The 10 Best Performances in Sydney Lumet’s Movies, Ranked

Few directors understood actors and the craft of acting as Sidney Lumet did, a former child actor who became one of cinema’s great realist directors. Lumet gave his films a documentary like realism, which at the time no one else was doing, though many were influenced and followed suit. By the late seventies, it seemed as though a part in a Lumet film came with an Oscar nomination attached. In the years spanning 1965 through 1977, actors received twelve Academy Award nominations and won three. Lumet himself was nominated four times for Best Director, excelling with stories about man railing against the bigger, often corrupt system. When he stayed on the path of realistic films and subject matter, he was among the most gifted directors working.

Like many of the greats of the seventies he crashed and burned once, with major box office and critical failure of ‘The Wiz; (1978), but rarely again. He moved easily between original screenplays and adaptations of plays or literature, always focusing on the human story. Half of his films were adaptations of plays, some of the greatest works of the stage, as well as modern classics such as ‘Equus’ (1977) which despite superb performances did not make the screen transfer quite so well.

His best period came in the seventies where he was considered to be one of the greatest filmmakers at work, though was never considered in the same class as Coppola, Scorsese, Spielberg, Allen, or Kubrick. Lumet was among the second tier of directors who from time to time moved into the front ranks with his work, ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ (1975) and ‘Network’ (1976) among them.

He was one of the great realists of his time, intensely influenced by the New Italian cinema which emerged after the war. His work in television taught him to shoot economically and fast, but to always pay attention to his actors as they are the connection for the audience.

Al Pacino ready to 'say hello' to Scotland for the first time

'Just when they thought I was out, they pull me back in.'

Oscar-winning star Al Pacino is set to come to Glasgow for the first time on a UK tour celebrating his near 50-year career.

Glasgow’s Clyde Auditorium will host An Evening With Al Pacino on May 19, where the 74-year-old will share personal stories, never seen before footage as well as offering inspiring actors tips on how to succeed.

  (Al Pacino)

 

via STV

Pacino, famous for his roles in classics such as The Godfather and Scarface, said: “I’m looking forward to being in Scotland for the first time, meeting the people and seeing some of Scotland's legendary scenery - it's a breathtaking country."

"Coming to Glasgow will be one of the highlights of the tour for me and I'm looking forward to experiencing a warm Scottish welcome and sharing an evening of engaging conversation and laughter with my Scottish fans.”

Tickets for the May event will go on sale on this Thursday at 9am from www.gigsinscotland.com.
Prices for the event will range from £65 to £150, and there will be a chance to meet the actor face-to-face with meet-and-greet packages on offer.

Al Pacino is coming to Dublin and you can meet the man himself

Legendary Hollywood actor Al Pacino is coming to Dublin for An Evening with Pacino at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre.

The event will see Pacino interviewed about his passion for acting and directing, charting his career from off-Broadway in the 60s up to the present day.

Organisers promise new stories and never before seen clips, and the audience will have the chance to talk directly to the man himself.

For those super fans with a bit of extra cash, organisers are also offering VIP packages including lunch with Pacino, a trip in his private jet, and two kinds of meet and greets. 

Prices in the UK for these packages range from €10417 for lunch to €34722 for a trip in his private jet, with meet and greets ranging from €903 to €3473 - prices for the equivalent Irish VIP packages will be confirmed on Tuesday.

“I’m very excited to be presenting these special events with Al Pacino,” said interviewer Michael Cohl, “He is one of the most talented actors of all time and to see him live, in person, and to hear his stories, and watch him go in and out of his most famous characters, is truly a unique experience”.

Given Pacino's career traverses more than 40 films including The Godfather trilogy, Serpico, Scarface, Donnie Brasco, and Scent of a Woman it's sure to be a fascinating evening.

He last visited Ireland to accept honorary patronage of the Philosophical Society at Trinity College.

An Evening with Pacino takes place at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre Dublin on May 24.  Tickets go on sale Wednesday 1 April at 9.am from all usual Ticketmaster outlets and also through eveningwithpacino.com where a limited number of Meet and Greet Experience packages will be available along with a small number of VIP packages.

Al Pacino offers fans the chance of an intimate meet and greet on board his private jet - for £25,000

Meet and greet: Fans can fly with Al Pacino for £25,000 (Picture: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

Al Pacino is offering die-hard fans the chance to travel with him by private jet - providing they can afford the £25,000 price tag.

Affluent fans will be able to book themselves on to several intimate meet and greet sessions with the 74-year-old actor as he embarks on A Night With Al Pacino in Dublin, Glasgow and London.

