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30th Anniversary of 'I'm Breathless'


Arckangel
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I'm Breathless is a fun album.  i remember when first listening to this album in my own bedroom how my family who overheard me listening to the album, later told me it sounded stupid.  what do they know?

28 minutes ago, Arckangel said:

True. Maybe Madonna should give movie acting another try someday.

she is a horrible actress. she looks great on screen and has great moments but she tries to hard as an actress. even in Dick Tracy she comes off pretty bad.  with so much going on in the film, her bad acting isnt as awful as some other acting in films.

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On 5/22/2020 at 8:09 PM, Gilbert said:

I'm Breathless is a fun album.  i remember when first listening to this album in my own bedroom how my family who overheard me listening to the album, later told me it sounded stupid.  what do they know?

she is a horrible actress. she looks great on screen and has great moments but she tries to hard as an actress. even in Dick Tracy she comes off pretty bad.  with so much going on in the film, her bad acting isnt as awful as some other acting in films.

Not to me. I have seen a lot of her movies (A Certain Sacrifice, clips from Vision Quest, Desperately Seeking Susan, Shanghai Surprise, a clip from Bloodhounds of Broadway, Who's That Girl, Dick Tracy, A League of Their Own, Body of Evidence, Dangerous Games/Snake Eyes, Four Rooms, Evita, The Next Best Thing, Die Another Day, Swept Away), and I never noticed anything bad, amateurish or mediocre about her acting—always seemed natural to me (she did study acting in 1979).

Keep in mind she's also acting in her music videos, esp. those like Oh Father, Bad Girl, Take a Bow (helped her obtain her starring role in Evita), The Power of Good-Bye, Ghosttown and God Control.

It's not fair to call J-Lo a "triple threat" and not Madonna; Madonna's just as good at acting, and even did three stage plays: Goose and Tomtom, Speed-the-Plow and Up for Grabs. Obviously, she was passionate about it. (People just had a bias against her as an actress just like many have a bias against her as a singer/vocalist or even as a dancer).

Just go back and watch that scene from A Certain Sacrifice where a man sexually assaults her in the toilet of a diner... The way she cried and was so distraught afterwards. That was real acting, and I definitely felt the emotion.

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Regarding Vogue... I've always felt it fits the soundtrack album. It is preceded by Now I'm Following You Pt. 2, which has some more modern, electronic elements. It then segues into Vogue, a house track, which is fitting. The song Vogue references to stars of past decades, quite some of which were active during the thirties, the time the movie is set.

As for the music video, it recalls the look of films and photography from The Golden Age of Hollywood, which is once again fitting. And it's the best ending the album could get.

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32 minutes ago, Arckangel said:

Not to me. I have seen a lot of her movies (A Certain Sacrifice, clips from Vision Quest, Desperately Seeking Susan, Shanghai Surprise, a clip from Bloodhound of Broadway, Who's That Girl, Dick Tracy, A League of Their Own, Body of Evidence, Dangerous Games/Snake Eyes, Four Rooms, Evita, The Next Best Thing, Swept Away), and I never noticed anything bad, amateurish or mediocre about her acting—always seemed natural to me (she did study acting in 1979).

Keep in mind she's also acting in her music videos, esp. those like Oh Father, Bad Girl, Take a Bow (helped her obtain her starring role in Evita), The Power of Good-Bye, Ghosttown and God Control.

It's not fair to call J-Lo a "triple threat" and not Madonna; Madonna's just as good at acting, and even did three stage plays: Goose and Tomtom, Speed-the-Plow and Up for Grabs. Obviously, she was passionate about it. (People just had a bias against her as an actress just like many have a bias against her as a singer/vocalist or even as a dancer).

Just go back and watch that scene from A Certain Sacrifice where a man sexually assaults her in the toilet of a diner... The way she cried and was so distraught afterwards. That was real acting, and I definitely felt the emotion.

i never mentioned J-Lo. not sure why you brought her up when quoting me?  i dont compare Madonna to anyone but herself. shes simply not a good actress from all the movies ive seen her make. she certainly has had her moments in films. i will give her that.  im willing to agree to see her in another film but not for acting. shes done enough to prove she isnt very good even in films i still enjoyed or what ive seen in her plays.

in music videos shes able to do well because she emotes very well.  its her speaking voice that makes the difference for me. this is why Evita; she came off more convincing.  she rarely didn't have to speak. Desperately Speaking Susan was good but it mostly centered around who she was at the time.  Few other films were okay, but for the most part she tried too hard to be that character.

