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Top 5 living actors

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by Htownhero, Mar 26, 2002.

  1. Kim

    Kim Member

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    I'm sorry for getting off topic, but for those who put John Cusak down as best actors, can y'all please explain?

    I mean, the guy is not bad, but every movie I can recall seeing him in, he is the same type of guy: some loser that talks a lot and has confidence problems and somehow gets a hot chick. I mean, he talks the same way and walks the same way...maybe it's not his fault...it's probably just type cast.

    Terrible movies in which John Cusak acts the same way in each and show no real acting ability:

    -That airplane movie with Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie.
    -That 80's movie in which is was on a road trip w/ the girl from growing pains.
    -Being John Malkovich (okay movie, but Cusack sucked)
    -Con Air

    I think the guy didn't act in any of those movies. The only movie in which Cusak was good in was Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil, which was probably the best movie he was in.


    Now for my top 5 in no particular order:

    Tom Hanks
    Sean Penn
    Denzel Washington
    Kevin Spacey
    Robert Downy Jr.

    Top 5 Actresses:

    Jennifer Connelly (awesome ever since the Rocketeer)
    Marissa Tomei
    Halley Berry
    Jodi Foster
    Kim Basinger
     
  2. Rocketman95

    Rocketman95 Hangout Boy

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    Better Off Dead
    Say Anything
    The Grifters
    Bullets Over Broadway
    Grosse Pointe Blanke
    High Fidelity
    Eight Men Out
    The Thin Red Line
    Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
    Being John Malkovich

    And those are just the excellent performances he's delivered in awesome movies.
     
  3. Manny Ramirez

    Manny Ramirez The Music Man

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    1) Robert DeNiro - he is on another level compared to most other actors
    2) Tom Hanks
    3) Jack Nicholson
    4) Robin Williams
    5) Harrison Ford

    Honorable Mentions:
    Tom Cruise, Sharon Stone, Al Pacino, John Travolta, and Charlize Theron

    Best Up and Coming Actor: Owen Wilson
     
  4. bobrek

    bobrek Politics belong in the D & D

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    Two of my favorites that haven't been mentioned:

    James Woods - check out Salvador if you've never seen it
    Benicio Del Toro

    RM95 - Good listing of Cusack's films. I think he is a very underappreciated actor.
     
  5. Jeff

    Jeff Clutch Crew

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    I forgot a couple:

    Morgan Freeman
    Anthony Hopkins
    Edward Norton

    As for Cusak, I actually like Joan better than John. :)

    And I totally missed females:

    Jodi Foster
    Helen Hunt
    Judi Dench
    Sissy Spacek
    Sally Field
    Angelica Huston
     
  6. subtomic

    subtomic Member

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    Stephen Rea
    Forrest Whitaker
    Gary Oldman
    Ben Kingsley
    Chris Cooper
    Edward Norton

    Toni Collete
    Judy Davis (or the Judy who was in Husbands and Wives and The Ref - I have trouble with her last name)
    Frances McDormond
     
  7. BrianKagy

    BrianKagy Member

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    I can't believe nobody's put Karl Malone on the list yet. Is this some sort of bias against whiny b****es?
     
  8. Jeff

    Jeff Clutch Crew

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    I just caught this. I'm not sure that is true. Pacino and Nicholson (two others on your list) are far more guilty of playing "themselves" than DeNiro. Yes, when you want the very calm but seething brutality under the surface, DeNiro is certainly your guy. But roles like Stanley & Iris, Wag the Dog, Tax Driver, (where he is just plain nuts), Awakenings, Men of Honor and Cape Fear were relative departures for him.

    Pacino, from his beginnings in Dog Day Afternoon and The Godfather, has always had the wild-eyed, fiery, cocky swagger in his characters and the running joke with Nicholson in Hollywood is that people just write Nicholson roles and let him play himself. I think they both can stretch (The Shining and A Few Good Men showed Nicholson fairly differently although my favorite is where he plays himself in As Good As It Gets and Pacino's Scent of a Woman was definitely a little unique for him) but not like De Niro does.
     
  9. edc

    edc Member

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    I'm going to be pummeled for this, but how about Patrick Stewart?

    His "popular" roles (ie: Trek, X-men) only show a small amount of his
    range. His "Christmas Carol" blew me away (he plays every damned role in the thing, and *makes you forget the gimmick*), and anyone who can do justice to Shakespeare...
     
