]
And is that a young Piece Brosnan holding the gun?
There is a good story about how Bob got into acting - he went to meet a friend who was auditioning, got drunk in the theatre bar, and auditioned by accident.
posted by Major Tom at 6:19 AM on April 30, 2014
There is a good story about how Bob got into acting - he went to meet a friend who was auditioning, got drunk in the theatre bar, and auditioned by accident.
posted by Major Tom at 6:19 AM on April 30, 2014
How is that we're this far in the thread without someone mentioning the Mario Brothers movie?
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 6:20 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 6:20 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
Several people already said he was good even in horrible movies, Bulgaroktonos.
RIP, Bob.
posted by Curious Artificer at 6:22 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
RIP, Bob.
posted by Curious Artificer at 6:22 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
"You don't crucify people! Not on Good Friday!"
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posted by lalochezia at 6:23 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
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posted by lalochezia at 6:23 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
Bob on the Mario Brothers:
"The worst thing I ever did? Super Mario Brothers. It was a fuckin' nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks their own agent told them to get off the set! Fuckin' nightmare. Fuckin' idiots."And on grief, and acting:
When his dad finally died, he was bereft, but left with a horrible numbness. "People talk of the curse of the actor ..." He stops and starts again. "Acting is like therapy, expressing the most extreme emotions and passions that a human being's capable of. Then inevitably tragedy hits your own life, and all your family and friends gather round quite sincerely and openly show their pain, share their grief and comfort each other.posted by fight or flight at 6:23 AM on April 30, 2014 [42 favorites]
"But you immediately click into acting mode, and you know that you're fucking acting." He sounds distraught as he tries to explain the emotional vacuum. "You just can't help going into it, and it's dishonest. It is really fucking dishonest. You're starting to act, not expressing yourself properly. So you close down, and then you wind up on the outside. So fucking lonely. People cry, and you start doing that and you know it's a technique, this is bullshit. It really struck home."
. Damn, this is a serious loss.
posted by octothorpe at 6:24 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by octothorpe at 6:24 AM on April 30, 2014
There was a time when he was in just about every third movie I liked, pretty much always playing a completely different character with accent to match.
He was also a playwright, one of his works being 'All For the Nation', a grimly amusing one-act play from the 70's in the Frankenstein vein with perceived no-hopers being harvested by a dystopic government/military to be transformed into programmable biological killing machines by a kindly scientist in a basement. It's worth tracking down.
I was sad to hear of his retirement a few years ago due to ill health because I knew I'd miss his acting (and I have, I was seriously just thinking of him a few days ago) and I'm even sadder now because it really is the end.
Good thing his work lives on, as cliched as that might sound.
posted by h00py at 6:25 AM on April 30, 2014 [8 favorites]
He was also a playwright, one of his works being 'All For the Nation', a grimly amusing one-act play from the 70's in the Frankenstein vein with perceived no-hopers being harvested by a dystopic government/military to be transformed into programmable biological killing machines by a kindly scientist in a basement. It's worth tracking down.
I was sad to hear of his retirement a few years ago due to ill health because I knew I'd miss his acting (and I have, I was seriously just thinking of him a few days ago) and I'm even sadder now because it really is the end.
Good thing his work lives on, as cliched as that might sound.
posted by h00py at 6:25 AM on April 30, 2014 [8 favorites]
(swings off to repair vents and ducts)
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posted by The Whelk at 6:27 AM on April 30, 2014 [7 favorites]
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posted by The Whelk at 6:27 AM on April 30, 2014 [7 favorites]
Always underrated he was exceptional in Mona Lisa.
posted by fullerine at 6:28 AM on April 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by fullerine at 6:28 AM on April 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
Everyone should see Last Orders - Hoskins along with Helen Mirren, Michael Caine, Ray Winstone. A film that never gets as much recognition as it deserves.
posted by kokaku at 6:30 AM on April 30, 2014 [10 favorites]
posted by kokaku at 6:30 AM on April 30, 2014 [10 favorites]
Well, there goes my screenplay where Bob Hoskins and Joe Pesci team up to take out a bunch of thick-jawed overmuscled Aryan-looking motherfuckers by just being smarter.
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posted by Etrigan at 6:34 AM on April 30, 2014 [7 favorites]
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posted by Etrigan at 6:34 AM on April 30, 2014 [7 favorites]
How is that we're this far in the thread without someone mentioning the Mario Brothers movie?