A Certain Sacrifice is hardly a film to match acting merit too. it was an awful film of exploitation. even madonna knew it was awful and why she tried to block releasing it back in the mid 80's.  she may have had moments in "real acting" but for the most part she was over the top and quite awful in many of her roles.

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Just now, Arckangel said:

@GilbertI was referring to critics in general who consider J-Lo a triple threat and a better actress.

but again doesnt have anything to what i was saying about her acting.  point blank, Madonna is an awful actress. most of her dedicated fans will agree. it doesnt change the fact that some of us still enjoy her presence on film, but it doesnt mean we have to agree shes a good actress.

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I agree @Gilbert her speaking voice is terrible, especially when she is not portraying over the top characters. That is why The next best thing and Swept away are the worst, especially if you compare with the original Swept away. Snake Eyes is the exception, pity the film is bad in itself...

This doesn't happen when she is singing, that's why Evita is absolutely the best and she is a wonderful actress in her videos, from Borderline to American Life. But I think she gave a coherent performance in Who's that girl, too.

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sorry Arckangel I'm not of your opinion I wish I was tho 

the only movie I see Madonna act is Dangerous Games/Snake Eyes

you get some good moments throughout music in both Dick Tracy and Evita - and she sparkles a joy here or there,

but acting itself is not what I see - the movie is celebrated for having her in it not exactly because she is acting.

Now as a director she is waaaaaaaaaaayy more talented as an actress.

But lets we all celebrate 30 years !!!! of Dick Tracy

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13 minutes ago, Enrico said:

I agree @Gilbert her speaking voice is terrible, especially when she is not portraying over the top characters. That is why The next best thing and Swept away are the worst, especially if you compare with the original Swept away.

This doesn't happen when she is singing, that's why Evita is absolutely the best and she is a wonderful actress in her videos, from Borderline to American Life. But I think she gave a coherent performance in Who's that girl, too.

Her speaking voice (when acting) is terrible? I seriously beg to differ. What about her speaking part in Ariana Grande's God is a woman ?


As for A Certain Sacrifice, I know it wasn't overall the best of films, but that scene in the diner, right after the rape, is Oscar-worthy. Madonna's acting in the whole film is good; she worked w/ the material she was given and the circumstances.

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8 minutes ago, Arckangel said:

Her speaking voice (when acting) is terrible? I seriously beg to differ. What about her speaking part in Ariana Grande's God is a woman ?


As for A Certain Sacrifice, I know it wasn't overall the best of films, but that scene in the diner, right after the rape, is Oscar-worthy. Madonna's acting in the whole film is good; she worked w/ the material she was given and the circumstances.

many of us mentioned she had moments with acting. but come on are really comparing her acting merits with a reading in a Ariana Grande video and her in a movie madonna herself wish to forget?  you do as many roles madonna has done youre bound to come out good in a few. what she did in the Grande video wasnt acting!

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As I said, you especially notice that when she portrays a normal character... not God in Ariana video! Some scene in Swept away are so innatural and embarassing.

Still, even in Ezechiel she is not Samuel Jackson (she did much better with the Bible in Beast within):

 

That said, I love I'm Breathless, which I consider her fifth studio album (no we are not starting this again), and I am glad she aknowledged her memorable Oscar performance! I clearly remember that night!!

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1 hour ago, Gilbert said:

many of us mentioned she had moments with acting. but come on are really comparing her acting merits with a reading in a Ariana Grande video and her in a movie madonna herself wish to forget?  you do as many roles madonna has done youre bound to come out good in a few. what she did in the Grande video wasnt acting!

It is professional voice acting—her voice came across as rich, powerful, putting the fear of God in the ears of the listeners, and she has great diction. She wasn't merely reading. Just like her spoken part in Dark Ballet—put the fear of God in the ears of the listeners.

I'm sure other listeners felt that "fear" as well. You see, it's all subjective. As wooden and unnatural as Mo comes across in films to many of you, she comes across as genuine and natural to others. In my case, that may be because when watching Madonna act, I forget about the Madonna persona and focus on the character. Madonna herself was asked if she could act (by Larry King if I recall correctly), and she said: "Yes." To me, Madonna is also a triple threat (singer, actress, dancer). That and more!

A clip of Madonna in Arthur and the Invisibles (professional voice acting):

 

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I’m breathless is an interesting album - some good solid songs on it such as back in business , something to remember, he’s a man - some awful ones too though - I’m going bananas and hanky panky. I think vogue was only tacked on to boost the sales and I don’t think it belongs on here. Would love to hear some unreleased demos and the dick Tracy songs were cool too - I think it was quite brave of her to do something different And thank god she did most of it with Pat Leonard - another producer could have resulted dire tracks 

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