one. two. three.
Okay so Olive picks one, kdc picks two, and in order not to break the statistical series we are developing i'll have to nominate three i guess..
one more vote for Johnny Depp,
but Al Pacino is pretty damn good too,
and John Malkovich genuinely draws me in as actor of creepy complex parts ..
mmm Tough call really.
Now who picks four ?
Olive, that is one great...
Olive, that is one great question for a modernist to consider. Form follows function, and all that jazz. I don't watch a lot of movies; the ones I do see are primarily contemporary. Acting, as an art form, I think has evolved significantly. We were watching, for example, an old Cary Grant movie the other night - can't even recall the title, I think it was one of the Hitchcock series - and I was struck by how bad the acting was, within a modern framework, particularly Grant's: ornamental, too cool, almost perfectly unacceptable.
Depp seems a good choice, an actor who appears to have good range. Some great actors are role actors, don't travel well beyond the box, I find, and some are able to really step out. Even so, I'll watch Nicholson in just about anything. Sellers is a favorite - Being There one of the best films/performances I've ever seen. And while I admire Sean Penn, especially in offbeat roles such as the one he had in Sweet & Lowdown, I haven't always felt he has the total package; too much maybe a tendency, at times, to overact. But, for my money, some of the best acting I've found is probably not all that memorable. Individuals such as Ellen Burstyn and Frances McDormand, when thinking of great actors/actresses, come almost immediately to mind.
.
It is hoped that one does not wait with baited breath: too fishy, don't you know. Rather, one waits with bated breath -- that is, abated, or held back.
Cary Grant, acting for Hitchcock, is (like his other actors) performing a sort of stylized dance, a stand-in for an actual human. Yet I can think of two performances -- Grant's, in "Notorious," and Jimmy Stewart's, in "Vertigo," where the actor perhaps exceeds Hitch's requirement, and presents us with an actual suffering human. . .
I fixed it SDR...
Ooooo, John Malkovich, another good one...but as the numero uno, I'll stick with Depp.
If I look at him like a modernist...I'd say a very good honesty of materials, good wabi-sabi balance. Beautiful without being overly decorated. Apparently nothing artifical has been added. Functional in lots of settings and quite capable of performing many roles beyond expectations. If he was a chair I'd buy two!
Yes, exactly SDR, I should ha...
Yes, exactly SDR, I should have included screenwriters in that evolution. Which reminds me of a great David Berman poem, Self-Portrait at 28, where, in considering the maturation of the human race as a group, the narrator states, "If you laugh out loud at Shakespeare's jokes/I hope you won't be insulted/if I say you're trying too hard./Even sketches from the original Saturday Night Live/seem slow-witted and obvious now."
I agree about Depp
He's been my favorite actor ever since Edward Scissorhands which is STILL my all-time favorite movie. While I liked Johnny as Jack Sparrow, I don't think it was his best role. His best roles ever were Edward Scissorhands and then Ed Wood. Also, loved him in Cry Baby, Benny and Joon, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, yadda yadda yadda. I, for years, thought that Johnny Depp was the most under-rated actor in all of Hollywood. He's finally come into his own.
This is my brothers kid ...
This is my brothers kid He is in hollywood and making it as actor, in movies, tv commercials and tv shows, he has the number 2 part in the new movie Calvin Marshall. filming in Oregon right now, as they say he might be a over night success, only it is 1800 nights check him out and others on the Imdb. oh by the way the kid is really funny and he can act, so it may be a little premature if he is my favorite actor, but you never know, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt started this way,
Josh Fadem
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1. Playboys (2008) (filming)
2. Calvin Marshall (2008) (filming) .... Simon
3. Made in Romania (2008) (post-production) .... Zach Dooley
4. Big Bad Wolf (2006) .... Suneel
5. "Weeds" .... Reporter (1 episode, 2006)
- MILF Money (2006) TV episode .... Reporter
6. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" .... Wayne (1 episode, 2006)
... aka It's Always Sunny (USA: promotional title)
- Charlie Gets Crippled (2006) TV episode .... Wayne
7. The Mikes (2006) (TV) .... Clerk
8. The Breaks (2004) .... Jasper
Self:
1. "Queer Edge with Jack E. Jett & Sandra Bernhard" .... Himself (1 episode, 2005)
... aka Queer Edge (USA: short title)
... aka Queer Edge with Jack E. Jett (USA: new title)
- Episode #1.6 (2005) TV episode .... Himself
2. Super Secret Movie Rules: Sports Underdogs (2004) (TV) .... Himself
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Depp was great in Neverland
I would have to add to the list Daniel Day Lewis and Edward Norton. Daniel only in like 6 or 7 films in the last 12 years - 3 Oscar noms and a win must mean something and Norton about the same save for the actual win. Early buzz is Lewis is a definite nom on latest "There Will Be Blood"
Surprised to not see Dustin H...