Nobody wanted to speak ill of the dead.
posted by zamboni at 6:35 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Nobody wanted to speak ill of the dead.
posted by zamboni at 6:35 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Like i am the walrus, I recall him first as Pink's manager in Pink Floyd The Wall.
RIP, Bob.
posted by terrapin at 6:35 AM on April 30, 2014
RIP, Bob.
posted by terrapin at 6:35 AM on April 30, 2014
First thing I remember him in was a wonderful British series called Flickers.
posted by JanetLand at 6:37 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by JanetLand at 6:37 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Also worth watching in Dennis Potter's BBC TV serial Pennies From Heaven.
He was absolutely phenomenal in this, masterfully delivering a performance that had to swing between a pathetic yet creepy protagonist in the Depression-era storyline and a happy-go-lucky singin' & dancin' hero for the musical numbers. (He was, of course, superb even in small roles, such as a menacing Central Services worker named only Spoor in Brazil.)
RIP, Bob, and ta much.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:39 AM on April 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
He was absolutely phenomenal in this, masterfully delivering a performance that had to swing between a pathetic yet creepy protagonist in the Depression-era storyline and a happy-go-lucky singin' & dancin' hero for the musical numbers. (He was, of course, superb even in small roles, such as a menacing Central Services worker named only Spoor in Brazil.)
RIP, Bob, and ta much.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:39 AM on April 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
A Behind the Scenes look at "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" before and after the animation composite.
posted by KMB at 6:40 AM on April 30, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by KMB at 6:40 AM on April 30, 2014 [7 favorites]
(There was no shortage of problems with Super Mario Bros but Bob wasn't one of them)
RIP
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posted by mazola at 6:41 AM on April 30, 2014
RIP
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posted by mazola at 6:41 AM on April 30, 2014
I had always heard the name "Bob Hoskins" and had never put a face to it. Then I watched Felicia's Journey and realized, "Whoa--this Bob Hoskins is good."
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posted by Beardman at 6:42 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by Beardman at 6:42 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Bob Hoskins is an icon to me. If I think of a gangster I don't think of De Niro or Pacino. George C. Scott once said that a key to acting was to show the audience (subliminally) that you are having fun. I always sensed that from Scott and Hoskins even when they were fully immersed in their characters.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:45 AM on April 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:45 AM on April 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
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He was always a damned good actor, even in the lousy films.
posted by Alnedra at 6:46 AM on April 30, 2014
He was always a damned good actor, even in the lousy films.
posted by Alnedra at 6:46 AM on April 30, 2014
I knew this was coming -- he retired from acting last year following a diagnosis of Parkinsons, and I figured for him to retire the disease must already have made acting impossible. It upset me then, as he was a monumental talent, and also because it was obvious that he was on a decline, and what a miserable exit for a man who exited so explosively in so many films.
He produced a body of work that can stand against anyone's. My pick, just at this moment: The gangster Owney Madden from Coppola's The Cotton Club. His scenes with Fred Gwynn in it are a master class in bullying affection. He was better than anybody at revealing the broken heart at the middle of so many monsters.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 6:48 AM on April 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
He produced a body of work that can stand against anyone's. My pick, just at this moment: The gangster Owney Madden from Coppola's The Cotton Club. His scenes with Fred Gwynn in it are a master class in bullying affection. He was better than anybody at revealing the broken heart at the middle of so many monsters.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 6:48 AM on April 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
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And, yes, that is a very young Pierce Brosnan in that last posted clip.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:49 AM on April 30, 2014
And, yes, that is a very young Pierce Brosnan in that last posted clip.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:49 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by Pope Guilty at 6:50 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:50 AM on April 30, 2014
And I have to include my favorite Hoskins anecdote (courtesy of Wikipedia):
"He was slated to be a last-minute replacement in the film The Untouchables if star Robert De Niro had not decided to play Al Capone. When De Niro took the part, director Brian De Palma mailed Hoskins a cheque for £20,000 with a "Thank You" note, which prompted Hoskins to call up De Palma and ask him if there were any more movies he didn't want him to be in"
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:51 AM on April 30, 2014 [29 favorites]
"He was slated to be a last-minute replacement in the film The Untouchables if star Robert De Niro had not decided to play Al Capone. When De Niro took the part, director Brian De Palma mailed Hoskins a cheque for £20,000 with a "Thank You" note, which prompted Hoskins to call up De Palma and ask him if there were any more movies he didn't want him to be in"
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:51 AM on April 30, 2014 [29 favorites]
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@Major Tom: It was Brosnan. And Helen Mirren was in it, too. A truly great film.