Tour operator Event Travel is advertising the 'Amazing Experience' which will see two fans join the Scarface actor and his entourage at Glasgow airport before boarding his private jet and flying to London where they will also enjoy three nights at a five-star hotel, as well as tickets to Pacino's May 22 show at the Hammersmith Apollo.

But for those who would rather meet the Scarface actor on solid ground can pay £2,500 for an intimate meet and greet in the actor’s dressing room, or if they feel like splashing the cash they can opt for the 'Unique Experience' and pay £7,500 to dine with him at his hotel before the show.

Related stories

Here's the full package:
FLY WITH PACINO EXPERIENCE - Glasgow to London 19-22 May 2015
•  Commercial flight ticket from any UK airport to Glasgow
•  Price Level 1 reserved seated ticket for the show in Glasgow on the May 19
•  Join the Al Pacino entourage at the airport in Glasgow to board the private jet
•  Travel on board the private jet with Mr Al Pacino to London
•  Enjoy 3 nights in London at a 5 Star Hotel with complimentary breakfast
•  Price Level 1 reserved seated ticket for the show in London on May 22
•  Transfers from the hotel, venue and airport
•  Itinerary and Event Information
•  VIP Event Hosts
•  24/7 Customer Support

This is how much it costs to hang out with Al Pacino

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The experience comes as part of his three-city speaking tour

A UK-based tour operator is offering fans of Scarface and Godfather star Al Pacino the opportunity to fly with him for £25,000 (or $41,500).

The Daily Mail reported Tuesday that the meet and greet, run by Event Travel, features the travel option to Glasgow as part of Pacino’s three-city speaking tour. “Join the Al Pacino entourage at the airport in Glasgow to board the private jet,” the company states on its website.

The fan who doles out the five-figure sum will also receive three nights at a “luxury hotel,” a ticket for the show, along with a return ticket with Pacino. The dates are from May 19 to 22. There’s a maximum of two VIP guests, according to the itinerary.

Event Travel was not immediately available to confirm the price of the ticket, as first reported by the The Daily Mail. It’s unclear whether anyone has booked the option yet. There are also other options to meet Pacino: A meet and greet experience will set a guest back as much as £650, or $1,080.

According to The Daily Mail:

The speaking series, ‘An Evening with Pacino’, is being marketed as ‘an exceptional opportunity to catch an icon in the flesh’.

Organisers are promising never-before-heard stories and never-before-seen video clips, plus a chance to ask questions.

In 2013, the chance to hear Pacino speak was sold out at the Palladium.

Al Pacino

Al Pacino, in full Alfredo James Pacino   (born April 25, 1940, New York, New York, U.S.), American actor best known for his intense, explosive acting style.

After growing up in East Harlem and the Bronx, Pacino moved at age 19 to Greenwich Village, where he studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio and appeared in many Off-Broadway and out-of-town productions, including Hello, Out There (1963) and Why Is a Crooked Letter (1966). He took further acting lessons from Lee Strasberg and played a small part in the film Me, Natalie in 1969. The same year, he made his Broadway debut and won a Tony Award for his performance in the play Does the Tiger Wear a Necktie? Pacino’s first leading role in a film came with The Panic in Needle Park (1971), a grim tale of heroin addiction that became something of a cult classic.

Director Francis Ford Coppola cast Pacino in the film that would make him a star, The Godfather(1972). The saga of a family of gangsters and their fight to maintain power in changing times, The Godfather was a wildly popular film that won the Academy Award for best picture and earned Pacino numerous accolades for his intense performance as Michael Corleone, a gangster’s son who reluctantly takes over the “family business.” Pacino solidified his standing as one of Hollywood’s most dynamic stars in his next few films. In Scarecrow (1973), he teamed with Gene Hackman in a bittersweet story about two transients, and his roles in Serpico (1973) and Dog Day Afternoon (1975) displayed Pacino’s characteristic screen qualities of brooding seriousness and explosive rage. He also repeated the role of Michael Corleone for Coppola’s The Godfather, Part II (1974), a film that, like its predecessor, won the best picture Oscar.

Pacino’s next few films did not fare as well. Bobby Deerfield (1977) was notable as his first box-office failure since he had become a star. The dark comedy …And Justice for All (1979) featured some of Pacino’s most memorable scenes, but Cruising (1980) and the light comedy Author! Author! (1982) were critical and popular disasters.

In Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983), Pacino returned to the kind of combustible, high-intensity role that had made him famous. As gangster Tony Montana, Pacino gave a highly charged, unrestrained performance that, although loved by some and deplored by others, ranks among his most unforgettable. His next film, Revolution (1985), was an expensive flop, and Pacino did not appear in another film for four years.