Surprised to not see Dustin Hoffman's name yet. I don't know if he could be left off the list, even though, given his status as Hollywood icon, it's getting harder to see Hoffman without seeing Hoffman. For me, the best actors don't make you realize they are acting. And what about Gene Hackman - he's usually a sure bet. Michael Caine, the same.
I'd rather talk about hot, beautiful actresses, but...
The subject is actors, so:
1. Brando-not even close; something ingenious at every phase of his life; so brilliant people almost never got how deep he was dredging even in his most memorable roles.
2. Bogart-from Charlie Allnut to Rick Blaine to great gangsters; Bogart got to the authentic quick without the method.
3. Grant-No one else could come close to his range in comedy and suspense; and he was such a terrific actor he could make you believe the surreal slices of cake that Hitchcock passed off as suspensers.
4. James Stewart--Mr. Smith to George Bailey, Vertigo to Rear Window--the very good man with a very dark side; only Harrison Ford between Indies ever tried this and he failed.
5. John Wayne--no other actor played the range of heroes in action parts he did; no other actor ever played a man like Ethan in The Searchers, a man who wanted to kill a little girl, and remained heroic. No other man portrayed the full range of the hero the way Wayne did.
6. Spenser Tracy--from Mr. Hyde to Clarence Darrow, and all the Hepburn comedies and never a false gesture or expression.
7. Paul Newman--Hud, the greatest anti hero in movie history and able to play every other great little guy worth playing; the leading man with the killer blue windows who was really a character actor
8. Nicholson--from Bobby Dupea to J.J. Gittes, from Charlie Partana The Joker; the character actor with so much charisma and charm that he had to play leads.
9. DeNiro-the master of the Italian American nightmare finally became as versatile and authentic as Tracy.
10. Al Pacino--explosive excess raised to an art form
11. James Dean--no one's first three youth roles have ever come close to East of Eden, Rebel, and Giant.
12. John Garfield--my personal favorite of all time. No other movie actor ever came closer to showing what it really feels like to be a man in his 20s and 30s than Garfield. But he got black listed and died early and so we were robbed of his transcendant greatness in a blue collar.
13. Robert Redford--the hunk who was so handsome no one realized he was a great actor.
14. Clint Eastwood--no one ever explored the heart of American darkness as well or as long; in as many genres;
14. Depp--a terrific actor who has still not gotten to play any great adult dramatic roles yet. God we need him to.
Good to see a lot of dead...
Good to see a lot of dead guys on your list, dc. I felt odd just mentioning a couple older folks (must be my age). I think most actors feel as you - there's Brando, then everyone else. I was a bit surprised by your ranking of John Wayne, who you make an excellent argument for, yet who I often thought, through no fault of his own but for fame, played a caricature of himself his last several years. Surprised, too, not to see Gregory Peck on your list.
The actors of the bygone era in cinema bring up a possibly interesting design question. While my reference to Grant in the Hitchcock movie (the damn diamond thief one I can't recall the title of) was a poor comparitive choice, as SDR correctly pointed out, it still strikes me, at least in a lot of the films I see from the 40s, 50s, and 60s, how aware I am of the script as an interface; that is, there is something about film dialogue of that period, as delivered, no matter how skilled the actor, that comes across often glaringly as device. Performers/performances can obviously transcend that issue, but much of what I see from that time has a quality or feel of the unreal, and I don't think it has much to do with the quality of the sets, although I'm certain that contributes. Or maybe it's just me.
I saw the discussion here awhile back on June Allyson, which was very insightful. A list of the top actresses would certainly be interesting, too. I mentioned a couple of my favorites in a previous post, both older but living, I see now, of course.
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