Hoskins was also memorable in A Prayer for the Dying.
posted by quidividi at 6:53 AM on April 30, 2014
@Major Tom: It was Brosnan. And Helen Mirren was in it, too. A truly great film.
Hoskins was also memorable in A Prayer for the Dying.
posted by quidividi at 6:53 AM on April 30, 2014
How is that we're this far in the thread without someone mentioning the Mario Brothers movie?
Nobody wanted to speak ill of the dead.
It must be pointed out that Hoskins could have decided to phone it in for Super Mario Bros., but he didn't. He was the one truly watchable thing in an otherwise unwatchable movie.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:54 AM on April 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
Nobody wanted to speak ill of the dead.
It must be pointed out that Hoskins could have decided to phone it in for Super Mario Bros., but he didn't. He was the one truly watchable thing in an otherwise unwatchable movie.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:54 AM on April 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
He was one of those character actor who made you realize how much better it was to be a character actor than a traditional leading man. Always gave a great performance, no matter what the quality of the material.
I didn't see Who Framed Roger Rabbit until just a couple of years ago, and it struck me that no matter how good the cartoon parts were, it wouldn't have worked without the right actor in the human lead. I can't think of anyone else of his generation who could have pulled it off with just the perfect tone. He could have gone up against Cagney or Bogie or any of the real noir greats.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:54 AM on April 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
I didn't see Who Framed Roger Rabbit until just a couple of years ago, and it struck me that no matter how good the cartoon parts were, it wouldn't have worked without the right actor in the human lead. I can't think of anyone else of his generation who could have pulled it off with just the perfect tone. He could have gone up against Cagney or Bogie or any of the real noir greats.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:54 AM on April 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
Sad to see someone check out at the relatively young age of 71. So long Bob. Loved you in Brazil.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:57 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:57 AM on April 30, 2014
I'll second the mention of FELICIA'S JOURNEY -- the first thing I thought of when I heard the news. The film is excellent, and he's really good in it, too. Ebert's review is well worth reading.
For an actor to need to interact with characters, objects, sets -- whatever! -- that will be added in later in post-production (and do it convincingly!) is not really out of the ordinary now, but in 1988, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? -- and Hoskins' performance in it -- were both breaking new ground.
posted by orthicon halo at 7:01 AM on April 30, 2014 [22 favorites]
For an actor to need to interact with characters, objects, sets -- whatever! -- that will be added in later in post-production (and do it convincingly!) is not really out of the ordinary now, but in 1988, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? -- and Hoskins' performance in it -- were both breaking new ground.
"... Hoskins gave this performance and we could all see the imaginary rabbit. Hoskins' eyes stopped three feet from his head, stopped where the rabbit would be, and all the takes were identical. We couldn't believe it. I rang up and said, 'I'm eating crow. Hoskins is perfect.' He had this incredible ability to concentrate on this imaginary thing."(source)
Hoskins, 46, credits this ability, in part, to watching his then-3-year-old daughter, Rosa, playing with her imaginary friend, Jeffrey.
"When you're a kid, reality and imagination is all part of the same thing," notes Hoskins. "But as we get older we push the imagination further and further away from reality - it's right at the back of the head. But with kids, it's right at the front, and they can take it out and look at it. So Rosa actually taught me how to do it, how to have an invisible friend.
"But the problem is, if you do it for six months, 16 hours a day, you lose control of it. I started to hallucinate. We could be sitting here and I'm trying to hold a very sensible conversation with you, trying to look like a sane, stable man, and there's a weasel p-ing in your glass of water."
posted by orthicon halo at 7:01 AM on April 30, 2014 [22 favorites]
RIP Bob and thanks especially for the unique and deeply weird Raggedy Rawney
posted by runincircles at 7:01 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by runincircles at 7:01 AM on April 30, 2014
I think I may have said this somewhere before, but I had the opportunity to see Roger Rabbit again recently -- for the first time since I was a kid -- and I was really really delighted to see how well it held up. It's not just a technical marvel, but it really works wonderfully as a revisionist film noir. In every way, it's a better sequel to Chinatown than the actual sequel to Chinatown was.
