Sean Connery. Marnie and The Untouchables were well-made films, and his first five Bond films were enjoyable for what they were, but these were not exactly great cinema. He made a career out of being the best thing about the awful movies he was in. (I haven’t seen The Man Who Would Be King or The Wind and the Lion, maybe they were amazing.
The Man Who Would Be King is pretty amazing.
The Quiet American was really good. Maybe close to great.
The Hunt for Red October is great. Well made, suspenseful, entertaining, well acted, and emotionally satisfying.
James Gandolfini is my pick. He probably would have done a lot more movies including some great ones had he not died young.
Haven’t seen that one, either, and have heard that it’s very good.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Up in the Air. I’d call that a great movie.
Gods and Monsters, perhaps.
Yep. And so is The Name of the Rose.
I enjoy the hell out of hammy Vincent Price in the A.I. Poe movies and other horror flicks, but hesitate to call them Great Cinema.
However, he played a handsome young southern ne’er-do-well in Laura (1944); Richelieu in The Three Musketeers (1948); Baka in The Ten Commandments (1956); and did the voice work for Deacon Mushrat in Pogo for President (1980).
Of those, Laura, at least, is a great movie.
“He lets his intestines down…and washes them…by hand.”
Still trying to parse that line.
The Descendants won an Oscar, and *Scream *is a classic.
It was. As were the Descendants and Michael Clayton.
…you know what? I stand corrected. Ignore what I said about Clooney.
And there’s Good Night, and Good Luck, if you liked that. He is irregular, though. I haven’t liked everything he’s done.
AMEN! Blue Collar must be seen. And the live movies? Why aren’t they great? They are the greatest.
Mae West ws the screenwriter of her own great movies.
It’s been ages since I’ve seen it, but I recall being really moved by Three Kings.
Idris Elba. A very watchable, charismatic actor who needs a better agent.
I’ll probably get some disagreement on this, but: Robin Williams.
He was in some pretty good movies (Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society; some would say Good Will Hunting although I personally dislike everything about that movie except for Williams) but none that were truly great. Then there were the bad movies, like the inexcusably maudlin Patch Adams.
I always wanted to see Robin Williams in the right role in a great movie, but it never happened.
I think this is a good example. Some good movies, but nothing GREAT. I liked “Good Will Hunting” and “Dead Poets Society” (even “One Hour Photo”), didn’t LOVE them, though. I did enjoy his humanity - movies like “Awakenings”, too.
How about The World According to Garp? Moscow on the Hudson? The Fisher King? At least one of those has to be considered “great”.
If you want a GREAT movie, check out Paul Mazursky’s “Harry and Tonto” (he directed “Moscow on the Hudson”)