Best actors

[Simon Darkshade]

With the silly season of the Academy Awards approaching, and various other award thingies tormenting us with their exposure at random intervals, one has once again turned ones thoughts to this most subjective issue: Who are your favourite actors/actresses/neutered acting people, and are they the same as your view of the best actors.


For me, the shortlist of my favourites is something like this : Richard Burton, Kenneth Branagh, Sean Connery, Willem Dafoe, Daniel Day-Lewis, Ralph Fiennes (how the heck do they get Rafe Feens out of that??) Stephen Fry, James Gandolfini, Alec Guinness, Nigel Hawthorne, Jeremy Irons, Mark Lester, Christopher Lee, Liam Neeson, Robert Redford, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Ed Norton, Peter O'Toole, Richard Harris, Laurence Olivier, William Hurt, Donald Sutherland, Max Von Sydow, Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood.

From this 25 man list, the real frontrunners are Redford, Fry, Irons, Von Sydow, Neeson and Wood. The current winner is Elijah Wood.

As to the 'best', rather than favourite, it is a competition between Burton, Olivier and Von Sydow, with Max Von Sydow the best I have seen in my opinion.
The gap between the two winners is closing, however, with the more quality work the former produces raising him towards the stage where he would get both. Certainly he was the best actor of his age since Mark Lester, methinks.

So, 'favourite' and 'best'. Are they the same for you, or different?

 

[dannyevilcat]

Best Actors: Kevin Spacey, Gary Oldman, Edward Norton, Benicio del Toro, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi.

Favorites: All the above, plus Joe Pesci (only as a gangster), Marlon Brando, Brad Pitt, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Jude Law, William H. Macy.

I didn't include favorite actresses because my judgement is clouded by how hot they look rather than actual talent, although Rene Zellweger has both

Maybe I'll think of more.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Jack Nicholson. The man is a god.

 

[Kublai-Khan]

Jodie Foster and Woody Allen.

 

[ApocalypseKurtz]

Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, Robert DeNero, Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Marlon Brando, Russell Crowe, Samuel L Jackson

 

[ApocalypseKurtz]

Originally posted by dannyevilcat
Best Actors: Kevin Spacey, Gary Oldman, Edward Norton, Benicio del Toro, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi.

Favorites: All the above, plus Joe Pesci (only as a gangster), Marlon Brando, Brad Pitt, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Jude Law, William H. Macy.

Maybe I'll think of more.

All these as well; especially Steve Buscemi, Brad Pitt, Jude Law. Buscemi in Ghost World, Pitt in 12 Monkeys, and Law in Talented Mr Ripley and Gattaca are all amazing performances

 

[gonzo_for_civ]

Mel gibson, his latest movie was absolutely captivating.

 

[SuperR]

Tom Robbins, Nick Nolte, Robert DeNiro, Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Liam Neeson, Kevin Spacey, John Cleese.

By the way, I really thought Elijah Wood gave a poor performance in LoTR, as well as every other actors in this movie. Maybe because the directing was so poor, I don't know... but I was REALLY disappointed by every aspect of this movie except the visual presentation. Didn't please me at all, and I've read the books.

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Originally posted by SuperR
By the way, I really thought Elijah Wood gave a poor performance in LoTR, as well as every other actors in this movie. Maybe because the directing was so poor, I don't know... but I was REALLY disappointed by every aspect of this movie except the visual presentation. Didn't please me at all, and I've read the books.

HERETIC!!!!!!!!!
The vast array of opinions on subjective matters such as film mean that there will be great differences in interpretations and judgement of films and performances. Suffice it to say, I differ diametrically from your view, and you will come to a proper way of thinking after 40 years in the gulag.
And my judgement on Elijah is not based only upon LOTR, but all of his movies, which are most sublime and magnificent.

 

[polymath]

Well said, Darkshade. Release the winged apes!

 

[Rowan]

Anthony Hopkins.......[dance] [dance]

 

[Johnny_c]

I'll second Anthony Hopkins

He has a great attitude towards acting and I really like how he can command a scene without saying anything.
I really didn't think I would like "Hearts in Atlantis" because it seemed too mushy and supernatural. I avoided watching it because I thought it might lower my opinion of Hopkins but after seeing it, I really thought he did a great job even if the rest of the movie wasn't exactly golden.

Also, Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs is, for me, the best character in any movie. The quiet sociopath who is infinitely patient and observant.

 

[dannyevilcat]

All these as well; especially Steve Buscemi, Brad Pitt, Jude Law. Buscemi in Ghost World, Pitt in 12 Monkeys, and Law in Talented Mr Ripley and Gattaca are all amazing performances

Yes, Buscemi was great in Ghost World!

New additions (that haven't already been listed): Willem Dafoe, Giovanni Ribisi, Richard Harris, Christopher Walken, Robert Duval, Chazz Palminteri and Ed Harris.

 

[allan]

Tom Hanks is very good. He's played a wide variety of different characters, and I've never seen him a slouch in any of them....

Others of my favorites include Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Robin Williams, James Earl Jones, Robert DeNiro, Sylvester Stallone, Larry Fishburne, Danny DeVito, John Travolta and Samuel Jackson.

Favorite actresses (based on talent, not looks --although some have both) include Jodie Foster, Sigourney Weaver, Sally Fields, Bridget Fonda, Ally Sheedy, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

I know I'm excluding some worthy mentions, but that's what happens when you cough up a list like this....

 

[SuperR]

*ahem*

I am NOT an heretic! I absolutely WORSHIP the LoTR trilogy. I just thought the movie did not do justice to Tolkien's works.

I must agree that the visual rendition of Shire, the Mordor, and everything else was very well done. THere are things that I imagined different, but that did not displeased me a bit. Anyways, we do not interpret everything the same...

However, I must state that the movie was made awkwardly. It seemed that it was made for childs in many aspects (Bilbo having a monster-ish face in Rivendell), the accent on battle, war and monsters, while sometimes the action was too intense for a children to watch.

Moreover, I thought that Saruman's character was VERY VERY weak. His introduction was very poorly made and they make us feel he's been bad forever. It seems like the creators of the movie did not read the Silmarillion at all.

Another point is Boromir, another very weak character in the movie. You could feel from the beginning he was a traitor, Aragorn seems already suspicious when they meet in Rivendell. However, in the book, nobody is suspecting him. They could have made that part better.

Another poorly-made scene in my opinion was the counsel at Elrond's house. I really really feel it was Star-Warsished, that is, made for the kids to understand the concept of the plot. Maybe it was necessary to widen their audience so they could pay their huge bill...

To conclude, I thought they missed the point of the journey. They made too much emphasis on battles and not enough on friendship, which is bonding the characters together. Tolkien would be a bit sad of this movie towards the scenario and the overall construction of the movie. However, everyone must agree that the visual effects were awesome. But, which huge-budgeted movie hasn't?

That's my opinion.