RIP Bob.
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posted by .kobayashi. at 7:01 AM on April 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
RIP Bob.
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posted by .kobayashi. at 7:01 AM on April 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
I hope he died the way he lived: never knowing what a freeway was.
posted by The Notorious SRD at 7:02 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by The Notorious SRD at 7:02 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
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I first noticed him in Mona Lisa, where he kinda broke my heart. I think I enjoyed every other thing he did though. RIP, Bob, I'll sure miss you. :(
posted by Archer25 at 7:04 AM on April 30, 2014
I first noticed him in Mona Lisa, where he kinda broke my heart. I think I enjoyed every other thing he did though. RIP, Bob, I'll sure miss you. :(
posted by Archer25 at 7:04 AM on April 30, 2014
"He was slated to be a last-minute replacement in the film The Untouchables if star Robert De Niro had not decided to play Al Capone. When De Niro took the part, director Brian De Palma mailed Hoskins a cheque for £20,000 with a "Thank You" note, which prompted Hoskins to call up De Palma and ask him if there were any more movies he didn't want him to be in"
I remember hearing that he might be cast as Al Capone and being quite disappointed that the role went to De Niro.
He would have been absolutely brilliant in the role.
So,
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posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 7:05 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
I remember hearing that he might be cast as Al Capone and being quite disappointed that the role went to De Niro.
He would have been absolutely brilliant in the role.
So,
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posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 7:05 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Kate Hardie is tweeting about her experiences acting with Bob on Mona Lisa:
I was 17 when I did Mona Lisa. Was v vulnerable due to subject. Bob Hoskins stayed on set whenever I was working even if he was wrapped. Xxxposted by fight or flight at 7:09 AM on April 30, 2014 [12 favorites]
Bob Hoskins was a total gentleman with brilliant morals who took great care of me when I was young and exploitable....
Bob Hoskins was also a director and when I expressed an interest in my 20s- got me in to sit next to him whilst he edited. Generous man! Xx
Hugely sad. Can't think of many actors who explored masculinity with such tenderness.
Bob Hoskins -goodbye lovely man and a huge thankyou!
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The worst part is that I just learned about this from an article on Polygon, which identified him primarily as the star of the Super Mario Brothers movie. Had to come here and find the . thread just to get the stink off.
posted by McCoy Pauley at 7:12 AM on April 30, 2014
The worst part is that I just learned about this from an article on Polygon, which identified him primarily as the star of the Super Mario Brothers movie. Had to come here and find the . thread just to get the stink off.
posted by McCoy Pauley at 7:12 AM on April 30, 2014
What a terrific life; I'm sorry he didn't get more time, and that we won't get more of his prodigious talent. Really nice to read these stories about him.
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posted by theora55 at 7:13 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by theora55 at 7:13 AM on April 30, 2014
I liked him so much as an actor, and he seemed like a real mench.
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posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:16 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:16 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by smoothvirus at 7:17 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by smoothvirus at 7:17 AM on April 30, 2014
So good in so many different roles, and even when acting in grim or scary parts, somehow he managed to convey the sense that he was having fun doing it, too.
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posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 7:23 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 7:23 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
I guess the merry-go-round broke down.
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posted by JHarris at 7:24 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
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posted by JHarris at 7:24 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Always loved him in everything, and as others have said here, would stop and watch anything I came across if he was on-screen. Like this film of The Secret Agent, which has, for a movie that doesn't get much attention, a remarkable cast--Hoskins, Patricia Arquette, Christian Bale, Gerard Depardieu, Jim Broadbent, and Eddie Izzard. It's a great story (and book) and Hoskins captures well the simultaneously sinister, tragic, and bumbling lead.
posted by oneironaut at 7:29 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by oneironaut at 7:29 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
Bob's footprint was so big his death came as a special announcement on the radio. The Long Good Friday was my first impact from that boot and it's been there forever.
You were a giant, Bob.
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posted by arzakh at 7:38 AM on April 30, 2014
You were a giant, Bob.
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posted by arzakh at 7:38 AM on April 30, 2014
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Devastating to me. My favourite actor and a childhood hero from Roger Rabbit--which was on constant rotation in our house.
