Denzel Washington Al Pacino Robert DeNiro Robert Duvall Gerard Depardieu Meryl Streep Judi Dench Maggie Smith Jodie Foster Fernanda Montenegro
You can't go wrong with people like DeNiro, Newman (Paul, not Johnny), Streep and Nicholson. Here are some other great actors that aren't mentioned as much: David Thewlis: his starring role in Mike Leigh's "Naked" is the best acting performance of the 1990's, in my opinion. Ian McKellan: I think he was really great in "Lord of the Rings." He was even better in "Richard III" and "Gods and Monsters." Judy Davis: She rules. There are about a thousand great performances I could recommend..she kicks so much ass in "Deconstructing Harry" and "Husbands and Wives." Phillip Seymore Hoffman: he might be the best there is right now.."Happiness," "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights" show him to be brilliant in roles that might ruin other actors careers. Julianne Moore: "The End of the Affair," "Short Cuts," "Boogie Nights"..she is really compelling. Steve Bushemi: he and Gene Hackman were totally screwed by not getting Oscar nominations. Buschemi has been great for over a decade. Billy Bob Thorton: he may be a flake- maybe that is why Halle Berry gave shout outs to everybody on earth except him - but he always gives great performances. I thought his performance in "The Man Who Wasn't There" was awesome. Frances Macdormand: her performance in "Fargo" is one my all-time favorites. She has done a lot of great work before and after. Ralph Finnes and Daniel-Day Lewis: I guess their examples should serve as a cautionary tale to Russell Crowe...the starring roles in great parts won't be there forever. I think both of these actors are still really great and did marvelous performances in the past. Finnes' role in "Schindler's List" was dark, dark, dark. I'll stop now.
1. Tom Hanks 2. Bruce Willis 3. Arnold Schwarzenegger 4. Harrison Ford 5. Mel Gibson * - Tim Robbins, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Ed Norton, Nic Cage, Keanu Reeves, Micheal J. Fox, Kevin Spacey 1. Julia Roberts 2. Natalie Portman 3. Ashley Judd 4. Charlize Theron 5. Drew Barrymore * - Demi Moore, Sally Fields, Jessica Lang, Jodie Foster, Cameron Diaz, Gwyneth Paltrow
One of my favorite reviews was of The Replacements. The reviewer wrote "Once again, Keannu Reeves looked surpirsed that he was actually acting in a movie."
Nic Cage - He is a great actor, Top 10 to ME. Gone in 60 Seconds Face Off Leaving Las Vegas Con Air The Rock I also liked - 8MM, Family Man, Peggy Sue Got Married, and It Could Happen to You. I have never watched all of Raising Arizona, but a lot of people liked it too. Keanu Reeves - He is a top 15 actor to ME. Really good. Not a serious actor though. The Matrix Devil's Advocate Speed Point Break Johnny Mnemonic I also liked The Replacements, Dracula, A Walk in the Clouds, Parenthood, Bill & Ted (Journey and Adventure), and Sweet November. I saw 7 of his movies in the theatre.
Wink3Cat5..u and i are on opposite ends of the movie spectrum...it's cool though, to each his own. i really like leaving las vegas and am glad cage got the acclaim for the movie. the rest of those movies he did i think blow big time...and dont even get me started on john woo and the crap he makes... keanu was keanu in matrix which was enough...i like matrix and cant wait for the next installments...but the rest of his movies...whoa...blow big time as well...
Let me clarify why I think females don't get quality DRAMATIC roles on a regular basis. To me, it boils down to the fact that women usually get one of two types of dramatic roles: 1. As part of an ensemble of other female actresses 2. Opposite a strong male lead It is not often that women get strong lead roles where their characters represent the primary focus of the film. An exception would be Erin Brockovich. Another significant problem is that the diversity of roles for women are far more limited than for male actors. For example, Julia Roberts is very likely the most bankable female Hollywood star and Tom Hanks is probably her male equivalent. For Roberts, her last five MAJOR films were: Ocean's Eleven - Comedic action film opposite George Clooney America's Sweethearts - Romantic comedy opposite John Cusak Mexican, The - Romantic dram-edy opposite Brad Pitt Erin Brockovich - Dramatic basically solo role Runaway Bride - Romantic comedy opposite Richard Gere For Hanks, his last six MAJOR films were: Castaway - solo drama You've Got Mail - romantic comedy opposite Meg Ryan Saving Private Ryan - drama - lead Apollo 13 - drama - lead Forest Gump - drama - lead Philadelphia - drama - opposite Denzel Washington Now, I included six to get in Philadelphia for Hanks to illustrate a point. In all but one of Roberts' films (clearly after she had established herself as a bankable Hollywood star), she is given the role opposite a very strong male lead character. In addition, the first two on that list were essentially ensemble casts with quite a few stars in them. On the other hand, Hanks played the solo male lead in 4 of the 6 - meaning he was the dominant focus of the story - and, if it weren't for Washington's unreal performance in Philadelphia, it would be 5 of 6. In addition, Roberts played the love interest of a male character in all but one of her films, Brockovich. But, Hanks, over the course of six movies, played a man stranded on an island for 4 years, a military man in the middle of one of the fiercest battles of World War II, the leader of one of the most notorius space flights in US history, a half-witted childlike character over the course of 30 years and a gay lawyer dying of AIDS and fighting his lawfirm over discrimination. Not exactly garden variety roles and plenty of room to stretch out as an actor. Plus, they were all big films. For most actresses to stretch like that, it would require that they do indie films or art house stuff and that can be deadly to a female actor's career. It just seems to me that the really meaty and weighty roles are often not offered to women and that they are quite often relegated to playing the female romantic interest to a dominant male character.
