Newman

I like movies, but I can't claim to be a film buff. I can't walk you down Newman's imdb page and discuss point-for-point the finer aspects of his lesser-known roles. I've only seen Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid once, I've seen most of Cool Hand Luke but not all of it (and on tv, no less), and I even haven't ever really sat down and watched Slapshot. But after hearing that he died Friday after battling cancer, I started thinking about some of the films I had seen him in. I enjoyed Butch Cassidy the one time I saw it. The Sting is awesome, and probably responsible for my love of the artfully concealed late reveal. The Hudsucker Proxy is my favorite Cohen Bros. movie, due in no small part to Sidney J. Mussburger. And Road to Perdition, his last physical movie role, is a fantastic and massively overlooked film. Newman is notable in all of these films because he stands out, because his character stays with you after the credits. He doesn't steal his scenes, either-his performance make the whole movie better. Obviously he hadn't done a film since '02, and his health made it unlikely that he'd have done any new major films. But it still sucks to lose someone that good.