Last week I was re-watching Brazil with my fiancée and excitedly pointed him out like a kid when Spoor shows up at Lowry's door.
Matthew Dessem's essay on Mona Lisa serves as such a great exploration of one of his best roles. I reread it this morning and teared up at the last full paragraph before the bullet points.
posted by whittaker at 7:41 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
Devastating to me. My favourite actor and a childhood hero from Roger Rabbit--which was on constant rotation in our house.
Last week I was re-watching Brazil with my fiancée and excitedly pointed him out like a kid when Spoor shows up at Lowry's door.
Matthew Dessem's essay on Mona Lisa serves as such a great exploration of one of his best roles. I reread it this morning and teared up at the last full paragraph before the bullet points.
posted by whittaker at 7:41 AM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
While we're doing recommendations, I really loved him in the underrated Made in Dagenham. It's an almost quintessential Bob role -- working class, pro-union, gruff but good-hearted and kind to the women he mentors. Works excellently as a unicorn chaser to Long Good Friday.
posted by fight or flight at 7:42 AM on April 30, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by fight or flight at 7:42 AM on April 30, 2014 [8 favorites]
He did a cockney Iago with Anthony Hopkins in an old BBC production of Othello. They were both really good.
posted by Trochanter at 7:44 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by Trochanter at 7:44 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by localroger at 7:49 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by localroger at 7:49 AM on April 30, 2014
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Thank goodness I've got a copy of WFRR right next to my dvd player. Time to go watch it I think.
(Not to derail, but there is nothing technical in that movie that wouldn't hold up against the best VFX we have today. It was years ahead of its time, and the reason it all worked was Bob Hoskins.)
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:56 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Thank goodness I've got a copy of WFRR right next to my dvd player. Time to go watch it I think.
(Not to derail, but there is nothing technical in that movie that wouldn't hold up against the best VFX we have today. It was years ahead of its time, and the reason it all worked was Bob Hoskins.)
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:56 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
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posted by saulgoodman at 7:56 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by saulgoodman at 7:56 AM on April 30, 2014
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(BTW - Sundance TV has Mona Lisa free-on-demand, if anyone gets this channel through their cable service.)
posted by wheek wheek wheek at 8:00 AM on April 30, 2014
(BTW - Sundance TV has Mona Lisa free-on-demand, if anyone gets this channel through their cable service.)
posted by wheek wheek wheek at 8:00 AM on April 30, 2014
I have a short list of actors who, if I see any of their names in the cast of a movie, I know will give a performance worth watching, so the movie won't necessarily be a complete waste of time.
Gene Hackman
Ned Beatty
Jack Elam
Bob Hoskins was also on that list. These men can turn even dreadful material into something worth watching.
People here are listing roles he did, but no one has listed his part as the Color Sergeant in "Zulu Dawn", which is what I remember best.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:08 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Gene Hackman
Ned Beatty
Jack Elam
Bob Hoskins was also on that list. These men can turn even dreadful material into something worth watching.
People here are listing roles he did, but no one has listed his part as the Color Sergeant in "Zulu Dawn", which is what I remember best.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:08 AM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Nthing the love for Mona Lisa, which I think is even better than The Long Good Friday (which is excellent). Mona Lisa is streaming in its entirety on YouTube, so you really have no excuse not to watch it if you haven't seen it already.
posted by Rangeboy at 8:14 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by Rangeboy at 8:14 AM on April 30, 2014
Yeah, you could tell he was a pro. Always brought it no matter the role.
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posted by OHenryPacey at 8:15 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by OHenryPacey at 8:15 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:18 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:18 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 8:22 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 8:22 AM on April 30, 2014
Thick as Thieves with John Thaw (most famously Inspector Morse) in the early 70s. That was the stuff. RIP.
posted by fncll at 8:57 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by fncll at 8:57 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Did Hoskins ever meet DeVito?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:10 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:10 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by rockyrelay at 9:15 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by rockyrelay at 9:15 AM on April 30, 2014
Hoskins, 46, credits this ability, in part, to watching his then-3-year-old daughter, Rosa, playing with her imaginary friend, Jeffrey.
