Illinois Entertainer March 2014 | Page 16

By Rob Fagin SOMETHING ABOUT PHILIP comedian Russell Brand, "the efficiency of heroin in neutralizing pain." This absolutely is not meant to excuse Hoffman's tragic decisions, but the words should hopefully be potent enough to inspire the humble reflection that we do not know what he was going through, for the simple reason that we were not him. Life is mind-boggling and gargantuan; it cannot be defined by one event, it does not fit into a box. First up: Hard Eight (101 min) Watching the right pair of movies back-to-back can illuminate wildly different details, create a whole new viewing experience and, just maybe, BLOW your MIND. Plus, it's fun! Here's your monthly guide: P hilip Seymour Hoffman, a ferociously vulnerable and inventive actor, died last month with a needle in his arm. We know that already. We have the intoxicating luxury of ultimate knowledge, and so, seemingly, we can take his life and box it up and label it. Of course, he had no such luxury. Obviously, as someone who was living as a sober, recovering addict for well over twenty years, he probably had fears of an addict's death. But, even though the fates had in store for him a lonely apartment with heroin as his Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 1996 Availability: DVD, Netflix Streaming, Amazon Instant "There's that guy again!" was the familiar reaction to his face in the late '90s. He specialized in small but dynamic roles: A loathsome social elitist in The Talented Mr. Ripley, who single-handedly amped-up the nauseous tension as the first character to see Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Talented Mr. Ripley through Ripley's game. As the sleepily only company, Hoffman certainly did not unflappable, relentlessly uncool rock journallive his life as though that were all he had to ist, Lester Bangs, who crashes down perspective on his impressionable protégé in Almost look forward to. The father of three young children, he Famous. A perverted prank caller in was constantly promoting with profound Happiness; a snobbishly flustered personal enthusiasm his projects, the craft of acting assistant in The Big Lebowski; a caring nurse itself and the honor of an intense work ethic. desperate to help a dying patient in Magnolia; Since his first splash in Scent of a Woman and a sad, smitten, self-hating porno boom (1992), he averaged two to four movies operator in Boogie Nights. And yet, today I'll take the opportunity to almost every single year - in fact, he's got three in the can for 2014. He directed and direct you to one of