I won't go into much detail Robert Duvall Tom Hanks Billy Bob Thornton (no one has mentioned "Slingblade"?) Tommy Lee Jones Samuel L Jackson btw, my favorite Nic Cage was "Raising Arizona". He broke my face!
Sean Penn Ed Norton Robert DeNiro Al Pacino Mel Gibson Honorables: Russel Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Billy Bob Thornton
Well, you all probably know how I feel about qualifying artists and their work.... Anyone can turn in a performance that is utterly true, emotionally rooted, and consistently flawless. If you judged Sly on Rocky alone, then he might be on a lot of your lists. However, Sly doesn't possess what it is known as range, of course, so he remains safely off of mine. Very safely........... If I had to choose ten actors ( I refuse to choose only five ) whose work consistently blows me away with their emotional honesty, their flawless consistency, their range of character, and their frequent moments of genius, here is my list: Merryl Streep...... Probably the single best living actor, period Billy Bob Thorton........ Probably the single most underrated actor out there. His performance in Monster's Ball made Halle's character's plausibility possible. Dustin Hoffman....... Range, range, range, and consistently technically flawless Gary Oldman........ Range rivaled only by Thorton, with a high "flash of genius" quotient Daniel Day Lewis....... For you Gibson fans, Lewis has been doing the same kind of thing for a while now, only better . My Left Foot was astonishing. Ellen Burstyn........ Brilliant. Requiem was astonishing. She's been playing women twenty years older than her for most of her carreer, and she's been doing it better than women twenty years older than her. Phillip Seymour Hoffman......... A friend of mine met him and says he's a real jackass. Pity, the work is fantastic. Jeffrey Wright......... A true genius. Benicio Del Toro........ A truly exciting talent with tremendous range and a fantastic sense of the moment. Sean Penn....... A raw, instinctive artist. Brilliant. Honorable mentions: Kristin Scott Thomas Edward Norton Johnny Depp Joanne Woodward Shirley Maclaine Glenn Close Robert DeNiro Robert Downy Jr. Maggie Smith Jim Broadbent John Turturro John Malkovich Julianne Moore Val Kilmer I respect all of the above for their artistry. Now for those I feel are fantastic film actors, but are a little lacking in at least one of the categories I mentioned earlier. Tom Hanks Denzel Washington Russell Crowe Julia Roberts Al Pacino Jack Nicholson Harrison Ford Paul Newman Robert Redford Michelle Pfeiffer Marlon Brando Sharon Stone Brad Pitt Guy Pierce Matt Damon Tom Cruise Guys that too often do the same thing, but I don't care, I just like watching them: Christopher Walken John Cusack Clint Eastwood Steve Buscemi Pruitt Taylor Vince Michael Douglas Meg Ryan James Spader I'm forgetting a ton. Oh well, it's late and I've already dedicated far too much time to this.
Van Damme, definitely.....Lionheart was a gut wrenching, riveting performance. Steven Segal.....man, have you guys seen Marked for Death?
His Fatboy Slim video "Weapon of Choice" is enough for me to declare him top 10. Man, I love that video.
Thanks to everyone who answered me (not jokingly). I was talking to Lynus about it too. The roles that women get in films don't really attract the same audience that male lead roles attract (if that makes any sense...it's been a long week and I'm tired). As for the word "actor" it is technically a male gendered word. There are many foreign language words that have male gender and apply to bother sexes though (like Le Professeur in French, which is a male or female professor). Personally, I think gendered words are silly, but that's okay. What's interesting is that the male gendered words can apply to females but female terms never apply to males (like you can call Julia Roberts an actor and not be wrong, IMO, but no one would ever call Tom Hanks an actress). As for RM95 and Timing, that's a real cute joke but really has no significance here. I'm not trying to put an end to sexism, as you imply. I just wanted opinions as to actors and actresses and what accounts for the difference. Stupid men keeping those poor women down! Julia Roberts getting >$20 million a movie and an Oscar just isn't good enough!