That anecdote is wonderful, but also incredibly sad to think about his daughter today, now approximately 28, losing her father. I lost both my parents this year, and I'm in my late 30s. I'm sure everyone must feel this to some degree, but there's this acute part of the pain that comes from feeling like I lost them too early, that only having been able to know them for about thirty years is just unfair. I always had it in my head that parents are supposed to stick around until you're in your fifties or something, but of course there are no guarantees. Still, because I have that model stuck in my head, I not only feel the melancholy of not being able to call them up or go see them, but this vague sensation that they were taken from me far too soon.
Anyway, my heart goes out to his family. They're no more important than any other family experiencing loss, but no less important either.
posted by gern at 9:29 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
That anecdote is wonderful, but also incredibly sad to think about his daughter today, now approximately 28, losing her father. I lost both my parents this year, and I'm in my late 30s. I'm sure everyone must feel this to some degree, but there's this acute part of the pain that comes from feeling like I lost them too early, that only having been able to know them for about thirty years is just unfair. I always had it in my head that parents are supposed to stick around until you're in your fifties or something, but of course there are no guarantees. Still, because I have that model stuck in my head, I not only feel the melancholy of not being able to call them up or go see them, but this vague sensation that they were taken from me far too soon.
Anyway, my heart goes out to his family. They're no more important than any other family experiencing loss, but no less important either.
posted by gern at 9:29 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hugely sad. Can't think of many actors who explored masculinity with such tenderness.
That. That right there is what put him above the rest in the world of gangster flicks.
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posted by jason_steakums at 9:36 AM on April 30, 2014
That. That right there is what put him above the rest in the world of gangster flicks.
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posted by jason_steakums at 9:36 AM on April 30, 2014
He was a marvelous actor. Naturally funny and wonderfully passionate about the craft. Such a loss. :(
Here's the Guardian's full coverage:
Bob Hoskins dies aged 71, Obituary, A career in clips, A career in pictures , Xan Brooks pays tribute, Family and film industry pay tribute.
* 2014: Patrick Barkham meets Bob Hoskins
* 2014: Hoskins interviewed on the set of Outside Bet
* 2010: This much I know: Bob Hoskins
* 2008: Bob Hoskins: what I know about women
* 2007: 'The Method? Living it out? Cobblers!' - Simon Hattenstone meets Hoskins
* 2002: Graham Swift on shooting Last Orders with Hoskins
* 2001: Lynn Barber meets Hoskins
* 1999: Suzie Mackenzie meets Hoskins
Esquire has a fun roundup of his quotes:
"I've played so many historical characters because most horrible dictators are short, fat, middle-aged men."
"[On the set of Hook] We had Dustin Hoffman apologising for making Ishtar. And [Steven] Spielberg apologising for 1941 and Robin Williams jumping in and saying: 'I apologise for Cadillac Man. I was sitting there and shouted 'Well, I apologise for f**king nothing!'"
"The worst thing I ever did? 'Super Mario Bros.' It was a f**kin' nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks, their own agent told them to get off the set! F**kin' nightmare. F**kin' idiots."
"When you get to my age, what you want is the cameo. You get paid a lot of money. You fly in for a couple of weeks. Everybody treats you like the crown jewels. It's all great and if the film turns out to be a load of s**t, nobody blames you.
"I'm Winnie the Pooh - that's as sexy as I am. I meet ladies and they talk about their family and I talk about my family. It's about as sexy as a bag of Brussel sprouts."
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posted by zarq at 9:41 AM on April 30, 2014 [6 favorites]
Here's the Guardian's full coverage:
Bob Hoskins dies aged 71, Obituary, A career in clips, A career in pictures , Xan Brooks pays tribute, Family and film industry pay tribute.
* 2014: Patrick Barkham meets Bob Hoskins
* 2014: Hoskins interviewed on the set of Outside Bet
* 2010: This much I know: Bob Hoskins
* 2008: Bob Hoskins: what I know about women
* 2007: 'The Method? Living it out? Cobblers!' - Simon Hattenstone meets Hoskins
* 2002: Graham Swift on shooting Last Orders with Hoskins
* 2001: Lynn Barber meets Hoskins
* 1999: Suzie Mackenzie meets Hoskins
Esquire has a fun roundup of his quotes:
"I've played so many historical characters because most horrible dictators are short, fat, middle-aged men."
"[On the set of Hook] We had Dustin Hoffman apologising for making Ishtar. And [Steven] Spielberg apologising for 1941 and Robin Williams jumping in and saying: 'I apologise for Cadillac Man. I was sitting there and shouted 'Well, I apologise for f**king nothing!'"
