“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.”
It’s with a heavy heart that Hollywood rises this morning. Philip Seymour Hoffman, arguably the greatest actor of this generation, died over the weekend – just 46 years old. You want to talk about range? Watch PSH go from sharting in Along Came Polly to winning an Oscar for Capote in ONE YEAR. There will be long articles and grandiose testaments to just how great this man was, but for now let’s just sit back and appreciate nine of the best Philip Seymour Hoffman scenes YouTube will allow us to stream.
Boogie Nights
The pain and vulnerability are nearly unbearable. We’ve all been where PSH is by the end of this scene in one way or another. Maybe not in a new car crying over a pornstar, but you know what we mean.
The Master
More intense than the insult is the nine seconds PSH takes to gather himself afterward. There is an entire world of belief going on in this character – and Hoffman makes us believe in that belief so effortlessly. Did we mention belief?
Punch Drunk Love
Is this the greatest ‘shut up’ in cinematic history? It may well be. Skip to 1:56 to feel PSH’s full wrath.
Capote
As Geoff Pevere said in his fantastic piece in this morning’s Globe and Mail, this is “a performance that traded in insecurity, bravado, repressed sexuality, calculation, manipulation, narcissism and self-loathing all at once, and which seemed so true to a particular configuration of randomly converged human traits that it somehow managed to feel more real, or more revealing, than the real man who inspired it.” Any scene would suffice to showcase Hoffman’s talent. We choose this one.
Magnolia
‘This is that scene’. How many times have actors referenced movies while starring in a movie and it instantly made you disbelieve in the whole thing? Probably a lot more often than they’ve actually made you believe even more in the reality of the film. The fact that Hoffman can deliver such a bad line and make you trust it is a wonder all to itself.
Moneyball
Look at PSH’s face for the three seconds after Pitt asks him if he has a minute. This is EXACTLY what you look like when you don’t like your boss and he wants to talk to you.
The Big Lebowski
We imagine the conversation went something like this: “You see The Dude? We want you to be his antithesis.”
Almost Famous
Immortalize Lester Bangs? No big deal, just another day at the office for Hoffman. Seriously, what wouldn’t you have done for PSH for $35? Wait, don’t answer that.
Along Came Polly
This scene invented a word, and Hoffman makes you believe his character really could have come up with that word. For an added bonus, check out this Raindance; just make sure you brought your A game – it’s definitely something Philip Seymour Hoffman always did.
#LYNL | (Live Your Notable Life)
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