Sea of Love (1989), his biggest hit in years, reestablished Pacino as a major film star. He reprised the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Part III (1990), but it was his hilarious portrayal of grotesque gangster Big Boy Caprice in Dick Tracy (1990) that won him a supporting actor Oscar nomination. Frankie and Johnny (1991) and Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), both adaptations of plays, continued his string of well-received films, and he won a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of a bitter blind man in Scent of a Woman (1992). Pacino’s other notable films of the 1990s include Carlito’s Way (1993); Heat (1995), a crime drama in which he played a detective hunting a thief (Robert De Niro); Donnie Brasco (1997), in which he starred as a low-level mobster who unknowingly befriends an FBI agent (Johnny Depp); and Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday (1999). Also in 1999 Pacino appeared opposite Russell Crowe in The Insider; based on real-life events, it examines tobacco companies and their efforts to conceal the dangerous side effects of cigarettes.

Pacino’s prolific acting career continued into the 21st century. In 2002 he starred with Robin Williams in the thriller Insomnia, and he later appeared in Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), the final installment of a popular comedy trilogy that featured George Clooney and Brad Pitt. After skewering his public persona with a role as himself in the Adam Sandler comedy Jack and Jill (2011), Pacino played an aging gangster in Stand Up Guys (2012). He evinced the isolation of a small-town locksmith in Manglehorn(2014) and the late-life epiphany of a rock star in Danny Collins (2015).

In between his big-screen work, Pacino appeared in several television productions for HBO. For his role as homophobic lawyer Roy Cohn in Angels in America (2003), an adaptation of Tony Kushner’s two-part play about AIDS in the 1980s, he won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. His performance as Jack Kevorkian, a doctor who assisted in the suicide of terminally ill patients, in the movie You Don’t Know Jack (2010) earned him the same awards. He later starred as another controversial figure in David Mamet’s Phil Spector (2013), which was set during the embattled record producer’s first trial for murder.

Pacino frequently returned to the stage throughout his career, notably winning a Tony Award for his leading role in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (1977). He also starred in such plays as Shakespeare’s Richard III (1973, 1979), Julius Caesar (1988), and The Merchant of Venice (2010); Mamet’s American Buffalo (1980, 1981, 1983) and Glengarry Glen Ross (2012); and Oscar Wilde’sSalomé (1992, 2003, 2006). In 1992 Pacino originated the role of Harry Levine, a washed-up writer who is depressed about his lack of success, in the Broadway drama Chinese Coffee; he later directed and starred in a 2000 film adaptation. He also directed the documentary films Looking for Richard (1996) and Wilde Salomé (2011), which offered behind-the-scenes looks at two of his stage productions.

Al Pacino Does What He Wants to Do: 'The Humbling,' Scorsese, and That 'Scarface' Remake

He has become something of a critical punching bag of late, a thought that seemed impossible for most of his career. Not that that bothers the legendary actor—he’s still talking.

Al Pacino comes dressed in black and gray, wearing multiple bracelets and an unkempt tuft of hair poking up from his scalp. He speaks in soft whispers, even softer than the ones he uttered as Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’sGodfather Trilogy. This is not the boisterous version of Pacino, the one we saw as Tony Montana in Scarface or as Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman.

Pacino has arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival to promote his filmThe Humbling, which sees him reuniting with Barry Levinson, who he worked with on the critically acclaimed HBO movie, You Don’t Know Jack, about infamous euthanasia activist Jack Kevorkian. After they wrapped up production, Pacino approached the director with a novel by Philip Roth called The Humblingwith the intention of making it his next project. He wanted Levinson on board. “We were very much on the same page in a sense,” the seasoned filmmaker tells The Daily Beast. “I think the way we worked together it would be exciting to do something else. Al really wanted to do a thing about an actor and he’s one of the few movie stars who continue to work in theater over the years, and he can bring a lot to the table.”

The Humbling focuses on Simon Axler (Pacino), a veteran stage actor who loses the desire to act. Unlike Axler, Pacino says he has yet to lose his, though many critics would beg to differ. One glance at his Rotten Tomatoes score over the last decade shows how sharply the press has turned on him. Like his contemporary, Robert De Niro, Pacino has become something of a critical punching bag of late, a thought that seemed almost impossible for the majority of his career. Not that that bothers Pacino. He’s just doing what he wants to do—at least in the 20 minutes I spent with him, where he seemed happy yet driven.

