Jose Feliciano, You Got No Complaints: The Steve Buscemi Poll

of all ive seen i just really like his work in boardwalk empire i think

Watching his sweetness in Parting Glances after his '90s run was an eyeopener.

Major points for his attempt at dancing to Ashford & Simpson's "Solid" in Ghost World.

Had to check, for my sanity, that he was in Desperado. Guess not a large part though.

Plenty of good stuff to vote for outside of the Tarantino/Coen universe. Give it a try!

how condescending.

voted for Trees Lounge if you must know.

I actually watched Reservoir Dogs again for the first time in years but it wasn’t him or Keitel I was struck by, it was Roth.

Anyway Ghost World.

Also, Pulp Fiction is a bit of a cheeky inclusion since iirc he’s the Buddy Holly in the diner who gets maybe one line? He “doesn’t seem like much of a waiter.”

But seriously, Ghost World. His mother coming to collect him at the end and the therapist closes the door on them both and rolls her eyes! My heart went out to him.

his exasperation with Harvey Keitel and Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs always makes me smile

where are my Con Air people at

Hard to justify Pulp Fiction, I know--ditto The Wedding Singer--but it seemed wrong to leave them out. He's funny in both.

Very hard for me to choose between his most famous roles: Fargo, Reservoir Dogs, Ghost World, and The Sopranos. (Didn't get very far with Boardwalk Empire, don't like him at all in The Big Lebowski.) I like Trees Lounge too.

Ghost World is the one I hope wins the poll, but voting Parting Glances

The last time I watched Fargo I had a lot of fun watching all the different ways he’d calibrate his performance with each different character. You get to see him in scenes with all these different characters, each of whom he has a slightly different relationship & status with, and Buscemi does a really fun job at playing each scene in a way that conveys the different ways he feels about each person, and the how he wants to be seen by them. He puts on a slightly different performance depending on what he needs, and he lets us see that he’s putting on that different performance with each one without making a huge deal about it. On the one hand that’s all very basic acting class stuff, but on the other hand it still would have been easy not to make those choices and just kinda play it the same across the board and still get laughs and be memorable. Just a great example of really smart character acting.

Just watched Living in Oblivion for the millionth time, one of the funniest comedies of the 90s and a great lead performance by our guy.

His appearance on the Gilbert Gottfried podcast (particularly after everything goes wrong halfway in) is all-time.

He's so great in The Sopranos. It would have been very easy for him to reprise some variation on his Fargo or Reservoir Dogs characters and stay close to the lowlife hood, but if anything, at least for his first few episodes, he goes the Ghost World route: a thoughtful guy who wants to get out of the life and become a massage therapist. (Tony, as always, can't seem to comprehend this.) It makes his eventual downfall all the more tragic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LmnzA5k2kc

Con Air was the weird casting, like...his demeanor has always scanned more like 'menacing, quirky low-life' than serial killer, and his performance wasn't very convincing. and then all the dialogue they gave him was "HI, please 2 listen to this listicle of all of this serial killy things I've done before", which I know serial killers do actually do, but usually only when being interviewed by investigators so they can brag about their crimes and get them etched into public record.

Fargo, meanwhile, is a brilliant performance, every bit of it the id of a guy who is perpetually aggrieved by really small things, whose aggravation at his sociopathic partner is less the sociopathy and more 'not doing things the proper way', similar to being charged for changing one's mind about parking in a lot. chemistry between him and Stormare (insofar as how they're the WORST POSSIBLEY PAIRED criminal team) is perfect.

kind of scratches a similar itch to Mr Pink in Reservoir Dogs, like he's an unhinged guy who isn't afraid to kill people but what upsets him most of all is people not doing things the way he believes they should be done, like all of the times he hilariously brags how he's a professional and nobody else is.

Worth noting the Sopranos episodes he directed, notably "Pine Barrens."

an utter classic

had no idea he directed it

It’s sad how little of this I’ve seen - and I like the man as a performer.

Voted “The Wedding Singer”.

(Was thinking of going super obscure for a film he’s barely in, but it wasn’t an option here: “The Island”.)

self-taught, no lessons

Voted “The Wedding Singer”.

Had to look that up on YouTube! (Is he in the film earlier too, or just the final scene?)

he's in the opening scene, crashing the wedding singer's toast

“You’re not even my brother in law and you fxxxing shot me…”

Worth noting the Sopranos episodes he directed, notably "Pine Barrens."

― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

Would vote for this if it were a standalone option tbh

Will probably vote "Trees Lounge", which is one of my favorites and obviously made a big impact on David Chase, but that whole Blueshammer scene in "Ghost World" where he vainly tries to explain the difference between country blues and ragtime to his table companion is priceless.

he was great in boardwalk. his character as written was a total cypher, probably the least interesting character on the page, but he elevates the material and makes himself a worthy center of the huge ensemble

slightly tempted to vote for his 30 rock performance, which will probably outlive him and us all by some years

gotta be fargo tho, for reasons one eye open and neanderthal stated well

xpost shame that the show itself went to shit in Season 5, because it had something going up until then.

his relationship with Billie felt like the only time he actually cared deeply about someone beyond their usefulness to him

Trees Lounge is a well-scripted, well-observed little film generous towards its characters: one of my favorite directorial debuts by an actor.

Trees Lounge is a good movie.

Mystery Train was the first thing I saw him in. I think his storyline with Joe Strummer is my favorite in the movie.

Kansas City is not great but he is really good as the politician’s muscle getting out the vote.

TV appearances of famous people together that you would never have expected to be together but make you happy all the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dztQhGg2uRc

For Buscemiheads, Miracle Workers is good fun. You get to have him as a comedy lead and he plays God in the first season.

No Horace & Pete?

Dunno if it’s his best but I voted 30 Rock

(xpost) I definitely goofed on Horace and Pete, sorry. I meant to include any TV with more than four or five episodes, and I remember I had it on the list at one point--I was cutting and pasting, and I think it accicdentally got dropped. Haven't seen it myself.

He's only in Miller's Crossing for like 20 seconds as basically a one-joke character, but what he pulls off is still some kind of olympic feat.

I love Trees Lounge, I remember liking his 2nd directorial effort Animal Factory but now recall zero about it. I just went on wikipedia and was surprised to see he's directed three more features since then, I'm curious to check those out now.

Just caught Trees Lounge on Prime. That's some Peak '90s AmeriIndie right there. (And a hilarious bit of plot overlap with Ghost World: Young Ladies Love Uncool Steve)

I voted for Tony Blundetto from The Sopranos. It really splits the difference between the shy, underdog Ghost World guy and the lowlifes from Reservoir Dogs and Fargo. And he ends up being so central to everything that happens the last season, up to and including the famous ending.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

low voter turnout

Can't argue with the tie at the top. I don't remember him in Big Fish, but I do remember despising that film.