Tough to pick a Daniel Day Lewis best performance though..
I'd go for, My Left Foot.
Ed Norton, would have to be Primal Fear or Fight Club and Hoffman is always quality to watch. Alec Guiness again another top actor.
What is your top ten then???
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Is that the film where the little keeps saying "yonder"? If it is I loved that film.
Ah yes good old google...
"Now watch, and I'll show you the story of life. Those fingers, dear hearts, is always a-warring and a-tugging, one agin t'other. Now watch 'em! Old brother left hand, left hand he's a fighting, and it looks like love's a goner. But wait a minute! Hot dog, love's a winning! Yessirree! It's love that's won, and old left hand hate is down for the count!"
I think the actors are only as good as the script/films they have to work with.
2 of my My favs....
Pacino in The Godfather. The way he handles the character transformation is great. Hes great in Dog Day Afternoon but it only really goes to illustrate the limited range of most of the roles hes had since.
Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York. His performance just eats up the screen.
Someone's already said it, but Edward Norton was first class in Primal Fear and American History X.
And then there's this guy...
http://i2.bebo.com/037b/2/medium/200...906126796m.jpg
A top ten performances of sorts:
Bruno Ganz as Hitler in Downfall
Clint Eastwood in, well, any western he's been in
Gene Hackman in the French Connection
Jack Nicholson in The Shining, One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest or As Good As It Gets
Michael Caine in Get Carter
Edward Woodward & Christopher Lee in The Wicker Man
Christian Bale in American Psycho
Peter Sellars in Dr. Strangelove
Pacino and De Niro are my favourites in no particular order.
Its not a terrible film but a bit of a mess in places alrite.
No There Will Be Blood is a good film. In fact Day Lewis performance is the film to some extent. I dont think there is much of it he isnt in. I always like John Cussack in anything Grosse Point Blank in particular. Hackman great in French Connection as is his co star in Jaws. Actually there was a great documentary on the making of the French Connection on the telly there a few years ago when they screened the film. Is probably on the DVD version. Friedkin and Hackman didnt really get on at all so even their recollections of key scenes or meetings are completely at odds.
Interesting nobody putting forward any women....
Grosse Point Blank, one of my favourites. Cusack is always watchable.
I watched 'Money for Nothing' the other night from 1992. Pretty good film. Cusack finds 1.2million in cash on the road and decides to keep it. Only problem is he's not too bright. Based on true events. Worth a look if your a Cusack fan.
Very tough to pick a top ten. I'd probbaly give you a different list tomorrow, but, off the top of my head:
Day Lewis - Gangs of New York/My Left Foot
Pacino - Scarface/Dog Day Afternoon
Jimmy Stewart - Rear Window/It's a Wonderful Life (Yeah soppy as hell, I know :o)
De Niro - Once Upon a Time in America
Alec Guinness - Bridge On the River Kwai/The Ladykillers
Sean Penn - Carlitos Way
Paul Newman - Cool Hand Luke
Jack Nicholson - Cuckoos Nest
Steve McQueen - Papillon
Ed Norton - American History X
Other random thoughts :
Prefer Pacino to De Niro, Brendan Gleeson is best Irish actor, John Cusack is also an excellent shout- Grosse Point Blank superb film, almost included Denzel Washington in top ten for Training Day
If it was confined to TV, then most of the cast of The Wire, would be certs. Michael K Williams who plays Omar is especially good.
Great thread.Seems we have veered more towards greatest ever performances which is proably more interesting
12-Brando-On the Waterfront(cab scene with Steiger is still amazing)
11-Lemmon and Mattau-Odd couple
10.Nicolson-The Shining
9. Ray Milland- The lost Weekend
8 De Niro -Taxi Driver
7 Alec Guiness- The Ladykillers(love it-great choice Tony D)
6 Lee Remick- Days of the wine& roses
5 Mithchum-Night of the Hunter/Cape Fear(an actor def in touch with his dark side)
4 Orson Welles-A touch of evil
3-Bogart-Castleblanca(even though the French copper nearly stole the show)
2-James Mason-Odd man Out
1-Rod Steiger-The Pawn Broker
Not sure about order and have left a load out.Will have to think about the ladies and modern films.
Personally I'd pick 'There Will Be Blood' as Day Lewis' finest performance
A few performances yet to get a mention (in no particular order):
John Hurt - The Elephant Man
Ben Kingsley - Schlinders List
Samuel L Jackson - Pulp Fiction
Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind
My Top Ten actors and my favourite performance by them in no order
1. Robert DeNiro (Deer Hunter or any of his)
2. Christopher Walken (Catch Me If You Can)
3. Kevin Spacey (American Beauty )
4.Jim Carrey (Truman Show) , comedic acting is just as if not harder to pull off effectively as dramatic acting and this guy is a master at both
5. Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Before the Devil Knows you're Dead ) Could have picked any of his perfomances really
6. Billy Bob Thorton ( Sling Blade )
7. Paddy Considine ( Dead Man's shoes) Really powerful performance in that
8. James Stewart (It's a Wonderful Life)
9. Vincent Cassel (Irreversible)
10. Colin Farrell (Tigerland) ye'll probably all laugh but I think he's a really good actor