  10. cson

    cson Member

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    ~DeNiro
    ~Denzel
    ~Tom Hanks
    ~Robin Williams (if he didn't do so much ****e)
    ~Alec Guiness (but he is dead)
     
  11. Princess

    Princess Member

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    I'm really not trying to start an arguement and I'm not upset or bothered by anything. But I was noticing how most people put male actors first and then female actors second, if at all. I was attributing it to the title of the thread being "actors" but I don't think that limits gender. Is there a real opinion that males are better actors than females or do they just receive more praise? Can male and female actors really be compared? And if so, do most people think males are better or do some of you think some females are better?

    Like I said, I don't want to start trouble. It was just something I noticed and thought I would ask about it.

    I forgot Hunt, Foster and Field as well. Good picks Jeff! :)
     
  12. New Jack

    New Jack Member

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    Russell Crowe
    Edward Norton
    Robert DeNiro
    Tom Hanks
    Jason Lee
     
  13. Mrs. JB

    Mrs. JB Member

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    Princess! You're back! I was afraid we'd lost you to Lynus. :)

    Like you, I was dismayed to see how few women were on the lists. I think the word "actor" still makes most people think of males only. Jeff, on the other hand, thinks women aren't given the diversity of roles in Hollywood, therefore they don't come to mind as readily when people think of great actors. In fact we had a nice little spat about it -- thanks a lot Princess!

    Anyway my top five female actors:

    Annette Bening
    Jodie Foster
    Rachel Griffiths
    Jessica Lange
    Emma Thompson
     
  14. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    Princess... i think the term ACTOR has most to do with it.
    It *is* gender specific . .. otherwise there would be no need
    for the word ACTRESS

    Also . . .2. I think mental blind spots. Bias. Men think of men. Maybe to an extent people think in terms of their ethnic groups etc.

    While Denzel Sam L Morgan Freeman Forrest Whittaker and Don Cheadle stand out to me a black man . . .Halle berry, Angela Bassett, Jada pinkett, Lelah Rochon, and Robin Givens. . stands out for a black female. . . .

    yadda yadda yadda

    But by and Large . . . to be more open i guess it should say the best acting individuals.

    Angela Basset and Jodie Foster IMO represented cream of Actresses
    Tom Hanks and Robert D, and Denzel are the same for men.

    There is no real shortage of Good and great acting individuals
    unfortunately they sometimes have to work with the endless supply
    of viscious HACKS who could not act as themselves in their own life story.

    Rocket River
     
  15. subtomic

    subtomic Member

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    No, I placed the male actors first simply because the names came to me more quickly. Of course that reflects my attentiveness to female actresses. I find the acting ability of many movie "stars" (male and female) to be very suspect, so it took me awhile to think of the female actors.

    I forgot Laura Linney on my female actress list BTW.

    And I'm at 400 posts. Doesn't that make me special.
     
  16. Rocketman95

    Rocketman95 Hangout Boy

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    You know, until people stop talking about sexism, it will never cease to exist.
     
  17. Lynus302

    Lynus302 Member

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    I think most of it has to do with the fact that this board is overwhelmingly male. As guys, we tend to like more guy-type movies, and thus actresses aren't thought of as "not as good as actors," they just get overlooked (on this bbs, at least) for the reasons Rocket River mentioned.

    For example: I absolutely cannot stand Julia Roberts. When I see her name in credits, I automatically don't want to see the movie. I don't like the movies she's in, and I don't like the parts she plays. The odd thing is that I do think she's a decent actress, so its not like I'm put off by any performance of hers I've seen. Conspiracy Theory is the only exception to my no-Julia rule that I can think of, and I think that is more of a guy movie than Pretty Woman, for example. I pretty much feel the same way about Meg Ryan. No disrespect to the actresses involved, but I just can't stand chick flicks.

    If this discussion were on a bbs more related to a woman's interest, I'm sure this thread would be a very different read.

    I do like Princess Leia, ummmmm.......Daisy Duke.......ummmmm.... ;)
     
  18. Timing

    Timing Member

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    :D
     
  19. Mrs. JB

    Mrs. JB Member

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    Hangout Boy, you make me proud to be known as Hangout Girl! :)
     
  20. moestavern19

    moestavern19 Member

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    Ed McCaffrey
    Derek Fisher
    John Stockton
    Vlade Divac

    Robin Williams
     

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