RIP: Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014)

 Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, the chameleon of contemporary actors, was found dead Sunday, ostensibly the victim of a self-inflicted heroin overdose.

bangsAt age 46, this is a sad loss as Hoffman was just a great talent, so able to look and act differently depending upon the role.

Hoffman did win an Oscar for his role as writer Truman Capote in the 2005 film, Capote.

But, there are basically three films Hoffmans, I really loved, all three of which had great music floating around in a direct or indirect fashion.

Boogie Nights-Hoffman played the sexually confused Scotty J, a sort of Gaffer in the world of porn film:  an insecure nerd who has somehow stumbled into the dream world of the repressed voyeur.

The Big Lebowski-This time Hoffman plays Brandt, instead of a Gaffer, he is a gopher for David Huddleston’s other Lebowski, a wonderfully restrained brown-noser. My favorite line of Hoffman’s is “Well Dude, we just don’t know.”

Almost Famous-My favorite of Hoffman’s roles, as he plays the great–and also sadly late and nihlistic–rock critic Lester Bangs. Bangs, who penned the iconic definitive rock critique book Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, died of alcohol and drug abuse, and now Hoffman has followed.

So sad.

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