Better Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis or Leonardo DiCaprio

watch: there will be blood
watch: last of the Mohicans

 

You are now required to watch 5 movies:

1. Julius Caesar
2. Last Tango in Paris
3. The Godfather
4. A Streetcar Named Desire
5. On The Waterfront

 

And then these 5:

1. The Conversation
2. The French Connection
3. Bonnie and Clyde
4. The Unforgiven
5. I Never Sang For My Father


And then:

1. Midnight Cowboy
2. Tootsie
3. Rainman
4. Straw Dogs
5. Lenny


Followed by:

1. Raging Bull
2. Taxi Driver
3. The King of Comedy
4. Awakenings
5. The Godfather II


And:

1. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
2. Five Easy Pieces
3. The Last Detail
4. About Schmidt
5. Chinatown



DDL is a great actor, but before you can make the Greatest of All Time claim, you have to examine the other "contenders," so to speak

 

Just to be clear, U of H alum (along with his brother).

 

I think Nicholson's tendency to get cast as a caricature of himself these days has hurt him in the eyes of a lot of people for "greatest ever" rankings, but that's unfair. About Schmidt, while being a ho-hum movie, proved his acting chops once again, and that he's plenty versatile.

I think DDL is probably the best right now. As for DiCaprio, he's really good, but I'll still take (among those living and still acting) Jack Nicholson, Anthony Hopkins, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Michael Caine, Johnny Depp, Christoph Waltz, and Forest Whitaker over him.

For me DiCaprio does lead the under-40s (he's 38), ahead of James Franco, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (though if Heath Ledger were still alive, I think DiCaprio would be tied with him at best). I think I'll need to watch DiCaprio for at least another decade before I put him up there with all those other old(er) men (Giamatti and PSH are actually only 46, the others are at least 50).

As for actresses, I'd go Glenn Close, Kathy Bates, Meryl Streep, Laura Linney, Ellen Burstyn, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Julia Roberts, Uma Thurman, Natalie Portman, Maggie Smith, Jodie Foster, Jennifer Connelly.

 

Ya,
But he looks like Han Solo!

 

I really don't understand the love for Kevin Spacey's acting. He often overacts. He's watchable, but he's certainly wouldn't rank in my top.

Leonardo depends a lot on the director. DiCaprio can be just horrible in movies like he was in Romeo and Juliet. He stunk up the screen. He can be really good like he was in the Howard Hughes movie or Gangs of New York film. But he needs a director and more likely probably an editor to have those kinds of performances.

DDL will give a solid performance every single time.

Christopher Waltz is great because his characters are solid, but he doesn't reach those characters with the most obvious choices. I think Christopher Waltz and 99 other actors can read the same script, and only Waltz lines will be delivered with the characterization that he chooses. It's fun as hell to walk.

One of the most under rated actors of all time was Peter Sellers. He had Waltz' unique style choices in the way he portrayed the characters, but maybe even more versatility in the types and variation of characters he can play.

 

I used to be a bigger Spacey fan, but after watching House of Cards, I agree with you. What struck me most is that he couldn't seem to summon enough charisma and charm to make the whole "talking-at-the-camera" thing feel natural and unforced. But watch the British version of the same show with Ian Richardson (or even better, John Cusack in High Fidelity) and this same trick works marvelously.

Don't get me wrong, Spacey's still good, but next to the other folks I listed, he's second-tier.

 

Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove is, truly, one of the top 5 acting performances of all time. No hyperbole. He pulls off all 3 of his roles in that film brilliantly, and he's the only actor other than Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket ("Who's the twinkle-toed..." - you know, that guy) that control freak Stanley Kubrick allowed to ad-lib lines. Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin- I mean, almost all of the great comedic actors cite that as their #1 favorite.

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The guy already had a load of potential pre-TDK. Who knows how many nominations / awards Ledger would have today, if he were still alive.

 

DDL

Ahead of Leonardo...Clooney, Bardem, Penn, Michael Fassbender, Waltz, John Hawkes, Bale, McConaughey (Mud!), Hoffman, Pheonix, Benicio,

 

I saw Gangs of New York and saw how DDL and DiCaprio performed. Leo was ok, but DDL was just phenomenal. He got robbed at the Oscars for that movie.

 

Vincent Chase.

 

Gary Oldman. Ya'll musta thought it was white boy day.

 

Adam Sandler. His range is amazing.

 

The crazy guy in leon
The evil genius in Fifth Element
Sirius black Harry Potter
Commish Gordon in Batman

underappreciated for sure

 

No love for Ed Norton? Fight Club, American History X, the 25th Hour, Moonrise Kingdom, Death to Smoochy, The Illusionist, Rounders, The Painted Veil, solid performance after solid performance.

 

I don't take comments very seriously when ending a sentence with, "Ever."

 

Yeah, Edward Norton is pretty awesome.

 

Jack.