Al Pacino attends the Guess Portrait Studio during 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2014 in Toronto, Canada. (Aaron Harris/WireImage)

Below is an edited version of our conversation, where Pacino discusses The Humbling, whether he’s worried about losing his desire to act, an upcoming project with Martin Scorsese (which, according to Pacino, is still in the works after multiple stop-and-start moments), portraying Joe Paterno in the upcoming filmHappy Valley, and his thoughts on the critical disdain he has faced over the years.

How’s your day going so far? 

Well, I am talking.

[Laughs] Talking?

Yeah, that’s a good sign. I am coming from Venice [Film Festival], so I am a little bit out of the time loop.

Well it looked like you’ve been having a good time the past few months. I just saw a photo of you hanging out with Paul Pierce.

Oh yeah! I was doing something in Vegas and he was there. I was there doing a seminar.

A seminar on what?

On a, well, you don’t call it a seminar. I was sort of doing an interview.

Ah, yeah, when you said seminar I thought you attended some sort of corporate speech.

Yeah, like a podium or something. But I wasn’t doing that. I don’t know how it feels if I was standing at a podium doing something.

So you don’t do speeches?

No, I don’t do that. I prefer questions. I get questions, I can turn it into speeches. That’s what happens when you’re older, it takes you three or four paragraphs before you can get to any point.

I have been looking forward to losing the desire! I am trying not to do anything that doesn’t appeal to me. There’s stuff out there that still does. As Shakespeare says, the play’s the thing. And if you find that play, and assuming it’s good, it ignites you, it stimulates your imagination. You think I haven’t done that. Or, That’s territory I haven’t been in yet. I am at an age now that I can speak to this in some ways. You can get kind of turned on by it, and you say “Gee, I thought I wasn’t going to work for awhile but this is here.”In this film you play Simon Axler, an aging actor who loses his desire to act. Do you ever worry about losing yours?

The Humbling was different, because I read the book and I thought That’s an interesting idea. I can relate. I am an actor, this is a Philip Roth novel. There was something amusing to us about an actor who wants to move on with a new life. I think he feels like What did I miss out on? And there he is out in the world. It seems as though he goes into areas he wouldn’t go into because he’s certainly not used to it and keeps making these profound mistakes.

When you were at Venice promoting The Humbling, you said the best advice you ever got was from Lee Strasberg telling you to constantly “adjust,” or live for the present and avoid reflecting on past failures or glories.

Yeah, I am one of many who live by that! Live in the moment. Seize the day. Sometimes it’s not a bad idea to look at both of them [failures and glories]. I mean, all bets are off.

The reason I bring that up is, aside from the parallel to this film, when it comes to past glories, so many of your earlier projects—The Godfather, Serpico, Scarface—are completely entrenched in pop culture. I feel like it would be very hard to not reflect on them in some way. Do you agree?

Well the truth is, I still sort of don’t [talk about them]. I must say, I am very grateful that I was around, especially in the ’70s, which were kind of a renaissance. But man, I have no memory of the ’70s! You have to understand, I was in another world! I didn’t know what was going on. But I am glad it worked out. So when you meet somebody who met you once—because I meet a lot of people and they know you because you’re an actor—it’s nice to know that when you meet that someone they say, “You were nice to me.” It’s just interesting. I’ve always appreciated the journey. They say it’s not the destination but the journey. So it still means something to me to be able to have an opportunity to be involved with something that I feel I have something to say with. It’s a form of communication. I still love the stage. I like doing that, but I wish I could define how it’s changed, because it has changed.

Acting in general?

Acting in general. I just want to do things that I feel would be in some way part of what I am going through or have some sense of. What you really do as an actor is you try to find in the role something that you can relate to that you feel can ignite you and give you the appropriate energy to commit to it in that way. Some of the movies I did early on I had that in general. Now I would find that it would be hard to do something that I couldn’t say something with.

And the roles you’ve chosen in the last few years definitely reflect that. You played Phil Spector and Jack Kevorkian. You also have Joe Paterno coming up for Happy Valley…

Yeah, we’re working on that.

How’s that going?

It’s developing. I see [the story] as a major fall—it’s a fall of a person.

It’s Shakespearean, Paterno’s story.

It is! Did you see the documentary Happy Valley?

I did. It was very good. 

Stunning movie. And I kept thinking, it’s not the story of Paterno—that’s part of it, but it’s about Happy Valley. And it’s about all of us. It’s the way it’s sort of depicted and the intensity and the thought and how it makes you think. You go feeling one way and you leave and you sort of don’t know what to do.

How’s it being back with Brian de Palma [who’s directing Happy Valley]?