"The worst thing I ever did? 'Super Mario Bros.' It was a f**kin' nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks, their own agent told them to get off the set! F**kin' nightmare. F**kin' idiots."
"When you get to my age, what you want is the cameo. You get paid a lot of money. You fly in for a couple of weeks. Everybody treats you like the crown jewels. It's all great and if the film turns out to be a load of s**t, nobody blames you.
"I'm Winnie the Pooh - that's as sexy as I am. I meet ladies and they talk about their family and I talk about my family. It's about as sexy as a bag of Brussel sprouts."
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posted by zarq at 9:41 AM on April 30, 2014 [6 favorites]
whittaker: " Matthew Dessem's essay on Mona Lisa serves as such a great exploration of one of his best roles. I reread it this morning and teared up at the last full paragraph before the bullet points."
Oh, this is wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing it.
posted by zarq at 9:51 AM on April 30, 2014 [10 favorites]
Oh, this is wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing it.
"Bob Hoskins tells an amazing story about Michael Caine on the commentary track that's too great not to reproduce in its entirety:I met Michael in Mexico. I was doing a film in Mexico with him. [Presumably Beyond the Limit] The first time I ever met Michael, he got ahold of me, he said, "''Ere. C'mere. I wanna talk to you." He says, "You've got a lot of talent and you're gonna earn a lot of money. And there's fings you do with your money and there's fings you don't do with your money, and the first fing you don't do with your money is buy a fucking boat, right?" Every time I see him: "I ain't bought a boat, Michael, I promise you." "Buy a house. That's better.""
posted by zarq at 9:51 AM on April 30, 2014 [10 favorites]
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posted by Joey Michaels at 10:00 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:00 AM on April 30, 2014
I thought he was already impressive in the monumental Pennies From Heaven, as noted above; then I saw him in Thomas Middleton's "The Changeling", and was completely blown away.
As great an actor as anyone ever. He will be missed.
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:19 AM on April 30, 2014
As great an actor as anyone ever. He will be missed.
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:19 AM on April 30, 2014
I thought he gave a fantastic performance in Hollywoodland. He didn't have many scenes but they were crucial and he pretty much stole the film for me.
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posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:36 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:36 AM on April 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hook didn't do it for me, but oh man Roger Rabbit did. And really it all came down to him. Looking back at it the movie feels stylized—like you can feel the sets and the crew behind the camera—but his performance doesn't. He was wonderful.
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posted by Brainy at 11:11 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by Brainy at 11:11 AM on April 30, 2014
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We just watched the Rifftrax take on Super Mario Bros just this last weekend. It was hilarious and awesome and ended in a long conversation about how we loved Bob.
posted by Theta States at 11:15 AM on April 30, 2014
We just watched the Rifftrax take on Super Mario Bros just this last weekend. It was hilarious and awesome and ended in a long conversation about how we loved Bob.
posted by Theta States at 11:15 AM on April 30, 2014
He was part Sinti.
Oh, that? That's in every contract.
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posted by Herodios at 11:25 AM on April 30, 2014
Oh, that? That's in every contract.
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posted by Herodios at 11:25 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by Halloween Jack at 11:35 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:35 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by Sticherbeast at 11:48 AM on April 30, 2014
posted by Sticherbeast at 11:48 AM on April 30, 2014
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posted by heatvision at 12:04 PM on April 30, 2014
posted by heatvision at 12:04 PM on April 30, 2014
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posted by New England Cultist at 12:13 PM on April 30, 2014
posted by New England Cultist at 12:13 PM on April 30, 2014
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posted by dannyboybell at 12:20 PM on April 30, 2014
posted by dannyboybell at 12:20 PM on April 30, 2014
Who needs a car in L.A.? We have the best public transportation system in the world.
