Seymour Cassel (1935-2019)

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mfunk9786
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Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
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Seymour Cassel (1935-2019)

#1 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Apr 08, 2019 3:54 pm

Seymour Cassel

We're losing all the good ones.

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swo17
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Re: Passages

#2 Post by swo17 » Mon Apr 08, 2019 3:55 pm

:(

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Passages

#3 Post by FrauBlucher » Mon Apr 08, 2019 5:10 pm

Oh shit. I was contemplating watching Love Streams the other day. Now I have to

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bearcuborg
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2007 2:30 am
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Re: Passages

#4 Post by bearcuborg » Mon Apr 08, 2019 5:44 pm

Richard Brody said some really insightful things about Cassel’s on screen persona during his time with Cassavetes. It’s also a testament to Seymour’s craft that Wes Anderson’s most authenticly tender moment comes when Max dedicates the play to his mother, and we see his father’s reaction. At least based on the last Anderson movie I’ve been able to watch a many years ago...

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tarpilot
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Re: Passages

#5 Post by tarpilot » Mon Apr 08, 2019 6:52 pm

Watched In the Soup for the first time this year. An okay movie made essential by his amazing performance.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
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Re: Passages

#6 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Mon Apr 08, 2019 7:30 pm

I heard even in late age, he never lost the spark he had from his Cassavetes-era. I have a friend who attests to being with Seymour Cassell after he had a few drinks and then proceeding to piss on the side of a brand new luxury car because he hated the car and what it stood for. I met him once and got him to sign my Criterion copy of Faces. He signed it and then said "Wait a minute! I'm not even on the cover". I told him he was on the back so he laughed and said "I'll sign that too".

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Blutarsky
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Re: Seymour Cassel (1935-2019)

#7 Post by Blutarsky » Mon Apr 08, 2019 8:58 pm

One of Cassel’s best roles was Max Fischer’s father in Rushmore. The scene in which Blume finally meets Mr. Fischer is one of those scenes in which Cassel’s supporting role as Max’s devoted Father steals the show for sure. Cassel really embodies that Wes Anderson affection in his character’s for sure. Also, Cassel as Esteban in The Life Aquatic and Dusty in Royal Tenenbaums deserve major credit even though he isn’t center stage. His charm in all of those films made up my teenage years.

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Zinoviev
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Re: Seymour Cassel (1935-2019)

#8 Post by Zinoviev » Mon Apr 08, 2019 10:57 pm

I never saw him give a bad performance. I treasure his work with Cassavetes and he's probably my favorite of Anderson's stock company, but even in small, practically cameo roles -- as Steve Buscemi's ice-cream-vending uncle in Trees Lounge, or as a roguish city manager in the off-kilter Bartleby (2001) -- he always seemed to have this amazing ability to make any movie better simply by showing up. What a presence.

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colinr0380
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Re: Seymour Cassel (1935-2019)

#9 Post by colinr0380 » Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:30 pm

I think my first introduction to Seymour Cassel (and Cassavetes) was in that perfectly chosen (albeit spoilery!) sequence near to the end of Faces as shown in Martin Scorsese's Personal Journey Through American Movies film. That resuscitation scene between his character and Lynn Carlin's is relieving, funny and sad at the same time, and brings a whole new dimension to the idea of the lothario brought in to make a woman feel wanted sexually again doing a better service for her. Cassel also gets that great exit from the film getting chased out of a bedroom window, across some roofs (and out of the film) by the angry husband as the new day dawns for the married couple.

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Re: Seymour Cassel (1935-2019)

#10 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Apr 12, 2019 7:59 am

Blutarsky wrote:
Mon Apr 08, 2019 8:58 pm
One of Cassel’s best roles was Max Fischer’s father in Rushmore. The scene in which Blume finally meets Mr. Fischer is one of those scenes in which Cassel’s supporting role as Max’s devoted Father steals the show for sure.
Of all the things I remember about that movie, one of them is the look on his face when Max dedicates the Vietnam play to his mother.

Gave Slash his name, according to whom that Cassel was also friends with Keith Richards.

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