I love Brian. You know that. I love that guy. There’s a few things I am working on now. I am doing a new play with David Mamet.

Are you still doing The Irishman?

The Irishman. Wow. Oh yeah, Steve Zaillian script.

Yeah, and Martin Scorsese directing.

Yeah, [Joe] Pesci, [Robert] De Niro, Bobby Cannavale.

You’ve never done anything with Scorsese, which is interesting because you would assume you would have at this point. 

Isn’t that something?

Have you guys gotten close to doing anything together?

I don’t think I’ve gotten close to doing something with Marty. I know him. He’s such a great director. But I am sure there are other actors who Marty hasn’t worked with.

Of course. But you’re very much associated with that community of actors and filmmakers.

Yeah, I know. But at that period [in the 1970s] we were sort of split. Scorsese made movies with De Niro and I was making movies with [Sidney] Lumet. But I can’t think of a Scorsese movie that I would have been right for.

I assume it will be nice working with Robert De Niro again.

Oh, I love Bobby. I love him. Getting the opportunity to work with him, especially on something that is with one of the greatest directors ever.

Critics weren’t too kind to you and De Niro’s last project, Righteous Kill.

Well, that one was not [pauses]… You want to do something again that you feel good about.

Do you pay attention to critics at all? In the last decade, they have been pretty brutal about the films you’ve done.

Well, something happened, because it’s all about the Internet. How do you not pay attention and then how do you pay attention, is the question. Because you get a sense of things and you get a sense of where it’s going. That’s why you try to just keep going. I have always been aware [of the bad reviews]. It’s not wise to stick [with them]. Unless you can find good criticism, which is hard to do, because you get too subjective.

So, like, constructive criticism?

Yeah, I mean, I love that. I especially like it in live theater. If you know what you’re doing, it’s fulfilling something in yourself, then it doesn’t matter as much. It still matters. We’re all sensitive to it. It’s when you feel a little bit on the fence about what you’ve done and you’re concerned about it. It’s like Tennessee Williams said, “You can always depend on the kindness of strangers.” You can’t do that here [laughs]. You know what I mean?

I mentioned Scarface earlier. Have you heard about this remake Universal is doing?

I’ve heard of it!

What are your thoughts on that? They are kind of changing the story apparently. It’s going to be set in LA.

Well, if it’s inspired by the movie, I think that’s good.

I think it’s inspired by both. The original and yours.

That’s what we were doing. I saw the Scarface with Paul Muni on Sunset Boulevard at the… whatever the name of that theater is, the Tiffany. I said, “Oh I love this Paul Muni so much, I just want to make a movie and imitate him. That’s all I want to do.” And I called [my agent] and said “There is a movie here for us to do now.” It was 50 years old but it says so much. So we got De Palma, we got Oliver Stone to do the screenplay…

I think it’s fascinating the second life the film has taken on, especially in hip-hop.

Yeah, it still goes on. And the fact that it was so eviscerated when it first came out was a bit surprising, because we thought Brian deliberately tried to make it operatic. There was a whole thought in the 1980s, that Wall Street greed thing and this sense of avarice was in the air. And this movie sort of covered it, and it was Brian’s vision, which I went along with completely. I thought it was the way to go. And I think critics didn’t quite follow that. But audiences kept coming and stayed around. And they just kept coming and it had this resurgence. We always felt there was something there. But at the time, like all things, it wasn’t in fashion. The fashion was more in naturalism in films. Low-key stuff. There were so many wonderful movies being made during that. But this came out in a different fashion and it didn’t belong in the pantheon of things.

Do you see a lot of recent films now?

No, I don’t get out that much. I have young children. I did see this wonderful movie, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Ah, yes, I heard about this.

My kids were into it. And then I heard [my quote] was all over the Internet and everything about Marvel. But the truth is, I love the movie. I thought the movie was inventive and funny and interesting and dark sometimes. It was very, very impressive. But it somehow got out [that I wanted to be in a Marvel film]. And I am perpetuating it now, which is fine by me. But I don’t get out much. I always see what are considered the best films. And I try to see offbeat films. Sometimes these good films don’t get a life. Maybe they don’t have stars in it, or even if they have stars in it! I don’t think they get their proper viewing.

I believe films…you know, enough with this watching it on an iPhone! That’s what I love about festivals, you get to watch it on the big screen. I saw The Humblinglast night on the big screen. You see things on the big screen. You can’t pause it. Your experience is different. And that’s the way films were. I think we should have more of that kind of encouragement. When I get to a festival I am still like “I get to see my movie on the big screen!”