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posted by tommasz at 12:37 PM on April 30, 2014
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posted by tommasz at 12:37 PM on April 30, 2014
Words cannot express my love for TLGF. Much like its sibling in the British Gangstre genre, it has an innate sense of time and place that infuses the entire film with a weighty reality. Hoskins is perfect in it as a man used to being in control who gradually realizes he may be in over his head, and whose habit of solving things like a gang boss proves his undoing. The final scene is astonishing, even if it's a bit of an actorly exercise (in an improv class I was asked to do something similar), made all the more terrifying by the single shot of Mirren being driven in the opposite direction. What a career-making film. I'm bumping some of his films up my Netflix queue, but alas, The Last Orders is one they don't have right now, more's the pity.
posted by dhartung at 12:57 PM on April 30, 2014
posted by dhartung at 12:57 PM on April 30, 2014
I had no idea about his illness, so this really came as a shock to me. In an odd bit of coincidence, my husband and I just watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit? two days ago (me for the umpteenth time, but I hadn't seen it in many years; him for probably the second time ever). We both thoroughly enjoyed it. (Sidenote: Having grown up with that movie on repeat and having no other real association with Hoskins' work for a long time, it blew my mind when I learned he was English.)
You will be missed, Mr. Hoskins.
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posted by pitrified at 1:08 PM on April 30, 2014
You will be missed, Mr. Hoskins.
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posted by pitrified at 1:08 PM on April 30, 2014
An unforgettable actor, who could make an also-ran film memorable and a good film great, just by being in it. I've long regarded his Beria in The Inner Circle as the single most frightening film performance I've ever seen; and it is all implied rather than shown. I can't think of another actor who could even approach it.
He's been in a lot of things that mattered to me, some very obscure, so much so that I feel a kind of connection, and this makes me really sad.
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:40 PM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
He's been in a lot of things that mattered to me, some very obscure, so much so that I feel a kind of connection, and this makes me really sad.
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:40 PM on April 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
Oh, such sadness. The last thing I saw him in was Snow White and the Huntsman and I loved him in that.
That clip from the end of The Long Good Friday is amazing.
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posted by BibiRose at 2:02 PM on April 30, 2014
That clip from the end of The Long Good Friday is amazing.
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posted by BibiRose at 2:02 PM on April 30, 2014
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posted by Kevin Street at 2:45 PM on April 30, 2014
posted by Kevin Street at 2:45 PM on April 30, 2014
Between Hook, WFRR, and Super Mario Brothers (and never having seen Mona Lisa Smile), I had set Bob Hoskins in my mind as "jovial funny guy, pretty good actor". And then I saw Unleashed, where he is the VERY VERY BAD MAN who 'owns' Jet Li, and he totally owned that fucking role in a completely not-chewing-the-scenery way, and it completely set me on my ear.
Godspeed, Bob.
posted by hanov3r at 5:31 PM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Godspeed, Bob.
posted by hanov3r at 5:31 PM on April 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Oh, Rifftrax did Super Mario Bros? I think I might double bill that with Roger Rabbit this weekend.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:39 PM on April 30, 2014
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:39 PM on April 30, 2014
Bob. Thank you for all you brought to the screen... big and small.
You will be remembered as a Titan.
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posted by PROD_TPSL at 6:23 PM on April 30, 2014
You will be remembered as a Titan.
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posted by PROD_TPSL at 6:23 PM on April 30, 2014
Will miss his mortal presence on the planet. Wishing him an excellent resonance in the universe.
posted by nickyskye at 10:19 PM on April 30, 2014
posted by nickyskye at 10:19 PM on April 30, 2014
I first saw him on television, in 'On the Move' in the late '70's, an educational series dealing with the subject of adult literacy. He played Alf, a removal man with problems in reading and writing. Right from the off, he was completely "real" on screen.
RIP Mr Hoskins -- you did us proud.
posted by On the Corner at 12:01 AM on May 1, 2014
RIP Mr Hoskins -- you did us proud.
posted by On the Corner at 12:01 AM on May 1, 2014
If you haven't seen Felicia's Journey, for God's sake do. Hoskins was a revelation in that.
But yeah, Brazil. "Nah look wot you've dahn to 'im!" Superb.
posted by Decani at 4:01 AM on May 1, 2014
But yeah, Brazil. "Nah look wot you've dahn to 'im!" Superb.
posted by Decani at 4:01 AM on May 1, 2014
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posted by PippinJack at 5:20 AM on May 1, 2014
posted by PippinJack at 5:20 AM on May 1, 2014
Jesus, I never knew that Smee and Eddie Valiant were the same actor. Clearly I've been missing out.
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posted by ashirys at 7:46 AM on May 1, 2014
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posted by ashirys at 7:46 AM on May 1, 2014
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